Poetry and Pantomime

We spent a lot of time talking about history this week. We discussed big concepts such as civil disobedience, equality, freedom, nonviolence, peace, and love. We marveled at the words and songs from the inauguration.

In Reader's Theater Club on Thursday, we combined techniques from reader's theater and pantomime to make the images from Elizabeth Alexander's Inaugural Poem come alive for us. Many who know me know that I love poetry, and I love using poetry with children.

"Praise Song for the Day" carries many concrete images about our history and about where we may be going. Some of the lines from the poem were easy to put to movement such as:

Someone is trying to make music somewhere,
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

Other sections were more difficult such as:

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

We all put our creative minds to the task together. Full of energy and full of passion, the students moved poetically to match the words of Alexander's poem with their hands, facial expressions, and bodies.

Friday Quotes

When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young. ~ Maya Angelou ~

When I got [my] library card, that was when my life began.
~ Rita Mae Brown ~

In a very real sense, people who have read good literature
have lived more than people who cannot or will not read.
It is not true that we have only one life to lead; if we can read,
we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.
~ S. I. Hayakawa ~

Our Big Words

Words are so important. Whether we write them, hear them, read them, or sign them, they are central to our lives, our work, our play, and our dreams.

With the first and second grade students, I shared the book Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier. (This is my favorite book about MLK). We discussed how Dr. King loved learning and using language and how his "big words" changed the world. The students made their own books of Big Words by listening to the story and choosing words that seemed important to them. Finally, we sat together on the carpet and shared our word choices with each other. Some of the words the students chose were:

Peace
Love
War
Bible
Together
Equal
Freedom
Hate
Movement
Rights
Marching

I think they understood the lesson.

So Much Going On

Looking at the photo above, you might think it's a collage of photos of children reading. In itself, this is amazing. But, having been with these children all day long, I see many different things going on. I see solitary, individual, comfortable reading on the floor. I see a Kindergarten student reading a book to her classmates-- playing librarian. I see two pre-K students sharing a book together-- reading even though they don't really know how to read-- making up their own words to the illustrations. I see two third graders trying to decide which two books of the same series they will check out and read simultaneously. I see two girls reading a magazine together-- reading magazines is one of the best ways to get children reading. I see groups of children reading on their own-- trying to focus on the words on the page and not the sounds in the room. I see a boy who could tune out a tornado if the book is good enough. I see groups of children with smiles on their faces, ideas popping in their brains, and questions formulating. So much is going on.

Celebrating Reading

Last night in Arkansas, my niece read Green Eggs and Ham to my sister and brother-in-law. At the same time, my son read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to me. My son and niece are both relatively new readers, so every word, and every book is special. Welcome to the world of reading!

Later that night, I started reading Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis's third book of the Narnia series, to my nine-year-old daughter. Many parents stop reading to their children when they begin reading fluently to themselves, but I want to encourage the act of reading-out-loud and sharing books together to all ages! My daughter might not read this book on her own because of the difficult vocabulary and sentence structure, but she is ready to hear it and can comprehend and enjoy the story. I explain vocabulary as we go along, and this increases her ability to read something more difficult on her own the next time. Besides, I want to read the Narnia series again! It is such a magical story that will keep us occupied for many afternoons and nights to come.

During literature connection yesterday, third through sixth graders checked out books for the new year and worked in small groups on creating a timeline of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life. Different books about Dr. King were also available on the tables. For a generation of children who did not live during the time of Dr. King's life, these books are windows into his life and the world that was. For a generation of children who are now reading and learning, these books may touch their lives in ways that we will not know for years to come.

Reading is such a hopeful part of life, and I hope that you celebrate it every day!

Random Acts of Reading

From today at St. Therese. . . Happy New Year. . . Happy New Reading!

MLK and Inauguration Websites

A great resource for learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is:

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/resources/index.php

I was looking for a full text of the "Dream" speech and discovered that and so much more.

Here is another Dr. King website:

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

With the presidential inauguration approaching on January 20, 2009, I found this wonderful online resource from the Library of Congress for learning about past inaugurations. Check out this site for lots of information!

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/inaug/inaug.html