The Power of Story

By Joan Hamilton

When author Mitali Perkins visited Pierce School last week, she talked to the 6th and 7th grade students about the human need for "a story fix." "Where do you go when you need story?" she asked, "because we all need stories." When asked how many students had seen one movie five times, nearly every student raised his hand. When she asked how many played video games (now many of them also using the concept of story to hook kids), many also raised hands. But what surprised Ms. Perkins was that when she asked how many had read one book at least five times, a majority of the students raised their hands. She explained, "If you've read it five times, it is a story that speaks to something in your heart, in your soul. Later she told me, "I'm amazed. I speak at schools all over the country, and seldom do I have such a high percentage of students who have a book they've read five times."

Why is this reading experience so common to Pierce students? I would like to claim it is because from the first day of kindergarten to the last day of 8th grade, we build around them a culture of reading. It is a culture built through read-alouds, author study, genre study, literature circles, Bingo for Books, Pierce Reads, author visits, the study of folk literature motifs, independent reading projects, poetry recitations, required summer reading and participation in the Massachusetts Book Awards. It is a culture based on the 1,500 titles of multiples housed in the library that form the foundation of our literacy program.

Sadly, it is a culture at risk. It is at risk because Brookline will be eliminating all library assistants in the elementary schools if the override does not pass. The result will be an erosion of that culture--perhaps not noticeable at once, but over the years an inexorable erosion.

Later in the same day that Mitali Perkins was so impressed by our students' love of reading, a retired colleague stopped by. She had been substituting for several weeks at a school that had no library. She said the 4th graders in that school could not even sit still for a story read-aloud.
In contrast, I pictured Pierce 4th graders. Mention the word "story" and their ears perk up and they settle quietly into their listening positions. At Pierce children often clap at the end of a read-aloud. For they know, as cultures throughout the ages have known, that it is through story that we learn our history, we learn what we kind of persons we hope to become, what kind of community we want to live in. I remember Chet Raymo, the Boston Globe's science writer for many years, saying if you want your child to become a scientist, read him stories; for then he will be able to wonder and imagine. There have been civilizations without the wheel. There has never been a civilization without story.

How Can We Make a Difference?

It was one of those a-ha moments at a technology conference... Ms. Wang and I attended a presentation by Dr. Tim Tyson, former principal of Mabry Middle School. He spoke about his vision for technology in education; through his leadership, the Annual Mabry Film Festival was launched as a way to propel technology integration into engaging instructional activities for students. His passion about wanting to make a difference and to inspire students to know they could make a difference was contagious. On the way home from the conference, Ms. Wang and I started conspiring about how we could do something similar with her students.

This morning, Pierce School had its very first "film festival". The students in 5W showed their Environmental Science films to an audience of their parents, during a class breakfast. They will show their little buddies in 1W their videos in a few weeks; the students of 5W hope these movies will educate others about issues in the environment and what each person can do to save the environment.

Students had researched, planned, written scripts, directed, filmed, added voice-overs, chose images, and edited their films. From the very beginning of the process, students had to decide what information was most essential to share in a two-minute video. Information was found, read, and discussed; before each groups could receive approval to proceed to the next step in the process, they had to reach consensus.

Through this video experience, students learned about working cooperatively, the environment, and all the technical skills necessary to create a video. Ms. Wang and I learned that one person truly can inspire others to make a difference. If you have a chance, borrow the 5W DVD or check out the Mabry videos online. These students make me think about how I can make a difference.

PIcture Books for Older Readers

Picture Books for Older Readers

by Joan Hamilton

Read Across America Day was March 3, 2008 -- last Monday. It was celebrated across America by children listening to prominent community members visiting their schools and reading aloud to them. Pierce School was very fortunate to have Congressman Barney Frank who read to the entire fifth grade What to Do about Alice by Barbara Kerley, a picture book about Alice Roosevelt, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. The book was chosen for him by me, the school librarian.

When first handed the book, he remarked, "Pictures books! Fifth graders! Aren't fifth grade students too old for picture books?" The answer to his question is "Not at all." In fact, Pierce students read picture books throughout their nine years here. They use picture books to learn character mapping, plot structure, themes and motifs in literature, structures of non-fiction and literary terms such as allegory, allusion and point of view. They study imagery, metaphor, visual literacy and genre. They glean from pictures books ways to write tall tales, folk tales, personal narratives and mysteries. They use picture books to learn the reading strategies of compare and contrast, prediction, inference, and synthesis, as well as to make text-to-self and text-to-text connections.

Recognizing this trend, many children's literature websites give special attention to picture books for older readers: Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site--Looking Critically at Picture Books;

Children's Literature: Independent Information and Reviews -- Picture Books for Older Readers; University of Iowa's Curriculum Lab -- Picture Books for Older Students; and NCTE's Read. Write. Think. -- Using Picture Books to Teach Characterization in Writer's Workshop to name but a few.

Tech Tips

I thought I'd include a few tech tips in this blog posting. I'll try to be more proactive in the future about these technology issues; however, some things have changed at the district level, without any forewarning.

Converting Files from AppleWorks (AW) to Microsoft Word (Word)
Still using AW when nobody's looking? Or do you need to convert some older AW files to Word? Here's how you can do that in just a few steps - sometimes copying and pasting doesn't capture all the formatting.

1. Open your AW document.
2. From the File menu, choose Save As.
3. Click the File Format drop-down menu (default is AppleWorks) and choose Word Mac 98, 2001 Document.
4. Check to be sure that the name of the document makes sense and that you know where the file is being saved.
5. Click Save. Your file should now open seamlessly in Word.
   

FirstClass (FC) Settings
The network technicians made some changes to our server over the break, which erased the settings in many of your FC accounts. That's why some of you have been able to login from your home computer (unaffected) and not your work computer. Without the setting, FC doesn't know where to find your mail.

1. Open FC.
2. On the Login screen, click Setup. (If you have a newer version of FC, first click Advanced and then Setup.)
3. In the Server box, type fc.brookline.k12.ma.us
4. Click Save

Firefox Proxy Settings
As I wrote in an email earlier this week (which you couldn't read if your FC wasn't working), a change at the district level required a change in the Firefox Preferences. I placed a handout in the staff lunch room for directions to change the proxy settings. Please feel free to use the handout or ask me for help.
I will work with students as they come to the lab, to ensure they can continue to use Firefox.
By the way, our proxy is our network filter; this filter differs from the FC spam filter. That's another blog posting altogether.

As always, please let me know how I can help!
Sandra Sicard

Accessing Research Databases from Home computers

Accessing Research Databases from Home Computers
by Joan Hamilton

Pierce School students learn as early as third grade how to access databases that will help them do research. Using the Pierce Library Catalog, students can easily find full text articles from over seventy-five Children's magazines and reference sources, using such Infotrac databases as Kids Infobits (grades k - 5) and Junior Edition (middle school). Many are aware that these same databases can be used from home IF one has a Brookline Public Library card; however, exactly how to tap into these superb reference sources from home seems to remain a mystery for many. Following are easy steps for all to follow:

1. Get a Library Card. Cards are free when you sign up for the first time, and cost only one dollar ($1.00) to replace.

2. Using a web browser, go to the Brookline Public Library website.

3. In the upper right hand corner, click on Online Services.

4. There you will find a list of the online databases available to those who have a library card.

5. Scroll down to Kids Infobits. Next you will get a screen that asks you to type in your 14-digit library card number.

6. After your card number is entered, you will get another screen. Scroll down to Magazines for k-12 students. Choose Kids Infobits. You may get a screen that says Infotrac-Proceed. Click on Proceed, and you should finally get to the database.

7. Articles are from reference books, magazines, and newspapers. They are usually full text and can be printed or e-mailed.

8. Other databases that may be useful are Junior Edition and Worldbook Online.

Credit your Sources!

by Sandra Sicard

I've shared this online tool with a few teachers, but as I see more and more students engrossed in research of one type or another, I am going to put it out there for all to use. It's Citation Machine, a simple tool for citing sources. A student (or teacher) can choose the style (APA, MLA, Chicago, or Turabian) of the citation; then Citation Machine asks him/her for all the required information. It works for both print and non-print (online) resources. At the end, the user clicks submit, and Citation Machine spits out the citation in a format that can be copied and pasted into a word processing document.
Try it out; let's make it easy for students to give credit where credit is due.

Massachusetts Children's Book Award Project Helps Build a Culture of Reading

Massachusetts Children's Book Awards Project Helps Create a Culture of Reading at Pierce School

by Joan Hamilton


A sixth grade girl, who by her own admission is a reluctant reader, stood looking over the cart of books nominated for the Massachusetts Children Book Awards and told her friend, "These are all really good books."


All fifth and sixth grade students at Pierce School are now about half-way through the Massachusetts Book Awards Reading Project. Most book awards that children learn about, such as the Newbery, the Caldecott, the Coretta Scott King, the Pure Belpre Award and various others are chosen in committees made up of teachers, librarians, book store owners, and/or children's literature professors -- in other words, adults choose the books that receive the awards. The state book awards are different. They are nominated by children and adults, but voted upon exclusively by children. In order to be eligible to vote a child must read at least five of twenty-five nominated titles. This is the sixth year that all fifth and sixth graders have participated in these awards, and as in years past, we find a constant buzz of excitement around the book cart, as students talk to one another about what they have read, and what they plan to read next.


Creating a culture of reading in school or home can be a daunting challenge. According to a Boston Globe article, a recent report by the National Endowment for the Arts entitled "To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence," presents some fairly bleak findings about reading and young people -- such as, "The average person between ages 15 and 24 spends two to two and a half hours a day watching television and only seven minutes reading." One of the most interesting findings in the report is that, "regardless of income, levels of reading for pleasure correlate closely with levels of social life, voting, and political activism, participation in culture and fine arts, volunteerism, charity work and even regular exercise." In other words the poorest readers are more community-minded and concerned about their fellow human beings that the richest non-readers.

That quote makes me realize how important it is for Pierce School to continue programs that encourage love of reading, such as the Massachusetts Children Book Awards; and for me to continue with "every child will become a life-long lover of reading" as one of my major goals. It goes beyond the correlation with academic success. Having our kids love reading is an investment in the future our country -- in how we live in community, participate in democracy and maintain healthy lifestyles. How can we not do everything in our power to promote it?