Therefore the student's lack of engagement could lead to boredom at the very least, and aca- demic failure at wor

Helping elementarystudents gain an awareness of place can provide them with aclearer sense of self and a greater appreciation for diversity.

Lincoln, Abraham (12 February 1809–15 April 1865), sixteenth president of the United States, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, the son of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, farmers.

Scorned and ridiculed by many critics during his presidency, Lincoln became a martyr and almost a saint after his death. His words and deeds lived after him and will be revered as long as there is a United States. Indeed, it seems quite likely that without his determined leadership the United States would have ceased to exist. Union victory in the Civil War resolved two fundamental, festering problems that had been left unresolved by the Revolution of 1776 and the Constitution of 1789: whether this republic, “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” would “long endure” or “perish from the earth”; and whether the “monstrous injustice” of slavery would continue to mock those ideals of liberty. The republic endured, and slavery perished. That is Lincoln’s legacy.

Thus, the thing is hid away, in the constitution,” said Lincoln in 1854, “just as an afflicted man hides away a wen or cancer” (Basler, vol. 2, p. 274)

estateyour view of the person about whom you are writing

What did heor she value most

Choose aperson whose life seems especiallyappealing to you.

a thesis statement that states a specific idea about that person’s lifeand achievements

s. However, dangerous story elements in fairy tales, such as wicked witches or dragons, are far re- moved in both time and place from the lives of chil- dren; therefore these tales prove much less frightening than realistic stories of danger that focus on real-life f

Contrary to a popular belief, frequent trips into the land of faerie make for creative thinkers and problem solvers who are less physically aggressive - certainly qualities most parents desire for their chil- dre

Fairy tales and fantasy are prescriptions for men- tal health, not disease-causing agents

There are adults who fear that fairy tales and fantasy will lead children to be somehow out of touch with reality, that they will be less likely to distinguish fact from fancy if they are read too many fairy sto- ries

antasy literature that has some- thing to offer the classroom has at least two traits in common with the lasting work of other genres: humor and humannes

Why does she have to undergo what amounts to sorcerous cosmetic surgery in a later book in order to be considered attractive

Why didn't she use any of her spells

ulf. We speak in metaphor when we don't have better poetry, and fantasy liter- ature, over time, has evolved as a metaphor for hu- man experien

." U The problem with fantasy literature is that it has a certain stigma attached

he Three Little Pig

they are fun!

Universal themes and their accompanying guiding questions are one way of doing this.

eware the urge, however, to “pound every nail.” Some authors employ so many literary devices, conventions, and motifs that you could find yourself bogged down in the author’s craft at the expense of the storyitself.

Picture Books can breathe life into dry facts and figures.

Picture books provide succinct models for student writing

Since illustrations are so often tied into the meaning of a picture book, students are required to shift their comprehension from text to picture.

have found through trial and error that even a first grader can write poetry in the style of a favorite author, and that modern, unrhymed poetry gener ally works best.

it about teaching poetry that teach ers find so t

ather, I capitalized upon the work of other poets and added a few techniques that I had learned for improving reading compre hension. By

ulture and these types of response

4. Inserting oneself (or friends) in the story is a fourth type of response that shows expres sive engagement. T

If we form a mental picture of children who are highly engaged in a storybook read-aloud, it may be of a group, faces intent and rapt, listen ing with wonder, surprise, or fascination to the story as it unfolds

children suggest alternatives in plots, characters, or settings

ms, the teacher was read ing Shiloh (Naylor, 1991). Following her read-aloud, one of the learning centers involved students re searching on Internet sites that explored animal abuse. In another area of the classroom, students were reading informational packets from the local animal shelter about care for maltreated pets.

xpert teachers had sticky notes on the pages of the book with questions on them

was observed that teachers had practiced the book and were familiar with the sequence of the t

Often these were award-winning books such as Newbery or Caldecott winners or books that had received notice in some wa

Charlotte's Web b

ear purpose for the read-aloud was establishe

hoice was a motivating factor for readin

introduce students to the joy of reading

her read-alouds were among their favorite memorie

Figure

he classroom routine should invite children to write, respond, discuss, and become throughly involved with books?not to com plete worksheets in social isolation.

tudents should have own ership of their time

Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching , and whoever learns teaches in the act of learn

1 was faced by my own small view of the world and my limited definition of language, literacy, and learning

. What opportunities could I create in my classroom where par- ents were actually part of the cur- riculum

My students, once again, become my teachers, pushing my thinking and always providing conversations that are stimulati

We each have an outward energy that pushes us to personally invent ourselves (centrifugal force), while social convention is that outward energy that holds us in (centripetal forc

y? The chil- dren have much to teach us, if we but stop and list

se information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur)

ompare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories