Thinking Out Loud on Paper

There are books that you read and wonder, "Why didn’t I think of this?"  Thinking out Loud on Paper: The Student Daybook as a Tool to Foster Learning   (Heinemann, 2008) is one of those books. 

Used in all grades, the daybook is a marvelous way to hook students in all subject areas to "think out loud" through writing. I resonate with the concept since it fits with my own experience as a writer. I remember things better when I write them down and I process my thoughts and experiences by writing about them (as readers of this blog know!). Now with my own daybook, I have a place to keep my random thoughts and jottings all in one place.

The book is co-authored by five members of the UNC Charlotte Writing Project. As such, each author has contributed his or her experiences with using daybooks personally and in the classroom. The result is an easy-to-read guide on how to implement daybooks. Chapters include how to organize, sustain, and assess the books; as well as the advantages and disadvantages of going digital.  

From the introductory chapter, the authors explain their thinking. "Daybooks have helped us foster ways of learning that allow students the space and freedom to be silly and messy, to be thinkers and writers just for the sake of thinking and writing, to be miners of their thoughts even if just to dig out a golden line from something that they read....The daybook breaks down the typical disconnect that occurs in schools: disconnects between theory and practice, between one grade and the next, between one subject and another, and between the way people really learn and how we often feel obligated to make our students learn in very specific and predetermined ways."  (p.1, 2)

This book takes the simple, ordinary composition book and elevates it to a position of central importance in the classroom. More than a journal, it not only is a way for students to record random thoughts which they might use in a poem, essay or story; but is also a place to store favorite quotes ("golden lines"),  new vocabulary words (which they pick and share with their peers), questions for book discussions, revision strategies,  focused quickwrites, maps of complex texts, metawriting musings, as well as "ordinary" writing assignments. 

One invaluable aspect of the daybook is how students reflect upon patterns and themes they discover in their own writing. As Karen Haag, one of the authors writes, “A key component of daybooks is self-assessment. By having their thinking in one central place, students can refer back to their ideas through the year. Writers look back over the pages and see progress…I ask my students to reflect on what is happening in their daybooks and document what they see. Students build this reflectiveness over time through daily, weekly, and quarterly assessments. These assessments become as important for growth as the work itself.” (p.85)

Using the daybook concept, teachers are creating creative and inquisitive writers.  As a result, these students go into standardized testing with confidence and smiles. “Becoming a writer and feeling the joy of writing is how we spend 99 percent of our time. Only 1 percent of our time is spent on the test—and in that time, we are showing them that they already know everything they need to know.” (p. 46)

To sum it up: “Daybooks make visible students’ thinking and learning.” (p.61)

Now, why didn’t I think of that? 

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Someplace Else(where)

If part of the experience of reading a museum is touching and playing with displayed objects, and if you live within driving distance of Greensboro, NC and want to expose your children to a museum that marries art and history in a century old building, then check out the Elsewhere Collaborative.

Located in two adjacent storefronts five blocks from the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in the historic part of the city, Elsewhere is a unique collection of "stuff" that once belonged to George Scheer, one of the directors', grandmother.  For decades Sylvia Gray and her husband ran a furniture store. After WWII the store  morphed into an Army surplus supply  and catalog supply store. Following her husband's death, Sylvia turned it into a thrift store, stocked from her twice daily forays into local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores.

Yesterday I visited my daughter Lori, who is interning there this summer.

When I walked into the space, I immediately was reminded of the Five & Dime store of my childhood in Haddonfield, NJ. The old wood floors and wooden cabinets stuffed with toys, games, children's books, 45's, knick-knacks, and costume jewelry easily pulled me back in time.

When George acquired the space in 2003, it had been boarded up for six years and the rooms were packed full of his grandmother's treasures. With foresight and ingenuity, he and now co-director, Stephanie Sherman began to play with the idea that "shared fictions can be told through things, and as a collection have the power to expose idea that stimulate communities." They began to dream of re-making the store into something else, yet what it already was: a "thinking playground and creative community, the dream fueled by the fantastic combination of the Mixed Up files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler and Gertrude Stein's Paris salons."  (http://elsewhereelsewhere.org/about/)

It was George and Stephanie's job to create order out of chaos, and two years later, with the help of an ongoing melange of artists-in-residence, that is what they accomplished. Artists are encouraged to come and create art and performances using the objects, fabrics (over 1500 bolts of vintage cloth were stashed on the third floor), purses, shoes, ribbons, household items, books, army surplus supplies, and dolls that Sylvia had accumulated. Some artists uses materials from the building itself. The results are surprising, amusing, and thought provoking.

Here are a variety of installations you might see if you visit.  Visitors need to look closely to identify the found objects in the museum. Try your hand at it with these photos:

This is called the "Toyrnado" (picture by Blake Mason)

The Army Surplus Room, houses a collection of materials a soldier would have used in WWII. (Photo by Blake Mason).

Children and adults can't resist playing the bouncy ball game in the Super Piano Bouncy Ball installation:

Some of the fabrics that were hoarded over the years found a home in this installation:

Bring your children (who will play with the toys and drums) and eat at Mellow Museum across the street. Bring your parents (who will nostalgically enjoy items from their childhood)  and get a delicious meal at Liberty Oak or Table 16 which are within walking distance.

The museum is open from Wednesday-Saturday from 1-11; most Friday nights they host community events which begin at 8. The buildings are not air conditioned, but fans keep the air moving.

Check their website for information, videos, slide shows, and more. As you might expect, the found objects inside the museum are old, but this staff of young and bright Generation Y's have incorporated every available up-to-date technology.

Come and prepared to be educated. Art isn't what you learned in Art 101 and as my daughter Lori  informed me, "You've got to enlarge your definition of performance." Find out for yourself.


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Don't Make Me Eat My Words

When I was in Spain two months ago, I enjoyed oodles of pastries, delicious hake (left) served with shrimp with their heads and tails intact, tortillas (which are similar to omelets) with asparagus, and delicious ham and cheese croquettes (right).

In the “Supermercado” I saw rows and rows of fish and shell fish, as well as these interesting looking ham hocks. 

In El Fontan (a local farmer’s market) I saw a young woman behead and gut a fish in less than a minute, and a window full of more sausages than you could count.

But this isn’t a food blog so what am I doing telling you about my gastronomic adventures?

Because food is as important to us as writers, educators, and readers as salt and pepper are to cooks.

Consider this. What writer doesn’t reward her muse by the promise of a treat at the end of a finely-honed paragraph or page? In an informal survey of fellow writers, I found that some keep themselves on task by placing a bowl of popcorn at hand, others depend on tea or coffee. Sandra Warren admits, "There's something about the excitement of putting words to paper or computer screen that gets the juices flowing and adrenalin pumping; a physiological shift that demands a sweet reprieve. Carrots, celery even with peanut butter just doesn't cut it the way a freshly baked or even a frozen chocolate chip cookie or piece of dark chocolate can."

And of course, teachers and parents have used food for eons to motivate. But not only can treats reward good behavior, but as this lesson plan shows, a book like Lilly’s Chocolate Heart can teach students how to write with prepositional phrases and adjectives.

Speaking of chocolate, here are some wonderful quotes about this luscious treat that has been known to keep many writers plugged into their keyboard.

Kathleen Purvis, the food editor at the Charlotte Observer, once told me that food writers are some of the best journalists. And that was before the advent of food blogs such as this one.

What about fiction? How important is the food that your favorite characters eat? Consider that the recipe for Harry Potter's butterbeer received 3.445 hits the day it was first sold at the new Wizarding World  at Universal Orlando. 

Not only food itself, but customs about eating can add depth to a novel. I am working on a scene for my historical novel which takes place in Charlotte, NC in 1950. My main character, Kate, is eating cookies in the kitchen with her grandmother's cook, Esther, and Ester's granddaughter, Lillie. Kate notices that, "After they're finished Esther washes out hers and Lillie’s glasses and puts them on a separate shelf alongside of two chipped plates and a couple of bent forks and spoons." 

Food and literature go together like hamburgers and buns. So, please don't make me eat my words. I've acquired a taste for finding food references in books and all of this has been grist for the mill. You might think that writing a blog like this is as easy as apple pie, but trust me, there were many times when I felt as if I had bitten off more than I could chew. But, bottoms up and come and get it. This blog has cut the mustard, is done to a turn, and is now ready to be served!

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The" No-Excuse-for-Not-Reading-During-the-Summer" List

If your child moans and groans about reading over the summer, here are some suggestions to counter all complaints. Brought to you by the International Reading Association and Reading Today, this is a smörgåsbord of suggestions to encourage good reading habits over the summer.




Francie Alexander, chief academic officer for Scholastic, Inc., advices parents that:


1.  Families should set aside a regular time of day when everyone reads. (Model it!)
2.  Hook your kids on a series. If they like the first book, they will like more.
3.  Let your children choose their books.


Linda Gambrell, a past president of the IRA, recommends:


1. Schedule weekly trips to the library.
2. Let your child select books you will read aloud.
3. Let your child read in bed. Extend bedtime only for reading.
4. Buy an inexpensive camera and notebook and let your child create a picture journal of his or her summer.  Read it with her!


Here are some great web resources which promote summer reading and writing:


1. You'll find activities, projects, games, tools, tips and how-to's for kids from kindergarten through twelfth grade on the IRA and National Council of Teachers Of English ReadWriteThink website.  
2. Reading Rockets offers booklists and online activities for parents and teachers.
3. Scholastic Inc has a Summer Challenge which encourages kids to log their summer reading. Last year 63,000 kids logged 35 million minutes!
4. The National Summer Learning Association provides resources for learning in all forms, including reading.

If you like booklists, here are places you can find them:


1. Children's Choices are books which children have evaluated and reviewed.
2. Students can travel across a map of the U.S. by reading a book that takes place in each of the states. Find the fiction and nonfiction lists here.
3. Looking for the 2010 Notable books? You'll find them on a list compiled by the Association for Library Service to Children.
4. The National Endowment for the Humanities has a list of classic literature for kindergarten through 12th graders.


Enough? Now, grab your child, a book, and get reading!

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Teaching the Story: A Middle School Teacher's Testimonial

Last November when I taught at NCCAT, I met Rebecca Quick who had taken a workshop from me at the North Carolina Middle School Conference. I was delighted to find out that she had been using my book and asked if I could interview her.  Now, seven months later, here is the interview. (Scroll down for the video.)


Carol: You have taught language arts for thirteen years. How is Teaching the Story different than other materials you have used?

Rebecca: I have many other writing materials which I never know quite when to use.  Teaching the Story is very well organized and allows me to stay focused on teaching each story element.  The CD provides worksheets that I use as overheads thus simplifying the process of developing a story.

I want to allow my students to write freely, but they get very overwhelmed with the process. Before I used your book I found myself teaching all over the place without a lot of structure. As a result, my students’ writing was all over the place.  Now, using Teaching the Story, at the end of each semester my students have a well written short story of which they are proud.

Carol: What was the most significant way that Teaching the Story helped you as a teacher?

Rebecca: It gave me an outline and direction to teach each element of a story.  For example, the fact that there was a separate chapter on developing the character and then several mini-lessons to help students develop their character was very helpful. 

Teaching the Story is very specific and detailed with lessons that explain and show exactly how to create a setting, develop a character, and create a "real" problem with a "real" solution. 

Carol: Was there a particular lesson that was most helpful?

Rebecca: I found that planning the plot helped the students organize their stories. The “Build-a-Plot” handout was one of the most useful instruments.  As a teacher, I was able to give the students a visual representation of their story in a very simple format.  It allowed me to conference with them and they could adjust their stories as needed. 

Carol: How did the book help you to be a more organized teacher?

Rebecca: By taking time to teach each element in a very simple manner my students did not get overwhelmed and could really focus on the key elements of their story.  It also helped to have a focus when conferencing.  I knew what I had just covered in class and I was able to discuss and give very specific feedback when trying to help them revise. 

Carol:  What would you say to other language arts teachers?

Rebecca: I believe that Teaching the Story will give direction when teaching the fictional narrative. There are many ways to teach students how to write stories, but you will find that Teaching the Story is very helpful in staying focused and keeping the process simple.  At the same time, the book still allows room for your personal style and additional lessons.




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Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

I always told my girls when they picked up a book off the library shelf, looked at it, and then put it down again, that they shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I almost made the same mistake myself, thinking that the preppy girl with the short skirt on the cover of this book made it look like a ditzy book without much substance. 

I would have been wrong.

Since I had enjoyed Ally Carter’s first book in this mini-series, I’d Tell You that I Love You but then I’d Have to Kill You, I thought this third book would also be audio entertainment in the car. (I didn’t realize that I had missed the second one, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy.)  

Cover proved to be more than just entertainment as Carter skillfully uses the “cover” of a story which takes place in the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women to hit the meaty themes of lies, deception, and truth. Just as the main character, Cameron, has to figure out what is the real story behind the events happening to Macey, one of her roommates and the daughter of the US vice-presidential candidate, she also has to figure out when her boyfriend Zach; her mother (the head mistress of the school); her favorite teacher, Mr. Solomon; Macey; and her Aunt Abby, an undercover secret service agent, are telling the truth or really being “themselves.”

This is a fun and thought-provoking read for upper elementary and middle school girls. Apparently the fourth book in the series, Only the Good Spy Young, is coming out later this month. I guess I’ll have to get in line at the library and find out if Cammie figures out the secrets hinted at in the walls of the Gallagher Academy.  And by the way, Ms. Carter, bravo on your book titles. They’re enviably clever! (Hyperion, 2009)

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Summer Reading & Writing in Charlotte, NC

If you are like me, you try to plan a mixture of summertime events which your children will enjoy as well as profit from. In our latest issue of Talking Story, Joyce Hostetter and I suggested several summer activities which families can enjoy.

Today, an editor from Charlotte Parent wrote and asked me to tell you about an event which they sponsor, the 2010 Young Authors Book Writing Contest. The deadline is not until November 4, but if you are looking for a stimulating activity for your budding K-8th grade author, you can get him or her started on their story this summer.

And, if your 5th-10th grader has 3 or 4 friends who want to really get ready for the contest, I offer writing classes and would be happy to work with a small group of students during the summer. You can email me at cbaldwin6@carolina.rr.com for more information.

If you live in or around Cornelius, a colleague of mine and talented writer, Lisa Williams Kline, is also offering workshops for teen writers. The workshops are at the Warehouse Performing Arts Center; scroll down until you see Teen Writers Loft. For more information, you can email Lisa at lisa73154@aol.com.

And if you need further "proof" that your children should be reading over the summer,  this article will convince you.


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One Crazy Summer

When I read historical fiction for intermediate or young adult readers, I look for three things:

1.       1.  A well-written, engaging story that resonates as true to life.

2.       2. Historical information that is subtly woven into the text and increases my knowledge of the time and place.

3.      3.  Poetic language. In other words, good use of figurative language communicated through imagery, metaphors, and similes.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia certainly meets the first two criteria.

Eleven-year-old Delphine is in charge of her two younger sisters as they fly to Oakland, California to visit their estranged mother.  The year is 1968 and they haven’t seen Cecile since she left when Fern, the youngest, was  born seven years ago.

Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern find everything about their mother to be "crazy": her lack of maternal affection, her home, and her preoccupation with keeping her work a secret. Dismissively, the girls are told to spend their days at a Black Panthers summer camp. While there the girls learn about the movement and eventually, about the role that their mother and her poetry play in the organization.

Cecile’s poetry is central to the plot, but ironically, the one thing that I felt the book lacked was poetic language.  Here is an example of powerful imagery that I loved. I wished that Williams-Garcia had included more descriptions like this. Here Delphine is remembering a time back home in New York when she was a young girl:

Although no one thinks I can, I remember a time when smoke filled the house. Not coughing smoke but smoke from a woman’s smooth-voiced singing, with piano, bass, and drums. All together these sounds made smoke. Uncle Darnell would say, “You can’t remember that. You were two. Three,  maybe.” But I do. I still see, hear, and feel bits and flashes. The sounds of musical smoke….And when Uncle played the albums Cecile had left behind—the ones with piano, bass, drums, and smooth-voiced Sarah Vaughan—in my mind, smoke still filled the house. (p.81)

The image of music described as smoke filling a house is beautiful; and one that I will probably remember for months.

Although I expected that there would be some form of reconciliation between the family members before the ending; I was pleasantly surprised with how Williams-Garcia tied up the different story strands. I haven’t come across many books that portray this time period so I think this novel fills a unique void in American historical fiction. Since there is only one minor male character, I think the book will appeal mainly to girls in 4-7^th grade.   

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Octopus and Peacocks

For the last few years I´ve been fortunate enough to visit several European countries. I have found that each time I learn about our destination the same way. I look up some of the places on the internet ahead of time, read the guidebook (usually on the airplane), and then read about the specific destination again just before going there. After the visit, I often reread the guidebook and highlight where we´ve been. Then I write about it in my journal, e-mails,  blogs, or on Facebook.

It takes me that amount of reading and writing for me to assimilate the information and make it my own. My most recent trip was to Spain to see our daughter who has been studying in the northern city of Oviedo. To be honest, the tour book didn´t give this city justice. I expected diversity in the restaurants, but was surprised to also find ancient wells and churches in the middle of new, cosmopolitan streets. In the city park I heard one peacock calling loudly to another sounding a lot like a cat's loud "meow,"

and saw streets filled with pedestrians of all ages who liked to window shop in stores like this:

 I love being able to locate a city like Gijón  on the map, where I tasted the octopus soup (in the metal tureen) which my husband and daughter shared,

was initiated into the ritual of drinking sidra (alcoholic cider) with two of my daughters' friends,,

and saw replicas of Roman (left) and Celtic (right) homes.

I enjoy each of these discoveries.

All of these sensory experiences reinforced what I had read; my travel "classroom" would have been less rich without each one.

My experience is not unlike your students who use multiple learning modalities to process information. We all learn through visual, tactile, auditory, and kinesthetic stimuli.  But as  S.D. Powell, an author with PBS Parents writes, "the more senses or modalities we can activate the more learning will take place."

You probably can't take your students to Europe to reinforce a history or geography lesson. But you can integrate several different modalities into the learning environment of your classroom. Encourage your students to find information in a variety of sources, to listen to music, to cook and taste food from another culture or time period, to . Their "book" learning will be enhanced by their sensory experiences. Then, let them write an e-mail to a relative, post a blog about it, twitter it, or write about it on Facebook. They can write a poem, a free write in their journals,  use it as part of an expository paper, or as something a character in a story enjoys.

As for me, I know I´ll never forget the sounds of peacocks or the taste of octopus soup. And thank you for letting me share them with you.


Oviedo,  sidra, Gijon, Spain,  Octopus, Peacocks, Multiple learning modalities, S.D.Powell, PBS Parents

A Good Cartoon is Worth a Thousand Words

On Wednesday there was an article in the Charlotte Observer about two men who work with the 48-story Duke Energy Center in downtown Charlotte. They are setting up light displays that will coordinate with a variety of holidays and special events.

I thought this was a very appropriate cartoon in today’s paper by Kevin Siers.

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How you can Help the Public Libraries of Charlotte

This column, written by Dannye Romine Powell, was in The Charlotte Observer on May 25. Since Powell eloquently stated what I believe, I am posting it here as a call to action to parents, teachers, and fellow writers. Following her column are the email addresses of the Charlotte City Council members and commissioners. Please take 5 minutes to write to them. Here is Powell's column: 

"'The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things.'

"That line from Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter," reminds me that it's time to talk not of "shoes and ships and sealing wax" or even of "cabbages and kings."

"But of the public libraries of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and whether the City Council and the county commissioners are going to do the right thing to keep 12 remaining branch libraries from closing on July 1.

"Mayor Anthony Foxx had a great idea: How about the city giving the libraries a one-time financial bailout of $2 million?

Bravo!

"No, the city doesn't owe the county a dime. Nor is it in any way obligated.

"But this year, the city's budget is in far better shape than the county's.

"As council member Ed Peacock said, "Under these dire times, how can we not consider lending a hand, throwing them a line on this one occasion."

"Other council members seem to have their ears full of sealing wax on the subject.

"That $2 million wouldn't save the day, of course. We'd still need $1 million in donations from the surrounding towns, and another $5 million from the county.

"High time to beg.

"In the little town of Garner, near Raleigh, the Wake County commissioners threatened to close its Southeast Regional Library, known locally as the Garner Library.

"The townspeople wouldn't hear of it. They showed up 500 strong at two commissioners meetings. Thanks to them - and to "late-appearing revenue" - that library seems to be saved.

"Here in Mecklenburg, we are talking about only enough money to keep the remaining 12 branch libraries open for one more year. Four of the original 16 are already due to close in June.

"Libraries Director Charles Brown told me Monday that if the worst happens, "it will take years, if not decades, to rebuild on what is widely considered to be one of the most successful urban libraries in the nation."

"Stop the worst from happening.

"The City Council's final budget vote is June 7. The county adopts its budget June 15.

"Start e-mailing our City Council members and commissioners today.

Tell them what it means to you to use your neighborhood library's computer for job and college applications, to borrow books you can't afford to buy, to sit in its air-conditioned comfort to feast on magazines.

"Tell them how, thanks to the library, your children now read with flashlights under the covers, how one book has led them to another, until the habit of intellectual adventure has taken firm root. Tell them that libraries teach kids to strong-arm boredom.

"Tell them that some things on the budget, and in life, are negotiable.

"But that the pursuit of knowledge - free, accessible and open to the public - never is."

Mayor Anthony Foxx: afoxx@ci.charlotte.nc.us

Mayor Pro Tem, at large, Susan Burgess: sburg346@aol.com

Patrick Cannon, at large: councilmancannon@gmail.com

David Howard, at large: info@davidhowardclt.com

Edwin Peacock III, at large: edwin@edwinpeacock.com

Patsy Kinsey, District 1: pkinsey@carolina.rr.com

James Mitchell Jr., District 2: JamesDistrict2@aol.com

Warren Turner, District 3: district3_turner@yahoo.com

Michael Barnes, District 4: barnesdistrict4@aol.com

Nancy Carter, District 5: n3157w@yahoo.com

Andy Dulin, District 6: andy@voteandydulin.com

Warren Cooksey, District 7: warren@warrencooksey.com

Board Of County Commissioners

Jennifer Roberts, chairman: jennifer.roberts@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Harold Cogdell Jr., vice chairman: harold@consultmyattorney.com

Dan Murrey, at large: daniel.murrey@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Karen Bentley, District 1: karen.bentley@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Vilma Leake, District 2: vilma.leake@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

George Dunlap, District 3: george.dunlap@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Dumont Clarke, District 4: dumontclarke@mvalaw.com

Neil Cooksey, District 5: neil.cooksey@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Bill James, District 6: wjames@carolina.rr.com

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