Writing With Abandon

Reflections and ramblings about life as an educator, writer, reader, knitter, and over-thinker. Trying to do the writing only I can do.

Tag: read aloud

  • Reading Ripple Effect

    I sit crosslegged on the bench, anchor charts behind me, the students before me on the rug, a book in my hands. I’m about 6 chapters into reading aloud one of my favorite middle grade books ever, one I’ve read to two other 5th grade classes before this one: Refugee by Alan Gratz.

    I first read the book when Ariel and I lived together in 2017. Her mom worked for Scholastic at the time, and she gave us an uncorrected proof. We both devoured it.

    I decided to try it as a read aloud for my fully-remote class during the pandemic. Read aloud was the only time of the day where I felt like the students were all engaged, even if their cameras were off.

    Whenever we’d get to an exciting or intense part, various cameras would flash on to show me their shocked faces. The chat would be blowing up with emojis and “whaaaat?!!”s.

    Refugee in particular got one of my students into reading. She thanked me for this in a card she gave me at her (luckily in-person) graduation. Knowing that I helped her to become motivated to read more filled my heart with all sorts of warm goop.

    These are the cards we save and cherish!

    The next year, I read it to a completely different group of students in my new home, Miami. It was a class of just 13. They loved being read to, and they forced me to do a read aloud marathon in the days before Thanksgiving break, because they refused to go off on vacation without finishing Refugee.

    They also liked to get REALLY close during said read aloud marathon. Hahaha.

    It was with that same group that we decided to put on a theatrical production of Isabel’s story from the book. I took the dialogue straight from the text, and Angie helped me adapt it to our stage. The kids knocked it out of the park.

    Now, as I read the lines of dialogue I’ve read so many times before, I can’t help hearing those students’ voices as the characters speak. So many rehearsals, so many times repeating those lines, getting them just right.

    They became their characters, just like this year’s students became the characters of Flying Solo.

    It’s a pretty magical thing the way my brain works, replaying that memory, and their voices, as I share the story with a new group for the first time, watching their eyes widen just like my students on Zoom’s did.

    It’s like a ripple or an echo, reverberating through time. Reminding me of all the ways teachers, and books, can touch hearts and minds.

  • A Lesson in Abandoning Books

    “Your hold at the Miami Public Library is ready to borrow,” my Libby notification popped up, with a small photo of Onyx Storm.

    Yesssss! I whisper screamed, then remembered I was only 35% through Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo. I love Acevedo’s YA, and I was very excited to start her first novel for adults. But I hadn’t been feeling too thrilled about reading it lately. It’s not that I didn’t like the book, but there are a lot of characters and jumping back and forth through time, so I was always a bit confused as I read. The worst part: I never wanted to go back to it, and I was always having to reorient.

    I’ll have to just dedicate more time to reading this week so I can finish it and be able to start Onyx Storm, I thought, and then I caught myself.

    Why?

    Why would I force myself to dedicate more time to a book that I’m not enjoying? Isn’t The Storygraph’s motto “Because life’s too short for a book you’re not in the mood for”? Didn’t I teach a lesson about abandoning books earlier in the year?

    What were the guidelines we came up with together?

    • Choose wisely (read the blurb; do you know the author?; do you think you’ll be interested?). — Okay, I did this.
    • Give the book a real try, at least 80 pages. — Check.
    • Read it every day for at least 3 days to see if you get in the flow. — I tried! I’ve been reading every day for over a week!
    • If you still aren’t into it, you can abandon it, but you have to journal a quick reason why. — You don’t need to tell me twice! That’s a slice!

    I’m no better or worse if I finish or don’t finish this book, I reminded myself. But I’ll be a whole lot happier if I just give myself permission to abandon it and crack open the third book in a fantasy series that I know I’ll enjoy.

    The next day, at school, we introduced the Engagement Continuum to our students during morning meeting. As we had them self-assess for math, investigations, and read aloud, I realized something.

    “Your temperature check has me thinking,” I said out loud. “Do we need to abandon our read aloud?”

    Their eyes widened in that did-she-really-just-say-that way that my students tend to do when I say something out of their scope of things-teachers-say.

    I shared with them my own personal debacle with Family Lore over the weekend.

    “Here’s what I’m noticing: Many of you are disengaging, some of you are interested, but the energy is low. We’ve already read about 100 pages. And honestly, it’s not very fun for Ms. Kim and I to read to you, because we can tell you’re checked out!” I looked around at the nodding heads. “So… what do you say?”

    It was an emphatic yes.

    “Wait,” M said. “Can we still read one of the ones from our list?”

    I laughed and initially responded with playful sarcasm. Then I told them we’d be starting Refugee. Cue the cheers.

    And that’s how I abandoned two books this week, replacing them with ones I know I’ll love.

  • The Best Read Aloud

    The Best Read Aloud

    Tension building.

    Students leaning forward from their seats or the rug.

    Shocked, grinning faces.

    Squeals and screams.

    “Shh, stop, you guys! Let her keep reading!!”

    That was how today’s read aloud session went.

    It was almost exactly a month ago that we said “Take Two” and sat down with Ana to rethink interactive read aloud for our classroom. We took what we’d done before and tweaked it for our students’ needs, then tweaked it again to fit our planning. We revised our main anchor chart twice.

    How it started
    How it’s going

    The result has been the most engaging read aloud this year, all culminating in today’s session.

    We read the triple climax of Ellie’s story in Starfish by Lisa Fipps: ripping up her “Fat Girl Rules,” speaking up to her mom after exploding in the doctor’s office, and standing up to her bullies. The kids were clapping, cheering, and yelling out, “Slaaaay, Ellie!” and “She’s so sigma!” (a Gen Z slang word whose meaning is still fuzzy for me).

    We hardly had time for conversation or turn-and-talks, and we didn’t need them — the interaction was evident. Our students know Ellie so well by this point. They hate her enemies and they cheer for her newfound confidence and bravery. They see connections in their own lives and are learning to put some of that understanding into action.

    It’s Teacher Appreciation Day (and Week), and today I’m grateful to Kim for spearheading the comprehension planning across this book and being always willing to try new things with me, no matter what time of year; to Ana for making time in her way-too-busy schedule to have a brainstorming meeting with us; and to Gianna for her book club plans (because that’s how our day ended, and it was beautiful).

    Today was one of the best days, and I couldn’t have done it without my teacher team.