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Monday Motivators

This blog page hosts posts some Mondays. The intent and purpose of a Monday Motivator is to provide teachers or readers with an idea they can share or an activity they can conduct right away.

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Poetry as Architecture: Kyle Liang’s “How to Build A House” By Darius Phelps

3/20/2023

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Darius Phelps is a doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is an adjunct professor at CUNY Queens, Hunter College, Teachers College, and intern at Brooklyn Poets.  An educator, poet, spoken word artist, and activist, Darius writes poems about grief, liberation, emancipation, reflection through the lens of a teacher of color and experiencing Black boy joy. His poems have appeared in the NY English Record, NCTE English Journal, Pearl Press Magazine, and ëëN Magazine’s The 2023 Valentine Issue.  Recently, he was featured on WCBS and highlighted the importance of Black male educators in the classroom. Darius can be contacted via email at: dmp2219@tc.columbia.edu.

As educators, we often find that many of our students are immediately intimidated and fearful of diving into poetry. As both a poet and male educator of color, I stand behind my stance that poetry is universal, intricate, intimate, and even liberating.  The late bell hooks stated “Poetry sustains life. Of this I am certain. There is no doubt in my mind that the pain of poverty, whether material or emotional lack, can be eased by the power of language. I know this intimately.” When I think of my relationship with poetry, this quote captures my feelings wholeheartedly. 

Throughout my childhood, writing poetry started off as a hobby that ended up being a source of comfort, healing, and restoration when I lost my grandfather a decade ago. Never taken a class or received any formal training, I’ve always picked up the pen and let it guide me, no matter where or how deep into my emotions. Books and the use of words taught me how to grasp what I feel on a daily basis, whether that be a spectrum of emotions or even working through my grief as I processed my loss. Now, as a man in his thirties, I look for work that speaks to and frees my younger self, shedding light on a narrative that I have yet to share with the world. When it comes to the classroom as a doctoral student and adjunct professor in English Education, I wanted to find work that encouraged my Master Level students, specially those of color, to embrace and both honor their origins. 

There is immense power behind sharing our authentic selves, and that is one of the many things I have learned from  Brooklyn Poet’s own immaculate  Kyle Liang and his work. Kyle Liang is the son of Taiwanese and Malaysian immigrants. He is the author of the chapbook HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE (winner of the 2017 Swan Scythe Press Chapbook Contest), and his debut full-length collection, GOOD SON, will be forthcoming from Sundress Publications in early 2024. Kyle’s work has appeared in Best of the Net, Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s The Margins, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, wildness, Diode and elsewhere. He is an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University, a teacher for Brooklyn Poets, and a physician assistant in internal medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Kyle lives in New York City with his wife Morgan. In his first collection, How to Build A House, Liang takes the reader on an intimate journey with his poems, reminiscent of journal entries meant only for his eyes, we follow him as he speaks his truth unapologetically, leaving no stone unturned from start to finish. Beginning with our adolescent youth, if we begin to be more intentional with amplifying diverse voices, perspectives , and views on taboo subjects such as grief and trauma, we can begin to order our steps on the intentional journey towards healing.

How to Build a House is one of the most stellar debuts I’ve come across in the last twenty years. Adolescents everywhere need to hear his narrative. Kyle inspires and emboldens us to look inside ourselves, peel back our layers and excavate what truth lies at our cores. With poems such as “Reflux”, “An ABC in a Dim Sum Restaurant” and the haunting “Petrichor”, Kyle holds nothing back, letting his emotions and honesty take the reigns as we learn of his parents journey, his upbringing, and adolescent thoughts  in retrospect.  “Let the black crinkled bits hitchhike/on a passing breeze and spiral/ over the bright green grass/ where the bombs gave birth to you.” His words are one that leaves chills up your spine, brings comfort, healing, but also recognition, for if we don’t take a closer look at our scars, can we heal this dissolved nation?

Detailing the immigrant experience through pieces such as “A Tracing of Our Shoeless Feet” where he  tugs at our heartstrings with the stanza, “I somehow always  see my mom when she’s waiting at the bus stop in the ocean/ I watch the waves nearly toss her over before walking up and asking, Momma, don’t you know the bus don’t come down here anymore/ I forget she doesn’t  know English too well so I paraphrase,  Momma, not today/ Yet, I still stand next to her beside that metal sign and together we let the current push and pull our bodies dressed in soaking clothes/ The weight of water pulls our shoes off…

​With the turn of each page, Kyle lays down a brick of new foundation cemented in honesty, excavation, and emancipation. Emulating poetry as architecture, with his work, his tone, his voice, and  willingness to bear his soul, Kyle doesn’t just build a house in the sky by being vulnerable, he lays the foundation for a better world. One where marginalized voices, specifically where fellow young men of color, are free to unapologetically be themselves, on their respective journeys towards liberation.  Awaiting the forthcoming GOOD SON, I have a feeling Kyle’s story is just beginning as he steps into his true power, voicing his deepest desires, passion, and fears. Regardless of where this journey takes him, one thing is for certain, is that he is a rarity and emblem of strength, courage, and truth. A bridge to liberation, and a personal beacon of light —one that has truly changed my life, for the better.
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Kyle Liang
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It’s Not Me, It’s You: Book Breakups and Rekindling a Love of Reading by Meg Grizzle

3/6/2023

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Meg Grizzle is a former high school English teacher and a current PhD student and Graduate Assistant at the University of Arkansas. She is passionate about young adult literature, creative writing, and libraries. 

In his Netflix special
Kid Gorgeous, Comedian John Mulaney argues against colleges and universities asking alumni for donations. Mulaney’s main point, that he has already given enough money through tuition and fees, is driven home by a brief quip: “I paid $120,000 for someone to tell me to go read Jane Austen, and then I didn’t.” In short, college was expensive, and even paying to read the classics isn’t enough motivation to actually go do it. 


The merit of the western literary canon, which includes works by Jane Austen, in contemporary ELA classrooms is a common point of debate among educators and researchers alike. How can we reconcile the White Eurocentricity of the canon with the continuing belief that to be well-read and therefore well-educated means being familiar with the classics? I am not going to attempt to address this question in a brief blog post or anywhere else for that matter. What I can do, however, is offer a tool that allows students to talk back to those canonical texts and give them the freedom to embrace Young Adult Literature as a legitimate and important literary genre. 

During my time as an 11th and 12th grade ELA teacher, I always made room for student choice in reading, whether that be through sustained silent reading or a complete independent reading unit. The first years of encouraging students to become the readers I knew they could be were challenging. I love books. I wanted my students to love books. I held the somewhat naïve belief that if I surrounded them with enough books, book talked enough books, and always posted “Mrs. Grizzle is reading...” on my classroom door students would, perhaps through osmosis, become readers. I had good intentions, but it took some time for me to realize that those intentions were very much focused on myself. I wanted to be my students’ bookish savior. What I didn’t realize, however, is that my students had very strong opinions about what they had been told to read in school, and over the years, those opinions had turned into quiet resignation, a tacit understanding that teachers would assign books, and those books, save for a quick scan of Sparknotes, would largely go unread. 

One year, as I revisited my yearly independent reading unit, I considered how I had and had not allowed my students to have agency and voice in the reading process. I realized that giving students choice may not be enough. I needed to provide them with an outlet, an avenue to voice frustration with the ways they had been taught to approach reading. This realization led me to create one of my favorite assignments to date, the breakup letter to a book. 

The concept is simple: students think of a book they have disliked and write a breakup letter to that book. In their letter, students explain why they have decided to part ways with that particular title, and they include a list of offenses the book committed. (See my example below that I used with my students). I broke up with Pride and Prejudice, a decision that would make John Mulaney proud. After students have completed their letters, they talk through their work. The class discussion post-letter is always some of the best work students produce all year. For students, there is something truly satisfying about being able to vent. It's even more special when students discover that some of them have broken up with the same book. There’s a reading kinship that forms from those connections. 

It always takes my students by surprise when I tell them that it’s okay to hate a title, that it’s perfectly normal to feel frustrated with assigned reading, and that voicing those frustrations is the first step toward understanding their readerly identities. We can use that disappointment to understand what we don’t like in our reading lives and in turn, understand what we do.
Sample Breakup Letter
Dear Pride and Prejudice, 

It’s not you. It’s me. And the “it” is that I just can’t stomach you. I’m ashamed to admit it. You are the George Clooney of literature, after all. Elegant and refined with handsome prose. You only become more attractive as you age. But alas, it is a truth not so universally acknowledged that not every well-educated middle-class woman swoons over your Mr. Darcy and your foggy English countryside. I can’t relate to your high teas and your meeting up in perfectly unplowed meadows. 

Do you know how many times I’ve tried to read you? It’s completely embarrassing. I have a Master’s degree in English, and I cannot make myself get past page…76??? Do you know what that means? I made it through graduate school, nay through a class dedicated to the British novel, nay to British novels written by females, without reading you. I’ll be honest. I watched your movie. It was just as dull as you. Maybe it’s my unrefined East Texas ear, but I just can’t seem to understand anything you’re saying. Which leads me to another confession: I listened to you on audiobook. I tried to appreciate you while I mopped my kitchen floors and ran my errands. I tried to perch myself on a stationary bike at the gym and convince myself that I was the embodiment of the progressive woman. Here I am everyone, pedaling away while I fill my mind with literary greatness. I made it two miles before I switched to my Beyonce playlist. Now there’s a true poet. 

But really, Pride and Prejudice, this isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I should have tried to read you while sitting by a fire and drinking tea and eating crumpets. I should have bought a fancier copy of you, one that had a nice cover so I might actually enjoy holding you in my hands. Truthfully, I thought my obsession with Netflix’s The Crown would motivate me to be more British, but after I binge watched seasons one and two, I just fell back into my old habits of reading, as my grandmother classifies them, novels featuring orphaned and/or mistreated young girls. 

So, I’m afraid I'm out. I’m kindly asking you to please consider moving from my built-ins to my cabinets. It’s better if we don’t see each other anymore. It’s clear that we aren’t in this for the long haul, and I’m fairly certain we can’t be friends. I’m sorry if this creates any tension between you and Jane Eyre, whom I love dearly. 

Ta ta and goodbye then, 
Meg
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The Reading Wars Are Back by Jeffrey Kaplan

2/6/2023

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The reading wars are back. 
Or maybe they never left.
 
But, when Lucy Calkins, makes the front page of the New York times, you know something is up. It is not every day that the debate about reading curriculums makes front page news.
 
But indeed, it did.
 
On May 22, 2022, the New York Times headline read “In the Fight Over How to Teach Reading, this Guru Makes a Major Retreat.” The sub-headline reads, “Lucy Calkins, a leading literacy expert, has rewritten her curriculum to include a fuller embrace of phonics and the science of reading. Critics may not be appeased.”
 
Indeed, not.
 
Lucy Calkins, Robinson Professor of Children’s Literature at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the Founding Director of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, has developed state-of-the-art teaching methods and professional development programs to support teachers and policymakers across the country and around the world in teaching reading. In a classic Calkins classroom, teachers read aloud from children’s literature – then students select the ‘right books’ which fit their interests and ability. The focus is more on stories – theme, character, plot, - and less on sounding out words.
 
Calkins’ curriculum is framed around ‘Units of Study’ – a reading program based on a vision of children as natural readers. Children learn to read based on their natural desires – they gravitate towards their passion and gradually, build their literacy skills as they absorb reading material that appeals to their interest and ability levels.
 
In recent years, though, parents and educators who champion the ‘science of reading’ have fiercely criticized this ‘child first’ curriculum. Instead, they cite a half-century of research that shows phonics – sound it out exercises that are purposefully sequenced – as the most effective and efficient way to teach reading – along with books that help children scaffold vocabulary and depth to their understanding. Moreover, in recent years, more than a dozen states have passed laws advocating phonics instruction. In fact, in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams and School Chancellor, David Banks, are urging principals and educational administrators to select curriculums focused on teaching phonics – first.
 
To counterweight this trend towards a more regimented reading instruction, Professor Calkins has rewritten her reading curriculum – from kindergarten to second grade – to include for the first time daily structured lessons in phonics – accompanied by assessments to track students’ progress with decoding.
 
So, what does this have to do with young adult literature?
 
Everything.
 
Teaching phonics – and the transformative nature of reading instruction with an emphasis on prescribed reading instructional analysis and engagement – may not inspire political campaign ads the way critical race theory does – but the argument about how to teach children to read – is fundamental to motivating young people to read – especially, for teachers who advocate the teaching of young adult literature.
 
Unlike in many developed countries, the United States lacks a national curriculum or teacher-training standards. As we know, local policies – about what to teach and how to teach – in our nation’s public schools - change as swiftly as political office holders.  The values and beliefs of governors, superintendents, school boards, etc., often have more influence over what our students learn – and read – then, often teacher educators and teachers, themselves.
 
Yes, reading habits – the ability for children and teens to read – various from kid to kid – still one cannot dispute that ‘desire’ is the impetus for all reading instruction. Wanting to read – whether it be ‘twitter, Facebook, or the latest YA sensation’ – are all predicated on the notion that young people will gravitate naturally towards reading material – that appeals to both their hearts and minds.
 
And, unfortunately, our country – indeed, the world, is filled with people – who can read, but choose not to…
 
And why?
 
There are infinite options. From Netflix to TikTok videos, children, adolescents, and adults can find innumerable ways to pass the time – without doing – what experts have all agreed upon is the most desired way to engage – simply enjoying ‘uninterrupted sustained silent reading’. Just reading for pure pleasure – for sheer enjoyment – to learn about the world and the ‘stuff’ that is not shared – often, openly, and honestly – in polite company – but can found in reading material and frequently, can be the most rewarding and fulfilling time spent by young people in their most informative years.
 
And yet, with the advocacy of reading instruction that is governed more by sounding out words and reading comprehension questions – and less on exploring individual passions for what interests and motivates young people to read – we will again find ourselves in a world where many can read – but sadly, choose other more immediate pleasures.
 
Yes, young people – and teens and adults – often need help sounding out words. Yes, each individual processes written language differently – some letter by letter, others sound by sound. And yes, human beings, often, have physical concerns and issues – dyslexia, vision or hearing loss, attention deficit disorder, etc., - which require special medical and psychological attention – but these issues should never stand in the way of real reading instruction. By allowing kids to naturally gravitate to reading material they want to read, we can magically turn young people into readers by motivating them to independently find a reason to read.
 
For many young people, though, - kids who grow up thinking reading is hard and difficult – and only done to pass a test – reading becomes a code word for work. And work – proving their intellectual efficiency by sounding out words and looking up definitions – is never a good enough reason to take up reading for pleasure. And sadly, reading for pleasure – for the sheer enjoyment of discovering new worlds, places, and people –– is often lost during their school years – and sadly, never retrieved.
 
Thus, our job as educators is to fight the urge to ‘regiment reading instruction’, and in turn, the reading experience. Whether it is phonics – or the great books movement – or the impetus to teach classical literature over young adult literature – we must always keep sight of our goal – to change the world by turning on ‘one kid a time’ to the joy of reading – for no other reason than they want and need to….
 
In her influential 2000 book, The Art of Teaching Reading, Lucy Calkins wrote that the simple way to build ‘lifelong readers’ is to allow children and adolescents to spend time with books they choose, regardless of content or difficulty. Too much sounding-words-out and reading comprehension questions, can turn natural readers into non-readers – kids who can read, but often, do not. 
 
I would like to think that Professor Calkins believes the same.
 
I know I do.
 
I believe that one of the most important things schools and teachers can do – is ensure students leave with a desire to read – to learn to nurture their natural instincts to become lifelong learners.
 
Here are some Simple Ideas to Get Kids to Read
 
Uninterrupted Silent Reading
 
Want to do an activity that kids will enjoy and remember forever? Try ‘Uninterrupted Silent Reading’ – Not for a whole class period. But for a good 20 minutes. Reading quietly, books that kids enjoy – or will learn to enjoy (or perhaps, not) for a solid 20 minutes in class can be good for all – you – your students. And their future as lifelong readers.
 
Let Them See You Read
 
Yes – you. As the teacher. Let them see you read – either silently or aloud. As you undoubtedly know, many kids don’t have the luxury of people in their lives who read. Too busy with the business of living, many adults and older brothers and sisters spend their days just getting by – and often, the last thing on their mind – is silent reading. By role modeling for them – reading silently – and reading aloud – you are providing your students a ‘sight’ that many often do not see.
 
Reading What Pleases Them
 
Kids should be able to read what pleases them – what motivates them – what arouses their interest and curiosity – with teacher guidance. Yes, in this age of censorship – far and near – kids still need guidance from caring teachers and parents – about what is appropriate for them – but that doesn’t mean, we should censor their choices. We should always keep in mind that as teachers, we are loco parentis – meaning, that parents can intervene on what they deem appropriate for their child – but not everyone else’s child. Kids should still be able to read what matters most to them – as minors – and parents should be able to weigh in on their children’s choices.
 
Stating Likes and Dislikes – When it Comes to Reading
 
Another good activity to get kids talking about reading – and what they like and don’t like – is to bring kids to the library – and ask them to select 3 books – one they have read (if any), one they would like to read (there are plenty) and one they would never read (the ones with the strange titles). Then, ask them to share their 3 choices – like, want to read, and will never read – to your class. You will be amused and bemused at their choices – and learn a little bit more about themselves.
 
Keeping a Reading Journal
 
Motivating kids to read – also means motivating kids to write. Better readers mean better writers – as kids will begin to imitate what they are reading – and that is a good thing. Have your students keep a running journal of what they are reading – what they like, dislike, and want to read next – all in the guise of ‘getting kids to talk about their reading experience and what moves them the most…
 
Getting Kids to Read – and Draw
 
Finally, lighting a fire to get kids to read – means that the possibilities are endless for getting kids to talk about their reading – and what better way – than to allow kids to draw – yes, draw – draw about their reading experiences. What images did the see in their mind as they read? What new worlds did they conjure? How would they re-design the cover of their book? What do the main characters look like? What is the setting of the book? What new images and ideas do the books inspire?  Art is a wonderful tool for motivating even the most reluctant reader to reimagine their universe
 
These are all good activities – and I am sure you can imagine a ton more – to inspire kids to read.
 
For reading saves lives.
 
My life was inspired – like so many of my generation – by J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. This wonderful coming of age novel – was considered brash and crude and controversial – at the time – for it spoke of a disaffected adolescent out to rid the world of phonies and hypocrites. And yet, today, it seems so tame – in comparison to what great books have come next.
 
But, for a young kid of 14 or 15, Salinger was a whole new world – a world where brutal and honest thoughts made for compelling and engaging reading. A world where self-realization and self-understanding came into play – like never before. And a world where I began to question everything and anything – that appeared be part and parcel of them natural order.
 
And for an adolescent, that is everything.
 
You begin to learn about yourself – and you begin to learn about others.
 
When kids read, they learn to empathize.
 
When kids read, they learn to sympathize.
 
When kids read, they learn to dream.
 
And to imagine who they are and who they will be.
 
They can do that without learning phonics.
 
They cannot do that without good teachers.
 
Teachers who take the time to allow reading to happen in their classrooms.
 
Our job is turn to good kids onto good books – openly, honestly, and naturally.
 
And to leave the reading wars behind.
 
References
 
Calkins, L. (2000). The art of teaching reading. Prentice Hall. https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Reading-Lucy-McCormick-Calkins/dp/0321080599
 
Goldstein, D. (2022, May 22). In the fight over how to teach reading, this guru makes a major retreat,” New York Times, A1. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/22/us/reading-teaching-curriculum-phonics.html

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Today's author: Jeffrey S. Kaplan, PhD, is Associate Professor Emeritus in the School of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership in the College of Community Innovation and Education, University of Central Florida, Orlando and Senior Adjunct Professor/Dissertation Chair/Methodologist for College of Doctoral Studies, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona. He can be reached at Jeffrey.Kaplan@ucf.edu 
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Responsibility Pie by Maria Copp

1/23/2023

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The only thing more magical than teaching a rich text is pairing it with meaningful activities. One of my favorite assignments to pair with a class novel is Kelly Gallagher’s “Responsibility Pie Chart” (from his book Deeper Reading).
The Responsibility Pie Chart challenges students to divvy up the blame and decide which characters–and to what degree–are responsible for the conflict at hand. As students slice up the pie, they are challenged by the fact that there is no single correct answer. As they grapple with the question, they realize that the story’s conflict–like life–is not black and white, but rather a complex weaving of factors. 

I originally used this assignment with my middle school students after the climactic fight scene in Jason Reynolds’ When I Was the Greatest.

The past few years, I’ve incorporated the Responsibility Pie Chart into my unit on Sold by Patricia McCormick. Sold is the beautifully written novel in verse about the ugly epidemic of human trafficking. For my freshmen, it brings to life the story of millions of enslaved around the world by focusing on the story of one main character, Lakshmi. It’s a heavy story that leaves readers longing for change and asking “why?”. Why did Lakshmi have to suffer? Which people along the path of her life contributed to her being trafficked?

At the end of the novel I assign the Responsibility Pie Chart. I offer students a blank pie chart (an empty circle) and a word bank of the characters in the story. I ask them to divide the pie chart with the characters they think had a hand in forcing Lakshmi into sexual slavery. Consider her stepfather and Mumtaz; the first is the one who sold her and the latter is the one who kept her locked in the brothel and forced her to be with men. Is one of these guiltier than the other? There are no easy answers.  But as students mull over the story and draw their lines, they also write. Not only do I ask them to create the pie chart, but I also have them defend it, articulating support for their choices.

After they work independently, we discuss as a group. The pie charts students created act as a strong springboard for debate, as they exchange perspectives and text evidence. After reading the novel, this assignment and the conversation that follows help my readers further understand how complicated the problem of human trafficking is. 

The Responsibility Pie Chart is a simple but powerful tool that can be used not only with many, many novels, but also with nonfiction historical texts and current events as teachers guide students to develop their critical thinking skills.
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Maria Copp is a graduate of the Vanderbilt Reading Education M.Ed. program and is currently a Reading Specialist at Nathan Hale High School in Oklahoma.
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A Love Letter to an English Class by Melanie Hundley

1/8/2023

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What better way to start the year than with a young adult novel in verse? It is no secret that Emily and I love verse novels—we are deeply passionate about what they do to capture readers’ imaginations. Novels in verse push storytelling boundaries—they use rich language, create engaging and complex characters, and develop powerful stories often about deeply personal and socially complex issues.  The narrative structure of verse novels looks different; the plot is developed across verse rather than chapters and the visual elements of graphics and white space become important tools in the storytelling.  The verse novel is a hybrid genre incorporating elements of verse, drama, and prose to tell engaging stories.

Ode to a Nobody by Caroline Brooks DuBois (2022) is a verse novel set in Nashville. On one level, it is a story about Quinn, a tornado, friendship, survival, and family. On another level, it is a love letter to English classes and poetry month. On yet another level, it is a story about how writing can help someone find her voice. It is all of those things and more.  As one of my teacher candidates said, “This book is about writing and seeing kids.”  Another said, “I found 27 poems that I could use as mentor texts tomorrow with my students and I am only halfway through the book!”

I shared this book as a read-aloud to a small group of 4 middle school students.  We started with an activity called “Judge a book by its cover.” Using a picture of the cover, the students do the following:
  1. Identify what they notice about the cover.
  2. List the “things” that stand out about the images on the cover.
  3. Break apart the title.
  4. Make an educated guess.
The four students studied the picture of the cover of the book.  The students listed the things they notice on chart paper:
Noticings of things on the cover:
  1. I notice the back of a girl’s head and her hair is blowing like it is windy.
  2. I notice that there is a house and trees.  The trees are blowing like it is a windy day.
  3. I notice a hamster and a game controller flying around. A teddy bear and a skateboard too.
  4. I notice that the colors are blues and pinks and salmon colors.  They seem “moody.”  
  5. The trees and swing are blowing a different direction than her hair—like it is rotating.
Breaking apart the title:
  1. The title is Ode to a Nobody.
  2. The two words that stand out are ODE and NOBODY.
  3. Ode is an English class word. I think it is a type of poetry—maybe one when somebody died or is real famous.
  4. Nobody is a word everybody knows.  It’s common—it often is a negative word. Kind of.
Educated Guesses
  1. I think the book is about a girl who writes a poem about somebody who dies in a storm. 
  2. I think the book is going to be a book about a tornado because of the wind images.  I think the girl is the main character and she loses her house and her stuff in the tornado because I see stuff blowing in the wind.
  3. I think the book is a mystery about a girl who finds someone’s stuff that gets blown away during a storm and she has to find the “nobody” the stuff belongs to and give it back.
 
The educated guesses are based on evidence the students found on the cover; their predictions are close but not exactly what they will find. They are now curious about the book and look forward to figuring out who was the most “right.”  We move on to one more introductory task—figuring out the title and more about the book by focusing on the word “ode.”
We begin by talking about and defining the word “ode.” I start by asking them where they might have heard the word “ode.”  We talk about what it sounds like (owed) and what we think this word means. One student reminds us that he thinks it is “an English class word” and another student says that she thinks she heard it in a video game.  I read them three of the poems from the book “Ode to the Dogwood Out My Window” (pp. 23-24), “Ode to a Stationary Ollie” (p. 32), and “Ode to My Bedroom (and Pumpkin)” (p. 33). 

“I didn’t know you could write a poem about skateboarding!” One student says.  The students nod.  “I thought it had to be about nature and big stuff.”  More nodding. We talk more about the poems and what they mean to us.  Then I ask, “Based on these three poems, what do you think an ode does?”  The students list what they notice about the three poems.
  1. Each poem talks about what is special about the thing its about.
  2. It seems like the poem wants us to think it is as special as the author does.
  3. The poems have details that make it seem real.
The students decide that an ode is a poem that celebrates how special something is and uses details to make the reader believe it.  We then look up the definition of “ode” to discover how close we are.  The Cambridge online dictionary defines “ode” as “ a poem expressing the writer's thoughts and feelings about a particular person or subject, usually written to that person or subject.” The students then wonder, “So this book is an ode to a nobody? Can an author do that?”

The students and I are just beginning our journey together reading this book. They are already excited about reading it.  I look forward to the discussions and writing projects they create! 

Ode to a Nobody is a book that both Emily and I love.  As reading and writing teachers, we are excited about how we are seeing students respond.  As teacher educators, we are thrilled with the responses from our teacher candidates. 

Happy Reading, 
Melanie and Emily

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Poetry and Posters with When Stars are Scattered by Dr. Emily Pendergrass

12/19/2022

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The wonderfully written middle grades graphic novel When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed is Omar’s recount of his life in a Kenyan refugee camp. Life is challenging in the camp: food is hard to find, school is limited, medical care is almost non-existent. And Omar has to take care of his brother who has special needs. This is a powerful story that can be used from 5th grade through high school. One of the strengths of this graphic novel beyond the powerful story is the richness of the visual imagery embedded within the text.  

There are many, many things teachers can do with this novel. Students can read about the different Kenyan refugee camps or watch this Politics and Prose video where the authors of the novel share their stories. 

With my students, we did a number of things. There are two in particular that I will share today. 
  1. Collaborative found poetry to uncover themes.
  2. Characterization Posters

Collaborative Found Poetry
Found poems take existing words, phrases, lines from a text and are reordered into a poem. A literary collage of a text. In this instance, each student in their groups of 4-5, found 2 significant lines. Lines that stood out to them personally. Lines that were powerful. Each student wrote their lines down and shared them with their small group. Students then worked to write 1 poem using the lines from the text (see image 1). Students shared the poems with the whole class, and we discussed themes that arose out of reading the poetry.
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Image 1: Example of Collaborative Found Poetry.
Characterization Posters
In my experience, characterization can sometimes be tricky for students as they tend to stick to what the character looks like. We expanded this to include not only the physical description, but also each character’s personality, thoughts, and actions, and how other characters think/act around the focal character. 
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Each group chose their favorite character and were given the following assignment sheet.
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Image 2: Assignment Sheet
The items in the list are adapted from an assignment by Melanie Hundley and are concepts that we have been working on in class. These criteria (i.e. adjectives, similes) are skills that we had been practicing and when mashed together in this assignment make a nice way to discuss characterization and see what all students have learned. You can change the criteria to skills that you’ve been working on in your class. You can ask students to complete the assignment alone or in small groups. There is lots of room to play with this assignment. See image 3 for example posters of the character Fatuma from the novel When Stars are Scattered.
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Embracing Joy and Celebration Through Young Adult Literature by Dr. Laura Jacobs

12/12/2022

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At NCTE’s national conference this year, I attended a session on Gholdy Muhammad’s upcoming book, Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning  (Jan 9, 2023 from Scholastic). I was reminded of the importance of teaching for joy. This led me to reflect on how young adult literature can provide a space for joy and celebration. 

As English teachers and educators continue to advocate for the inclusion of young adult literature that is representative of the lived experiences of today’s students, we must remember it is not enough to simply include historically and currently marginalized communities. We must consider how characters are portrayed and positioned in the texts we choose. In many classroom texts when characters of color are included they feature experiences rooted in trauma. While it is important to acknowledge and understand the history and pain of these communities, it is equally as important that students have windows and mirrors (Sims Bishop, 1990) that portray the joy and celebration within these communities. 
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When considering books teachers can incorporate to teach for joy, instantly the anthology Black Boy Joy edited by Kwame Mbalia comes to mind. Just looking at the cover alone, brings a smile to your face. The gold lettering against the robin egg blue background with the smiling face of a Black boy, is bright and hopeful.
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Each chapter of Black Boy Joy depicts a different story that highlights the joy and wonder of Black boyhood. The book features contributions from 17 Black male and non-binary authors. The stories are tied together by the story of Fort, who is tasked with refilling Mr. G’s jar of joy. Although the chapters can be read independently, together they expand the definition of Black boy joy. The chart below lists the chapter titles and authors.
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Because the chapters are short and easily digestible in one class session, the anthology is a great resource for when you are in search of a text with a specific theme, or to teach a reading skill or serve as a mentor text for a writing skill. While the common theme of the book is joy, each chapter also features relatable themes and experiences that impact young adults (e.g., strong male role models, grief, loss, finding your identity, acceptance of identity, having a crush, family relationships etc.). For easy access, I created a spreadsheet with themes and experiences present in each chapter of Black Boy Joy. For example, 
  • In search of science fiction? Chapter 3 features a pair of cousins who have to work their way through a technology driven house to win a prize left by their deceased grandfather. In Chapter 6 the main character learns his parents have been living a secret life as intergalactic racers. 
  • Teaching a lesson on dialect? Consider using Chapter 14, which features African American Language. 
  • Looking for a text that features the main character dealing with grief? Consider incorporating Chapter 15, where the main character uses music as a way to honor a friend who has passed and bring his community together. 
  • Want to incorporate texts that feature your students' interests? The main character of Chapter 8 is a talented artist. The main character of Chapter 9 loves to dance to the music of his favorite bands. Chapter 11 includes characters who like to solve puzzles. Chapter 12 has a character who wants to be famous for his skateboarding skills. 

​​The short stories can be used in a plethora of ways to support English language arts learning. Below are a few suggestions of how the chapters can be used as stand alone pieces: 
  • Figurative Language Scavenger Hunt 
    • Review figurative language definitions (alliteration, onomatopoeia, imagery, simile, metaphor, and hyperbole) with students 
    • Have students read an assigned chapter (or multiple chapters) and identity as many examples of figurative language as they can (e.g., Alliteration can be found in Chapter 4, onomatopoeia and hyperbole can be found in Chapter 6, similes can be found in Chapter 15, Chapter 8 includes examples of imagery) 
    • You can provide students who need scaffolded instruction specific page numbers to look on. 
  • Creative Writing
    • In Chapter 6 Rodney learns his parents are intergalactic racers competing for the fate of Earth. Have students write the next part of the story answering the prompt: What happens next to Rodney and his parents? 
    • At the end of his chapter, author Dean Atta provides insight into his process for writing his chapter in verse. Have students write a poem about someone special in their lives uses Chapter 7 as a mentor text. 

Black Boy Joy can also be enjoyed as a whole class novel. Here are a few suggestions for whole-novel use: 
  • Read Aloud. Read one chapter a day/week as an opening or closing for class. Additionally, you can use this time to suggest other work by the book contributors. For example, ​
    • If you liked this chapter by Kwame Mbalia, you should read Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky 
    • If you liked this graphic novel chapter by Jerry Craft, you should read New Kid
  • ​Author Profiles. Have students research the author of their favorite chapter and create an author profile to share with others in your school community. Students can create infographics with the information they learn that can be posted around your classroom or school to bring awareness to this author and their work. Students can consider the following when researching: ​​
    • What biographical information can you find about this author? 
    • Why did they become an author? 
    • How do the lived experiences of the author influence their writing? 
    • What other work has this author written?
  • ​Create a Joy Jar for your classroom. On slips of paper write down the moments of joy as they happen in your classroom throughout the year. Read from slips from the jar whenever you and your students need a reminder of the joy you have created together or at the end of the year read them all!​
    • What events have made your students laugh? Smile?
    • What have your students excelled at? 
    • What are the moments of growth you have seen? 
    • What moments show their commitment to your classroom community? How have they positively supported their classmates?​

Additional Resources: 
  • Random House Children’s Books created an Educator’s Guide with activities, discussion questions to analyze the text, and prompts for each of the chapters. 
  • Audio Recording of There’s Going to Be a Fight in the Cafeteria on Friday and You Better Not Bring Batman by Lamar Giles 
  • Book Trailer with messages from the contributors about what Black boy joy means to them. 

References 
Bishop, R. S. (1990, March). Windows and mirrors: Children’s books and parallel cultures. In California State University reading conference: 14th annual conference proceedings (pp. 3-12).

Laura Jacobs is an assistant professor of English Education at Towson University in Towson, MD. She recently earned her doctorate in English Education from North Carolina State University. Before transitioning to teacher preparation, Laura taught sixth grade ELA in Wake County, NC. Her research centers on commercially-produced ELA curricula, young adult literature, and teacher education.
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Looking to the Future: Agency in YA Dystopian Cli-Fi by Dr. Fawn Canady

11/21/2022

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“You would be forgiven if you mistook the world for a dystopian science fiction film.”
 –Antonio López

I have been reading cli-fi or climate fiction and science fiction and thinking about how to guide students gently into dystopian worlds and to lead them out safely. Dystopian literature may feel too close for comfort. Every day, we are inundated with climate crises in the news media. So much so, that “you would be forgiven if you mistook the world for a dystopian science fiction film.” This experience of a dystopian reality contributes to climate anxiety, or stress related to climate change and the fate of our planet. In a recent study of over 10,000 youth in 10 countries, the majority claimed they experienced some form of climate anxiety and nearly half (45%) said their feelings impacted their daily lives and 59% agreed with the viewpoint that “humanity is doomed.” So, should we teach climate change issues through dystopian cli-fi? 

Dystopian cli-fi is a powerful tool for teaching climate change. As Allen Webb recently reminded me, we need our students to feel a sense of urgency. In the book he co-authored with Richard Beach and Jeff Share, Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents, we must acknowledge that, “whatever happens, climate change will be the defining feature of the world our students inhabit. Addressing climate change is everyone’s responsibility, and that includes English teachers.” Dystopian cli-fi creates the opportunity to explore ‘what-ifs' related to complex questions stemming from the wicked problems we face today. So, cli-fi is an expression of radical hope. 

Dystopian cli-fi an expression of radical hope? Literary scholar Pamela Bedore claims that dystopian literature is more utopian than utopian literature because utopia is unattainable and dystopian futures are still avoidable. In other words, there’s still hope for us. And that fits with Lear’s definition of a radical hope, which “is directed toward a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is.” What we do now matters.

Focus on YA Novels
Youth protagonists in novels like Parable of the Sower, The Marrow Thieves, and The Last Cuentista all exercise agency in worlds that appear to leave little space for individuals to act. In Parable of the Sower, 15-year-old Lauren is a climate refugee who flees her home after her family is murdered and her neighborhood destroyed. Migration is a desperate yet hopeful act. She sets out North toward hope and a new beginning. Lauren is also the vessel for a new religion, one that compels people to adapt and survive. One of the verses she writes in her journal exemplifies not only adaptation and survival, but the importance of purposeful action:

ALL THAT YOU TOUCH
YOU CHANGE.
ALL THAT YOU CHANGE
CHANGES YOU.
THE ONLY LASTING TRUTH
IS CHANGE.
GOD
IS CHANGE.

The other stories also include forced migration. In The Marrow Thieves, almost all people have lost the ability to dream– all except for Native people, whose dreams are literally in their marrow. Native Canadians are being rounded up and their marrow harvested to create an antidote for dreamlessness. Frenchie flees further into the wilderness of Canada and finds family, friendship, and hope in his journey. 
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The Last Cuentista is a middle grade novel about a migration off-planet. Earth is no longer habitable and Petra Peña, along with her family and a few hundred others, are sent into space to save the human race. As they travel, they learn. When Petra lands on a new planet, she is the only one who remembers the stories from Earth. Stories, then, are the connection to our humanity.

Creating from Dystopian Literature
The concept of ‘imaginary activism’ is YA scholar Megan Musgrave’s way of describing how reading compels us to take action. The following activities encourage students to interact with texts, work through difficult topics, and lean into radical hope.
  • Hot Spots are what sticks with you- what bothers you, disturbs you, or what you will remember long after you’ve read the book. High school English teacher Erick Gordon utilized the “Hot Spots” activity, a Literacy Unbound technique, while reading the graphic novel version of Parable of the Sower with his 11th grade students. He invited them to photocopy or recreate panels from the story and post them to a wall. Students used graffiti or other artistic marks to express their emotions around these moments in the book. It created a way for students to identify parts of the text that they wanted to work through together (see image below).
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  • Culture jamming is the subversion of messages in popular or dominant culture to alter the original intent. Students can subvert advertisements, social media posts, news stories, and other everyday texts through playful or creative jams to convey alternative perspectives on climate-related topics like big oil or deforestation. 
  • ‘Artifact from the future’ inspired by gaming researcher Jane McGonigal. I also like the examples of a similar idea from IDEO’s HyperHuman machines of the future. Students can create artifacts from the future that show technology can be used for good. Students use maker space pedagogies like the design thinking process such as empathize, design, and prototype an artifact from the future based on an issue that resonates with them. 
  • Time capsule— Create a digital time capsule or curate current events and imagine how people from the future might look back on how we successfully addressed these challenges. Troy Hicks recommends tools from Knightlab.

​The focus of this Monday Motivator is to share some activities that engage students in wrestling with difficult topics such as climate change while helping to express hope. Through the use of various YA cli-fi novels, teachers can hopefully move towards a more optimistic and hopeful future. 
​

Dr. Fawn Canady is an Assistant Professor of Adolescent and Digital Literacies. In the Curriculum Studies and Secondary Education department, she serves as the graduate advisor for the MA in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning. Dr. Canady teaches a range of courses including the educational technology area of emphasis, secondary English Education, and literacy K-12. Her interdisciplinary research interests include adolescent literacies and digital multimodal writing, Young Adult Literature, media literacy, and Teacher Education.
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Building Empathy through Virtual Reality by Clarice M. Moran

11/7/2022

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Clarice M. Moran, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of English Education, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

Daily reports of the war in Ukraine have, sadly, become part of the wallpaper of the news cycle--with regular footage showing bombed-out buildings, scarred land, and displaced people. It is hard to fathom that as of Oct. 11, 2022, 14 million people were classified as Ukrainian refugees. Pushed out by the violence and pulled into countries more peaceful, these refugees have risked their lives to seek shelter. 

Yet, it is so easy to turn away from them. 

When I visit area schools, I ask students, “What do you think about the Ukrainian refugee crisis?” I am met with blank stares. 

Ukraine seems so far away, so removed from students’ daily lives that they have a hard time connecting to the situation. The war seems to have gone on for ages, and it has become background noise, drowned out by midterm elections, mass shootings, and salacious tidbits about celebrities. An in-person visit to Ukraine would bring the war and the refugee crises to the forefront of our consciousness. Yet, obviously, none of us can (or want) to visit. What to do? How can teachers focus students’ attention on this humanitarian crisis? One answer may lie in pairing digital technology with Young Adult (YA) literature. 

Virtual reality (VR) and the YA novel Refugee by Alan Gratz offer a way for students to gain empathy for the refugees in Ukraine. Together, they offer a one-two punch toward understanding. 

Refugee and Virtual Reality
Refugee, suitable for middle grades readers (or any secondary reader with an interest in the topic), tells the story of three kids – Josef, a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015 – and how each of them became a refugee. Gratz builds the characters slowly and puts the reader alongside them as they escape their home countries and seek asylum. Their stories are interwoven in an unexpected way, and the turmoil and crisis of each one makes the novel a page-turner. When I read it for the first time, I quite literally read it in one sitting—too absorbed in the perils of the characters to put the book down.

The novel is quite engaging, but sometimes a virtual field trip can help students really picture what’s happening. Aided by the wonders of a 360-degree VR sphere, students can feel as if they have stepped into another world. They can see up, down, behind, and in front of them, walking alongside refugees and visiting their camps. 

VR is useful for more than playing video games. It is an alternative paradigm that allows a viewer to enter a new domain and become someone else. VR is a portal into a realm in which users can “see” as if they are a character, “feel” as if they are in a new place, and “know” what it means to inhabit the skin of another. It belongs in the English language arts (ELA) classroom as a way to amplify literature and act as an experiential tool for a deeper understanding of course content. 

Using inexpensive VR cardboard players is a great way to help students enter this 360-degree sphere. The cardboard players, available on Amazon from $5 each, use a mobile phone to view video content. The players are sturdy and can be used for years without much wear and tear. They are low-tech and have no moving parts. But when you slide a mobile phone into one, you get an immersive experience that is lifelike and rich with sound and color. 

To pair VR before, during, or after reading Refugee,
  • Ask students to open the YouTube documentary, “Life in the Time of Refuge,” on their mobile devices. This 10-minute film, created by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), documents the life of young Syrian refugees. 
  • Tell students to insert their phones into the VR cardboard players and watch the documentary. (Tip: Students without a mobile phone can be paired up with another student who has a phone. Ask students to use earbuds to reduce noise in the classroom.)
  • After watching the video, ask students to answer the following questions:
    • In what ways do the characters in Refugee seem the same as the real people in the documentary?
    • In what ways are they different?
    • Can you imagine how you would feel if you needed to leave this country and move to another country? 
  • Lastly, ask students to write about the plight of refugees and propose some solutions to help them. 
 
In addition to Refugee, similar text connections for the same activity and same VR documentary are as follows:
  • A Long Walk to Water (Linda Sue Park) – This novel, based on a true story, follows a boy and a girl as they become refugees and walk across Sudan in search of water. This book is appropriate for older elementary and middle school readers. 
  • Other Words for Home (Jasmine Warga) – This Newberry Honor book tells the tale of Jude, a young Syrian girl, who leaves some of her family behind to move to America. This book is appropriate for middle school readers. 
  • We are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World (Malala Yousefzai) – Nobel Peace Prize winner Yousefzai gives a first-person account of her own story as a refugee and weaves in the heartbreaking tales of other girls. This book is suitable for middle school readers and some high school readers.
  • Before We Were Free (Julia Alvarez) – This novel is loosely based on Alvarez’s own experiences as a 10-year-old refugee. It follows the saga of Anita who flees the Dominican Republic in the 1960s to escape el Trujillo's dictatorship. It is suitable for middle school and high school readers.
 
Teachers interested in service projects or a call to action, can partner with local non-profit agencies and gather supplies or write letters to refugees. Organizations such as UNICEF, the Red Cross, and Save the Children have active campaigns to assist refugees. The government website, Office of Refugee Resettlement, also offers links and ideas for assistance. 

Although a novel and a VR experience won’t stop the crisis, they might be enough to garner empathy in students, who may then go on to enact real change. 
 
Additional Resources on refugees can be found at:
  • UNHCR (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees): https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/
  • World Refugee Day: https://www.globetrottinkids.com/world-refugee-day-resources-activities-for-kids/
  • Trauma-Informed Strategies to Help Refugee Students: https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-trauma-informed-strategies-supporting-refugee-students

​Clarice M. Moran is an assistant professor of English Education at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia, as well as a master’s degree in creative writing, secondary English teaching certificate, and Ph.D. in literacy—all from North Carolina State University. She is a former journalist and high school English teacher, and she has published four books, including Virtual and Augmented Reality in English Language Arts Education (Rowman & Littlefield/Lexington)—winner of the 2022 Divergent Publication Award for Excellence in Literacy in a Digital Age Research—and the recent Next Level Grammar for a Digital Age (Routledge/NCTE). Her research centers on digital literacies, teacher education, and digital technology in English language arts.
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Raise Your Voices by Elisha Boggs

10/24/2022

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By the time we finished The Crucible by Arthur Miller, my students were fit to be tied. Students woke up and spoke out disgusted by the power Abigail Williams and her posse held over their community and the destructive judgmental oppressive atmosphere prevalent within the text and their Puritan society. As a class, they knew something went wrong and they wanted to talk about it: 
  • “Abigail Williams is a snake.”
  • “I hate her.”
  • “I can’t say the word.” 
  • “She is a little rat – a cold blooded manipulative snake.”
  • “She made me feel dirty.”
  • “She made me feel good about myself.”
  • “She made me feel like I was an amazing person.”
  • “She used innocent people!”
  • “She exploited the honesty of good people to protect herself.”
  • “They (people in the community) became outcasts if they didn’t conform to the way everyone else was thinking.”
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, is an anchor text in most American Literature classes. Based on the true events of the Salem Witch trials in Puritan New England during the 1600s, this play tells the story of a Puritan community living in constant fear of judgment that they will be accused of making deals with the devil. If they confessed, they were forgiven and set free. If they did not confess, they were hanged. Members began to confess to save their lives. The protagonist of the story, John Proctor refuses to admit to witchcraft and is hanged:

“I’d have you see some honesty in it. Let them that never lied die now to keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will not blind God nor keep my children out of the wind…It is no part of salvation that you should use me! I have three children – how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?”

The Crucible is full of characters that use their voices to either destroy or empower. John Proctor’s bravery inspired students to look into their own world and realize that they have a voice they can use to speak out against injustices and wrongs in and against society.
I posed the following discussion questions about how to stand up for themselves and others.
  • What are our pressures to conform and the consequences associated with standing up for yourself?
  • How can you find your voice?
I asked my students, “For who or whom can you advocate? Who or what in our society needs someone to use their voice – a voice that can lead to change? 

I shared an article as a tangible example of 16 year old Shelby O’Neal with a passion to see marine life have a better chance at survival used a small idea that has let to a big change. We read the following article: Stirred to action: Alaska Airlines to ditch plastic straws in favor of marine friendly stir sticks. 

Students begin to research people, places and problems that need a voice. They create a Canva Postcard-sized document that presents a person, a group, or an issue that needs defending. Students use their voice to explain who or what needs defense, what has been happening to this subject, the results of the actions(s) or inactions(s) toward the subject, and their suggestions for a plan to relieve the suffering this subject is experiencing. 
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One student shared his reflection on the assignment: “You don’t know about who you advocate for, but then when you know, you want to do something about it, you want to be a better person.”
Student Postcard Examples:
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While we are reading 
The Crucible, I encourage students to read texts that tell the story of characters finding their voices to speak out against and advocate against injustices, prejudices, and standing up for the oppressed. These texts open doors for students as they explore opportunities to use their voices to speak up and out for themselves and others.
​

The House In the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune: Linus Baker – an awkward lonely caseworker assigned to keep tabs on orphaned children with magical powers. He is assigned to an orphanage on the island of Marsyas. There his work gives him the freedom and voice to uncover inclusivity, bring acceptance to the misunderstood and discard prejudices. 

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare: As a young teen, Kit has to leave her home in Barbados and move to Wethersfield, Connecticut to live with her Aunt Rachel and her Uncle Matthew, who are Puritans. She struggles to adapt to their culture. Kit exposes the inconsistencies and hypocrisies in the Puritan’s hard work ethic and belief in the rights of free men; yet, they refuse to respect others’ rights or religious freedoms and even enslave others.

Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye: When the Abbouds, an Arab American family moved from St. Louis Mo., to 14-year-old Liyana’s father’s homeland, Jerusalem, they were immediately faced with violence and persecution between the Arabs, Jews, Greeks and Armenians. Through Liyana’s eyes, the reader sees the unrest, prejudices, and hatred prevalent in the current everyday lives of families in the war torn community. Liyana finds her voice by bridging the customs of her own Arabic family and embracing those of her new Jewish friend. ​
​

The Help by Kathryn Stockett: Skeeter, a southern belle returns to her southern town as an aspiring writer. She finds her voice by telling the story of 12 black maids and uncovering years of prejudice within the community bringing strength and hope to the suppressed women.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi: Shirin, a 16-year-old Muslim girl living in post 9/11 America, learns to deal with the demeaning stares and glares from class mates just because of her hijab. When a classmate, Ocean, shows genuine interest in her, she deals with the way their families and communicate will react to their relationship.
Raise your voice!
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This week's post is from Elisha Boggs. Elisha teaches eleventh grade English and Journalism at Tallulah Falls School in North Georgia. She has a tremendous amount of energy for life, which she funnels into being an educator, a mother of four, a marathon runner, and the wife of a homesteading farmer.
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    Curators

    Melanie Hundley
    ​Melanie is a voracious reader and loves working with students, teachers, and authors.  As a former middle and high school teacher, she knows the value of getting good young adult books in kids' hands. She teaches young adult literature and writing methods classes.  She hopes that the Monday Motivator page will introduce teachers to great books and to possible ways to use those books in classrooms.
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    Emily Pendergrass
    Emily loves reading, students, and teachers! And her favorite thing is connecting texts with students and teachers. She hopes that this Monday Motivation page is helpful to teachers interested in building lifelong readers and writers! 
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    Jason DeHart
    In all of his work, Jason hopes to point teachers to quality resources and books that they can use. He strives to empower others and not make his work only about him or his interests. He is a also an advocate of using comics/graphic novels and media in classrooms, as well as curating a wide range of authors.
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    Abbey Bachman
    Abbey hopes to share her knowledge as well as learn more resources for teaching YA lit and reading new and relevant YA picks. She was a secondary English teacher for 11 years before earning my PhD in Curriculum & Instruction. Her research centers around student choice in texts and the classroom, so staying relevant on new YA books is a passion that she shares with others.
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