5 Bullet Friday

My turn for 5 Bullet Friday; here’s pot pourri of items from my inbox and screen workspace. Some things to know, think about, do, acquire for your professional interest and practice. And perhaps, simply to enjoy as well!

1) 5 Online Discussion Tools to Fuel Student Engagement- Give students a chance to connect with each other and be heard. 

“Online discussions often lead to better in-class discussions afterward -- you know, the kind where students raise their hands and speak out loud.”

<From Common Sense> some explanation and discussion about using online discussion resources followed up by suggestions of specific items (FREE ones included) and how they can add to the learning experience…

^{https://www.commonsense.org/education/blog/5-online-discussion-tools-to-fuel-student-engagement?utm_source=021919_A_Old-Template&utm_medium=email\}

2) In the recently published article  FETC 2019: The Right Stuff for the Future of Education ( a roundup of inspiring highlights from this past January’s Future of Education Conference in Orlando) I included a segment on Literacy Instruction applications of Student Robotics. There actually are many, however the BirdBrain Technologies display of student kinetic poetry sculpture was a particularly thought provoking and exciting illustration of how this approach adds value and richness to the study of poetry: Scroll down to the photo (in the Robotics, Robotics, Robotics segment) and click on it to launch the video https://youtu.be/6EXF-xwwQQw  you’ll be rewarded some Literacy Education “Brain Candy”

3) Reading Fuels Empathy. Do Screens Threaten That?
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-02-18-reading-fuels-empathy-do-screens-threaten-that

A compelling article for reflective Literacy Educators…

“…as digital screens begin to take the place of print books in many classrooms and households, researchers are now looking at how that impacts our ability to process information—and empathize with others…”

^“…We have never needed the role of story more than right now for our children to understand a compassionate sense.”

4) Love: Whose line is it anyway? Richmond Consolidated School students submit entries to NPR's 'What is love?' segment for Valentine's Day

This story offers so much; poetry writing and organizing effective activities to give it relevance and structure, publishing student writing, and opportunities for a mass audience.

“The Richmond Consolidated School student body shared their thoughts on the subject as part of a schoolwide effort to generate entries for the National Public Radio "What is Love?" "

“On Monday morning, the entire student body got together to work in small multi-grade groups to record readings of the poems. The older students were invited to mentor the younger students to help them practice reading the lines. Then, each group did a choral reading together for the recording.”

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/love-whose-line-is-it-anyway-richmond-consolidated-school-students-submit-entries-to-nprs-what,564605

5) 11 Provocations You Can Use as Class Starters

“Provocations” go far beyond mere prompts… here are some great discussion, writing, creativity and fun approaches to provoke learning, the best possible type!

Teacher Megan Kelly modifies the "provocation" -- a strategy from the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program -- to engage students in lessons. In this blog post, she shares 11 activities she has used to spark learning and get students thinking, such as watching a video without audio or using hexagonal thinking strategies to respond to a question.

https://www.middleweb.com/39526/11-provocations-you-can-use-as-class-starters/

ALSO: Announcing the ISTE Literacy Professional Network Award for 2019  https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2019/01/announcing-iste-literacy-professional.html
and  - Call for Literacy Presentations for ISTE Conference / June 23 and June 24 2019 / Philadelphia

https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2019/02/call-for-literacy-presentations-for.html

Call for Literacy Presentations for ISTE Conference / June 23 and June 24 2019 / Philadelphia

Do you have an innovative literacy project, strategy, or tool that meets ISTE Standards? Do you like to share great ideas with others and promote new and noteworthy literacy and teaching tools? Are you attending ISTE 2019 in Philadelphia?

If you answered YES to these questions, then please consider presenting with the Literacy PLN at the conference!(scroll down for application links)

Each year our group offers events at the annual ISTE Conference in  which we highlight a number of Literacy Education resources and practices  that we feel are  especially exciting and promising. 

This year’s ISTE Conference (International Society for Technology in Education) will be held in Philadelphia - June 23–26, 2019
Pennsylvania Convention Center 1101 Arch St./ Philadelphia, PA

The ISTE Literacy Professional Learning Network will offer conference attendees 2 important events at the conference:

 1, an INTERACTIVE PLAYGROUND and

2) ) a PANEL/LECTURE-style Session
These are listed in the conference’s online catalog as follows…
(click on title/link for session details)

I) Literacy Playground: Innovative Literacy & STEM Learning [PLN submission: Accepted Playground]

• Scheduled:
• Sunday, June 23, 9:30 am–12:30 pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time)

II) Technology-Based Literacy Resources and Practices With Special Promise 2019 

[PLN submission: Lecture]

• Scheduled:
• Monday, June 24, 11:30 am–12:30 pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time)

FORMATS:

The Playground is set up so that attnendees can follow their instincts and visit tables manned by presenters, following their interest. They are free to spend time at each listening, viewing, and trying hands-on what captures their attention and imagination. The tables will feature explanations, work samples, demonstrations, handouts, and more.


The conference  session is a panel/presentation style, hour-long formal session (presenters give a 10 minute presentation and participate in the discussion). It's a simple format in which we highlight a few resources that we believe offer a step forward for Literacy Instruction - tech-based resources and practices that teachers will find interesting, NEWish, supportive, and effective in helping them better teach their students.

For both the playground and the session, we especially like to highlight things that are (at least in part, FREE - could be a free, basic level of the resource or a free trial period, etc.). In addition to the session, we do a podcast to accompany it so that members who can't be at the session can get some of what's presented (see our blog for samples of how this works out - link below). Might you be interested in being part of our small group of highlighted resources/presenters? If so, please use the links below to let us know your interest and what you’d like to present. We’ll follow up with more details later.

USE THESE LINKS to APPLY:
Playground:
https://goo.gl/forms/CutQ1BEPLmO8bke02
Panel?Lecture Session:
Simply email Mark Gura (co-chair of the ISTE Literacy Network) with a description of the resource or practice you would like to present at the session along with a brief explanation of why it offers something new and significant for educators and their students: markgura@verizon.net 


NOTE - Feel free to apply for both if you think your presentation fits!

By the way, the conference session details remain online long after the conference day and interested professional, both ISTE  members and others, can access these along with session handouts. Further, groups who partner with our ISTE Literacy Network are also featured on the group’s blog with a write up and a podcast  interview. Below are some samples from previous years’ sessions:

-         Actively Learn: Literacy SpecialInterest PODCAST Episode #20 http://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2016/11/actively-learn-literacy-special.html

-         Beeline Reader: Literacy Special Interest PODCAST Episode #19
http://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2016/06/beeline-reader-literacy-special.html

-         Literacy Special Interest Podcast(Episode #14) - Highlighting BUNCEE
http://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2015/12/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html

-         Literacy Special Interest Podcast(Episode #10) - Highlighting WONDEROPOLIS
http://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2015/12/literacy-special-interest-podcast.html

Announcing the ISTE Literacy Professional Network Award for 2019

The Literacy Plan will again participate in the ISTE PLN Awards program for 2019.  The award recognizes colleagues (individuals or small teams) who have contributed to the field by creating an outstanding practice, resource, or program that fosters literacy learning in innovative ways,  addresses emerging facets of literacy, or that represents exemplary use of  emerging literacy instructional resources.


As part of receiving the award, winners will be featured in PLN publications and notices.  Followr this link to information about our 2018 winners:  https://literacyspecialinterest.blogspot.com/2018/05/congratulations-to-iste-literacy-pln.html

Jabber Walking: Scribble, Color, Talk, and Write Poetry on the Go with Poet Laureate, Felipe Herrera!

Book Suggestion and Activity Guide

Title: Jabber Walking - Written and illustrated by Juan Felipe Herrera - Hardcover |  144 Pages - Candlewick Press, 2018

Grades 5 to 12 –  Particular potential for visual, kinesthetic, auditory and *“musical” readers

As a college undergrad I was fully taken by Walt Whitman’s image of the poet on the open road inviting others to join him. This Brooklyn 19^th century son burst into the poetry world with a full blown persona that invited readers or listeners to travel the road and observe the poetry inherent in everyday life. United States Poet Laureate (2015 to 2017), Juan Felipe Herrera has taken to that road often to write, scribble, talk and color/mark up his poetry on paper bags, newspapers, and any diy material that can take scribbles. 

These ideas unfold in the video Juan Felipe Herrera’s winding path to poetry”  https://youtu.be/iykpWev3NLY.  The film of course makes. what was for the 19^th century audience of Whitman only a powerful text voice, become  Youtube accessible and authentic to a new audience.

As a teacher who also wants to pass forward a lifelong love of poetry as a genre, the cover of this book with its paint splatter  and its identification of author Herrera as poet laureate grabs attention.  This book is Herrera’s personal pitch at to  sharehis craft with a young audience .  Even more compelling is the poet’s immediate identification with Carroll’s the Jabberwocky and Herrera’s private use of “Jabberwock” to signify poet and “burble” to mean “poem.”   The book trailer nicely includes dynamism of Herrera’s vision of poetry https://youtu.be/lhushpbR8kg.  It deftly illustrates,  with its sole focus on the poet’s scribbles and hand drawn/marker made art,  that these images and scribbles are part and parcel of poetry as he defines it.

 Unlike other works by renowned poets targeted at young readers, this one approaches poetry writing in a visually compelling with, employing a very active, type face punctuated by scribble  art (Herrera’s exact style of writing- a mix of scribbles and doodles on various  available media) punctuated by his asides, suggesting to the reader to “rush” through certain chapters.  Thus poet Herrera introduces his, accessible to all readers who doodle and adore graphic narratives guide, with chapter titles in brackets with kidding asides. One great example is how, amusingly, the Jabberwalking narrator is references rapidly walking his dog Lotus on the way to a scheduled Library of  Congress event. 

What I liked best about this was that the poet uses this format, which ironically is true to his style of writing and performance art, to inspire  young readers with an array of traditional poetry craft insights and references to recognized poets.  Among those he includes are: Walt Whitman, Frieda Kahlo, Robert Bly, Eva Aguirre, and Ko Un.  

He also provides the young reader with an insider understanding of how he crafts a poem from his scribbles ( he uses newspapers to write on and suggests the paper bags Kahlo used) and provides the reader with a step by step, easily tacked process of going from scribble to identifying poetry words,  to “shape” ing the words  into “fun groups” to the final “new shape” sprinkling in “other words.”   Young readers can immerse themselves in the method to yield their own ‘burbles.’   

Herrera focuses on family and cultural affirmation as an integral part of a being a fast moving Jabberwalk poet .  He encourages readers to look at photos of their family members and include family stories plus native homeland musical culture and historic details in their poems.  He also recounts and  emphasizes the teachers who believed he had a good voice, could direct a play, and how developing film rolls of 35 millimeter film black and white stills inspired his artistic process.

How teachers can use this work:

Students can mimic the suggestions of the poet, author of this book by “jabberwalking”; running and writing poetry, for instance; creating while involved in any number of his suggested, highly inviting, yet very unorthodox writing related activities. They can mark up newspapers with markers and create poems as he does.  They can narrate as they enact separate book chapters while being recorded, thus producing digital, uploadable audio recordings and videos as records of their jabberwalking activity and as fresh jabberwalk products.

The Library of Congress in Washington, DC provides teachers and students with a priceless video “Jabberwalking with Juan Felipe Herrera “ https://youtu.be/ZW8xlyrSG2c of the poet leading a group of students, not only through the galleries of the library with colored pages, markers, crayons and pens and boards to create poems, but also deliberately taking them through tunnels and interiors of the building.  This view of Herrera interacting with actual students captures how infectiously joyous and accessible his brand of poetry and observation fitness walking can be; something that can be done at any school or student center.  Student poems – “burbles” –are read aloud as part of this video.

Students can compare this book with other recognized author’s craft tips including Walter Dean Myers Just Write (2012), Gail Carson Levine Writing Magic (2014) and Stephen King’s On Writing (2000).  In response, they can prepare a podcast discussion on which of these writers’ methods and ideas about how to write better inspire young readers.  Students can select chapters and dialogue with the racing poet as he narrates to write a co-authored Herrera young reader reaction dialog about the writing of poetry.  Since the typeface and scribble art of the book are so much a part of its intensive close conversational relationship with the reader who is to race along, students can be challenged to craft their own mixed typeface and graphics story for a target reader using this style.

Of course, students can also use Scratch or other animation-related resources to craft their own presentations, mirroring the animations in Herrera’s book trailers. They can also react to the book review of this work https://latinosinkidlit.com/2018/06/14/book-review-jabberwalking-by-juan-felipe-herrera/

This site, ostensibly for Latino kids, will take comments from those other than Latino backgrounds or from Latinos. 

Herrera asks his reader to understand that: “Writing saved my life. . . . (he) Wrote so much, sang so much , that one day I began to write as I was walking. . . . To walk and to speak for the lives of others.”  

Herrera’s  invitation to readers to join him is a compelling one. Watch out for all those jabberwalkers ahead!! Enjoy their burbles (poems)!! Support them in writing  their walks (jabberwalking), exercising their scribbling, burbling , singing and talking poetry muscles.

Dr. Rose Reissman is the founder of the Writing Institute, now replicated in 200 schools including PS 205 in The Bronx, New York City.  She is a featured author in New York State Union Teachers Educators Voice 2016 and was filmed discussing ESL student leadership literary strategies developed at Ditmas IS 62, a Brooklyn public intermediate school. Ditmas IS 62 is under the leadership of Marielena Santiago Principal and Michelle Buitrago AP. The Writing Institute Team are: Michael Downes, Angelo Carideo,  and Amanda Xavier. 

Contact: roshchaya@gmail.com