Comfort and Encouragement

I have some good news to go with all the bad news. It's not enough, but it's something.

We talked about Irene Morgan, Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin this week. Our main focus was on 15 year-old Claudette. Months before Mrs. Parks made headlines, Claudette made a similar decision on a public bus. She was pulled off of the bus, insulted and humiliated before being put in a jail cell.

Phillip Hoose's book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice, often uses direct transcripts of his interviews with Ms. Colvin. She's endearing, quick and honest in recalling her teen years. You cannot read this book without admiring her courage and her drive. And when she's frightened and thrown in jail, you just wish you could go back in time to 1955 and tell her that help is on the way.

Students identified cause and effect relationships in the second half of chapter three and all of chapter four. Then they wrote a letter to 15 year-old Claudette to comfort and encourage her. The assignment was to imagine that their letters would be in the jail cell for her to find. This was to practice connecting word choice to tone as well as to show their understanding of what they read.

And...it was to practice empathy.

What a week it has been and continues to be. It's made me reflect on what goes on in my classroom. There are skills that I am required to teach, and there are others that are just a good idea to include. I am at a loss sometimes for understanding the widening divide in the world outside our classroom window. It's easy to feel powerless in today's climate of fear, but I need to be positive about the time I spend with kids and how I can enrich their lives while we are together.

No matter what, developing empathy is always time well spent.

During the summer that separated Claudette's and Mrs. Parks' acts of disobedience a lot transpired, but Emmett Till's murder and the head-spinning speedy trial of the two men who were very likely the ringleaders of his death took place. (I only say "very likely" because they were found innocent, but I'm confident that enough of the truth will out in the future to indicate their guilt.) I have written at length in previous posts about Till's death at 14 years-old. It's unsettling in every way imaginable.

But is it? There are people who still see humankind in a very divided way. There are people who still consider some people as "other." I'm talking about grown people, not the children in my classroom. We expect that children may need time to grow their perceptions of humanity, but we hope that adults are opening their hearts and minds more each day. Right? Some days are downright disheartening. I wonder what the national reaction would be if Till were murdered in 2014. I used to think I knew.

It's been a tonic to read these letters to young Claudette in the midst of all of the ugliness of the week. Today, a student asked if he could write Ms. Colvin...now. I had let the children know that she is still alive. Sure. Sure you can write Ms. Colvin. If you choose to take that option, I said. I am mailing your letters. The first boy wrote something quickly and handed it in.

But I want to talk to you about the second boy.

A second boy thought about this possibility. "Do you have a Bible?" he asked. I didn't, but I said that he could use the computer to pull up what he needed. He was having trouble finding it, and I asked him what he was searching for. "The 23 Psalm," he said. "Claudette said that she was saying that to herself over and over." I pulled it up, printed it out and handed it over.

He cut it out carefully to fit at the bottom of his letter. I wanted to cry at the huge spaces in this child's heart that he keeps open for people. This kid, I know, has a heart with an expanse to stretch between two goalposts. I guarantee that's exactly what it looks like in there....never-ending game time and yards of vibrant green grass.

Teen boys often frighten people for the simple fact that they are teen boys. I wish those people could see all of these glimmers of love and goodness that flicker inside. And teen boys grow into men who still have that capacity for tenderness.

When I see these boys later in the halls of the high school, I wonder if strangers will recognize these same vulnerabilities their teachers and families see in them when they are out in the world.

Will the world welcome them as we have?

I don't think I'm the only person with that question on my mind tonight.

And I don't think I'm the only person drawing lines between causes and effects.

Teachers can model empathy as well as all of the other qualities that make a successful reader, writer, mathematician, scientist, historian, athlete, musician...the list goes on and on.

Developing empathy means that we are always a work in progress, and it's okay to share that truth with children too. Learning and growing should only stop with our last breath.

And let's hope there are many more days until that day arrives.

Let's hope that for everyone.

Teens Love Lucy Too

I introduced I Love Lucy to my students for two main reasons.   The words "cultural literacy" buzzed in our county after one particular staff development.   We also needed to contrast our study of dramatic irony in "The Diary of Anne Frank."  

Cultural literacy is the idea that people communicating within a particular society will have a richer experience if they are "in the know" when it comes to allusions that are frequently made during conversations or in print.   For example, within a week of students starting Lord of the Flies, a book that was just days ago out of their consciousness, they usually catch a reference to the classic on television.   Studying Anne Frank has a similar effect.   Now when I introduce Anne to students, many have never heard of her before and are a little steamed when I "ruin the story" for them by revealing that she does not survive the Holocaust.   In no time, they will see a news story that mentions her or a televised show that does the same.   In short, cultural literacy is what we think that everybody knows within a society...like Anne Frank or I Love Lucy.

Dramatic irony occurs when one or more characters do not know something that the audience and other characters do know.   Sometimes only the audience knows the piece of information.   Whether we are reading from the play or the Diary, when Anne makes plans for her future, we get a sinking feeling in our hearts.   She looks forward to letting her children read books by her favorite author; we know that there will be no children for Anne.   Dramatic irony is also what makes us edgy when we watch horror films.   We know what's behind that door.   Don't open it!   We know when our hero is running towards danger, making the tension unbearable.  

Let's talk comic relief though.   Shakespeare knew that we needed it, and he was right.   I'm a fan of classic sitcoms as a regular viewer and as a teacher.   In 22 minutes, you can usually get a light plot line from start to finish.   Depending on the episode, you can focus on just about any literary element you choose.   Most literature books are not known for their rip-roaring humor, so you might simply need a break from a dark mood.   (Give me a second while I come up with a companion piece for "The Tell-Tale Heart.")

The entire series of I Love Lucy is built on dramatic irony.   Think of how many shows are constructed around the premise of Lucy keeping a secret from Ricky.   When "Lucy is Enceinte" begins, we see that Lucy is late in a pregnancy, but we are supposed to go along with her mysterious complaints of feeling "blah" until she gets word from her doctor that she is pregnant.   She wants to tell Ricky the good news privately, just the way she dreamed she would.   Comedy ensues.   Of course, Ricky does not find out that they are expecting until the last three minutes of the show.    All of the laughs stem from Ethel, Fred and the audience knowing something that Ricky does not know.

This is one of the best-loved sitcom episodes of all time.   Sure the Ricardos were characters, but Lucy and Desi were real as was this pregnancy.   You can see the lines of truth and fiction blur when Ricky sings to Lucy in the last scene, and teens respond to that.   After all, it's true love....even without the vampires.   On a side note, the word "pregnant" does not appear in the script.   This episode is a great opportunity to talk about word choice for writers and how purpose, audience and societal expectations can influence craft.

And, yes, my I Love Lucy DVD collection from season two was in my classroom when the storm hit.   Thanks to a generous friend of a friend, Jacqueline Rose, I now have replacements!

Highlights

For those of you joining us from another state or another country, Virginia's 8th graders take two state assessments in language arts.   We administer the writing test in early March.   Students must pass a multiple choice portion that focuses most heavily on editing, but includes other parts of the writing process.   They must also write a short paper that is evaluated in three domains: composing, written expression and usage/mechanics.   It's the essay portion that I want to talk with you about today.

A great tool that Virginia's Department of Education made available to teachers and students is the NCS Mentor Program.   It's a collection of scored student essays that were written for the writing assessment.   You are able to show students what passing and failing papers look like.   Essays have been scored in each of the three domains, so if you are giving a lesson on written expression, you can zero in on papers that illuminate those techniques well.  

My favorite part of the NCS Mentor is the color-coded overlay feature.   If you choose that option in viewing a paper, you get to see a student's essay evaluated with annotations that are linked to a color.  

• Red = Central Idea
• Green= Elaboration
• Blue= Unity
• Purple= Organization

To see this free program for yourself, visit http://perspective.pearsonaccess.com/perspective/appmanager/va/educator

I wanted to translate the color coding idea into something manageable for my writing classroom.   Two of the materials that I require for class are pink and green highlighters.   I decided to equate pink with "pause" and green with "go."  

Here's what I know about 8th grade writers.   Many students don't really know when or how they got it right or wrong when it comes to writing.   Often, they don't have the right vocabulary to pinpoint what works and doesn't work in their essay.   It's like looking at a great piece of art when you don't have the language to evaluate it.   Your gut tells you it's great, but what techniques is the artist using to please your eye and move your heart?   In addition to giving students the reasons why part of a piece does not work, we need to give them the language to explain why other parts do.   For example, "You are right to organize your story chronologically, but your word choice is flat and the lack of elaboration does not let the reader visualize what is happening."   This book can help you comment on student work http://amzn.com/0439796024.

Where do the highlighters come in?   When students are revising, I ask them to identify their best parts in green and the parts that need help in pink.   Sometimes when I am evaluating a paper, I use the highlighters as well.  

The highlighting task can have a smaller scope.   For instance, if you are teaching students the beauty of word choice, ask them to highlight their vivid language in green before turning their paper in to you.   If they are unable to make any highlights, they have already discovered that they do not have mastery of the skill.   They should revise before turning the paper in to you.   It's so important for writers to critique their own work.   Every now and then we do some peer editing, but that's not a realistic scenario, is it?   And peer revising is just too much to ask.   Really.   Writing is work.   Writing is craft.   Expect to sweat a little.

Highlighters, colored pencils, pens, crayons...it doesn't really matter what students use.  

Also, if you administer the VA writing SOL, check the directions.   This year students were allowed one colored pencil to use for editing and revising their draft...not on the final though.   It looks like the DOE caught on to the good idea they shared with teachers through the NCS Mentor.   And guess what?   Students used those pencils.   What's better than giving students techniques that they can carry with them throughout their writing lives?

For an in-depth look at the new curriculum framework for 8th grade writing, look for pages 73-79 after you click "6-8" at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/review.shtml