Bookworm » School

Nice work if you can get it

Julie — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:47:17 +0000

Since I’m not doing the school newsletter any more I figured I ought to volunteer for something at the kids’ school because, you know, an extra supply of brownie points never hurts. Not wanting to overextend myself, I chose to do this lunchtime enrichment thing where, during the cold winter months, parents run small activity groups as an alternative to the post-lunch recess. Half an hour a week for six weeks? Sure, I can do that! Typical activities are arts & crafts, board games, science, origami, knitting, yoga… whatever parents are interested in. Well, you know what I’m interested in — I offered to do “quiet reading.” Ha ha! Nine fourth-grade girls (including Lena, of course) signed up.

At first I had a vague idea that I might take a poll and see if the girls would be interested in all reading the same book and discussing it. However, within two minutes I realized it wouldn’t be necessary. Each little bookworm had brought her own book, and for half an hour there was utter silence in the room as we all sat and read. We were all startled when the bell rang.

I had planned to bring Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, which I am still loving although it’s taking me a while to get through. Part of the problem is that the battle chapters are just unbelievably gruesome. Still, that was my plan, but then the mail came just as I was about to leave, and in it was the latest issue of One Story. And the one story in it was by Andrea Barrett. Andrea Barrett! Who writes historical fiction about biologists! What a perfect break from Captain Corelli!

NOT! Barrett’s story, “Archangel,” turned out to be a totally gruesome WWII story. Different front (Russia instead of Greece) but equally gruesome. I don’t recommend it. I do, however, recommend “quiet reading” with fourth-grade bookworms if you’re looking to rack up some brownie points with the PTO.

Humility

Julie — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 10:53:00 +0000

This morning Lena was talking about studying phonics in school. They were supposed to figure out the beginning and ending sounds of words. “And you know what, Mom?” she said proudly. “There was something that only Miss Smith and I knew, out of the whole class!”

That’s my girl, I thought smugly, puffing up my narcissistic chest and basing my self-esteem upon my children’s achievements. Yep, my kid is the smartest in the whole class!

“Yeah,” said Lena. “Only Miss Smith and I knew that the ending sound of brass is the a-word!”

More on the fabulous teacher

Julie — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 22:35:00 +0000

Ok, so this is fourth grade. Today for homework they had to read a short story called “Planting Things.” It was about the old man who loves to garden. “Mr. Willis was not a practical gardener, so it did not matter to him whether or not he could eat what he grew, or even if what he planted grew badly or not at all. Mr. Willis just enjoyed planting things.” His wife is ill, and has lost her zest for life, but he cares for her tenderly at home. One of the plants on his porch is a Swedish ivy, and it is a wonderfully hardy, healthy plant. One day he discovers that a robin has built a nest in the ivy plant. (“He was glad he was on good terms with God, in case it should be a sign to him!”) He is amazed and delighted, and tries to persuade his wife to get out of bed and come to the porch to see the nest with its eggs. She is pleased to hear about it, but too tired to get out of bed to see it. All summer long, Mr. Willis watches over the birds and the eggs. At one point Mrs. Willis does get out of bed to see the nest. Watching the eggs, Mr. Willis remembers what it was like when he and his wife were expecting their child. “The world had slowed down for them, and the days had been long and full of conversation.” Fall comes, the baby birds fly away, and Mr. Willis carefully removes the nest. In the spring he will put the nest in his apple tree because he is a man who enjoys planting things.

They also had a short article, “All About Baby Robins,” detailing the life cycle of robins; size, color, number of eggs, incubation period, typical diet, etc.

The assignment: first, three multiple choice comprehension questions (Q: How are Mr. and Mrs. Willis different from each other? A: Mr. Willis is interested in life and in all sorts of things. Mrs. Willis seems to have given up on life.) Then, “write a paragraph explaining how the title of the story tells us about the kind of person Mr. Willis is. Be sure to show examples from the story.” And finally, an essay question, with two pages of blank lines for the answer: “Write about the two passages. Tell about connections that show how the two passages are alike and how they are different. Also discuss the ways in which an informational article is different from fiction. Be sure to use examples from each text.”

Now is it just me, or is that a pretty sophisticated assignment — and a pretty sophisticated story — for nine year olds? I am just so delighted. We’ll make English majors out of them yet!

And a little addendum: Joey zipped through the assignment with no parental help. But clearly he needs parental help in the Inappropriate Humor department. He finished his essay with this paragraph:

The difference between FIC and Non FIC is that non fiction is true, and fiction is not. If you wanted to learn about sheep, you wouldn’t read “Larry the Lovesick Lamb,” you would read “All about Sheep,” or something like that.

Hope in a hopeless world

Julie — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 21:19:00 +0000

Curriculum Night at our elementary school:

Joey’s 4th grade teacher is amazing! She asked us if it was okay to give him enrichment math to do in class! (Last year I had to beg and beg the teacher to give him extra math just to do at home.) She told us the whole class was extremely well-behaved, and although it’s true they are overall a pretty good group of kids, if they are “extremely well-behaved” it’s because she is On Top Of Things. And this is only her second year of teaching. And to quote from the note Joey left for us: “Uh… my favorite thing to do here is… WRITE!!! My least favorite thing to do here is… uh… nothing! Mrs. C. is AWESOME!!!” She was funny, too. Part of their upcoming science unit (animal behavior) involves having mealworms in the classroom. She didn’t actually shudder when she talked about them, but you could see she was trying hard not to. With the kids, she acts like it’s a special privilege to be allowed to take care of them. That way she never has to get too close to them herself.

Our principal was not at the meeting. She had gone down to Houston to help with the relief efforts, bringing with her 8 suitcases full of school supplies donated by our school. While there, she threw her back out (compression fracture!) and is still in the hospital down there.

Our beloved kindergarten teacher from last year is now a full-time reading specialist, working intensively with lower-elementary kids who are below grade level. This is the first time in thirty years that she hasn’t had her own classroom and she misses it terribly, but, she said, and I quote, “I feel like I’m feeding the hungry.”

Update on the little girl

Julie — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 18:48:00 +0000

Thanks for all your kind comments on the last post.

It’s interesting that Laura commented that her first year of teaching was probably her best. I just can’t resist the notion that even the best intentions in the world can’t make up for experience. Today Lena told me that Miss Smith warned the class that if they got three checkmarks on the board (for bad behavior) she would cancel recess. But when the third check came, she said that if they got one more, there would be no recess. First, cancelling recess for the whole class is a baaaaad idea, in my opinion. These kids need recess! But second, and worse, she should not have changed her mind. What do you think? Other teachers out there, what was your first year like? My husband’s first year, teaching in a charter school in Detroit that was also brand-new that year, was horrendous. Trial by fire.

Anyway, the little girl in the last post? On the second day of school — yesterday — they transferred her to the other first grade class, with a teacher who’s been around the block a bunch of times. My feelings are mingled: relief and pity.