Blog, Week of December 1
(Teachers please tell your parents about this blog series. It will encourage quality home reading.)
“Reading is interacting with the printed page to make meaning.” Bernice McCarthy
Remember the interaction comes from the conversation you have with the child. The book is the vehicle. The conversation is the meaning connection. Lead the conversation to a connection to the children’s past experiences. Young children need to interact if they are to find meaning. The meaning comes from their own lives, so it is always personal. You need to become the light switch for them to see how what they find in books has substance for them.
Why Read to Children: a past reminder
- to find meaning that connects to their lives,
- to enrich their background knowledge,
- to experience the wonder of the world of ideas,
- to have opportunities to hear the sounds of language,
- to come to understand knowledge can be represented graphically,
- to enrich their working knowledge of words,
- to have fun,
- to interact with listening and engaging adults.
And never ignore the gist. The “gist” is the meaning. Expert readers link the words, their combinations, the sentences, paragraphs and pictures together to form a core idea.
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Arielle North Olson
Hemingway defined courage as "grace under pressure". This is such a story. The author writes about a courageous 10-year old girl. While her father is away, 10-year-old Miranda must take up his role as lighthouse keeper. She will have to overcome inclement weather conditions, hunger and illness to keep the light burning brightly until her father returns. Miranda isn't particularly graceful. She clings to a catwalk a hundred feet above the rocks in the midst of a storm, alternately wiping her nose on her sleeve and scraping ice off the lighthouse window. She doesn't brave the wind and the cold for money, fame or glory. She knows that the winter before, when a lighthouse down the coast had darkened, two ships went down and all people on board drowned. She has learned determination based on her family’s dedication to providing safe passage to the ships that ply their waters and the trust and reliance the ship’s captains place on them. It's a wonderful story. It tells children that you don't have to be a bullfighter, a paratrooper or a firefighter (or an adult, for that matter) to be brave. It is working hard in the world you find your yourself in.
This book teaches children how others persevere in times that aren't easy. This young girl demonstrates love for her father, belief in the importance of the lighthouse and personal strength in adversity. She uses all her strength to take deal with what she is facing.
The core idea or Concept I have chosen for this book is Heroine/hero persistance, responsibility.
Activity 1: Have the children name one or two heroes or heroines to them.
Activity 2: Have them describe while you list the characteristics of these people. If with a group of children, be sure to note how many of the characteristics are similar.
Activity 3: Teach the word, Persevere. From Latin to abide severely, to be serious and do things strictly and well. Then have the children draw a metaphor for that word.
Example: a soldier standing guard, a mother caring for a baby, a father caring for the backyard lawn etc.
Activity 4: Read the book together.
Activity 5: Have the children find and talk about three hard things Miranda had to do.
Activity 6: Have the children make an illustrated list of the kinds of things heroines and heroes do.
Activity 7: Have a discussion with the children of how they are often heroes themselves, to younger siblings for instance, of helping out at home, etc.
Activity 8: Have the children make a poster labeled, Heroines and Heroes. Help them find pictures of those they listed in the first activity and post them and finally have them add a picture of themselves to the poster.
This book inspires. It will lead children to say, “I’d like to be like that”—quite a good reason to share a good book.
