DogZilla and the Common Core

Back in the 90's when I was an elementary librarian, the remake of King Kong was released, and so I thought we'd have a little fun with Dave Pilkey's Kat Kong and DogZilla.  I had to order multiple copies and couldn't keep them on the shelf!

Here we are almost 20 years later and the remake of Godzilla brings me Deja vu.   Blow the dust off your Dogzilla and order a few more copies.  The kids will go crazy for Kat Kong and Dogzilla, the "colossal canine" again!   Let's see how this literary wonder stacks up to the Common Core measuring stick:   

Rigor... 
 'Not a very tough read. Sorry.  It doesn't take focus or sustained attention to get to the end of this lame literary gem. The Lexile, readability measure, comes in at a 720.  That is just perfect for your third and fourth graders. However, with only a few sentences on a page, we really can't call it "rigorous."  The vocabulary is what saves this book, if you are needing justification. Just look at the richly woven vocabulary from merely a handful of pages of this literary wonder: irresistible, annual, canine, crater, depths, mysterious, residents, colossal, residents, terrifying, creature, ancient,  and more!  Vocabulary is so rich that is trumps the lack of rigor.  Let the kids read!  I would never use this book in a read aloud without an activity (task as in "reader and the task") which requires the kids to think.  Define the vocabulary words ahead of time and play a vocab game after the read.  Create a bookmark with your "Cool words to make you sound smart" on it and send it home inside their checkout book.  Let the parents see the words you tried to teach them that day.  Or, look at some of the suggestions below.  

Relevance ... 

It would be a far reaching claim to believe that we could use this text to solve a real-world problem, as the CCSS encourages us to have students do. Even though the reader is asked at the end of the book... how to save the town, this is not the type of problem that the CCSS expects our students to spend a great deal of time contemplating.   Genies, dragons, gargoyles, Neptune, megalodon, and other mythical beasts are just a few other terrifying creatures that have captured literary attention many times over, but don't qualify for "real world problems" that need to be solved.  However, we could use this book as a hook to have these third graders brainstorm what we are, or should be afraid of-- or need to solve.  

Reader and the task...
I would recommend this follow-up activity to justify the use of this book:

• Gather newspapers and place them on a table(s). (Newspapers are typically above a third grade reading level, so they would qualify for a "stretch" read.)   Working collaboratively in groups,  have the children read newspapers for "real" problems or issues and contribute those to a graffiti wall.  During this endeavor, you will likely be asked meanings of words they read and you could practice decoding and finding meaning by surrounding words.  You could practice "vocabulary flooding" (synonyms) when they ask you.   You could have another graffiti wall of "new words in the neighborhood" which they could fill up as they read. The reading endeavor will likely by a close reading activity as you have given them a "reason to read."    
• Have the third graders choose a topic from their real-world problem wall to investigate.  Tell them they will be investigators and will need to dig deeply to find out about an issue and make a "claim."  Their claim will be what to do about the issue.  High School students will have no problem with this.  However,  elementary students may need some guidance or some pre-chosen texts to examine.  In fact, you could even choose primary source texts from the 1800's (or another period they are studying)  and ask them to examine what the real problems were of the time.   
• This research endeavor could lead to non-fiction reading (CCSS objectives) and text-based answers (CCSS objectives).   

So whether you are doing this with a classroom, or during your "scheduled" library time,  you can teach withstyle!   You don't have to be a classroom teacher.  If you really try this wacky-world problems unit, you are embracing some of the shifts of the Common Core.   Your students are likely to know 20 more academic vocabulary words than they did prior to reading this book.  You can build a rubric which requires them to use those words in their "claim."   This can be part of their writing or language presentation.  You could have a discussion and debate over real world issues.  What problems deserve the governmental attention the most? Kids could rank the "issues" based upon the evidence that teams present.  Which problem should be solved first?   

The creative possibilities are endless--even within the Common Core instruction.  So don't think all is lost within our new standards.  Just get to know the building blocks and embrace them.  If you were observed during a lesson like this, the principal would likely see your students concentrating on: vocabulary, building an evidence-based-claim, researching to build and present knowledge, and closely reading.  That is what separates you from a granny reading a nice book.  Plan your pedagogy.  Engage those students in reading, research, and academic vocabulary building. 

And they thought you were just checking out books...  Silly them.   

Kwame’s Pulchritudinous Book

Three chapters of Crossover had convinced me that Kwame was a genius... a genius-wordsmith.  Look at this list of SAT words, or valuable vocabulary, embedded into the text of the first few pages:

Agitating

Dubious

Distinction

Evidence

Banished

Confrontational

Phenomenal

Trembles

Impersonation

Opponent

Decline

Legendary

Calamity

Undesirable

Injurious

Random

Pulchritudinous

There you go: Pulchritudinous.  So, even if we knew the others on the list, we probably haven’t used pulchritudinous in the last few days.  It was easy to decode from the context clues—simple in fact, and even defined on the following page.  Kudos to this hip-author writing basketball books, in captivating almost-rap-style modeling the value of articulation. 

It wasn’t vocabulary, which won him the Newbery award, however.  It was the weaving of words, to spin a yarn, which the reader could relate to. Who hasn’t been jealous of their sibling?  Who hasn’t lost a hero? Who hasn’t been proud of ability or upset by loss?  So, I take off my hat to a man who writes with distinction, articulates the difficulties of coming of age and overcoming adversity. He models hope to teens, encouraging them to triumph over life’s difficulties.

Hat's off to Kwame as he accepts his Newbery award this Sunday at the Gala in San Francisco for this pulchritudinous tale. (Yes. I know. I know. I've used this word out-of-context.)

Instructional EQ’s:

How does vocabulary reflect a command of the English language? 
How does literature reflect real life issues?

Pictures below of Susan Polos, librarians, Bedford Central Schools, NY with her visit from Kwame.  See this great article (click here) spotlighting getting "Fired UP for Reading" with Kwame pictured on the front, and featured story beginning on page 17. These two local programs highlighted in this article, spotlights the value of a strong reading program.  

Kwame Alexander and the Newbery Banquet held in Bedford Hills Elementary School 

Kwame Alexander, students, and Susan Polos, President-elect NYS Section of School Librarians

Vulcanizing a Voluminous Vocabulary

One of the CCSS shifts focuses on the direct correlation between vocabulary and comprehension.   We as educators are told to spotlight the value of vocabulary more than we ever have.   ELA teachers, librarians, linguists and wordsmiths alike have always valued "words" as they hold power: 

• Power to capture an image
• Power to express our thoughts correctly
• Power to send a message
• ...and now power to understand and comprehend...or receive a message.

If you examine the "spoken word" you will find that typically, it is void of: adjectives, prepositions, and correct grammar.  Then, we ask students to switch to writing and include:  correct grammar, punctuation, adjectives, compound sentences and lovely words...Herein lies the disconnect:

(This is based on the research of linguist Marilyn Jager Adams, Brown University -- a brilliant Phd.)   

Many educators forget that in addition to "using" the correct words to convey a message, is the ability to receive the material with a full understanding.   Research shows there is a direct correlation between reading, achievement, vocabulary and comprehension:  

• The larger one's vocabulary, the more he will comprehend.
• With greater comprehension, comes greater achievement.  
• There is a direct correlation between educated parents and the vocabulary of children.  The higher the parents' education, the greater the student's vocabulary.
• There is a direct correlation between poverty and lack of vocabulary.

So, that translates to "Every educator imperatively should understand the value of vocabulary as a direct correlation to achievement."   If you are a science teacher, you know that those "Tier 3" content-specific words are imperative to understand your subject matter.  Now we need to focus on all tiers!   

This means, all educators are in the vocab business:

What else can you add to this list?  

Click here for another good blog post on this topic.

7 Tools to Empower the Common Core

I love to shovel snow on a peaceful morning when there's only a few inches.  The silence is golden, the beauty is unsurpassed, and the finished job is rewarding.  However, when the wicked Nor'easter dumps a foot or more...I choose the snow-blower.
 
That's how I feel about tools for the Common Core.  In a perfect world, where you could pick all the content, the perfect students, and had all the time in the world, we might write with calligraphy pens, read captivating classics and saunter down the road of learning.  The truth is we have limited time, huge loads dumped on our plate, challenged learners, and students with little attention span.   That is why we need technology, power tools, power verbs, and information resources to infuse energy into the Common Core.  The Common Core without information, Inquiry, and technology is deadly. 
 

It is the information, technology, collaboration, Inquiry learning tasks, which will excite these pedagogy recommendations from the Common Core.  Try some of the tools below and see whether they make your demandind job more exciting:

TOOL	USE	CCSS Verb
www.VisualThesaurus.com   (fee based)	To understand vocabulary of the discipline (SHIFT) – We call these “cool words” that will make you sound smart Finding research searching synonyms Writing tool	Comprehend, analysis, explore, f Research Express
VocabGrabber  (also from Visual Thesaurus.com)	Upload a text and this tool will analyze it for SAT words, math words, science words, and a teacher can customize a word list (SHIFT) Differentiated instruction	Analyze, think critically, explore a topic,
www.Piktochart.com   (free)	‘Knowledge product” tool –alternative to ‘tired’ Powerpoint presentations.  Summarizing tool for data	Express persuasively Summarize Draw evidence from the text Support analysis Produce and publish writing Gather information Formulate an argument Visually represent data Enhance understanding
https://vialogues.com/    (	Show a movie clip and get ready for online, collaborative discussion!  AASL suggested best site for teaching and learning	analyze – think critically address a question solve a problem conduct research explore a topic Students generate questions Solve a problem
www.stixy.com	No fee, site for online comment. Post a photo and ask a compelling question.  Use this for assessment, lesson hook,	Interact and collaborate Generate questions Debate, brainstorm, virtual classroom discussion,
http://www.historypin.com/ Video explanation here	This great new site is a mashable of GoogleEarth and Pinterest.  Immediately I saw the value in connecting to real world problems, history to happenings and engagement.  A must try.	‘relevance” Engagement Explore a topic Document with evidence, Create and share knowledge
www.Scoopit.com	Online News Scooper – this tool aggregates ‘news’ from around the web, based upon keywords – Not only can this be used for ‘getting’ information, but this could be a way of assessing whether a student understands what is credible, accurate, reliable and supported (CARS)	Explore a topic Research Reflect Gather information from online sources Assess the credibility and accuracy Prepare to participate in conversations

 See the AASL Best WEbsites for teaching and learning for additional recommendations.  They have new and tried-and-true tools for your delivery.   Stand and deliver is dead.   Long live Information Infusion imbedded into technology in order to achieve, understand and succeed in a 21st Century environment.  

www.visualthesaurus.com