Day 4: Pulling Lesson Books and Stepping Up!

Today, my first goal was to observe the Cindy's lessons so that I could replicate them later with the repeat grade-levels. The kindergarten class read Dear Bunny, one of the books I was looking at teaching (!!! Yay! I'm on the right track!), and Cindy focused largely on plot and the elements on each page. A little later, the first grade class came through, and, again, Cindy was reading another book I was planning, Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink! (This is super encouraging!) When Cindy sat down with the book, a visitor came to the library that needed Cindy, so Toni began to walk toward the reading center. Instead, Cindy called ME up to read! Even though I hadn't read the entirety of this book, I knew that I should use voices, point out key plot/thematic ideas, and perhaps any images or details on the pages themselves. The kids were seemingly unaffected at changing teachers to someone they didn't know, and, thankfully, stories have pages that you read until you reach the next one. I thought, if nothing else, you just read the next page and discuss at the end! But, the students' reactions and engagement (or lack thereof) made it clear what we should talk about as we read or what we could continue past. This group of students was a bit unsettled and eager to share personal stories (I think in part due to a sub for the day and from Cindy's assessment that the homeroom is typically less structured), but stayed on topic and on theme with comments and questions. I think the two goals I have for the next lesson I teach are: (1) practice and execute proper timing; and (2) to maintain more awareness of student behavior while leading the lesson. The lesson was comfortable, if spontaneous!

The second goal for today was to pull books for leading my own lessons for the remainder of this week and for next week. I wanted to focus on the two major celebrations in February before the Book Fair comes next Thursday: Black History Month and Valentine's Day. I was looking for stories that show love in diverse ways and how diverse ethnic groups (specifically African-Americans) show those elements of love (acceptance, friendship, supporting one another). I first found a great resource through Scholastic that recommends books based on age level and topics. This is where I found both of the books that Cindy read with the classes today. The lists for Black History Month on Scholastic were excellent for understanding slavery and Civil Rights in America, but lacked the connection I hoped to make with Valentine's being more than just for romantic love.

I had seen an NCTE article pop up on my Facebook feed last night for an initiative/program from NCTE called the National African American Read-In. This seems to be a program that you can really build to a school-wide, month-long initiative within school communities to create a focus and culture of learning about Black History Month. While my own time at Ravenel is not suited for this sort of event, especially as any more sensitive, political, or otherwise specialized topic would need a thorough understanding of unwritten rules and cultural negotiations of a community, the AARI seems like an initiative backed with thorough resources, research, and councils to suggest reasonable and acceptable plans of action. That being said, I did look to the resources to find a booklist of committee favorites and young children's recommendations to add to my list of potential books.

From both topics, I have narrowed down my choices to the following books. I did not include some of the great books on this list because I am only teaching K4, K, and 1st grades. There seem to be many books of more depth and message, but are above the understanding level of the younger children. This is my working list (in no order) to potentially teach this/next week, with citations at the end.

Black History Month

Two Friends--Dean Robbins

Henry’s Freedom Box--Kadir Nelson (3.6)

Of Thee I Sing--Barack Obama

Martin’s Big Words--Doreen Rappaport (3.4)

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom--Carole Boston Weatherford (4.0)

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down--Andrea Davis Pinkney (5.2)

More Than Anything Else--Marie Bradby (3.3)

Something Beautiful--Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Momma, Where Are You From?--Marie Bradby

Both/Sorta

In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall--Folami Abiade, Dinah Johnson, et. al.

Just the Two of Us--Will Smith (2.0)

Valentine’s Day

Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink --Diane De Groat

The Biggest Valentine Ever--Steven Kroll

Dear Bunny--Michaela Morgan
What is Love? --Etan Boritzer

Black Caucus Members. (N.D.) National African American Read-In: Supplemental List for Young Children (18th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/Action/AARI/Young_Children.pdf

Book Lists & Recommendations for Ages 6-7. (2017). Scholastic Parents: Raising readers & learners. Retrieved from www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/book-lists-and-recommendations/ages-6-7

National African American Read-In [PDF]. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/Action/AARI/FrequentlyReadBooks2013.pdf