#SOL16: Observing
“Writers look closely at the world, they see and feel things intensely.”
My gaze is outward.
My gaze is inward.
The coffee gurgles.
The wind is blowing.
The sky is beginning to brighten.
Time is fleeting; time to move.
A faint shape; a daily appearance.
My daily path.
Finally, the coffee is done. I pour a cup.
I sniff the air.
I wrap my hands around my mug and embrace the warmth.
No rain today; I embrace the crisp air.
I look again, outside my window.
I check for scents, again.
I reach for my phone, punch in the code, click on the camera.
I study the window. Did I see movement?
My morning and evening visitors.
That two-legged creature stuck inside.
What do you see when you look closely?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Dana, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL16: March Challenge Day 18 – Part 2
Seriously, did you read that whiney drivel from yesterday? ( Here ) Some folks really just should keep their mouths closed and their fingers off the keyboard because all they do is show, literally, how lacking in brains and imagination they are. It was so mortifying to be a part of that conversation and I was just the tool!
So to recap quickly, I have a new owner. I was quite happy tucked away, twice removed from the world inside my tightly packed box with the banded wrapper around it. I was NOT going anywhere. And then this unbelievably OLD lady came into the store “because her phone didn’t work”. (Don’t be offended that I called her old – it’s all relative; but do remember that I have only been on the shelf here for one short week. One. Week. I am the new kid on the block – one of them anyway!)
Over the last two days, I have been dropped, poked, prodded, and plugged into electrical outlets and some gismo in the car. And I have no idea of the number of miles I have traveled and the places I have seen.
But I digress . . . back to the beginning.
I was on the shelf at the Verizon store minding my own business when the clerk came back muttering . . . “she really isn’t going to like white.”
I was relieved. Safe! Or at least for the moment. My happiness lasted for less than a minute because she was back, grabbing me as she put Louise back in her place on the shelf. Drat . . .white is not the “in” color!
So then I was prodded wide awake – no more yawning, plugged in to charge up, coded so I could be connected to the World Wide Web (www – in case you had forgotten) and, in general, treated so informally that I wanted to ask, “What am I, chopped liver?” but I didn’t want to take any words from anyone else’s mouth!
Chatter, chatter, chatter but what I really heard was blah, blah, blah!
Maybe I was headed for an adventure. To ride in a Mercedes Benz or a convertible. Or to a new home by the lake. No sticky fingers from kids PLEASE. I do have my dignity to hold on to! (But have you seen this old lady? I don’t know, but she sounds kinda bossy like she is used to telling others what to do all day!)
So, this app transferred a bunch of apps and pictures so I’m now quite a cluttery mess and then she (my new owner) said, “I don’t think I have all my pictures. And what about Twitter? And where is my Voxer icon? She’s got it rough. Pictures? Twitter? Voxer? She thinks she has worries!
Right before we went out the door, I heard her say that she would bring all her questions back when the new screen protector came in. PUL-E-E-A-A-S-S-E-E! Maybe I could convince her that I was just TOO much phone for her! AHA! What fun for me!
So I spent the last two days as a trickster. Sometimes I worked on command. And sometimes I didn’t work on command. I quickly learned how to avoid being yelled at. There were a couple of choice words that I really did NOT like to hear. So today we’re back in the store.
Listen in on this conversation:
Owner – “I’m just not quite sure that this is the phone for me.”
Me – YAY!
Clerk – “It’s just an upgrade of your old phone. In another week, you will be such an expert that you won’t even remember this conversation.”
Me – No, she’ll forget because she’s old and forgetful. She only has one or two passwords memorized.
Owner – “It doesn’t seem to work all the time . . .”
Clerk – “Let me double check the settings. Re-opening apps and checking to make sure they work is a bit tedious.”
Me – Tedious? BORING! Case closed – whiney drivel!
Which version was more realistic?
Which version was more fun?
Is it possible that there is a third or even a fourth version?
PS. Check out how handsome I am! I could have been one of these old dinosaurs!
Which ones have you used?
Process: As I finished writing yesterday’s post, this author began to wonder if the story could be told from another point of view. She had revisited the two versions of the deer story that was quite popular last March here and here and wondered what could lend itself to that same CCR. A. R. 6 Point of View standard. What do you think? The post was drafted in 15 minutes. The picture from yesterday was recycled with another quick search for a talk bubble. Preview, categories, tagged, and ready to publish but oh, wait, a quick check for pictures of old, old, old phones!
Thank you, Anna, Betsy, Beth, Dana, Deb, Kathleen, Stacey, and Tara. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. It’s the March Slice of Life Challenge so be ready to read DAILY posts!
#SOL15: March Challenge Day 21 The Real Story
The Real Story
Seriously, I’m being framed by a pokey old “gramma – wannabe”! It wasn’t my fault. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
I was out for a morning walk with Josephine and Henrietta. We were strolling along at 6:39 am when Josephine challenged me and said she could beat me across the road. I saw the lights headed in our direction and told her that we needed to wait. It would be too close to make sure that we could all three cross safely. But because Josephine ALWAYS has to be first, she takes off running.
And then what does that ditzy driver do?
She slows down. Josephine is across the road, I’m waiting on her and she, the one behind the wheel of that vehicle, decides to . . . slow down.
“REALLY? What was she thinking?”
I simply could NOT believe it. Where on earth did she go to school for driving? Maybe they will revoke her license!
Henrietta waited in the ditch, but I decided to cross before any other vehicles headed our way. The expression on that lady’s face was amazing.
I think she was praying or something because she was making this awful face and saying something. I know she wasn’t on her phone because I’ve seen plenty of those cause accidents before!
“Why on earth did she slow down?”
I really thought she was going to swerve to the other side of the road. That’s pretty dangerous and she would have rolled that little tin can if she’d tried that. But no, she has to go and slow down. If she had just kept going, she would have been fine.
So the car hits me where I’m just standing by the side of the road, minding my own business. It was headed towards me so I was braced for the impact and as the car hit, I was in the air bouncing across the road. I felt a slight scrape where some of my hair was gouged off my thigh, but that was it for injuries! I was so out of there before that lady did something silly and backed up to run over Henrietta.
Poor Henrietta; I don’t know if she will ever get over her near miss. She was so scared that she turned around and went back down in the ditch to hide. She refused to cross the road for hours. (Kinda silly because if anyone was going to be traumatized it should have been me, the deer who was hit by that silver Pontiac Vibe at 6:41 am on that dark Thursday morning.)
“Should I file a report? How do I make sure my side of the story gets told?”
Who knows what kind of lies that silly driver has been telling to cover up her failure to have control of her car! She should have been able to stop if she had just put her foot on the brake faster! Won’t someone want to talk to the witnesses?
“Not my fault! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! After all, there was a deer crossing sign there . . . I was following directions!”
formfonts.com
Now that I think of it, can I sue that lady driver in court for the damage, and pain and suffering caused? My hair looks like a trophy hanging on her car!
If you missed the story from the driver’s point of view, you can read it here.
Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy at “Two Writing Teachers” for creating a place for us to share our work. So grateful for this entire community of writers who also read, write and support each other!
#SOL15: March Challenge Day 20 – Unexpected . . .
Classic beginning?
pixgood.com
A variation?
It was a dark and cloudy morning.
or
It was a dark:30 morning.
Or just begin?
“N o o o o o o o,” I whispered.
The thud vibrated through my decelerating car as it came to a complete stop. I heard the items on the front passenger seat slide to the floor.
*&!#
I sat there shaking, adrenaline-fueled and yet caffeine-depleted. If only I had finished that cup of coffee because then I would have been two minutes later. NAH! Four minutes with a pit stop before leaving.
Shaking, I unfastened my seat belt and grabbed my phone. I was in desperate need of the flashlight app. “Where is it? Have I used it on this phone?” I wondered.
Completely dark and silent . . . not a sound greeted me as I emerged from my Pontiac Vibe.
As I pushed the home button on my phone, it lit up the morning darkness.
“Could be worse!”
No metal touching the tire.
Frame still looks square. (I think)
Cardboard-y inner wheel well-lining is drooping some.
Enough to be harmful?
Duct tape?
Do I really have any?
Looks ok!
Check for fluids?
. . . Is it possible? . . . Driveable? . . .
Less than a minute has passed since I began my inspection, but the weight of worry made it feel like an hour. “Oh, man, going to be late today and here I was already a bit panicky about the two hour trip!”
Possible options flashed through my mind in milli-seconds.
Choices,
Plans,
Must Dos,
Nice to Dos.
Ulimately . . .
Driveable, YES!
Off . . . and running. In 15 minutes a pit stop in a well-lit convenience store, another quick inspection, dripping fluid???
Ah, just from the windshield wiper fluid reservoir that is visibly cracked.
Drive, drive, drive, drive and an hour and thirty minutes later . . . at work.
I survived three of these with only one involved in my incident as they casually sauntered across the road as if they owned it.
Now, the repair task for the damage caused by this critter (who, yes, walked away) owned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (at any rate that is who issues the hunting licenses)!
Insurance claims! Yay! FUN! (not)
Tufts of deer hair in the car frame CAN ruin a very positive attitude!
The good news . . . yes, the car is driveable! And I made it to my day of professional development okay – a bit rattled, YES! But okay!
Unexpected damage to the front passenger quarter panel, hood, and front, and passenger door that does not open . . . TODAY, an extra cup of coffee and daylight before I leave!
What unexpected events have you handled lately?
Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy at “Two Writing Teachers” for creating a place for us to share our work. So grateful for this entire community of writers who also read, write and support each other!
#SOL14: Everyday risks?
Tuesday is the day to share a “Slice of Life” with Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to work collaboratively.
Warning: This is a serious slice!
Who is the most important person or group of people at school?
That answer might depend upon your point of view. When referring to the standards, this would relate to
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6 – Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Two other anchor standards addressed by this post are:
Pre-assessment: When you hear “school shooting”, what are your first thoughts?
Jot down your ideas. Hold onto your thoughts. Last week I reread Snowflakes Fall. I was introduced to this book in Patricia Maclachlan’s Closing Keynote for the 2013 #TCRWP July Writing Institute in New York City. Revisiting the back story was both riveting and tearful! 
Here’s what Random House says about this book:
“In Snowflakes Fall, Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan and award-winning artist Steven Kellogg portray life’s natural cycle: its beauty, its joy, and its sorrow. Together, the words and pictures offer the promise of renewal that can be found in our lives—snowflakes fall, and return again as raindrops so that flowers can grow.
MacLachlan and Kellogg, who are longtime friends, were moved to collaborate on a message of hope for children and their families following the tragic events in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. Kellogg lived in Sandy Hook for thirty-five years—he raised his family there and was an active member of the community. With Snowflakes Fall, they have created a truly inspiring picture book that is both a celebration of life and a tribute to the qualities that make each individual unique.
In honor of the community of Sandy Hook and Newtown, Random House, the publisher of Snowflakes Fall, has made a donation to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund. Random House is also donating 25,000 new books to the national literacy organization First Book in the community’s honor and in support of children everywhere.”
The audience / purpose for this book was to “provide hope for children and their families.” While reading, the reader has the option to use the words and illustrations to determine if that goal of “providing hope” has been met. A conversation about the book would reveal exactly which techniques worked best for any one reader with different readers choosing different sentences, phrases, or pictures.
What was the impact in homes not just in CT but across the nation?
To say that was a “tough Christmas” is a gross understatement. Thousands of children sent snowflakes, many parents hugged their children tighter, other parents thanked their teachers, and schools were told to put school safety personnel inside their school buildings to make sure that children would be safe. Yet what of those children who wondered if their own parent-teachers were safe in their neighborhood schools?
Is safe even possible?
Last Friday, the national news was again electrifying. A student shooting in a school cafeteria in Washington State. Two students died. The shooter is dead. Headlines immediately begin to “determine the motive” and “analyze the background” of the shooter. “Well-liked” was one descriptive phrase repeated about the shooter in headlines during the first 48 hours following the tragedy. Sound familiar? Immediately the press began to report that the police response was different “because of Columbine.” That struck a chord with me as I had just spent the past two weeks reading Dave Cullen’s Columbine. At Columbine the police were criticized for failing to take action sooner – and in particular, needing to enter the building sooner! That text, Columbine, was the reason I was “rereading” Snowflakes Fall because I was looking for hope and faith in a parallel situation. When I hear school shooting, I think of two: Sandy Hook and Columbine. Yet as I read Cullen’s text, I questioned my memory of Columbine.
- “How did I have the facts so wrong?
- What was the point of view of the news reporting as the event and subsequent weeks played out?
- What images played over and over on the news?
- Which pictures were replayed for the one, five and ten year anniversaries?”
There were times that I wanted to stop reading the book. It was horrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. I needed to know what came next. I could not stop, yet I also had to take breaks and could not just read straight through the book. I wanted to ask,”What were you thinking?” “How could you not know?” for starters. Here’s what Dave (@DaveCullen) says about his book:
“I spent ten years on Columbine. I was driven by two questions: why did they kill, and what became of the survivors? My big surprise was that most of what we “know” about Columbine was wrong.
It wasn’t about the jocks, goths or the Trenchcoat Mafia. The killers didn’t even see themselves as school shooters: their primary focus was the bombs. To understand this tragedy, the key is letting go of our concept of “the killers.”
Spend a few chapters with Eric and Dylan, and you’ll discover two starkly different boys. Their personalities were poles apart, like the motives that drove them. Eric Harris was monstrous; Dylan Klebold was a revelation. The survivors proved equally illuminating. Their stories are surprisingly uplifting—a refreshing contrast to Eric and Dylan. Thousands faced the unthinkable, most overcame it, often in extraordinary ways. I was amazed by their resilience.” (Source: http://www.davecullen.com/ )
Why was I reading Columbine?
My friend and co-worker, Dyan, told me about the book. She thought I would like it so she handed me the book to read. Dyan has participated and followed “Rachel’s Challenge” for years. While reading the book, we had many texts and phone conversations that included:
“Bombs? What bombs?
“How could I not know about 100 bombs?
“How could anyone else not have known about the plan?
“How did two teenage boys keep their planning a secret for over a year? REALLY, A secret?”
“Whoa! All that “stuff about psycopaths . . .”
“Feel so sorry for Linda who lost her husband. Does anyone worry about the teacher’s family?”
OR the rant about “How could they have covered up Dylan and Eric’s past records? What were the police thinking?”
The purpose of this book was to tell Eric and Dylan’s story about why these events transpired and follow up the survivors in the years since Columbine. It was to report the facts as accurately as possible, correcting the record and not to sensationalize or villify anyone. The point of view of this text was totally different from Snowflakes Fall which was written to be shared with young students. Facts were verified with hundreds of sources credited.
How often have there been deadly school shootings?
An interactive look at that timeline with 18 dates marked with deadly shootings is available here. That timeline includes details on each of the eighteen deadly shootings in the 15 years since Columbine. That data is shocking to me. Even more shocking was the number of times that adults were also killed. Maybe the emphasis has been on the students who have not yet reached adulthood, that full “potential”, but what about the devastation for those families of teachers who also lost their lives?
Is this a new issue?
When I quickly submitted a google search for “School Shootings in the US”, the first response was Wikipedia. Yes, not necessarily the most accurate but incredibly sobering! The first “firearm discharged in a school” in the US happened in 1764. The next occurred in 1850 and then the time frames between shootings decreased and the locations were all over the country. (540 references are included for the article labeled “List of School Shootings in the United States”. Mathematically, the risks of being shot at school seem low if the total years and the number of students, staff, and schools are all considered. Yet that would not be a consolation if any situation involved you or your loved ones. Multiple Standards. Multiple resources: a digital timeline, online references, Snowflakes Fall and Columbine (Multi-media and two books). Different approaches. Different styles. Circling back around to the initial question.
Who is most important at school?
Everyone!
Please pay attention when someone needs help! Don’t wait for them to ask!
Is there a bigger picture to school shootings?
How does the pain and agony of the student or adult reach that breaking point without family or friends noticing? That’s an issue for mental health professionals, law enforcement officials and forensic investigators to continue to explore. What can we do? We can continue to make sure that each and every person is a school building is valued day after day after day! Thoughtfullness. . . Compassion . . . Caring . . . #YouMatter
Newspapers: Are they biased / unbiased?
You may have an answer for that question in the title. But do you know for sure? Definitely? Unequivocally? How did you research this issue?
The possibilities for bias in text are endless because text is all around us. Literally and loosely, text is the scenery around us whether it is print or not. The texts that comprise our daily lives may include a variety of print or non-print sources including electronic emails, blogs, newspapers, magazines and books. I want to focus on one of those – the writing found in news sources, typically in newspapers and how we can help students examine that question as they continue to build their reading skills for life.
Standards Addressed:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6 – Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.9 – Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
One event. Three articles. Three different stories.
How do you know whether the news is being reported or if the news is being shaped by the authors and publishers? Let’s investigate further!
To begin, we will just look at the pictures from the three stories:
What do you know? What do you wonder?
(Questions from What Readers Really Do: Teaching the Process of Meaning Making by Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicki Vinton)
Hold onto those thoughts as you look at the titles. (And the titles are NOT listed in the same order as the pictures!)
Titles
“Obama tells Central American leaders most children will go home”
“GOP lawmakers fight plan to bring more illegal immigrant children to military bases”
“White House pursuing plan to expand immigrant rights”
What do you know? What do you wonder?
What theories are you now ready to begin building?
The sources in alphabetical order are: Fox News, LA Times, and Reuters
Which sources go with which pictures and article titles? Are you already considering revising your theory? That process of continually questioning and researching based on what you know and wonder allows a reader to demonstrate flexible thinking. Thinking really is one essential by-product of the “act of reading and understanding printed messages.”
What words/phrases do you notice in the opening paragraphs of the article covering the same event – news about immigrant children on this date? Read and jot notes about those words.
Opening paragraphs in the LA Times:
“Even as President Obama grapples with the crisis of immigrant children arriving at the Southwest border, White House officials are laying the groundwork for a large-scale expansion of immigrant rights that would come by executive action within weeks.
Officials signaled strongly Friday that Obama’s move would shield from deportation large numbers of immigrants living in the country illegally, as advocacy groups have demanded.” (LA Times, 7/26/14)
The same story from Reuters begins this way:
“President Barack Obama urged the leaders of three Central American countries on Friday to work with him to stem the flow of child migrants who have surged across the U.S. border and warned that most of them would not be allowed to stay.
In a White House meeting with the leaders of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Obama had a tough-love message: his administration had compassion for the children, but not many would qualify for humanitarian relief or refugee status. Many of the migrants have fled poverty and crime at home.” (Reuters, 7/26/14)
And the third story from Fox News begins with:
“Republican lawmakers are challenging the Obama administration over a newly announced plan to expand the use of U.S. military bases to house illegal immigrant children, warning that it will put a strain on troops and threaten military readiness.
The Pentagon confirmed this week that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved a request from the Department of Health and Human Services to house an additional 5,000 minors at DOD facilities.”
Do you notice any patterns? What are you wondering about at this time?
There are many ways to continue reading these articles. The length is conducive to having each student read all three, but a student may only be an “expert” on the actual writing techniques used in one or two of the articles. Do remember that it is sometimes easier to analyze two articles through simultaneous comparing and contrasting rather than just one article by itself.
I was wondering about the “experts” and the sources of quotes within the articles. Who does each author use?
LA Times:
“Obama said last month that because Congress had failed to act on comprehensive immigration reform, he would take executive action to ‘fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own.'”
“When the decision is announced, it will ‘increase the angry reactions from Republicans,’ Peiffer said.” (White House senior advisor – two other quotes as well)
Reuters:
“‘There may be some narrow circumstances in which there is a humanitarian or refugee status that a family might be eligible for,’ Obama said after talks with the leaders. ‘But I think it’s important to recognize that that would not necessarily accommodate a large number.'” (plus two more quotes by President Obama
President Juan Orland Hernandez of Honduras, “’They have rights, and we want them to be respected,’ he said.”
“‘The idea here is that in order to deter them from making that dangerous journey, we’d set up a system in coordination with these host countries to allow those claims to be filed in that country without them having to make that dangerous journey,’ said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.”
Fox News:
paraphrased information (no quotes in article)”The Pentagon confirmed that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel . . . request from Dept. of Health and Human Services. . . ”
Direct quote – “Donelle Harder, a spokeswoman for Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., told FoxNews.com.”
“Alabama lawmakers . . . ‘ongoing talks’ . . . . . . “Alabama GOP Reps. Martha Roby and Mike Rogers ” . . . . ‘The housing, feeding and caring of immigration detainees would severely compromise the critical mission at Maxwell-Gunter,’ they wrote.” (also a second quote)
“Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., said the request poses a very real threat to U.S. military readiness,’ noting the base is the ‘primary artillery training center for troops before deployment.'” (second quote also)
What might instruction/inquiry look like at this point?
I might begin to model comparing specific words and phrases that were used in the articles and also begin to discuss the sources. Which words/phrases seem to be the most simple form of reporting (without opinions/emotions) in comparison to words or phrases that seem to have been chosen for their emotional nuances? What could those comparisons look like?
Paint chips, a visual way to show the progression of vocabulary words, could be used. Students in 1:1 districts could simply create these using a chart and add color gradations to the boxes. Or students could consider how to use “shapes” to show the different layers of word meanings / nuances or phrases and words that explicitly provide evidence of the biases and or point of view of the reporters/publishers. Words could then be added as text boxes inside each color.
For additional discussion or to see an explanation of this vocabulary activity, see Sarah Brown Wessling, 2010 Teacher of the Year, at the Teaching Channel here.
So what are some other choices?
If you are a devotee of “Falling in Love with Close Reading” by Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts, you may have been thinking of all the connections between the lenses of text evidence, vocabulary and point of view! That would be another way to conduct a close reading of these articles in order to see how they were “reported differently”.
Or, if you are interested in adding in some writing, you might have partner groups of students “summarize” their article in two or three sentences while asking them to include evidence that will help them “defend” their summary as “The Best Summary”.
OR you might consider this question – Can you predict how additional topics will be “covered/handled” by Fox News, LA Times and Reuters? After making your prediction (and writing it down), pick a topic, pull up the three different articles and see if your predictions are accurate!
Or consider where your own local newspaper fits within this “range” or reporting!
Does every text that you read contain some bias? What do you think? What would you need to do to unequivocally answer that?
Tuesday is the day to share a “Slice of Life” with Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsey for creating that place for us to work collaboratively.
Resource - Full 