In Pursuit of Civil Conversation

Guest Post by Mary Knight, 

author of Saving Wonder, winner of the 2017 Green Earth Book Award

As I’ve traveled to schools for author visits since the publication of my debut novel, Saving Wonder, teachers have been telling me how concerned they are about the divisive rhetoric their students are witnessing from our country’s leaders. 

In the spirit of encouraging the practice of civil conversation, I’ve created the following lesson, which invites students to activate their empathy as they see an issue from the “other’s” point of view. It also offers practice in close reading, as well as writing dialogue within a scene. I use Saving Wonder as a model text in this lesson, although I’m sure examples of civil dialogue exist in other novels as well.

In Saving Wonder, my protagonist Curley Hines has a conversation with the new coal boss (Mr. Tiverton) who is threatening to blow the top off his mountain through a devastating mining process called mountaintop removal. A lot is at stake for both characters, but they nevertheless have a civil (albeit passionate) conversation that allows each to express his point of view.

The following is an abbreviated lesson with a corresponding writing prompt. It assumes that students have at least read up to Chapter “P.” If you’d like an extended version with a fun, optional activity, please contact me through my message page at my website: www.maryknightbooks.com. I’d love to hear what you think and if you use the lesson, your results!

A Lesson on Civil Dialogue

Before engaging the lesson, explore the concept of “empathy” with your students. Say: One of the ways authors inspire readers to care is by writing with empathy. Does anyone know what empathy is? Empathy is the ability to walk in another person’s shoes, to see the world through another person’s eyes or point of view, or to imagine what another is feeling. You can empathize with someone who is feeling happy or sad or any other emotion. Invite students to think of examples from their own lives where they’ve empathized with another person or animal (pet).

Before reading and/or rereading Chapter “P,” pgs. 154-163, ask: Do you think Mr. Tiverton is a “bad guy” in this novel? Ask for a show of hands, yes and no. Then ask: Why do you think that? Be sure to remain neutral. After opinions have been expressed, invite your class to reread the following, saying: Let’s (re)read the following chapter and see what our thinking is then.

Read and/or reread the scene.

After reading: On a T-chart, title the page: “Red Hawk Mountain.” Under that, make two columns: one titled “Curley’s Viewpoint” and one titled “Mr. Tiverton’s Viewpoint.” Use a different color for each point of view. Ask students to first list what Curley thinks and feels about mining Red Hawk Mountain and the mountain itself, referring to the text as often as they like. Invite them to do this by “empathizing” with Curley, by putting themselves in his shoes.

After this feels complete, facilitate the same process with Mr. Tiverton. Be sure to invite students to step into the shoes of Mr. Tiverton. How does he see Red Hawk Mountain? What does he think and feel about the mining process? Again, invite students to refer to the text as often as they like.

After you’ve completed this exercise, ask again: So, who thinks Mr. Tiverton is a bad guy? Why or why not? It’s okay for students to still hold the opinion that he’s a bad guy. That’s not a wrong answer; it’s an opinion. Ask: Regardless of what we think of Mr. Tiverton, do you understand his viewpoint a little bit better after stepping into his shoes? When we empathize with someone, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we agree with them, right? Still, empathy can help us understand someone else’s viewpoint, an important skill in a world with lots of different perspectives.

Reader’s theater: If there’s time, “play out” this dialogue (pgs. 158-163) between the two perspectives through a Reader’s Theater activity, encouraging each actor to look at the chart and “step into the shoes” of his or her character, “seeing what he sees” and “feeling what he feels.” Encourage them to: “Read from the heart of your character—like you are passionate about everything you are saying!” Reading with empathy encourages fluency!

After Reader’s Theater, ask the actors: How did it feel to play your part? Is there anything more you understand about your character after speaking his words?

Ask the rest of your class: After watching and listening, do you feel any different about Mr. Tiverton now? In what ways does the author help us empathize with each of her characters?

Writing with empathy: Using the above dialogue scene as a model text, ask students to: Write a scene like the one we’ve just acted out, where you and a parent, a sibling, a teacher or a friend are having a conversation about something that means a lot to you . . . and the other person holds a different perspective or opinion than yours. Offer examples of family or school issues students might want to explore in their writing.   

Once students have decided on their “issue,” ask them to create a T-chart—two columns on a sheet of paper, one representing the writer / narrator’s viewpoint and the other column representing the viewpoint of the other character in their story. Encourage them to “step into the shoes” of each character and write down each character’s feelings as well as ideas and thoughts about this issue. 

Ask students to write at the bottom of this brainstorming page, where the conversation is taking place and when. After they’ve done this pre-writing activity, invite them to write a scene between themselves and another person using dialogue that explores two different points of view.

Bio: Saving Wonder is Mary’s debut novel, published in 2016 by Scholastic Press, and selected for numerous honors, including the Green Earth Book Award for Children’s Fiction, a Parents’ Choice award, and a Children’s Book Council Notable Book for Social Studies. Mary is also working on a professional development book called, CoreEmpathy: Transforming the Literacy Classroom, with her writing partner and literacy specialist, Christie McLean Kesler. www.CoreEmpathy.com  

Finding the Wild World

Guest Post by Megan Wagner Lloyd  

Finding Wild follows two kid adventurers as they discover the beauty and wonder of the wild world. It asks the questions “What is wild? And where can you find it?” and invites readers on a journey to find the answers.

I’m so excited for teachers to share Finding Wild with their students. (And I’ve been thrilled to hear from teachers on Twitter who are doing just that!)

Three ways to use Finding Wild in the classroom:

1.    As a nature-writing prompt

When and where have your students experienced the wild? Going camping, gardening, playing at the park, cloud gazing…kids have so many unique experiences with nature to share. I was thrilled to read this blog post from a teacher who plans to use Finding Wild as an introduction to a nature-writing unit with her high schoolers (more proof that picture books aren’t just for little ones!).

2.    As a poetry mentor text

Finding Wild provides a great jumping off point to discuss metaphor, personification, and descriptive writing, and to encourage kids to include details from all five senses in their work.

  

3.    In preparation for any kind of outdoor field trip or nature excursion

Reading Finding Wild before going out and about can encourage kids to pay attention to the natural wonders, big and small, all around them. I think it would be a great to share it before winter and spring breaks, too, to encourage kids to get outside and play! And then when everyone’s back in the classroom, teachers could set aside some time for everyone to share their wild observations.

BIO: Megan Wagner Lloyd has been reading for (almost) as long as she can remember, and writing stories for just as long. Her debut picture book Finding Wild, illustrated by Abigail Halpin, was released by Knopf earlier this year. She lives with her family in the Washington D.C. area.

Learn more about Megan and her books at meganwagnerlloyd.com

Tell Me a Tattoo Story

by Laura Gehl

Tell Me a Tattoo Story, by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler, features a young boy who learns about his father’s life through the stories behind each of his father’s tattoos.

The We Need Diverse Books campaign has raised awareness about the importance of kids seeing themselves, and their families, in books.  While we may first think about racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity, there are other types of diversity too.  Many students in your class may have parents who have tattoos, and this book celebrates those parents in a beautiful way.

Tell Me a Tattoo Story makes an excellent writing prompt for your classroom.  After you read the book aloud, here are a few ways to use this picture book with your students:

1.    Ask each student to draw a tattoo.  It can be simple—like a cat, or a single word—or more complicated.  On a separate piece of paper, ask students to write down the story behind their tattoos.  Whose tattoo is it?  And why did the person decide to get that tattoo?  Perhaps it is the story of how a lonely man found a cat and adopted it, and then got a tattoo to show his love for his pet.  Or perhaps it is the story of a little girl who desperately wanted a pet cat but could never have one due to allergies…so she got a cat tattoo when she grew up.

2.    After each student completes his or her own tattoo story, collect the tattoo drawings, shuffle them, and give each student a new drawing to think about. Ask students to make up stories behind the unfamiliar tattoos that they have received.  When all students are finished, you may wish to hold up a picture of a tattoo and have both students who wrote about that tattoo (the original artist and the second recipient) share their stories, then discuss similarities and differences.

3.    The father’s tattoos in this book are his way of telling his life story.  What are other creative ways that a parent could tell his or her life story to a son or daughter?  Make a list individually or as a class.

4.    Ask each student to think of an important event in his or her own life.  What tattoo would be appropriate to represent that event?   

5.    Would your students want to get a tattoo if their parents permitted it?  Why or why not?   

  

www.LauraGehl.com

Learning from Fictional Child Writers

Guest Post by Claudia Mills

          Just as it can be inspirational for young writers to have a published author visit their classroom, it can be inspirational to read about child characters who love to write and who take seriously the development of their craft.

          My most recent middle-grade novel, Write This Down, stars Autumn Granger, a seventh-grade writer who is determined to impress her scornful older brother, Hunter, by achieving her dream of publication. She is taking a middle-school journalism class from a charismatic teacher. I put various bits of writing advice into the mouth of Ms. Archer and showed how Autumn responded to them in her own writing.

          In Chapter 4, as the class begins their study of the personal essay, Ms. Archer opens with the provocative statement: “A personal essay is not about you.” Instead, “people read personal essays to learn something about themselves.” A personal essay is more than a report of what happened to somebody; it’s also about its larger significance for a more universal audience –what that incident means. She then has the class do a free-write on the topic: “The worst – or best – gift you ever received.” Autumn comes up with her own list of best and worst gifts, finding herself grabbed by one that leads into a reflection on her troubled relationship with Hunter and the bond between siblings.

          This scene could be a jumping-off point for asking students to write their own list of best and worst gifts. Autumn thinks, as she begins her brainstorming: “Bad things are always good to write about.” Ask your students:  Is this true? If so, why is it true? Might it be because the heart of a strong story is some problem or conflict? Autumn writes about a best gift instead – but one that leads her into dark early childhood memories.

          As students work on their lists of “best gifts and worst gifts,” encourage them to do more than simply think about what a disappointment it was to receive, say, an electric toothbrush (as Autumn received one year from her dentist father), or joy to get a coveted video game. What does the best or worst gift say about the relationship between giver and recipient? (When Autumn’s Aunt Liz gives her the same book three years in a row, what does this say about Aunt Liz?) Does a “worst” gift show indifference on the part of the giver? Or desire to send a not-so-subtle message about who the giver wants the recipient to be? Why might the same item be the best gift for one person but the worst gift for another? Why might what seemed to be a bad gift turn out to be a wonderful one, after all?

          Autumn learns that even a simple list of best gifts and worst gifts can lead to powerful personal reflections on the nature of families, love, heartbreak, and healing. Maybe this same exercise can lead your students there, too.

BIO: Claudia Mills is the author of over 50 books for young readers, including How Oliver Olson Changed the World (an ALA Notable Book of the Year) and The Trouble with Ants (which just received a starred review in Publishers Weekly), as well as the Franklin School Friends series of chapter books from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Claudia lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her family and her cat, Snickers. Visit www.claudiamillsauthor.com.

Peep and Egg: I'm Not Trick or Treating

by Laura Gehl

My newest picture book with illustrator Joyce Wan, Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick or Treating, is the second book in the Peep and Egg series. Unlike Peep and the other farm animals, poor Egg isn’t excited about Halloween. Egg is terrified of witches, mummies, and vampires; there is absolutely NO WAY that Egg is going trick or treating!

Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick or Treating can be a fun writing prompt in your classroom.  After you read the book aloud, here are a few ideas to try with your students:

1)    Peep and Egg wear coordinated Halloween costumes. Peep is a butterfly, while Egg is a caterpillar. Challenge your students to make a list of other coordinated Halloween costumes that would be fun for siblings or friends to wear. Some possibilities include salt and pepper, ketchup and mustard, or milk and cookie.  For an extra challenge, see if students can come up with ideas that work especially well for an older sibling and a younger sibling, the way a butterfly and a caterpillar work for Peep and Egg.  A seed and a flower, a tadpole and a frog…how many examples can your students think of?

2)    Peep tells Egg Halloween jokes to help Egg feel less scared. What other strategies can your students think of for helping a friend or younger sibling who finds Halloween frightening?

3)    As a class, brainstorm a list of “scary” Halloween characters—monsters, zombies, etc. Then work with your students to make each character less scary by adding nontraditional traits. How about a monster who loves to sing songs from Disney movies, or a zombie who wears a rainbow bikini? 

4)    For many kids, the best part of trick or treating is the CANDY.  Ask your students to invent their own Best Halloween Candy Ever.  Would it be a dark chocolate bar studded with white chocolate chips in the shape of a skull? Or a lollipop that looks like an eyeball, with an oozing red center that tastes like cherry cola?  Anything goes!

5)    Even though many kids find trick or treating fun, there are plenty of kids who are scared by Halloween in general and trick or treating in particular. Can your students make a list of other activities that are fun for some kids but scary for others? Rock climbing? Horseback riding? Ziplining?

Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick or Treating reinforces the message introduced in Peep and Egg: I’m Not Hatching…that sometimes all we need to overcome our fears is someone we love by our side.  Happy early Halloween!

www.lauragehl.com

MAGICAL HAPPENINGS IN A NIGHT GARDEN

by Laura Gehl

The Night Gardener, by Terry and Eric Fan, is the story of a town where something magical is happening.  Each night, a mysterious Night Gardener trims a tree into a wondrous creation—a cat, a bunny, a dragon.  And then one extra special night, a little boy named William is invited to help!

The Night Gardener makes an excellent writing prompt for the classroom.  After you read the book aloud, here are a few ways to use this beautiful picture book with your students:

1)    What if each student in your class had the chance to become a night gardener?  Challenge students to make a list of the tree creations they would wish to produce. In the book, trees are trimmed into animal shapes, but your students need not limit themselves to animals.  What about a tree in the shape of a lollipop? A robot? A dress?

2)    In The Night Gardener, the townspeople are changed by the beauty that the Night Gardener brings. Ask your students, “Other than trimming trees into fantastic shapes, what are other ways that you could beautify your neighborhood in the middle of the night?”  Students can write their own ideas, which might range from picking up trash to painting happy faces on parking meters to planting flowers in vacant lots.

3)    This book is written by two brothers.  Ask your students to think about whether it would be easy or hard to work with a family member—a sibling, parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin—to create a book, a painting, or another type of work of art. Ask each student to write about which family member he or she would like to collaborate with, and why.

4)     Give students the chance to look closely at the illustrations in the book, and specifically at all of the townspeople. Do your students see people of varying races or ethnicities? Ask each student to write about why including diverse characters in picture books is important.

The Night Gardener reminds us that small actions can have big consequences, and that it only takes one person to change an entire town forever. Each one of your students can make a positive difference too!

www.lauragehl.com

MAKE UP YOUR MIND WITH DR. SEUSS!

by Jacqueline Jules

What child (or adult) has not had trouble making up his or her mind?  Dr. Seuss in his posthumously published book What Pet Should I Get? delightfully captures this common dilemma in trademark Seuss rhyme and illustrations. This picture book would be a perfect read aloud and prompt for a personal narrative writing exercise.

·       Can you describe a time when you had trouble making up your mind?

·       Did you ever end up with nothing because you couldn’t choose just one thing?

·       What factors made your decision difficult?

·       Did you make your final decision alone or with the help of someone else?

·       How did you feel when you finally chose?

·       Did you regret your decision later?

Students can brainstorm as a class with the questions above before writing individual essays. Encourage students to write about situations beyond choosing a pet. Make lists of all the things people make decisions about on a daily basis. ie: clothes, food, television shows. Discuss times when students have made a decision to please someone else, like buying a gift or planning a party. Name important decisions people make during their lives. ie: choosing a school,  a house, a car, a job, a spouse. Decision making is an integral part of our lives and something we do on a daily, even hourly basis.

And trouble making up your mind is an experience students from all backgrounds can relate to, making it a slam dunk prompt for writing personal narratives.

Happy Writing!

www.jacquelinejules.com

MACHINE DREAMS

by Alison Ashley Formento

Machines are an important part of our lives and they are usually built using rocks and minerals, as I learned in researching my book These Rocks Count! We use computers, phones, and televisions on a daily basis. Doctors and dentists use machines to help keep us healthy. Cars, buses, planes, and trains are machines to help us get where we need to go each day. In winter, we rely on snowplows to help keep our roads and highways clean of snow and ice. Early snowplows were wooden and attached to horse drawn wagons to help push snow aside. In the early 1900’s, engineers wanted a way to help New Yorkers in the winter and designed a shovel type blade, strong and wide enough to clear city streets.

Most great inventions, like the snowplow began with an idea. Some ideas start as drawings scribbled on paper. Many inventions are the result of careful planning and experimentation, like the light bulb. A machine is usually useful, but it is often fun, too, like a giant roller coaster.

Machine Dreams: Writing Prompt

What machine do you wish existed? What if there was a machine to brush your teeth or make your bed? Or one to bring you ice cream just by thinking of your favorite flavor? Use your imagination to write about the machine of your dreams.

• What machine would help you in your daily life?

• Draw a sketch of the machine you imagine building.

• Name your machine.

• What exactly does your machine do?

• Write a description of your machine. Is it made of metal or plastic? Or some other material? Is it a particular color? Does it have many pieces to make it run?

• How does your machine operate? Does it have buttons, levers, or a keypad?

• Is your machine useful for everyone or only something you will use?

• How will your machine help you and others who use it?

www.alisonashleyformento.com

FOLLOW THE SNOWPRINTS

by Jacqueline Jules

Stop thinking about the inconvenience, the cold, and the dirty slush.  Focus on the beauty of snow for a lesson in your classroom. Show your students this picture or one like it with footprints in the snow. Start  a group story.

Who made the footprints? A man? Woman? Child? Boy or girl?

How old is the person? Tall? Short? Dark-Haired or Blonde? Eye Color?

What is the person wearing? Coat? Strong boots? Hat? Mittens? What color are they?

Or is he/she not dressed warmly enough? Is snow falling on his/her hair and shoulders? Is he shivering?

Where is that person going? Going home?  To visit a friend? On an important errand? A long journey?

How long has the person been walking? A few minutes or over an hour?

What is on the person's mind? Happy? Sad? Excited? Nervous? Worried?

What will happen when that person arrives? What will he/she see, smell, touch, taste, and hear?

Who will the person talk to? A person? A pet? A ghost?

Will the person go back out in the cold or go to sleep?

Will it continue to snow outside? Will the footprints be covered? Or will they be there the next morning?

Encourage your students to brainstorm as a group and then ask them to write their own stories.

Pictures of snow prints naturally inspire imaginative thoughts. Photograph the next winter storm and share the pictures with your class. Better yet, ask your students to take pictures of their own for inspiration.

www.jacquelinejules.com

IN PRAISE OF POEMS

by Jane Harrington

I recently returned from a residency in the lettered city of Pittsburgh where I spent a couple of weeks buzzing around with some truly inspiring wordsmiths. Many were fiction writers, as I am, but the program (an MFA with Carlow University) is dedicated to the idea that the best literary inflorescence comes from cross pollination between genres. I’ve come to believe this.

So, I was glad to see that some of my fellow bloggers here looked to poetry for interesting writing activities in January. (See Jacqueline Jules’ post on 1/13 and Mary Quattlebaum’s on 1/27). I’m going to plant another idea that I think young word crafters might enjoy as much as I did when award-winning fiction writer Jane McCafferty shared this poem-as-prompt in a workshop. She recommends a short time limit to capture what first darts into mind.

PROMPT: Read the following poem and then write an emulation, using your own dreams and/or wishes as subject matter. You can follow the structure very closely or create your own poetic or prose form.

In Praise of Dreams, by Wislawa Szymborska (abbreviated)

In my dreams

I paint like Vermeer van Delft.

I drive a car

that does what I want it to.

I am gifted

and write mighty epics.

My brilliance as a pianist

would stun you.

I fly the way we ought to,

i.e., on my own.

I’ve got no problem

breathing under water.

I’m a child of my age,

but I don’t have to be.

A few years ago

I saw two suns.

And the night before last a penguin,

clear as day.

 www.janeharrington.com