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The House

There are lots of students who don’t like school. As a teacher, I am a bit sensitive when I hear or read complaints. When I read Sue Grafton’s G is for Gumshoe, I was not surprised to find this passage:

          “How’d you manage to go to school?”

          “I didn’t if I could help it. I hated school. I couldn’t see the point. To me, it all looked like preparation for something I didn’t want to do anyway. I was never going to work in a feed store so why did I have to know how many bushels in a peck? Is that an issue that comes up for you? Two trains leaving different cities at sixty miles an hour? I couldn’t sit still for junk like that. Nowadays they call kids like me hyperactive. All those rules and regulations, just for the sake of it. I couldn’t stand it, I never did graduate.”

As teachers, we are always faced with making school important and purposeful. Some students need a lot of convincing, some don’t. I remember reading a 2003 copy of Voices from the Middle, in particular an article called “A Sense of Story” by the much-loved Young Adult author, Avi. He said, “In my office, I have a photograph of a blind boy. The boy is without hands or arms. War did that to him. But the photo shows him reading a Braille book – with his tongue.”

For the students who do need convincing, there are a number of things we can do. One of those things is to chose relevant reading material. Here’s one example:

For most middle school students, a driver’s license is somewhere in the foreseeable future. As I suggested in a recent entry (Reading Skills – Use the Phone Book), students can immediately grasp the value of something like a phone book or a Driver’s Handbook. This later book provides an excellent opportunity to teach the reading of symbols as well as how to read pictures/diagrams.

I attended a workshop in Calgary where two young teachers showed this old dog a few new tricks. They used a story called “the House.” Initially, they asked the audience members to read the story and underline whatever was deemed important. They didn’t explain in detail, just asked us to note the “important” parts.

When we were finished, they asked us to re-read “The House” and underline anything that would be important if we were robbers. Afterwards, they asked us to do a final reading and underline anything important to a student who was thinking about skipping school.

I wasn’t sure who to credit for the story (and I still don’t) but I found an interesting site for you to try the same exercise. Just click on this link – http://www.learner.org/workshops/teachreading35/session3/intpop.html

If you’d prefer the story by itself, here it is:

The two boys ran until they came to the driveway.  “See, I told you today was good for skipping school,” said Mark.  “Mom is never home on Thursday,” He added.  Tall hedges hid the house from the road so the pair strolled across the finely landscaped yard.  “I never knew your place was so big,” said Pete.  “Yeah, but it’s nicer now than it used to be since Dad had the new stone siding put on and added the fireplace.”

There were front and back doors and a side door that led to the garage, which was empty except for three parked 10-speed bikes.  They went in the side door, Mark explaining that it was always open in case his younger sisters got home earlier than their mother.

Pete wanted to see the house so Mark started with the living room.  It, like the rest of the downstairs, was newly painted.  Mark turned on the stereo, the noise of which worried Pete.  “Don’t worry, the nearest house is a quarter mile away,” Mark shouted.  Pete felt more comfortable observing that no houses could be seen in any direction beyond the huge yard.

The dining room, with all the china, silver, and cut glass, was no place to play so the boys moved into the kitchen where they made sandwiches.  Mark said they wouldn’t go to the basement because it had been damp and musty ever since the new plumbing had been installed.

“This is where my Dad keeps his famous paintings and his coin collection,” Mark said as they peered into the den.  Mark bragged that he could get spending money whenever he needed it since he’d discovered that his Dad kept a lot in the desk drawer.

There were three upstairs bedrooms.  Mark showed Pete his mother’s closet that was filled with furs and the locked box that held her jewels.  His sisters’ room was uninteresting except for the color TV that Mark carried to his room.  Mark bragged that the bathroom in the hall was his since one had been added to his sisters’ room for their use.  The big highlight in his room, though, was a leak in the ceiling where the old roof had finally rotted.

If we can persuade students that what they read is important and purposeful, we are two steps closer to engagement.

thanks to ciker.com for the clip art

I’m not sure when I adopted the Rule of Two but it works for me. It’s simple: whenever I travel from Point A to Point B in a school, I pick up two bits of litter. I try not to get more than two, and sometimes it’s not really garbage but pens, pencils, pencil crayons, library books, assignments or whatever is decorating the hallway floor.

If the object I retrieve has any value, I try to see it finds a suitable place. If it’s garbage, it goes into a garbage pail; if it’s recyclable, then a recycling container. I don’t promote the idea very much, and I probably should. On some occasions, I will be standing right in front of a student when I bend over to pick up the litter. With some regularity, I will say, “Oh, you thought you were going to help clean up your school but I beat you to it.” The student responses are varied.

As I said as the outset, it’s a simple idea. Sadly, I seldom get to Point B empty-handed. But as my old granny used to say, “Many hands make light work.” If more people could adopt the Rule of Two, we might have cleaner schools.

Oh yeah, the Rule of Two is not restricted to schools.

Thanks to ciker.com for the images

A simple idea – but it’s worked for me. Ask your class for one word. Suppose they say Christmas. As you stand at the front of the room, tell them you will use the given word to begin a Word Association exercise, a type of exercise for the mind similar to exercising in the gym.

Here’s how it would work for me: I’d say Christmas makes me think of presents which makes me think of ribbon which makes me think of candy which makes me think of sweets which makes me think of sugar which makes me think of coffee which makes me think of cup which makes me think of dishwasher which makes me think of soap which makes me think of shower which makes me think of rain which makes me think of mud which makes me think of rubber boots which makes me think of socks which makes me think of my dresser drawer which makes me think of dust bunnies . . .

When I’m done, I often go back and explain some of the crazier leaps that have occurred e.g. I don’t have dust bunnies in my sock drawer but the vacuum doesn’t always find its way beneath the dresser so there I do find dust bunnies, even dust grizzlies.

The next step is to set the students to work for 30 seconds. Because I have found this type of exercise to be helpful in gathering ideas, in unblocking the uncreative mind, and in having a bit of fun, I ask the students to delegate a page in their binders for these 30 second challenges. This also allows them to see if they get better over time. And off we go for 30 seconds.

When time allows, a bit of sharing can be interesting. Sometimes it’s fun to buddy up and play a kind of Word Association Ping Pong – you say a word, then I say a word. On other occasions, I ask the kids to do the Word Association thing for 30 seconds using only tic marks to note how many words they can think of. At the end, they are asked to jot down any particularly memorable words.

Rocket science? Hardly. But as we know, students are blessed with different talents. Some of our kids don’t think they can think. This exercise often surprises them. Frequently, those who have deemed themselves to be shining with less wattage have shone through.

Figures of Speech

An acronym – S.H.A.M.P.O. – can be used to remember what I would call “The Top Six” figures of speech. Several earlier entries have mentioned them (see Poetry and Song – Figures of Speech) but here’s the entire list with definitions, pronunciations, and examples.

Definition: A “figure” of “speech” creates pictures (figures) using words (speech). An author can create a special effect or an image through the unordinary use of words.

If an author’s words are successful, the reader will create or paint a picture in his mind of the scene the author describes.

A number of methods can be used to bring words to life. The most common figures of speech can be remembered using the acronym S.H.A.M.P.O. You may be able to “clean up your writing” with a little SHAMPO.

***the pronunciation symbols have been taken from Dictionary.com. Click to go to that site and hear the word pronounced.

Simile (sim – uh – lee) – makes a direct comparison between two things using the words like, as or than.

 The people stood like statues.

 He was as restless as a caged lion.

 She was madder than a rabid dog.

 The flashlight moved through the interior like a searchlight in a prison. (, “Out of the Shadows” by Sigmund Brouwer, p. xiii)

 The chance of receiving a fine was more remote than being slapped across the face by the schizophrenic woman playing the ukelele . . . (Garneau Block by Todd Babiak, p. 89)

The movement of the flashlight is being compared to the movement of a prison searchlight. The comparison is direct because the reader is told that both lights move back and forth through the darkness.

Hyperbole (hahy – pur – buh – lee) – an obvious exaggeration that is often humorous.

He is so thin he only has one stripe in his striped pyjamas.

 I was so hungry I could have eaten fifty pancakes.

 At that moment, David wanted to be in a hot-air balloon floating over the river valley. He wanted to be stuck in traffic on Quesnel Bridge in the middle of January. David wanted to be sick with avian flu, back teaching high-school algebra, . . . (Garneau Block by Todd Babiak. P. 108)

“. . . her implication was less subtle than the working end of a baseball bat.” (Out of the Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer, p. 16)

Numbers are often used in hyperboles. (one stripe, fifty pancakes) Frequently, similes and hyperboles are mixed together – a direct comparison is made but exaggeration and humor are also used.

Loud Fred made more noise than sixty cement mixers mixing bowling balls.

 Alliteration (uh – lit – uh – rey – shuh´n) – the repetition of the first consonant sound in a group of words to create a musical effect.

Fat Phillip always fought fiercely.

 Crazy Karl clobbered Kondo the conqueror.

 The world was crumbling, was nothing more than rubble and ruins, yet they remained the same. (Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, p. 77)

I’m learning. The mick from the lanes of Limerick letting the envy hang out. (Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, p.243)

 Not all words have to begin with the same consonant sound (e.g. Kondo the conqueror). The idea is that the overall effect is musical.

It is the sound that is repeated – not necessarily the letters. The “f” sound can be made with “f’s” or “ph’s”. The “k” sound can be made with “k’s” or “c’s” or even “q’s”.

It’s a fine point, but repeated initial vowel sounds are not technically “alliteration.”

Agnes Aardvark always ate apples.

 The term “assonance” has been reserved to describe the repetition of the internal repetition of vowels sounds (as in the long o sounds in lonely  and  goalie) so what the term for the initial repetition of vowel sounds remains a mystery to this author.

Metaphor (met – uh – fawr, -fer) – an indirect comparison between two things. Sometimes one thing is said to be another. Metaphors are indirect because the reader must determine how the two objects are similar.

Her ski jump nose was her most obvious feature.

 He had fists of iron.

Fear is a journey, a terrible journey, but sorrow is at least an arriving. (Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton p. 140)

Mammy was now the curator of their lives’ museum and she, Laila, was a mere visitor.

(A Thousand Spendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini p. 128)

Personification (per – son – uh – fi – key – shuh´n) – giving life to a non-living (inanimate) thing.

E.g. The trees in fall put on their coats or red and gold.

The trees are spoken of as if they had the human quality of being able to put on a coat.

The words sprang out at them.

 The table collected junk.

 Blood crawled over the tops of his fingers. (Out of the Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer, p. 295)

The train shudders to a stop and exhales.(Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen, 1^st page of Chapter 3).

Onomatopoeia (on – uh – mat – uh – pee – uh, mat – uh) – words that imitate sounds. A word is created to represent a sound.

The eggs schlooped then sizzled as they landed in the hot fat.

 The train poofed and puffed its way up the hill.

 DOOOMM, HSST, HNGH, BWAK, ZZHHH (Dragon Ball Z by Akira Toriyama. Pages 88, 89)

So the salesman jangled and clanged his huge leather kit . . . (Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, p. 5)

The Topic Sentence

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There’s a rolling cart stacked with new phone books in the Eastview Middle School staffroom. Brand new phone books mean a boatload of soon-to-be problematic old phone books in the school . . . not to mention all the other old phone books in the city. What to do?

I’ve been in the habit of snagging about 15 – 20 of the old books to keep as a classroom set. Thank goodness the shelving at the back of the room accommodates lots of books. Why do I want so many phone books?

1. Local research – when we write essays, I want my students to write about things of immediate interest. Many of the topics chosen involve some local person who can act as an expert. The phone books usually act as a resource to find a person or business who can shed light on a particular topic.

I’m a local boy – born and raised here in beautiful Red Deer, Alberta. Most often, when a student wants to know who to ask about a topic, I know who to contact. But not always. A student wanted to write about playing pool. Well, I was stuck behind the eight ball on that one. So we went to the phone book. The student and I used the long cord on the classroom phone, stepped into the hallway, and I called a local billiard parlor. The student was too shy to do it himself so we tag teamed and made a connection. The parlor patron was a wealth of knowledge.

The phone books are only a year old and most often contain sufficiently up-to-date information. As a resource source, they’re great.

2. Skimming exercises – I often say we don’t exercise the brain. Gym classes do warm-ups and cool downs; the math people have their Mad Minutes. What do Language Arts classes have – weekly spelling tests? Please.

Skimming is a life skill. There are numerous occasions where one needs to skim for a specific piece of information, to glance quickly over a story or article or document looking for a particular something. Yet we seldom practice the skill. As always, I begin with small steps – looking for the more obvious before moving on the harder to find.

Especially in those awkward minutes at the end of a class – too late to start something new but enough time to do something useful – the phone book can offer a reasonable time filler. Have students share a phone book and try some of these challenges:

a. Have everyone open to a certain page in the white pages. Call out a name from that page and ask for the phone number – or for the digit in the hundreds place (or whatever). As soon as students find the answer, they jot it down, flip the phone book over and stand up. I wait until a handful of students are standing.

I usually start by asking for business names that are bolded and in yellow. The kids learn to skim only those names. Then I might ask for simply bolded names. As you can see from the picture below, I might ask kids to skim for bolded numbers and then ask for the matching name. As the kids get better, I ask harder questions. Of all the Andersons on page 5, what’s the address for R & S Anderson? What apartment does F. Antoni live in?

Double click on the pictures to enlarge them

What’s the motivation? Often the prize is recognition – we were first or we were among the first. Sometimes I hand out coupons for Draw Day – that’s another story.

OTHER PARTS OF THE PHONE BOOK

These days, many will argue their smart phones replace the phone book in its entirety. I disagree. I can find something faster in the phone book – when I know how to use it – than I can on my smart phone. If in doubt, why not challenge your students to a race. I think the phone book will win – but the smart phones can be used to get directions to a business either through Google Maps or  with a GPS system.

The index to the Yellow Pages is a part of the phone book many students have never seen. If you show them how to use it, they might be more likely to give it a try. I like to try a list like this to get started:

Goldsmith

Hammock

Hearing Therapy

Ice Climbing

Jet Skis

Manicure

Mini-bikes

Set half of the class on the task of looking up this information directly in the Yellow Pages. Direct the other half to find this information by beginning in the Index to the Yellow Pages. See what happens.

To see what else the phone book offers, guide your class through some of the other parts of the book – the part that shows emergency numbers (poison centre, police, public utilities, shelters, hospitals), area codes, coupons, what numbers are in your local calling area, etc. Just flip through the book and let the students point out aspects of the book they didn’t know existed.

As a final thought, I like to cruise the Yellow Pages to compare ads. Which ones stand out? Why? What cool and interesting slogans do some companies have?

As I said at the outset, the phone book can be a useful class resource and an interesting way to spend those awkward minutes near the end of a class.

The original Mackenzie Middle Years Alphabet is going into its second printing. Student art is needed to replace Jock’s renderings of the A and the Z on the cover – ergo a contest.

Have your students color either or both of the letters (with pencil crayons, felts, paints, wood free or wax crayons). Scan the results and send them to me before January 31, 2012. Send me an email and I will share the letters with you via Google Docs.

Oh, the prize? Why the best prize of all – fame and glory. The two winning entries will be displayed on the booklet cover with the student and school name.

Use those crazy moments between now and Christmas break to get creative. Don’t forget to check out the iMovies on the Mackenzie Middle Years Alphabet page. Good luck . . . and thanks!

P.S. Here’s the old cover:

Some time today, Visitor # 100 000 will visit this site. Is it you? Were you close? Is the site useful? Could it be better? Comments, though infrequent, are most welcome. Have a great day.

When students are engaged in creating something useful, the chances for success multiply. The iMovie shows all the necessary steps to create a paper cube or balloon from a piece of 81/2 by 11 inch paper. Using Christmas wrap (squares of any size) can result in some awesome decorations.

Paper Balloons

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