A second shot of thoughtful literacy instruction: Supporting struggling adolescent readers

UPDATEwww.bctf.ca/BCTELA Volume 49, Number 1

Winter 2007

the Journal of the B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts

Photo by: Carole SaundrySchool District 38 (Richmond)

B C T E L A E X E C U T I V E , 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 7

PresidentDave Ellison (Surrey)

604-531-8354604-531-6174 (fax)

[email protected]

Member-At-LargeNicole Widdess (Richmond)

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Member-At-LargeDauvery MacDonald (Richmond)

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Records CoordinatorSarah Baxter (SD45)

604-981-1100 ext.2386 604-981-1101 (fax)[email protected]

TreasurerJune James (Surrey)

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Student Writing Journal EditorCelia Brownrigg (Coquitlam)

1636 E 2nd Ave.Vancouver B.C. V5N [email protected]

Curriculum CoordinatorRachael Corneil (New West)

604-517-5940604-517-5941 (fax)[email protected]

NCTE HeadquartersDirector, Affiliate Services

Urbana, IllinoisFax (217) 328-0977

Update Co-EditorLeyton Schnellert (Richmond)

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Update Co-EditorKrista Ediger (Richmond)

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Conference ChairPatty Holmes (Vancouver)

604-713-4666604-713-4668 (fax)[email protected]

BCTF RepresentativeAnita Chapman

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Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 4P2Website: www.bctf.bc.ca

5. 4

9.1

Sat,

Feb

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NOTICES

MUSINGS & MEANDERINGS

INVESTIGATING OUR PRACTICE

TEACHING IDEAS

CHECK THIS OUT

Vol. 49 No. 1 – 2007 www.bctf.ca/BCTELA ii

UPD

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L etters to the Editors andother opinion pieces arewelcomed as long as they

are author-signed, free of libel,and in good taste. Such materialmay be edited for length at thediscretion of the editors. Updateinvites contributors to submitmanuscripts for publication. Allcontributions will be carefullyconsidered, but the newsletterassumes no responsibility fordamage to or loss of unsolicitedmanuscripts. Your contributionto Update may be reprinted inthe publications of our affiliateorganizations. Furthermore, yourcontribution may be publishedon the BCTELA website, unlessthe editors receive explicit direc-tion not to do so. All submissionsshould be Emailed to:

Leyton [email protected]

or

Krista [email protected]

www.bctf.ca/BCTELA

1 Editorial - Magic in the Classroom Krista Ediger

2 From Alliterates to “A” LiteratesJune James

5 Diversity Corner: Supporting Students with Input Challenges

Rachael Corneil

7 A Second Shot of Thoughtful Literacy Instruction: Supporting Struggling Adolescent Readers

Nicole Widdess and Leyton Schnellert

23 Layered Curriculum and Short Stories in English 12 - Brooke Smith

31 Flexing our reading muscles with manga, a modern multimodal text

Marzena Michalowska

34 Novels Read in the Secondary Grades in Ontario, 2000-2006

Philip V. Allingham

36 “Look, Ma, No Boundaries!” Relationships in New Literacies Learning and Teaching

Jill Kedersha McClay

41 Barry Sullivan Law Cup Alison Campbell

44 Barry Sullivan Public Speaking Competition Alison Campbell

47 I Blame Johnny WeissmullerAngela Waber

49 A Poem for CharlotteJulie Weatherall

50 Websites and IMs and Blogs, Oh My! : A Response to Dr. Jill McClay’s BCTELA Presentation

Joanne Panas

52 BCTELA AGM Executive Reports for 2006

55 Book Reviews: Writing with Power – reviewed by Julia LeongChandra’s Secrets – reviewed by Kathy PantaleoPedro and Me – reviewed by Susan Ma

57 Catalogue offers recommended novel titles for classroom use

Jennifer Gray-Grant

58 English 12 First Peoples UpdateDave Ellison

60 English Language Arts 8-12 IRP Revision updateLeyton Schnellert

iiiiii SSttuuddeenntt WWrriittiinngg JJoouurrnnaall BBooookk OOrrddeerr FFoorrmm

6 Reality Check Media Awareness Network

13 Share Your Lesson Plans

33 NCTE Membership

41 Barry Sullivan LawCup - April 19, 2007

43 LSA’s and Regional Conference Seed Money

43 BCTELA Workshops

48 Claremont Review Poetry Contest

51 Next Issue Deadline

53 Write a Curriculum Package for BCTELA

5544 IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall CCoonnffeerreenncceeWWiinnnniippeegg OOcctt 44--55,, 22000077

57 Volunteer copy editors

5599 BBCCTTEELLAA OOppppoorrttuunniittiieess

60 Keep BCTELA membership Current

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6622 BBCCTTEELLAA WWrriittiinngg CCoonntteesstt22000055 RRuulleess && EEnnttrryy FFoorrmm

6644 BBCCTTEELLAA CCuurrrriiccuulluumm PPaacckkaaggeess

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UPDATE is the Journal of the BCTeachers of English LanguageArts which also publishes thePresident’s Newsletter and theStudent Writing Journal.

UPDATE and other periodicalsare distributed to BCTELA mem-bers throughout British Columbiaand exchanged with other provin-cial specialist associations of theBritish Columbia Teachers’ Feder-ation. They are also distributed toother specialist associationsacross Canada.

UPDATE is a member of both theCCTELA and the NCTE AffiliateInformation Exchange Agreement.

UPDATE is registered with theNational Library of Canada underInternational Standard SerialNumber ISSN 0315-2189.

1 Article also on theBCTELA website

BCTELA — Student Writing JournalOrder Form

Name and address of person / school:

Attn:

Please order via fax or mail to: Celia Brownrigg 1636 E 2nd AvenueVancouver BC, V5N 1C9 [email protected]

Please make cheques payable to: BCTELA Associationbctf.ca/bctela/swj/

Each year, the BC Teachers of English Language Arts produces a Student Writ-

ing Journal containing a selection of province-wide student poetry and prose. It

has been past practice to provide complimentary copies of the journal to second-

ary school libraries across the province. Regretfully, we can no longer afford to send

copies to schools because of the expansion of the contest to include grades 6 & 7 and the rising costs of pro-

duction and distribution. Students who are selected for publication and current BCTELA members will con-

tinue to receive copies of the journal at no cost.

We would like to encourage school libraries and teachers who are not members of BCTELA to order copies

at the cost of $10 per issue so students from across B.C. can continue to enjoy the poetry and prose of their

peers. Orders will be accepted while quantities last.

BCTELAStudent Writing JournalOrder Form

EDITORIAL

Magic in the ClassroomU

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Ifeel disillusioned, frustrated with the lack of time,with too much bureaucracy, with data, with con-straints, and yet I’m still here, teaching. Why? Ithink I’m here because of the creativity teach-

ing affords me, the relative autonomy I have to shapemy course. Amid the criticisms I have of our publiceducation system and the worries I have for its future,there is still room for magic. The classroom, even onewith filthy carpet and grey, institutional walls, and fivemore desks than there’s room for, making it difficultto move around with ease, can be a place wherestudents learn and question and struggleand fail and try again and improve andsucceed and laugh and play and con-verse. The classroom can be a placewhere ideas are shared and createdand debated. It can be a placewhere students find their voices,where they learn to use them withincreased confidence and poiseand ability. It can be a place wherestudents feel comfortable and safeand able to be themselves, to takerisks, to explore aspects of their per-sonalities they wouldn’t explore else-where. The classroom is a space often filledwith 30 minds and bodies that come togethertwo or three times a week. There can be power in thiscoming together. There is something magnetic aboutthe possibilities in these assemblies. What might beachieved tomorrow? What might happen next Tues-day during H block that will impact the life of the stu-dent in the back left-hand corner?

I’m also inspired by the subject area I teach. Ibelieve what I teach to be critical: how to write, toread more strategically, to make meaning. The moreI consider how best to deliver lessons on writing,the more I learn about the art and craft of both writ-ing and teaching. I consider myself a student of both,and my students know that they are often in someway part of my experiment for a particular lessonor idea. Writing is a strategy I use to help me tothink through ideas or to make sense of somethingI’ve read. I want to equip my students with this tool.I don’t get tired of looking for better ways of help-ing students express themselves because after all,“Learning to write is a matter of learning to shatterthe silences, of making meaning, of learning tolearn” (Greene, Releasing 108).

The importance of teaching students how to writeand speak and read and think with more skill andconfidence humbles me. I will never know how todo this in the best way possible. I will always havethings to learn. This reality also draws me to theteaching of English. There is no end of challenges.And it is at this point that Barrie Barrell’s argumentthat teaching is more art than craft brings a certainlevel of comfort. He suggests that “teaching concep-tualised as an art form is not inherently good or bad.

It does recognise, however, that teaching doesnot necessarily get easier with the passing

of time; the work never catches up tothe critical sensitivities of the thought-

ful teacher” (119).I still have not had that experi-

ence I dream of having, of arriv-ing at the end of a year andlooking back on one class, noteven all seven, and saying I’mreally pleased with how thingswent. There’s not a whole lot I

would change. As it is, I have trou-ble even looking back sometimes. But

I do. I’m happiest when I find thingsthere I want to write about, or when I can

pinpoint a specific change I want to make.This edition of Update includes two articles ongraphic novels, and even as I look back on the firsthalf of this teaching year, I know that I want to tryto expand each of my literature circle sets to includeat least one graphic novel and more non-fiction titles.

So as some of us begin new semesters and oth-ers of us begin new terms, I hope we can all findsome inspiration in the ideas printed in Update andother professional publications, as well as in discus-sions with colleagues, and mine from these a littlebit of magic – that lesson that makes the markingand the meetings seem far away. Leyton and I wouldlike to wish you all a happy and healthy 2007. Wehope it’s a year filled with ideas and debate andlearning and play.

Works Cited

Barrell, Barrie R. C. Teaching as a Form of ArtisticExpression. Calgary: Detselig, 2003.

Greene, Maxine. Releasing the Imagination: Essayson Education, the Arts, and SocialChange. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.

Vol. 49 No. 1 – 2007 www.bctf.ca/BCTELA 1

Kris

taEd

iger

Krista is theEnglish

DepartmentFacilitator atMcRobertsSecondary

School and amember ofRichmond's

StrengtheningStudent Literacy

Network.

I believe what

I teach to be criti-

cal: how to write, to

read more strategi-

cally, to make

meaning.

CHECK THIS OUTMUSINGS & MEANDERINGSINVESTIGATING OUR PRACTICETEACHING IDEAS

From Alliterates to “A” LiteratesKaren Hume’s “Start from Where they Are” Presentation

BCTELA Conference - October 20, 2006UPD

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As teachers, we face a myriad of studentsand ability levels every day. In her “Startfrom Where they Are” workshop, KarenHume presented teachers with new per-

spectives and ideas about our students and how wecan address their learning differences in our class-rooms.

Her presentation focused on reluctant readersand Karen started by explaining that we have fourcategories of aliterate students in our schools andthat we need to consider where they are as we beginto differentiate instruction for these students. Forexample, there are the dormant readers who liketo read, but don’t take the time. Providing thesestudents with time to read in class is a good start-ing point. The uncommitted readers, orthose who don’t look for books ontheir own, also inhabit our class-rooms. These students need us tostress the enjoyment of readingfor them. Next come the unmo-tivated readers, who have anegative attitude toward read-ing and people who read. Withthese students, it is best to startfrom their particular interests.Finally, we see the unskilled readerswhose negative attitudes toward readingstem directly from their lack of skills. It is impor-tant for us to make connections to the emotionalbeliefs of these students as we teach them readingskills because if we take a “skills only” teachingapproach, we will perpetuate their negative atti-tudes.

Karen then explained that while it is great tohave starting points such as student readiness orinterests to deal with each category of reluctantreader, it is even better to consider student strengthsand to build on on-going student successes ratherthan to concentrate on student learning deficits.We should, as she says, “Glance at problems” [and]“gaze at strengths.” Thus, we need to consider learn-ing styles, or learning profiles, as Karen calls them,as we begin planning differentiation for our stu-dents. We can create these learner profiles using,to name a few, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences,Buckingham’s Strengths, or Dunn and Dunn’sLearning Styles.

In answer to the question, “Why should you dif-ferentiate by learning profile?”, Karen writes:

Because:◆ We know more about the brain and therefore

about human variability than we have learnedin the entire history of human development.

◆ It’s the best way to support your students’learning.

◆ Howard Gardner changed the world by adding‘s’ to the word ‘intelligence’.

When using the student learning profile as abasis, we can differentiate in three pedagogical areas:content, process, and product. About differentiat-ing content, Karen says, “When you are clear aboutthe content you need to teach, you can adapt thecontent, or you can adapt how your students have

access to the content. It is often best to keepthe content steady, and change the access.”

Differentiating process by learning style

allows teachers to choose scaffoldingmechanisms that are appropriate to student

strengths and can include options such as notetaking organizers, advance highlighting of printmaterial, mentoring, and tiered assignments. Finally,differentiating product by learning profile is prob-ably the most natural to do because we can offerstudents choices that fit their learning strengths.

After participating in Karen’s workshop, I wassold on planning differentiation by learning pro-file; however, the session didn’t stop at 10:45 onOctober 20th. Karen offered participants a pass-word to a page called “Continuing the Conversa-tion” on her website. I visited that page and, to mydelight, found a differentiation planning templateand sample lesson using the template. Karen gra-ciously gave BCTELA permission to reprint thesematerials along with this article. Thank you, Karen,for giving us some ideas about how to turn our allit-erates into “A” literates.

“Glance at problems” [and] “gaze at strengths.”

2 UPDATE — the Journal of the B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts

June

Jam

es

June Jamesteaches at

Guildford ParkSecondary in

Surrey.

continued on page 3

When a word is not used in everyday conversation, amnemonic device can act as a trigger to help you rememberit. For example, here’s a story to help you remember the word‘ingratiate’.

In our town we have a woman named Barbara, who is asingle lady. She would like to get married but has not beensuccessful as yet. She went to the bookstore and bought someof those self-help books on marriage, such as How to Marrya Millionaire, because she has decided that when she getsmarried, it will be to someone who has money.

In our town is a bachelor named Bill who just happensto be a millionaire. He is a confirmed bachelor and is notinterested in getting married. For some reason, Barbara hasdecided that he is the one. She has tried everything to gethim to ask her out, but without success. Finally, she decidedto take matters into her own hands and asked him to dinnerat her house. Now, he is a bachelor and he doesn’t get ahome-cooked meal very often, so he decided he could putup with going out for one night for a home-cooked meal.

In preparation for the big date, Barbara went shoppingand bought a new red dress and shoes. On the night of thedate, she dressed in her new outfit; as a matter of fact, shelooked great. When Bill rang the doorbell, Barbara answeredthe door. She had an experience that many of us have hadwhere the other person’s face falls and you know somethingis wrong. Barbara asked what was wrong and Bill reluctantlytold her that he just didn’t care for red dresses.

Barbara assured him that was not a problem and invitedhim into the living room to wait while she changed her dress.Her second favourite dress was a blue dress, so she put it onand returned to the living room. Bill said the dress didn’t doanything for her. She said that was not a problem, she wouldchange.

She put on a green dress, but he thought it didn’t go withher eyes; she put on a black dress, but it reminded him of hispoor mother’s funeral; and she put on a purple dress but hedidn’t care for the fabric. Finally, the only dress that she hadleft in her closet was an old gray dress that she hardly wore,but it was the only thing left so she put it on and returned tothe living room.

Bill exclaimed that he loved it, that he had always loveda woman in gray. While they were having dinner, Bill got tothinking that any woman who would go to such great lengthsto please him might make a good wife after all, and he beganthinking of marriage. The moral of the story is that any timeyou know someone who goes to great lengths to pleaseanother person, you can remember my friend Barbara and“in gray she ate,” and you will remember the meaning of theword ingratiate.

By Donna Walker TilestonIn Ten Best Teaching Practices

continued from page 2

Alliterates to “A” Literates


continued on page 4

Expectation (compelling reason) Prerequisite knowledge & skills

Who will have trouble? Who will find this too easy?

How will I diagnose? What will I differentiate?

Resources

Whole Class

Respectful Differentiated Component

Assessment and Next Steps


Alliterates to “A” Literates


Expectation (compelling reason)

Summarizing a narrative

Prerequisite knowledge & skills

This is a follow-up lesson on summarizing. Students needto know basic story structure, but this lesson also rein-forces it.

Who will have trouble?

Seven students – Jeff, Shawna, Eric, Beth, Miguel, Scottand Tyler had difficulty with the summarizing lesson wedid. I’ve chosen this selection because the story structureis more evident. Nevertheless, the seven of them dislikereading so much that they will resist if I just give them thereading and the questions and expect them to do it. Theyneed help learning how to interact with text.

Who will find this too easy?

Students who find summarizing easy will probably stillreally like this piece. Sammi and Terry will pick up on theword play.

How will I diagnose?

I diagnosed need from the results of the first lesson on sum-marizing narrative.

What will I differentiate?

Everyone needs to demonstrate ability to summarize. I’lldifferentiate the process students use by their readiness andtheir learning profile.

Resources

Ingratiate – a one page selection from Donna Tileston’sbook 10 Best Teaching Practices

Knowledge of narrative summarizing – In a previous les-son I taught students that narrative text follows the struc-ture on the left below. We used the summary questions ina shared reading activity and wrote a summary paragraphbased on our responses.

Structure Guiding Summary Questions

1) Description of Character2) Description of Setting3) Event that starts the story4) How characters react to initial event5) Goal: How characters plan to deal with event6) Consequence: How main characters accomplish goal7) Resolution: How did the story turn out?

Who are the main characters?Where does the story take place?What caused the action in the story?How did the characters react?What did the main characters do?How did they try to do it?What were the consequences?

Whole Class

This will not be a whole class activity. I’ll simply introducethat we will use a variety of visual ways to organize a sum-mary of this narrative.

Respectful Differentiated Component

The struggling group will work with me. We’ll read the storytogether first and discuss it, then use highlighters to markthe text.

Other students will have the choice of working alone, inpartners, or in small groups to map the story in a graphicform. I will provide them with a variety of graphic organ-izers we’ve used before and they can select the appropri-ate one, or they can create their own.

Assessment and Next Steps

Regardless of the organizing format used, students will beindividually required to write a summary of the story. I willassess that common product to determine if students needfurther assistance.

We’ll also do a gallery walk of the graphic organizers anddiscuss what they have in common. We’ll debrief aboutwhich graphic organizers made it easiest to write the sum-mary and why.


Diversity Corner: Supporting Students with Input ChallengesU

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While creating lesson plans and engag-ing cycles of instruction, I try tokeep in mind that students differ inthe fashion in which they optimally

intake information, process it and demonstrateunderstanding. Students with output issues maybecome obvious immediately as they struggle tocreate some sort of product to demonstrate under-standing; however, students who have troublereceiving information from their environmentsmay not be as easy to detect. These are the stu-dents who fall behind immediately, appearing notto understand what they are being taught. Theyare challenged not in the comprehension of infor-mation, but by the way their brains receive andinterpret information from their environment.With a few tools, students with input challengescan be successful in the regular classroom. Hereare some ways to recognize these students andsome tips on how to ensure that they receive theinformation that you wish for them to learn:

Ways to recognize students with input challenges:

1. May have trouble paying attention and seemuninterested in the topic at hand.

2. May have trouble carrying out multi-stepinstructions.

3. May demonstrate poor behaviour whileinstruction is occurring.

4. 4. May demonstrate poor behaviour if text isthe only fashion…

The following are descriptors of some inputchallenges and tips that can be used to ensure thatstudents with (identified or unidentified) auditoryprocessing difficulties and/or reading difficultiesare taken into consideration while planning:

1. Auditory processing disorder/difficulties:

Not all students are able to process informa-tion presented orally. Some students have diffi-culty interpreting information that their brainsreceive only as sound. For some students, asentence such as, “tell me about light and thesun” may become, “tell me about the lie andthe son”. These students often do not recognizesubtle differences between sounds and theymay not be able to follow a discussion.Ways to help:

a) Go over key vocabulary in a visual mannerbefore the lesson. Use a strategy such asSort and Predict (Brownlie, Close &Wingren) to give students a broad idea ofwhat they will be learning and an opportu-nity to visualize and discuss words whichwill be important to understanding.

b) Ensure that you are including visuals withyour discussion. Using black/white boards,chart paper or other graphic organizers (ie.to create webs) while speaking will allowthese students to follow the discussion, andrevisit previous ideas if they get lost.

c) If you have decided to have sections of textread aloud, ensure that you have also sup-plied text (even better, a version with sup-portive text features) for students to follow.When discussing text, write key informa-tion on the board or on the overhead pro-jector.

2. Reading disability/ challenges (decoding,word recognition, comprehension):

It is inevitable that there will be a range inreading ability within your classroom. Somestudents have difficulties decoding words.These students recognize words by sight andwill only be able to guess at a new word if it iswithin the context of other recognizablewords. These students will often have a distort-ed understanding of a piece of text as they mayread sentences incorrectly, by leaving outwords and adding words which they thinkmight fit. Other students who have limitedword recognition abilities must attack eachword by decoding it. These students can fallbehind quickly if the text is challenging, andmay spend so much energy on each word thatfull comprehension of the passage may be lost.

Ways to help:

a) While it may seem efficient, working with asingle piece of text limits the number of stu-dents who will be engaged with the lesson.When possible, choose broad themes thatcan be explored with a variety of texts atdifferent levels. This has proven to be veryeffective. Having a range of texts for stu-dents to choose from (some with simpler


Rac

hael

C

orne

il

Rachael Corneil isa ResourceTeacher at

Glenbrook MiddleSchool in New

Westminster, BC.She was formerly

a highschoolteacher in the

Nanaimo/Ladysmith district, BC.

continued on page 6

text structures, bigger text) and using supportiveapproaches like literature and information circles,increases student engagement and success (seeBrownlie’s Grand Conversations, ThoughtfulResponse or Hoyt’s Make It Real: Strategies forSuccess with informational texts).

b) Ensure that the text is not overwhelming. Simple textproperties such as length, spacing of words and qual-ity of text (poor photocopies) can render a reason-able text unreadable.

c) Pre-reading activities can be invaluable for studentswith reading challenges.

d) Sending the text home or to the Learning ResourceTeacher to work on in advance will allow the studentto feel more successful in class and be able to engagein during reading and after reading exercises (seeReading 44 or Buehl’s Classroom Strategies forInteractive Learning)

e) Drama exercises can be fun and effective ways tohave groups of students engage with text and drawmeaning from it. Allowing students to act out a pas-sage, create alternate endings, create soundscapes orread in role may create less threatening ways toopportunities to reach comprehension (seeWilhelm’s Action Strategies for Deepening

Comprehension).

In my experience, applying these ideas within classes Iteach or co-teach has benefited all students. More choice,multimodal input and differentiation address a range oflearning needs and can ensure that all students have theopportunity for success.

References

Brownlie, Faye. (2005) Grand Conversations, ThoughtfulResponses: A Unique Approach to Literature Circles. Win-nipeg, MN: Portage & Main Press.

Brownlie, F., S. Close, and Wingren, L. (1990) Tomorrow’sClassroom Today. Markham: Pembroke, 1990.

Buehl, D. (2001) Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learn-ing, Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Hoyt, L. (2002) Make It Real: Strategies for Success withInformational Texts. NY: Heinemann.

Willhelm, J. (2002) Action Strategies for Deepening Compre-hension: Role Plays, Text Structure Tableaux, TalkingStatues, and Other Enrichment Techniques That EngageStudents with Text NY: Scholastic.


Diversity Corner: Supporting Students with Input Challenges


Evaluating Online Information

Reality Check! offers:• Strategies for authenticating inform ation and optim izing searches • Teachers’ guide with handouts and exercises • Independent Study Unit with interactive assignm ents• Slide presentation for in-class discussion on copyright, plagiarism , bias and m ore

H elp students analyse what they find on the W eb

This project was m ade possible by a financial contribution from Industry Canada’s SchoolNet Program .

To preview or order Reality Check!,call 1-800-896-3342 or visit www.realitycheckforstudents.ca


A Second Shot of Thoughtful Literacy Instruction:Supporting Struggling Adolescent ReadersU

PDAT

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While eating breakfast among thou-sands of people at the Pan PacificHotel during a professional develop-ment conference, Leyton leans in and

says, “I’ve just spent most of the night typing up thisgrant proposal. I’m really excited about this new lit-eracy initiative, and you came to mind for MacNeill.Can we talk more about it as we walk to our ses-sion?” Knowing that literacy is Nicole’s passion,Leyton knew he did not have a hard sell.

And thus the beginning of a new journey: devel-oping a literacy program for struggling adolescentreaders. We, Leyton, a teacher consultant in Rich-mond School District’s Learning Services Depart-ment and Nicole, a Humanities and learningresource teacher, enthusiastically began a conver-sation about literacy in secondary schools, and it’sgrown from there. Our district has successfully tar-geted money from the Ministry of Education’s lit-eracy grants to develop and implement itsIntermediate Reading Initiative. With these fundswe have been able to address the growing concernfor adolescents who need additional support withreading.

Research today addresses struggling adolescentreaders and the need to support their literacy learn-ing at the secondary level. However, there is a well-documented shift in the focus of educators’ literacyteaching when comparing practice at the elemen-tary and secondary levels: a focus on an acquisitionof literacy skills versus the acquisition of subject mat-ter (Deshler, Schumaker, & Woodruff, 2004, 88).

We have both taught grade 7 Humanities in ele-mentary schools and Humanities 8 in secondaryschools. We have felt the shift in focus and havewatched students who fared well in elementaryschool, fail to thrive in their secondary years. Wedon’t mean to suggest that secondary teachers brushthe literacy development of their students to theside, but English Language Arts becomes one blockout of several and often students do not recognizehow they might use reading and writing and orallanguage strategies across the curriculum. Whenreading complex texts secondary students are oftenexpected to fluently and independently using strate-gies they learned in the elementary years. However,we have found that they are often less than success-ful.

Several researchers share our concern for strug-gling adolescent readers. Wilhelm (2002), Allington(2001), and Moore and Hinchman (2003) have

pointed to the need for adolescents to be appren-ticed into literacy practices in ways that support themto see how good readers read and to build a reper-toire of strategies that they can consciously select,adapt and apply as situations and tasks require. Allproactively suggest that we can see the gap betweenexpectations and performance in our own classroomand school data and that addressing literacy in thetransition year(s) into secondary school(s) can payoff dividends for adolescent learners.

The context

Ten of our 11 secondary schools in Richmondhad identified reading as an area for studentimprovement. Recognizing that some schools hadalready been working to address this issue while itwas just appearing on the radar screens of others,our district developed a differentiated professionaldevelopment and implementation plan to helpschools help their students. Schools self-assessedthemselves using the descriptors in Figure 1 andhad to provide the district with a proposal outlin-ing how they planned to use district and school levelfunds to build students’ literacy skills during theirtransition year into secondary school. MacNeillalong with two other schools identified themselvesas tier 3 schools as they were already using perform-ance-based assessments and Butler and Cartier’sLearning Through Reading Questionnaire (LTRQ)to assess student literacy needs, set instructionalgoals and develop professional development activ-ities to support teachers in addressing these goals.Schools at this tier were expected to develop sup-ports for struggling readers that provided studentswith a “second shot” of literacy instruction and toaccelerate students’ reading through tailored instruc-tion. In May we assessed student growth and couldidentify students who would benefit from additionalliteracy support should we be able to provide it. Asa Tier 3 school our proposal included a “secondshot” class for struggling students. Once we receivedconfirmation of our funding, we worked collabora-tively with one another and teachers from otherschools who planned to offer “second shot” coursesto design a curriculum that would “shore up” stu-dents’ understanding and use of literacy strategiesintroduced across the curriculum in their grade 7and 8 classes.


Nic

ole

Wid

dess

Leyt

onS

chne

llert

Nicole is a grade6/7 teacher at

Ferris ElementarySchool in the

Richmond SchoolDistrict.

Leyton Schnellertis Co-Editor of

Update and anda part-time

FacultyAssociate, Field

Programs,Faculty of

Education, SFU.

continued on page 8


A Second Shot of Thoughtful Literacy Instruction:


! Develop proactive school plan for reading across content areas ! identify and allocate instructional time to a literacy leader (to focus on instructional collaboration/coaching)

! Introduce bibliography of current resources ! Introduce staff and students to Performance Based Assessment (PBA)

! Invite teachers to teachers participate in professional development activities related to reading across content areas ! Explore effective literacy strategies

! Offer school-wide pro-d opportunities related to literacy

! Form and develop a grade-wide team for student literacy! Identify/develop a particular grade-wide PBA

! Implement Fall and Spring PBA ! In addition select & use a student perception questionnaire as another source of

instructional data (e.g. Dr. Butler’s SRL) ! Develop & implement effective literacy strategies

! Gather & analyze PBA data and questionnaire data and set instructional goals ! Facilitate Gr. 7/8 articulation meeting with a focus on literacy! Begin to use Gr. 7 data to build a profile of incoming students

! Use SRL questionnaire with Dr. Butler & team ! Explore research-based literacy approaches ! Meet and share methods & approaches

! Team analysis of grade-wide literacy assessment data

! Extend & deepen grade-wideidentification & use of key literacy strategies & skills

! Identify students and offer aninstructional block for “second shot”

instruction! Compile & use Gr. 7 literacy

assessment data to enhance and complement Gr. 8 profile

Intermediate Reading Initiative Secondary Schools will . . . .

All Schools

In addition, some Schools also…

In addition, a few Schools will also…

Explore

Develop & Implement

Extend & Deepen

School District 38 (Richmond) June 2005

What already existed?

We looked at examples of other second shot, “secondchance” or “accelerated reading” programs around theprovince (ie. English Dynamics in New Westminster, Liter-acy classes at Cambie Secondary in our district, programs inLangley and Vancouver) and read books and articles on thetopic. All courses strove to provide secondary students strate-gies to help them accelerate their ability to read and com-prehend both fiction and non-fiction material. A commonhope across all of the programs we read about and observedis for students to show improvement in their reading and tofeel successful about themselves as learners.

From reading the research it is interesting to note whatteachers have incorporated into their courses. Most includeemphasis on comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary devel-opment. Joyce and Showers suggest

“the most promising approaches are multidimen-sional…effective reading instruction involves studentsin active inquiry, students develop metacognition skills,and facilitate independence in reading”

(Showers & Joyce, 1998, 28).

Joyce & Showers have done much of the research on sec-ond chance approaches. They first tried a second chancecourse in San Diego at Morse High School, and then workedon a similar project at Torrance Unified School District inCalifornia. Later, Joyce worked with the Northern LightsSchool District in Alberta. There is apparently a second shotclass offered in Yakima, Washington but little research isavailable. So, knowing that second shot/chance programshave been offered in these school districts, we wondered howRichmond school district, and more specifically MacNeillSecondary, might develop and implement such a course.

Our Planning

We met for two full days in the month of June (TOC cov-erage provided by the District) to talk about how our schoolsplanned to set the program up, how students were being rec-ommended to the program, how to get information aboutthe new program out to staff and parents, how we might builda curriculum, and how we might ensure that we would buildupon what classroom teachers in our schools were targetingin their instruction. Representatives from all three Tier Threeschools and from the two Tier Two schools (as they wouldbe looking to institute something similar in future years) tookpart in the development meetings. It has been a wonderfulgroup to work with as we all felt safe enough to ask ques-tions and share what has and has not worked for us in thepast (ie. lessons, units). With the support of our colleagueswithin our school and across schools, we set out to provide“intensive and expert instructional support” for our strug-gling readers (Allington, 2001, 142). Through a process ofanalysing research together and sharing our insights as Eng-lish Language Arts and Learning Resource Teachers we devel-

oped learning outcomes that would be common across ourfive schools (figure 2).

Student Selection Process

At MacNeill, we had 12 students in our inaugural secondshot class (which we called Readers Workshop). Eligible stu-dents included those reading approximately one to two yearsbelow grade level. We offered this course as an elective thatran from September to February. Typically these studentsstraddled the Not Yet Meeting and Minimally Meeting cat-egories of the BC Performance Standards for Reading Infor-mation. Most students had been recommended for the classby their grade 7 teachers.

Timeline




continued on page 9

When What

End of April Met with feeder school principals andresource teachers to overview MacNeill’sliteracy plan (including Readers Work-shop).

Beginning ofMay

Met with teachers of other “second shot”programs to share resources and ideas.

Middle ofMay

Spring assessment and group scoring inelementary schools and secondaryschools helped to identify potential can-didates.

May/June Grade 7 intake meetings which aided inplacing students who may require Read-ers Workshop; parents were notified ofoption for students to enroll in ReadersWorkshop.

Late June School Literacy Team met to discuss waysto develop shared language and commoninstructional approaches between classesincluding Readers Workshop.

Beginning of September

School-based literacy leader worked withgrade 8 team to score performance-basedassessments, collaboratively set commoninstructional goals and set up monthlymeetings.

Assessment

We chose not to use standardized tests, but rather weadministered a performance-based assessment (Brownlie,Feniak & Schnellert, 2006) that was scored as a team usingthe BC Performance Standards for nonfiction reading (seequestions in Figure 3).




Students will...

-become increasingly able to complete academic work independently-spend more time reading-independently choose appropriate reading material

Goals for student

Independence

Second Shot Planning Team June 2005 (Datoo, Dewonck, Jamieson, Misfeldt, Newton, Powell, Rothstein, Schnellert,Smith, Vint & Widdess)

Second ShotStudent Outcomes

Students will...

Learn that reading is a Process-increase their understanding of reading as interactive-learn about cognitive strategies and how they are used-increase their awareness of why strategies work

Become more strategic-build knowledge of and use specific strategies-identify what a task requires-choose an appropriate tool for the task at hand

Learn to set a purpose for reading -determine a purpose for reading-articulate goals for reading

Talk-better understand how talk impacts reading-talk in A/B partners-think and talk metacognitively

-use consistent language -be able to talk about themselves and their reading strategies to others

Self-monitor-monitor their own comprehension-use fix-up strategies-generate criteria to assess own reading and learning-be able to understand what they are reading

Metacognition

Fluency

Students will...

Increase overall fluency-read more fluently than when they started the class-improve fluency and vocabulary-impove writing fluency

Increase Word Attack Skills-have increased vocabulary/word skills-have more word identification strategies-improve word attack skills-increase decoding speed on multisyllabic words

Build Spelling Skills-be able to improve use of conventional spelling

Develop Word Level Strategies-increase ability to use contextual clues-learn to analyze words based on their parts

Comprehension

Students will...

Use cognitive strategies

-activate prior knowledge-be able to relate what they read to what they already know-be able to identify main ideas-be able to distinguish between main ideas and details-identify 'big ideas'/themes-make connections-ask powerful questions about what they know-draw/make inferences from the text-summarize their thinking aloud and in writing-paraphrase-create images as they read-be able to group related information-take organized, hierarchical notes

Application & Transfer

Students will...

Gain experience with many genre and types of text- work with a variety of genre-be able to discriminate between different kinds of text-build an understanding of different types of text structure

Transfer what they learn to other settings-apply what is read to academic tasks-apply reading strategies in other courses--transfer and apply strategies across curriculum

Students will...

Confidence-have increased self-esteem-have increased confidence as readers-feel less anxious about reading-feel they know what to do when given a reading to learn task

Ownership-have a more positive approach/attitude towards reading-buy into some useful strategies-have the feeling that they have options for recreational reading-develop a desire to read-become independent problem solvers of text

Enjoyment-choose to read and write-enjoy reading-feel successful

Figure 3: Performance-Based Assessment Questions(for further information see Standard Reading Assessment in Student Diversity, 2006)

1. Predicting: What do you think the text will be about? How do you know?

2. Summarizing: Using a web, words, diagrams, and/or drawings, show that you can clearly identify thekey ideas and details from this passage (use the other side of this page).

3. Connecting: How does what you read connect with what you already know?

4. Strategies: Give a brief definition for the words underlined in the article:

a. ___________________________________

b. ___________________________________

c. ___________________________________

5. What strategies did you use to determine the meaning of the words in question #4?

6. Inferring: Read between the lines to find something that you believe to be true, but that isn’t actu-ally said. Explain your reasoning.

7. Reflecting: Was this easy or hard? How did you help yourself understand? (If this was easy, what doyou do to help yourself understand something more difficult?)

We used information from our school’s Fall assessments to identify additional candidates and confirm the recommenda-tions from our feeder schools. The school used information from the performance-based assessment and Butler & Cartier’sLearning Through Reading Questionnaire (LTRQ), which asks students to identify what they think a “reading through learn-ing” task entails, to set school-wide instructional goals which we reinforced in Readers Workshop. During the first week of classwe built a profile of students in the class using data from these and additional sources (ie. Getting to Know Your activities).




Stu-dent

Areas of Strength Areas requiring further development Interests

1 Reports using some reading strategies (mental images,predictions, self-monitoring)Contributes to class discussions, cooperative learning

-fluency-word decoding-making connections-determining importance

HockeyLacrosseAnimals

2 Reports using some reading strategies (mental images,predictions, making connections)Thinks about her learning

-fluency-word decoding-using text features-discriminating between main ideasand details

ShoppingDramaSpendingtime withfriends

3 Can talk about her learning with assistanceSocialGenerousWilling to ask questions

-fluency-word strategies-auditory discrimination-using text features-making connections,-discriminating between main ideasand details

ShoppingMoviesTelevisionSocializing

4 Enjoys readingPoliteClose with family

Reading comprehension:-paraphrasing-using text features-making connections,-determining main ideas ESL 5

ReadingTalking withadults

cont...




Stu-dent


5 Visual learnerEnjoys jokesWants to make friendsWord strategies

-task interpretation-task completion-reluctant to speak-shy-using text features-making connections-discriminating between main ideas and details-engagement in school

Video gamesTelevision (Sci Fi)Movies

6 Visual learnerCan show his learning through images wellMaking predictions

Inability to plan his assignments, doesn’t ask for help-task interpretation-task completion-shy-using text features-making connections-discriminating between main ideas and details

Video gamesMP32D Art

7 Hard workingEnjoys learningPrefers to write on a transparency with anoverhead or use an AlphasmartClose to his family

-high anxiety-written output concerns-task completion-using text features-making connections-discriminating between main ideas and details

Video gamesWrestlingTelevisionMoviesFamily

8 Working in groupsSharing ideasWork completion

Reading comprehension:-paraphrasing-using text features-making connections,-determining main ideas -slow processor

Video gamesSocializingReading -informationalbooks aboutelectronics

9 Contributes to class discussionLearns strategies well and tries to applythem

Needs additional support with reading comprehen-sion and requires someone to read to him whenavailable-paraphrasing-using text features-making connections,-determining main ideas

Hockey

10 Contributes to class discussionsMakes good connections with his learning

-does not stretch his thinking-paraphrasing-using text features-making connections,-determining main ideas

Hockey

11 Good reading strategiesSynthesizes information wellContributes to class discussion

-fluency-word decoding-making connections-determining importance

Snowboarding Most sportsCurrent events

12 Worked well in groupsIdentifies his thinking in writing well

-task interpretation-task completion-reluctant to speak-shy-using text features-making connections-discriminating between main ideas and details

Video gamesBadminton,Basketball

CurriculumWhile the learning outcomes we developed with the teach-

ers from other schools helped to frame our course (figure 2),our curriculum centered around the data from the perform-ance-based assessment. Our grade 8 team identified three tar-get areas: using text features, making connections, anddetermining importance. To address these goals we chose to

scaffold students’ use of these cognitive strategies through readalouds, shared reading activities, and independent reading tasksusing engaging and appropriate texts at or near the students’reading level. Most of the reading materials we chose to modeland teach with were short, nonfiction excerpts, mostly fromthe Nelson Boldprint series. Below you can see how we usedthe individual and school-wide data to build a class profile:





◆ Contributes to class discussion ◆ Identifying text features◆ Making connections◆ Discriminating main ideas and details

◆ Sports◆ Video games◆ Shopping

Teaching Goals

Nicole began the course by focusing on helping studentsbuild an understanding of how making connections is a cog-nitive skill crucial for success in learning across subject areas.Many of the students were not aware of the role backgroundknowledge plays in the meaning we make in school and theworld. She worked with students to practice making connec-tions by relating what they learned from fiction and non-fic-tion texts (including web-based media) to the question: Howdo bullying and peer pressure affect me and my world? Themedia were inundated with stories related to Hurricane Kat-rina. While students initially found it hard to make connec-tions to events in the United States, they successfully foundlinks to experiences in their personal lives and, in particular,

content in their Social Studies and Science classes. To helpstudents make connections between literature, themselvesand the world Nicole used Inventing Elliot as a read aloudtext and song lyrics to “Where Is The Love?” by the Black-Eyed Peas, complemented by “Friends” and “I Fit In” fromNelson Friends Magazine. Nonfiction texts included hurri-cane articles from the newspaper and articles from time-forkids.ca. After introducing and modeling reading strategiesthrough think alouds, two column notes and coding text (T-S, T-T, T-W), we found that students were getting lost in theactivities without being able to see how they were doing withthe strategy. We wanted to help them see growth over timeso we developed a graphic organizer to use across texts.

continued on page 14

SHARE YOUR LESSON PLANSUPDATE would like to publish your lesson plans. If you have an activity that has worked well in

your classroom, please consider sharing this with other English teachers. Send your plans (by e-mailor on disk along with hard copy) to:

Update Editors

Leyton [email protected]

Krista [email protected]




Making connections graphic organizer

Before reading:

During reading:

Post-it Note #1 Post-it Note #2 Post-it Note #3

Connection My Thinking


Making connections graphic organizer




After reading:

I want you to notice how I…

For next time, I want to…

3 words I want to add…

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

continued on page <#>

Using the Graphic Organizer

Before reading we asked the students to think of 3 mainideas/details they remembered from the previous class (poemor chapter read), 2 connections they made the previous dayand one question they had for today’s text. We would dis-cuss what students remembered, why they thought these ideaswere important and finally how their questions related tothese ideas. During reading, students were looking and/orlistening to make a connection on their sticky notes. Nicoleasked her students to code the sticky with T-S, T-T, and T-W(Harvey & Goudvis, 2000). We engaged in partner and grouptalk about what they wrote on their sticky notes. After dis-cussion, students would fill in the two-column notes show-ing two significant connections they made, and mostimportantly, their thinking behind the connections and howthey related to what was read..

Finally, students completed the reflection prompts; thisallowed us to get a glimpse of their metacognitive skills. Thesection for 3 words helped students to notice and recordthree words that were challenging for them during readingso that we had an idea where word work may need to occur.

Text features and lessonsAs we moved to our second goal for students we

maintained our use of strategies for making connections whileintroducing skills for using text features. Students worked insmall groups and looked through a variety of nonfiction booksto generate a list of possible text features and their functions.Students rotated through 3 different stations of varyingnonfiction books and recorded their findings to share aloudwith the whole class.

The teacher recorded the ideas on chart paper and Nicoleprompted them to be more explicit about the differencesbetween text features. Together the class developed a list oftext features and spoke about the functions of each (2-columnnotes, Text Feature/Function). Using the two-column notes,students completed a mini teaching booklet (Harvey &Goudvis, 2000) of text features. Students were asked to includethe text feature, its function as well as a visual representationof the text feature to use as a future guide. Students thenincorporated what they knew from their teaching bookletswhen note-making using nonfiction material.

After several weeks of connection making and several




continued on page <None>

Week Monday Tuesday Thursday

1 Independent novelsIntroduce/model readers’ response

Introduce inquiry groups/ ’ShowMy Thinking’ organizer (teacherled)Do with whole classModelPractice in inquiry groups

Read independent novel for 20 min.Say Something 5 min.Find section for fluency log 5 min.Write response logComplete fluency log and chart it

2 Read new articleFill out ‘Show My Thinking’ usingthe magnet strategy – Bring toTuesday’s discussion group

Wonder Book(S. Harvey)Say Something (quote & respondto it)Read chunk, share headingRinse & repeatGroup summaryWonder BookMetacognition


3 Read new articleFill out ‘Show My Thinking’ usingthe magnet strategy – Bring toTuesday’s discussion group

Share headingsBegin ideagram (Brownlie, 1998)Ask what important questions

are answered in this article or byyour heading (complete inner cir-cle of ideagram)


4 Share ideagram criteriaWork on outside ring – make spe-cific connections to each heading

Add an image or icon to the idea-gram Publish the ideagramConference on ideagram

Performance-Based Assessment(PBA)

Figure 4. Cognitive strategy focus: determining importance; instructional strategy: inquiry circles




Showing My Thinking – Graphic Organizer

Before

Text feature: ________________________

Chunk 1

Paragraph Heading:

Chunk 2

Paragraph Heading:

During Chunk 3

Paragraph Heading:

Summary

AfterWhat I want you to notice about my thinking...

Next time, I plan to... (goal setting)

Post-it(s)

Post-it(s)

Post-it(s)

building students’ ability to effectively use text features topredict, find key information and navigate text, we met toplan. Nicole felt that while the students appeared tounderstand a strategy when she was modeling with thinkalouds, they were not independently applying the strategieseffectively. We sat down with this in mind to develop anoutline for a unit on determining importance.

Determining Importance

We put students into inquiry groups based on their areasof interest. We arranged our schedule so that we would havethree adults in the room every third lesson to monitor thestudents’ use of strategies. Nicole worked with the “beauty

myths” group, Leyton with the video games group while SteveRauh, MacNeill’s vice principal, facilitated the sports group.In Figure 4 you can see our conscious plan to immerse stu-dents in a process of using and refining target strategiesthroughout four weekly cycles. The students received morepersonalized attention as they worked in groups as we couldstand to the side and listen in to hear how they determinedimportance, made connections and referred to text features.We debriefed their group discussions as a class and set goalsfor upcoming discussions. The students were impressed tohave an administrator take part in the class; when Steve satin with his group and shared his connections we saw themost reluctant sports group members begin to buy in andtake part in the group discussion.

Showing My Thinking -Lesson to the Graphic Organizer

We again developed a graphic organizer to support stu-dents as they worked with the strategy. As with any new strat-egy, this target strategy and graphic organizer required lotsof modeling and practice before the teacher gently steppedaway to let the students independently show their under-standing.

Before reading, students chose a text feature from thereading material to use as they made predictions about thecontent. For example, a student may choose a photo. Theirjob was to look at the text feature and anticipate what theythought the text would be about by recording their thinkingin the space provided.

During reading, in their inquiry groups, students chun-ked the text into 3 sections and decided how they wouldread the text whether reading independently or taking turnswith a partner. Together students completed a magnet note

(Beuhl, 2001) on a sticky. Students read the chunk lookingfor the magnet word, the most important word of the chunk,and recorded it in the centre of their sticky. Then studentsreread the chunk looking for 4-5 words that attracted to themagnet word and after discussion recorded them on thesticky around the magnet word. Students did this for all 3chunks. When they finished this, they individually lookedfor one quote to share in the folowing day’s Say Somethingdiscussion.

In the next class, students reviewed their magnet notesand discussed with their group what a good paragraph head-ing would be to capture the main idea of the chunk read andrecorded it on their Showing My Thinking graphic organ-izer. After discussion, the students (sometimes with supportfrom the adult facilitator) would take the paragraph head-ings and write a summary together and record it in the spaceprovided. Students then independently completed themetacognitive step that required them to reflect back on theirthinking and about the processes of this activity.

Wonder Books

We learned about Wonder Books from Stephanie Har-vey and Anne Goudvis’ Strategies that Work. We providedstudents with mini booklets and asked them to record ques-tions they had as they read articles for their assigned theme.

We stretched student thinking a little further by asking themto also record where they may find the answers to their ques-tions; this was formatted in 2-column notes. This was a greatway to get students thinking about questions they may wishto research at a later time.





I wonder... Where I can go to find the answers to my questions...

Readers Response Log

During our class read aloud, Inventing Elliot, Nicole mod-eled how she writes a response to text on the overhead pro-jector. She then read it aloud asking the students to notewhat she had included in her response. With another colorof pen, she marked the text noting what’s included in areader’s response based on student input. Then the class dis-cussed what else might be helpful to add to a response.

In the end, as a class, we developed criteria for a power-ful reader’s response. Students noted that a good responseshould include:

◆ The book title and part that you read (pages numbers)

◆ A brief summary of the part you read

◆ What you like/don’t like and why

◆ Evidence of connections (This reminds me of...)

◆ An illustration with a caption explaining it

◆ Questions

◆ Rating (1 to 10 or 4 stars)

◆ Who you would recommend it to and why

Nicole typed this list for students to glue into theirduotangs and provided them a typed example of a responseto refer to for future reference. For struggling students, Nicoleprovided them with a graphic organizer to help them organ-ize their thinking.





Reader’s Response Log

Title: ____________________________

Brief Summary Today I read pages ___ to ___. It was about...

What you like or do not like

I like or don’t like the part...because...

Connections This reminds me of...

Questions I wonder why...

Rating (4 stars)

I rate this book a ___ out of 4 stars because...

Recommendation I would recommend this book to...

Illustration & Caption

Ideagram and Criteria

Below is our culminating assignment – an ideagram. Thepurpose of this assignment was to help students synthesizetheir learning about their inquiry topic and for Nicole toassess student understanding of the material they read. Stu-dents were provided with the following information:

Process:

1. In your inquiry circles, think of some important questionsthat one may have about sports, beauty myths or video games.Choose one question that you have learned information about.

2. In the middle of your paper, record the question.

3. On the inside ring, attach paragraph headings from yourreading log that help you to answer the question in themiddle of your page.

4. On the middle ring, attach quotes from your articles thatprovide evidence for the paragraph headings you haveincluded.

5. On the outside ring (the perimeter of your paper), includeadditional questions you have from your wonder book.





Example:

Questions you have

about your specific

topic

Middle Ring:

paragraph

Inside Ring:

Paragraph

headings from

your reading logs

Outside Ring:

Wonder Books

Results and Reflections

After looking at our Fall to Spring data we were pleasedto see the gains that students made. The students’ Fall andSpring assessments were written alongside their peers in theirHumanities classes as we wanted to gauge their use of strate-gies in the a regular classroom context versus our little “strate-gies lab,” Readers Workshop. We realize that we need to doa better job at tracking the growth of our students during theyear and, in the future, plan to assess the students in Read-ers Workshop midway through the course as well. Consid-ering this was year one, our concentration was on theimplementation of the program and developing a meaning-ful course that students would tell other students about. Whilewe shared the students’ pre- and post- performance-basedassessment trends with the students, we did not take

the opportunity to analyze the LTRQ data with our students.In all of our teaching this year we are focusing more on help-ing students use data to monitor their own success.

Our primary goal was to help students become more capa-ble readers in their content area classes and apply their learn-ing across the curriculum. However, more importantly, wewanted to help the students feel more successful. We feel thatwe were successful, but having to compete against other elec-tives such as bike repair, drama, fitness training, etc. was, ofcourse, a hard sell. We look forward to hearing the imple-mentation stories of this year’s Readers Workshop teachers(who are offering the course from February to June this year)and to extending what we continue to learn to our currentroles and schools.




Inquiry Circle: Ideagram Criteria

Mark Criteria

4 Powerful question that all other information is related to 4 paragraph headings included

At least two quotes that support your paragraph heading

Relevant connections to other articles, news, stories

Relevant personal connections

3 Open ended (thick) question that all other information is related to 3 paragraph headings

One quote that support each paragraph heading

Some logical connections to other articles

Some logical personal connections

2 Question that all other information is related to 2 paragraph headings

Most quotes are logical

Connections to other articles are mostly logical

Few or unclear personal connections

1 Question or topic in center of page

Limited response, few paragraph headings included

Few to no connections from other articles

Few to no personal connections

Adapted from Brownlie & Feniak (1998) Student Diversity.


Works Cited

Allington, R. (2001). What Really Matters for Struggling Read-ers: Designing Research-Based Programs. Toronto: Addi-son-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.

Brownlie, F., & Feniak, C., (198) Student diversity (first edi-tion). Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers.

Brownlie, F., Feniak, C., &. Schnellert, L. (2006) Studentdiversity (second edition). Markham, Ontario: PembrokePublishers.

Deshler, D., Schumaker, J., and Woodruff, S. (2004). “Improv-ing Literacy Skills of At-Risk Adolescents: A School-wideResponse.” In Bridging the Literacy Achievement GapGrades 4-12. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2000). Strategies that work: Teach-ing comprehension to enhance understanding. York, ME:Stenhouse.

Joyce, B., Showers, B., Seanlon, M., and Schnaubelt, C. (1998,March). A second chance to learn to read. EducationalLeadership, 55, 27-30.

Joyce, B., Hrycauk, M., and Calhoun, E. (2001, March). ASecond Chance for Struggling Readers. Educational Lead-ership, 42-46.

Moore, D. and Hinchman, K. (2003). Starting Out: A Guideto Teaching Adolescents Who Struggle with Reading.Toronto: Pearson.

Raiche, N. (2000, November). A second chance to learn toread. Leadership. Found on the web,www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HUL/is_2_30/ai_67046814 - 36k

Shanahan, T. (2004). “Improving Reading Achievement inSecondary Schools: Structures and Reforms.” In Bridg-ing the Literacy Achievement Gap Grades 4-12. NewYork, NY: Teachers College Press.

Wilhelm, J., Baker, T., and Julie, D. (2001). Strategic Read-ing: Guiding Students to Lifelong Literacy 6-12.Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers Inc.




Readers’ Workshop Results

Student September February Results

1 Not Yet Meets/Fully Meets +1.5 2 Not Yet Meeting Not Yet/Meets +0.5 3 Not Yet/Meets Not Yet/Meets No movement 4 Not Yet Meets +1.0 5

(modified student) Not Yet Not Yet No movement

6 Meets Meets/Fully Meets +0.5 7 Meets Meets/Fully Meets +0.5 8 Not Yet Meets/Fully Meets +1.5 9 Meets Meets/Fully Meets +0.5 10 Not Yet Meets/Fully Meets +1.5 11

(student struggling with anxiety)

Meets Not Yet -1.0

12 Not Yet/Meets Fully Meets +1.5

Students meeting or exceeding minimum expectations on the Performance Standards

October 2005 February 2006 4/12 8/12

33.3% 66.6%


Layered Curriculum and Short Stories in English 12U

PDAT

E

General Instructions:

The outline below represents 3 solid weeks ofwork. The levels correspond to the grade you wishto achieve for the unit. When you look over theselevels, you’ll notice that each assignment isweighted; some tasks are worth more than others.

Be sure to prioritize your time accordingly. Workmust be completed no later than:

On this date you will hand in all your assign-ments in a folder or binder for the final assessment.

Unit Objectives:

This unit covers the following learning objectives…

1. describe what they already know about andexperiences they have had with specific topics

2. use efficient strategies for recording, organizing,and storing information that they read

3. describe and apply a variety of literary devicesand techniques to create particular effects,including figurative language, symbolism, par-ody, and irony

4. paraphrase the main ideas, events, or themes ina variety of sophisticated literary communica-tions

5. develop coherent and plausible interpretationsof sophisticated literary communications

6. make connections between their own values,beliefs, and cultures and those reflected in liter-ature

7. support a position, interpretation, or responseby citing specific details, features, & info fromwhat they have read

8. analyse ways in which literature has dealt withissues involving personal identity and commu-nity and respond to these in terms of their ownideas, experiences, and communities

9. adapt their use of language register & the sophis-tication of grammatical constructs for specificaudiences and purposes

10. assess their own and others’ work for sentenceclarity, precision of language, and variety andartistry of expression

11. critique, defend, and appraise the effectivenessand organization of their own and others’ work

12. critique, defend, & appraise the effectivenessof their own and others’ use of language re. thespecific purpose/ audience

13. demonstrate willingness to accept & provideconstructive criticism /feedback to revise / editcommunications for clarity, meaning, & style

14. monitor their own spelling, grammar, mechan-ics, and syntax using strategies and techniques

15. develop communication goals and monitor theiraction plans

16. demonstrate their understanding of themselvesas self-directed, curious, self-appraising, andopen-minded learners

Assigned Stories:

Titles marked with (V) are published in theViewpoints 12 anthology. All others will be pro-vided in class. You may choose other stories in thetext, as long as you clear it with me first.

◆ Summer Tragedy Report◆ No Great Mischief (excerpt) (V)◆ The Rocking-Horse Winner (V)◆ The Lottery◆ War (V)◆ A Short Story by Stuart MacLean (audio –

we’ll listen to it in class)◆ Magpies (V)


Bro

oke

Sm

ith

Brooke Smithteaches in

School District45.

Assessment:

When you look at the rubrics provided at the end of this booklet,you’ll notice that each assignment is marked out of 6. This scale is basedon the Six-Point Scale: 1-2=does not meet expectations; 3= meets expec-tations minimally (C-/C); 4= meets expectations (C+), 5= fully meetsexpectations (B); and 6=exceeds expectations (A). Your final grade willbe the result of where the majority of your assignments land on this scalewith more emphasis placed on tasks weighted more than others.

Note:

A layered curriculum approach means that youhave the freedom to work at what you do best andto challenge yourself in areas where you don’t feelas confident. Classes will be structured as work-shops and built around your own pace and yourown schedule.

I’m excited about this plan because it will allowme the freedom to work on an increasingly one-on-one or small group basis with you.


Layered Curriculum and Short Stories in English 12


GRADE 12: Short Stories Ms. B. Smith, November 2006

LEVEL C: Basic Understanding and Critical Thinking (up to 72%)Using your class time and some time at home, complete all of the following: % Task

10 1. In a chart, identify instances of metaphor, simile, repetition, imagery, symbolism,and irony where they occur in any of the short stories.

15

2. Imagine that one of the stories will be read aloud on a podcast and it is your job to select accompanying music. Locate three or more appropriate vocal or instrumental selections to be played as an introduction, interlude, and fade-out to the reading. Prepare a pitch (written or oral) you would present to the producer of the program, explaining how your musical choices would contribute to the listeners’ enjoyment and understanding of the narrative. Include a Works Cited page listing the story and the musical selections’ information in accordance with MLA Style.

30 3. Choose 1 of the assigned stories. Write a literary analysis that focuses on one of the following topics: setting, character, or theme. The analysis should be structured as a formal academic essay of about 500 words.

5

4. For each of your literary analyses invite a classmate to edit your work. Fill out your “My Writing Progress Chart” accordingly. Revise your work to reflect their suggestions. Include your original draft with their edit marks and your revised draft in your final portfolio.

5 5. Design a visually appealing plot graph for one of the assigned stories.

5

6. Ask 4 Types of Questions for 2 of the stories: (1) one where the answer can be found directly in the text, (2) one where the answer can be found scattered throughout the text, (3) one where you need to rely on your own understanding and info from the text to answer it, and (4) a thematic based question for which you do not need to have read the text.

10

7. On one side of an 8.5” by 11” paper, present 3 images that connect to one of the assigned stories. Beside, underneath, or above each image include a snippet from the text that enhances the corresponding image. Defend the depth of images’ connections in a paragraph on the flip side of the paper.

10

8. Find an image not obviously related to one of the short stories. Photocopy it onto an overhead transparency. Make sure to use color or black and white to match the original. Present the transparency to the class explaining how it connects with the story. Make sure to speak to me about how best to structure your presentation beforehand.

5

9. Edit at least one literary essay or short story or screenplay authored by a classmate. Sign the bottom of their draft and in your own portfolio, include a brief paragraph reflecting on what editing your peers’ work can teach you about your own writing skill and progress.

5 10. Complete a unit reflection sheet and include it as the last page of your portfolio.

*Note: Please plan which stories you will explore with which task item carefully because in order to pass the unit at this level you MUST HAVE DEALT WITH AT LEAST 6 stories.





LEVEL B: Application, Critical Thinking and Deeper Interpretation (73 – 85%) Using your class time and some time at home, complete all of the following: % Task

5 1. In a chart, identify instances of metaphor, simile, repetition, imagery, symbolism,and irony where they occur in any of the short stories.

10 2. In a chart, present the following for 3 of the assigned short stories: a theme statement, 2 main events of each story and how they are significant, and two snippets (excerpts) from each story and how they are significant.

15

3. Imagine that one of the stories will be read aloud on a podcast and it is your job to select accompanying music. Locate three or more appropriate vocal or instrumental selections to be played as an introduction, interlude, and fade-out to the reading. Prepare a pitch you would present (orally or textually) to the producer of the program, explaining how your musical choices would contribute to the listeners’ enjoyment and understanding of the narrative. Include a Works Cited page listing the story and the musical selections’ information in accordance with MLA Style.

40

4. Choose 2 of the assigned stories. Write a literary analysis for each of the 2stories ensuring that each has one of the following focuses: setting, theme, or point of view. Each analysis should be structured as a formal academic essay of about 500 words long and have a different focus.

2.5


10

6. Tape a monologue as one of the characters in an assigned story. Get into their head. Weave a snippet from the text into the monologue and show how it is significant. Should be about 3 minutes long. Should reveal characterization and perhaps develop character further than in the text.

10

7. Choose a story that you connect with on a thematic basis; in other words, is the same theme evident in your own life? Have your experienced a theme connected to that of the story? Then, in a narrative essay (you may use first person p.o.v.) explore the thematic connection. Length: about 500 words

2.5

8. Edit at least one literary essay or short story or screenplay authored by a classmate. Sign the bottom of their draft and in your own portfolio, include a brief paragraph reflecting on what editing your peers’ work taught you about your own writing skill and progress.







LEVEL A: Critical Thinking, Synthesis, and Extension (86 – 100%)Using your class time and some time at home, complete all of the following: % Task

5 1. In a chart, identify instances of metaphor, simile, repetition, imagery, symbolism, irony, characterization (direct & indirect), allusion, and specific diction where they occur in any of the short stories.

5 2. In a chart, present the following for 3 of the assigned short stories: a theme statement, 2 main events of each story and how they are significant, and two snippets (excerpts) from each story and how they are significant.

40 3. Choose 2 of the assigned stories. Write a literary analysis for each of the 2 stories ensuring that one analysis focuses on setting or tone and the other on point of view. Each analysis should be a formal academic essay of about 500 words long.

5


10

5. Choose a story that you connect with on a thematic basis; in other words, is the same theme evident in your own life? Have your experienced a theme connected to that of the story? Then, in a narrative essay (you may use first person p.o.v.) explore the thematic connection. Length: about 500 words

20

6. (a) Write a short story. You may base it on events in your own life (in which case the genre is more accurately referred to as Creative Nonfiction) or you may invent a plot line all your own. Ensure that you structure your piece as a short story (plot, themes, characterization, etc). Length: entirely up to you as long as your work is fully developed. OR

(b) Choose one of the assigned short stories and re-write it as a screenplay for a short film.

5

7. Invite a classmate to edit your story or screenplay. Fill out your “My Writing Progress Chart” accordingly. Revise your work to reflect their suggestions. Include your original draft with their edit marks and your revised draft in your final portfolio.

5

8. Edit at least one literary essay or short story or screenplay authored by a classmate. Sign the bottom of their draft and in your own portfolio, include a brief paragraph reflecting on what editing your peers’ work taught you about your own writing skill and progress.






Rubrics for Level “C” Assignments Criteria for Figurative Language Chart (#1) 2 3 4 5 6 1. clearly and accurately indicates instances of listed literary devices 2. the effect of each literary device is clearly stated (how it impacts the reader, or how it

adds insight into the theme, or how it enhances the setting, etc) 3. concise language (not flowery, verbose, or convoluted language)

Criteria for Podcast Pitch (#2) 2 3 4 5 6 1. 3 or more musical selections are correctly listed in Works Cited (may include on a cd

but not necessary) 2. Musical selections are assigned to specific parts of the story3. The pitch (orally of textually) fully explains the rationale behind choices, showing

how the musical selections help strengthen or emphasize the story’s plot, tone, atmosphere, conflict, characterization, etc…

4. The pitch makes strong and persuasive connections between story’s character orthemes or tone or etc.

Criteria for Literary Analysis (#3) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Please see the Six-Point Scale for criteria

Criteria for “My Writing Progress” Chart (#4) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Peer editor has signed off on your paper (physically signed your paper)2. Rough draft with edit marks, revised draft are both present3. Revised draft shows proof of thoughtful revision4. “My Writing Progress” Chart is filled out and reflects edits and revision

Criteria for Plot Graph (#5) 2 3 4 5 6 1. All plot components are included and clearly labeled: introduction, inciting incident,

rising action, climax, falling action, denouement, resolution. 2. Plot Graph is visually appealing 3. Conflict statement is clearly articulated 4. Title of story is obvious5. All plot components are clearly and accurately explained.

Criteria for 4 Types of Questions (#6) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Questions are appropriately categorized2. Questions reflect the grade 12 level of understanding

Criteria for Visual (#7) 2 3 4 5 6 1. 3 images are presented in a visually appealing and logical manner 2. Each image is assigned an appropriate snippet (excerpt) that enhances the image 3. The defense of the connections between the story and the images is clearly explained

and presented in a well-developed paragraph.

Criteria for Image Connection (#8) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Image is in its original form but on an overhead transparency 2. Presentation to the class is audible and clear. 3. Connection is well explained4. Depth of connection: goes beyond superficial understanding of plot and attempts to

reveal more about the theme, character, etc.

Criteria for Editing Reflection (#9) 2 3 4 5 6 1. clearly identified the peer’s name and paper title 2. well-developed paragraph explains how the editing process helps your writing process

Criteria for Unit Reflection Sheet (#10) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Obvious that you have put thought into your reflection and it is honest2. You use examples to clearly communicate your experience.





Rubrics for Level “B” Assignments Criteria for Figurative Language Chart (#1) 2 3 4 5 6 1. clearly and accurately indicates instances of the listed literary devices 2. the affect of each literary device is clearly stated (how it emotionally impact on the

reader, or how it adds insight into the theme, or how it enhances the setting, etc) 3. concise language (not flowery, verbose, or convoluted language)

Criteria for Theme and Snippet Chart (#2) 2 3 4 5 6 1. theme statements are clearly articulated and insightful 2. main events of at least 5 stories are clearly identified3. significance of main events is clearly explained 4. two snippets (excerpts) from each story are clearly identified 5. significance of two snippets is clearly explained

Criteria for Podcast Pitch (#3) 2 3 4 5 6 1. 3 or more musical selections are correctly listed in Works Cited (may include on a cd

but not necessary) 2. Musical selections are assigned to specific parts of the story3. The pitch (orally of textually) fully explains the rationale behind choices, showing

how the musical selections help strengthen or emphasize the story’s plot, tone, atmosphere, conflict, characterization, etc…

4. The pitch makes strong and persuasive connections between story’s character orthemes or tone or etc.

Criteria for Literary Analyses (#4) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Please see the Six-Point Scale for criteria for Literary Analysis #1 2. Please see the Six-Point Scale for criteria for Literary Analysis #2

Criteria for “My Writing Progress” Chart (#5) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Peer editor has signed off on your paper 2. Rough draft with edit marks, revised draft are both present3. Revised draft shows proof of thoughtful revision4. “My Writing Progress” Chart is filled out and reflects edits and revision

Criteria for Monologue (#6) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Monologue is ideally taped, but if not possible, then presented orally to class. 2. Evidence of understanding of character and story obvious and perhaps more deeply

developed based on the text. 3. Snippet is woven in smoothly and works well in the context

Criteria for Narrative Essay (#7) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Thematic connection is well-developed and proven 2. Please see the Six-Point Scale for the complete criteria


Criteria for Unit Reflection Sheet (#9) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Obvious that you have put thought into your reflection and it is honest2. You use examples to show clearly communicate your experience.





Rubrics for Level “A” Assignments Criteria for Figurative Language Chart (#1) 2 3 4 5 6 1. clearly and accurately indicates instances of the listed literary devices 2. the affect of each literary device is clearly stated (how it emotionally impact on the

reader, or how it adds insight into the theme, or how it enhances the setting, etc) 3. concise language (not flowery, verbose, or convoluted language)

Criteria for Theme and Snippet Chart (#2) 2 3 4 5 6 1. theme statements are clearly articulated and insightful 2. main events of at least 5 stories are clearly identified3. significance of main events is clearly explained 4. two snippets (excerpts) from each story are clearly identified 5. significance of two snippets is clearly explained

Criteria for Literary Analyses (#3) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Please see the Six-Point Scale for criteria for Literary Analysis #1 2. Please see the Six-Point Scale for criteria for Literary Analysis #2

Criteria for “My Writing Progress” Chart (#4 & #7) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Peer editor has signed off on your paper 2. Rough draft with edit marks, revised draft are both present3. Revised draft shows proof of thoughtful revision4. “My Writing Progress” Chart is filled out and reflects edits and revision

Criteria for Narrative Essay (#5) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Thematic connection is well-developed and proven 2. Please see the Six-Point Scale for the complete criteria

Criteria for Short Story (#6) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Please see the Six-Point Scale for the complete criteria

Criteria for Screenplay (#6) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Script is clearly formatted in a way that identifies who is speaking, their body

movements (blocking), and camera angels. 2. Camera angels work well with the text and create a specific effect 3. Dialogue reveals character in a way that exposition in the story reveals character. 4. Obvious that you have made deliberate choices as to what to include and what to

exclude from the original text.


Criteria for Unit Reflection Sheet (#9) 2 3 4 5 6 1. Obvious that you have put thought into your reflection and it is honest2. You use examples to show clearly communicate your experience.




UNIT REFLECTION (YOU MAY COMPLETE THIS SHEET ON THIS PAGE OR YOU MAY TYPE OUT YOUR RESPONSES.)

When first assigned this unit, I felt… because…

Having completed the unit, I now feel… because…

The most difficult part of this experience was… because…

The easiest part of this experience was… because…

The best part of this experience was… because…

The skill / task at which I most improved is… (explain what helped you improve)

The skill / task with which I’d like more practice is… (explain what you still have trouble with)

I was at my most productive when… because…

I was at my least productive when… because…

If we were to do this type of unit again, I’d recommend the following changes:

If this unit was assessed based on effort, I think I deserve a(n) because...

I would like/dislike using this approach again. (circle one)


Flexing our reading muscles with manga, amodern multimodal textU

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Teachers’ reactions to their students’ read-ing of manga, the Japanese graphic nov-els, typically range from extremedisappointment

“There is no reading there; they are justflipping through the pages and lookingat the pictures. And it is all backwardtoo: they are going from right to left, start-ing at the end. You cannot possibly callthat reading!”

to a rather muted and restrained enthusiasm

“Well, at least they are reading something.There is some writing there. Probably notvery good quality though; nothing thatwe would really like them to read. Andthe pictures are like sugar coating: theymake it easier to understand the story,whatever it is.”

A very quick discourse analysis of the abovestatements will likely reveal the following oper-ating assumptions. In order to be con-sidered valid, students’ readingshould consist of reading primarilya print-based text, preferably amodel of beautiful language (aclassic?) Since there is littlevalue in decoding images inmanga - their role is mostly torepeat what the simplistic textalready says - manga graphic nov-els can hardly be considered effec-tive reading tools. Reading is bothunimodal (dealing with one type of text at atime) and linear in nature; and finally, in a Lan-guage Arts classroom, visual literacy is not as impor-tant as print-based text literacy.

I would like to propose that if we actually agreewith the above inferences, there is definitely a lotwe can talk about. Let us then begin with the ideathat reading really is about reading a print-basedtext, preferably one that introduces students to mod-els of a superb language use. Most of us will agreethat traditional texts often address universal ques-tions and offer insights that are relevant and inspir-ing to today’s readers. Reading such texts gives ourstudents skills, competence and confidence to facevarious academic demands that await them in the

post-secondary world. However, what about stu-dents whose life experiences and cultures are notreflected in traditional literature? Are they not goingto feel marginalized, perhaps even dehumanized?They might resist reading such texts not becausethey are “struggling readers,” but rather becausereading them makes them feel insecure, inadequate,and inferior. In the words of Herbert Kohl (1994),the author of I Won’t Learn from You, students oftenengage in a “struggle of wills with authority” because“what [is] at stake for them [is] nothing less thantheir pride and integrity.” (7) Resistance to assignedreading becomes then an act of self-preservationthat is far more important than any attempt of find-ing oneself in the context of F. S. Fitzgerald’s JazzAge, for example.

And what about reading a print-based text asthe only valid text? If we embrace the new andexpanded definition of the 21st century literacy asmultiliteracy, or communication of ideas through amultitude of modes (channels), we also accept theidea that text is no longer confined to the writtenword, but includes oral, aural, performative, andvisual representations of meaning. Consequently,

our literacy pedagogy becomes redefined toinclude a variety of text forms (modes of

representation) associated with the above

expanded theory of meaning making. Insuch context, reading is no longer just about

decoding print-based text and good reading is nolonger just about reading lots of print-based texts.Reading is about decoding and constructing mean-ing with various texts such as still and animatedimages, symbols, signs, sounds, movement, as wellas numerous digital texts. And now that we haveopened our teaching door to a variety of texts, whyshould we welcome manga, a multimodal (writtenand visual) text?

Manga graphic novels can hardly be consideredeffective reading tools because there is little valuein decoding images that illustrate what the simplis-tic text already says. I think there are two issueshere that call for a closer examination: firstly, our

reading is no longer just about decodingprint-based text and good reading is no longerjust about reading lots of print-based texts.


Mar

zena

Mic

halo

wsk

a

MarzenaMichalowska is a

Later LiteracyMentor andTeacher of

English at JohnOliver Secondary

in Vancouver).


difficulty in recognizing manga as a valid semiotic domain,or area worthy of study, and secondly our own knowledgeof manga. Let’s look at the first issue. If we accept that textscome in different forms, why not then include in our teach-ing texts and literacies that our students are familiar with?This way, we can show them that their knowledge has cur-rency in our classroom and that we value what they comewith. After all, students read what they can read and whatthey like to read. If we have a chance to build on their inter-ests in order to maximize their growth, should we hesitateto do so? Also, do we not teach our students that there aredifferent roads to reach a goal? Surely, we are not intimi-dated to take the road less traveled, are we?

Speaking about intimidation. Personally, I did not partic-ularly like admitting to my students that I knew nothing aboutmanga. I skillfully avoided the subject. Appearing knowl-edgeable and having little desire to undermine myself havealways been my guiding teaching principles. And yet with allmy background in language and literature, I could nei-ther understand nor explain the manga attractionuntil one day when one of my students leftbehind his manga book. I picked it up withsuspicion and tossed it quickly into the lostand found box. I came back to it, however,being consumed by sheer curiosity. I won-dered what it was all about and what madeit so special to my student. I decided to giveit a try and read it. How much would it costme? I surprised myself. I was immediately drawninto the story, because it gave me a sense of beinga participant in it. The feeling of walking into it andbecoming a part of it was so satisfying that I finished my firstmanga that same evening. Then, like a true reader, I movedonto another and another and another. I have known allalong that one day I would cross over to the other side andbecome my students. And when that day arrived, I finallyunderstood why they were secretly reading their manga whileI was busy teaching them ‘real literature.’ The road less trav-eled has turned out to be full of pleasant surprises and dis-coveries. I am still walking it because learning new thingstakes time. However, here are some knowledge gems I havefound along my way.

Manga, the most popular type of graphic novel in NorthAmerica, as a genre sits somewhere between film and prose,creating a bridge from one to the other. A lot of manga aresmart, well written and imaginative. There is manga for everysubject because everything can be expressed in manga form.The cinematic quality of manga images shown from ratherunusual camera angels turns reading into a viewing experi-ence. Manga’s iconic characters with their simply renderedfaces can easily be filled with any emotion the reader is expe-riencing. Looking at such characters is almost like steppinginside the life of Charlie Brown and discovering the hiddenmysteries behind his simple existence. Manga characters live

in very rich environments that have been created with a lotof attention and sensibility. Real world anchors such as schooldesks, clocks on the wall, or park benches emphasize theunexpected beauty of everyday things. The backgrounds areusually delivered in fragments, and we experience them muchlike in real life, with our eyes moving around, up and down,and finally assembling the world from fragments.

Unlike our home grown comics and graphic novels thatare often filled with sound effects and characters’ chatter,manga are characterized by the presence of many silent pan-els that provide us with contemplative moments of unmedi-ated experience. Such experience, just like the characters’faces, can be filled with our own values and emotions. Aswell, the silent panels sometimes function as transitionsbetween story episodes.

Again in contrast to our North American productionsthat often present motion in a somewhat bombastic way, attimes showing characters literally breaking out of panels

in their attempts to run, fly, or jump, manga authorshave found a very different and rather subjective

and visceral way of rendering motion. In manga,

we, the readers, participate in the motion bybecoming the moving object. And because we now

are the moving object, a motorbike, for example, wecan feel the bike’s sudden stops, unexpected turns, and peri-odic vibrations. It is precisely because of such unusual rep-resentation of motion that people who read manga oftencompare it to watching a movie.

And finally what completes the manga attraction is thepresence of a diverse genre of images. While reading manga,we are likely to come across collages, free standing, or cas-cading images. Such diversity of image genre does not allowus to get bored, constantly stimulating our senses. Clearlythen, reading manga requires us to redefine what reading is;and while we are busy reworking our definition, let’s allowour students’ reading to be in service of their interests ratherthan to be a rehearsal for living. They are discovering some-thing new. Let’s not deprive them of the joys of discovery.

What have we, on the other hand, discovered about teach-ing visual literacy in a Language Arts classroom? Teaching itis not nearly as important as the teaching of print-based textliteracy. Interestingly enough, writing with pictures predateswriting with words. In some languages (Chinese) words beganas stylized pictures. Similarly, cave paintings and hieroglyphswere the earliest forms of communication. Why have we for-gotten then that there is an important calligraphic quality to


Flexing our reading muscles with manga, a modern multimodal text

manga are characterized by the presence ofmany silent panels that provide us with con-templative moments of unmediated experience



pictures? Why are we reluctant to fortify the printed wordwith a printed image? Others do not seem that hesitant.

Both the political and the corporate worlds, for example,understand the extraordinary power of images. Just imaginelooking at a picture of fallen soldiers coming home: multi-ple coffins draped in Canadian flags being carried by someclearly emotional pallbearers, grieving relatives, among themmothers holding little children in their arms, a solemn look-ing preacher whose hand is raised in a sign of a blessing.Because an image like that communicates a powerful polit-ical message to a country and its people, it is of little won-der then that our politicians may not want to expose us totoo many such visions. Similarly, imagine looking at an imageof a delicious and mouth-watering multilayer chocolate cakeadorned with opulent coral roses and emerald leaves drib-bling gracefully along its edges. Would we not want to try it?But to try it, we need to buy it; and, let us remember thatmost of what we actually end up buying is first introducedto us through visual ads that entice, inspire, and cajole us todo things that we normally might not have done. It is clearthen that pictures are an important form of communication:they convey meaningful and profound ideas and concepts;and, if we agree with that statement, we should also agree

that visual literacy should not be left off the teaching tableby being undertaught.

Will we then take up manga in addition to our classics?If we are interested in exploring the challenges of a multi-modal text, we probably will. If we are interested in over-coming our own habitus and developing our own and ourstudents’ visual literacy, we probably will as well. Let us thenexperience the joy of learning a new social practice and inthe process validate the home literacies our students cometo us with.

Bibliography

http://www.dnp.co.jp/museum/nmp/nmp_i/articles/manga/manga1.html : a website providing a comprehensive his-tory of the manga genre

http://www.koyagi.com/Libguide.html: a librarians’ guide toanime and manga

http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/manga/index.html: apublisher website advertising manga published by thelargest manga publisher in Japan, Kodansha

http://www.tokyopop.com/: a website containing reviews ofmanga

Kohl, H. I Won’t Learn from You. The New Press. 1994.


Flexing our reading muscles with manga, a modern multimodal text


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group all combine to enrich your teaching career.

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Novels Read in the Secondary Grades inOntario, 2000-2006U

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Grade Author Title Century Nationality10 George Orwell Animal Farm 20th British10 Mordecai Richler The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz 20 Canadian10 W. O. Mitchell Who Has Seen the Wind? 20 C10 John Wyndham The Chrysalids 20 B11 John Knowles A Separate Peace 20 American11 Margaret Laurence The Stone Angel 20 C11 J. D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye 20 A11 Mary Shelley Frankenstein 19th B12 Aldous Huxley Brave New World 20 B12 Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice 19 B12 Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale 20 C13 Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness 19 B13 Robertson Davies Fifth Business 20 C11 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Slaughter House Five 20 A12 George Orwell 1984 20 B11 Joy Kogawa Obasan 20 C11 Ken Kesey One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest 20 A10 Dan Keyes Flowers for Algernon (Charlie) 20 A9 Jack Schaefer Shane 20 A10 Geoffrey Trease Cue for Treason 20 B11 Ernest Buckler The Mountain and the Valley 20 C11 Maya Angelou I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 20 A9 John Steinbeck The Pearl 20 A10 Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 20 A9 Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird 20 A13 Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter 19 A9 J. R. R. Tolkein The Hobbit 20 B12 William Golding Lord of the Flies 20 B13 F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby 20 A11 Frederick Treves The Elephant Man 20 B12 Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights 19 B10 Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 20 A12 Thomas Hardy Tess of the D’Urbervilles 19 B12 John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men 20 A10 William Miller A Canticle for Leibowitz 20 A9 Agatha Christie And Then There Were None 20 B11 Charles Dickens Great Expectations 19 B8 S. E. Hinton The Outsiders 20 A9 Robert Cormier The Chocolate Wars 20 A10 Todd Strasser The Wave 20 A8 Ursula LeGuin Wizard of Earthsea 20 A8 Monica Hughes The Keeper of the Isis Light 20 A11 Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club 20 C12 Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre 19 B13 Jean Rhys The Wide Sargasso Sea 20 B12 Jane Smiley A Thousand Acres 20 A12 Ralph Ellison The Invisible Man 20 A12 Joanne Greenberg I Never Promised You a Rose Garden 20 A9 Paul Zindel The Pigman 20 A8 Madeleine L’Engle A Wrinkle in Time 20 A


Philip

V.

Allin

gham

Philip V.Allingham, Ph. D.,

AssociateProfessor, Faculty

of Education,Intermediate-

Senior English:Curriculum &

Instruction, andAffiliate Professor,

Department ofEnglish,

LakeheadUniversity,

Thunder Bay,Ontario.

cont. page 35

Shakespeare Plays Commonly Studied in Sec. Schools

Shaespeare Play Grade

Romeo and Juliet 9/10Hamlet 11/12Julius Caesar 10King Lear 12 (formerly OAC)Macbeth 11A Midsummer Night’s Dream 9/10Othello 12 (formerly OAC)The Tempest 11/12

The most commonly taught of all of these plays isMacbeth at the Grade 11 level in the University Preparationclasses.

Although Ontario’s Grade 13 or OAC (OntarioAcademic Credit) courses, including English, have disap-peared in the interim, most of the books used in the seniordivision are still in place, although Ontario’s English 12teachers are reluctantly abandoning Robertson Davies’ FifthBusiness as simply too difficult (and too long!) for seventeen-year-olds.

Discussion of the B. C. and Ontario System for Approving Novels

This list, which I began compiling in the summer of2000, probably has not changed much, except perhaps forthe addition of a few multicultural and Canadian titles,even though the process of getting a book authorized hasbeen considerably streamlined, providing that it’s not ananthology. Not entirely sure about the procedure here, Iasked a colleague who is a district literacy co-ordinator.Since I had not taught in Ontario secondary schools in overthirty years, I admitted ignorance about the how theMinistry of Education here informs schools about whichnovels and plays are “authorized” or “recommended” (touse those out-dated B. C. terms), and how schools go aboutadding to English curricula books not so listed or author-ized, including entirely new titles.

Since my two classes of I/S Curriculum and Instructionin English had been dealing with “Teaching the Novel”before going out on their November practicum, I felt I oughtto inform myself about the current state of how to go aboutgetting permission to teach a new title to an entire class.What my colleague replied, in essence, was “In spite ofprovincial differences, what I have taught in Ontarioschools (Macbeth, Lord of the Flies, etc.), I remember read-ing as a student in B.C.!” Plus c’est la meme chose. . . .

In Thunder Bay (which is not atypical of Ontario publicschool districts), the secondary schools have many similar“supplemental” texts, which may be taught at variousgrades (e. g., Romeo and Juliet is taught in both Grades 9and 11 here). Schools sometimes have class sets that theyare prepared to lend to other schools on a short-term basisif the course for which they were purchased is not being

offered. Consequently, class sets of newer titles are oftenshared—of course, a teacher in one school has to know thatthose books have been acquired by another school, and bein the good graces of the other school’s English Dept. Chairin order to have borrowing privileges. However, Updatereaders won’t be surprised to read that each secondaryschool here tends to have too many dusty copies of obso-lete texts, some class sets of adequate resources, and a classset or two of something really novel, such as an anthologyof Stephen King’s short stories.

Although they are apparently passé, probably because itwas virtually impossible to keep them up to date, I ratherliked the concept of the English 11/12 Integrated ResourcePackage (IRP) because it gave the would-be purchaser notmerely provincially-mandated learning outcomes and teach-ing ideas (scant, I concede), but also a list of more than ahundred “approved and/or recommended” texts fromwhich a teacher could choose (if he or she had the fund$):I particularly liked the list which specified publisher, suit-ability for certain grades, and a synopsis of the content.

Now, I suppose, one might well ask what the net effectof resourcing on a school-by-school basis has been in bothprovinces. Do the titles in one school’s English bookroommore or less resemble every other’s, or is there considerablevariation?

I was surprised to learn from my colleague that novelsand plays intended to supplement anthologies in OntarioEnglish courses have never been on the Trillium List or itspredecessor, Circular 14. Different boards (the Ontario termfor a school district, there usually being a Catholic board andpublic board in its district here) have different policies forapproving those texts. At the Lakehead Schools (public)Board, whether a class set of a given title is purchased is leftto the discretion of the teacher acting in consort with theEnglish Dept. Chair and the school principal. Chairs andteachers usually just order what they want, but if the title inquestion could be construed as even remotely controversial,teacher and Chair will consult the principal.

If schools wish to purchase English “textbooks” (i. e.,inclusive anthologies), the titles must be on the new TrilliumList; in fact, Ontario Ministry “textbook infusion” money canbe used to purchase only those textbooks that appear on theTrillium List. However, schools can purchase supplementalresources not on that list. Novels and plays are sometimesidentified in course profiles, highly detailed Ministry docu-ments that give model (often very academically challenging)lesson plans, and are therefore easily acquired by schools.Ideally, in both B. C. and Ontario a text should in theteacher’s estimation be a suitable vehicle for meeting provin-cially-mandated course and program expectations.

So, what has been happening in terms of the addition ofspecific titles over the past year or so? Stay tuned: I shallbe canvassing my students when they return frompracticum this week.


Novels Read in the Secondary Grades in Ontario, 2000-2006



“Look, Ma, No Boundaries!” Relationships in New Literacies Learning and TeachingU

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When our two daughters were toddlers,my husband always said that wheneverone of them yelled, “Look, Mom!Look, Dad! Look at me!” we were

bound to see something we didn’t want to see: a lit-tle girl dangling one foot off the edge of a cliff, or dis-playing a mouth full of half-chewed spaghetti andmeatballs, or the little one hoisting the older one offthe ground in a back-breaking effort. Something tomake us cringe, afraid to yell “stop that!” for fear ofdisrupting the tenuous balance they held. They weretesting their newfound strengths and freedoms, andif such testing made their “parental units” cringe,well, so much the better.

Similarly, I see young adolescents testing new-found strengths and freedoms in their lit-eracy world. The difference is that theyare not clambering to be noticed,and so we adults may lose oppor-tunities to guide them well. In thisarticle, I want to consider someways in which young people areengaging in exhilarating, precar-ious feats of literacy, unsanctionedpractices of strength and ingenuity(and questionable taste) that some-times make adults queasy, powerless,and frightened for them. What opportunitiesand perils does our literacy world offer to childrenand teachers? How can teachers encourage today’syoung people to engage in productive literacy rela-tionships in safety, looking both ways while crossingthe literacy streets? To consider these questions, Iwill highlight ways in which new literacy environ-ments blur boundaries and transform some fairly tra-ditional practices in original ways. Then I will suggestproductive ways for teachers and parents to engagein literacy relationships and practices with youngpeople. Such work is, I believe, a moral imperative,not merely a pedagogical one.

Literacy is all about relationships—it always hasbeen and always will be. When Frank Smith (1985)wrote about children’s desire to become members of“the literacy club,” he understood that people seekout relationships through literacy. The contemporaryliteracy world offers us new ways to make relation-ships, in public and in private, with friends, kindredspirits, and strangers near and far.

Literacy affords both immediacy and distance inour relationships, allowing us to enter a more expan-sive temporal frame. We can reach out to the past

and future, not only in the grand sense of authors’works lasting for generations, but in a more personalsense of ordinary people holding our moments intime. Even the most immediate and personal of lit-eracy practices—writing a diary—places us in the flowof time. We preserve diaries to re-read on a quietnight in the future and recall, perhaps with a changedperspective and clearer eyes, our self from days past.Personal notes and letters—from surreptitious notespassed in a boring chemistry class to the final draftof a life-changing love letter—are messages sent andreceived, which, if preserved, enable us to reflect ontangible evidence of our past.

Our literacy practices have always relied on tech-nology, and each generation uses the technology

available. The technology introduces somedegree of distance into relationships. Such

distance is both an attraction and a danger.Because of the technology, we open the door to

posers and masqueraders—witness Cyrano’s complicitidentity theft of Christian in pursuit of the unsuspect-ing Roxanne. Like Cyrano, we crave opportunitiesto hide our physical flaws and to reveal our true inneressence. Today, the Internet allows such revelationin anonymity. It allows us to be most clearly ourselveswhile, as one young man put it, avoiding the “essen-tializing” categories of gender and age (Tobin, 1998).

So the ability to make relationships with strangersthrough new literacy technology is not a new phe-nomenon; nor is relationship via digital technologyentirely new. In 1879, Ella Cheever Thayer publisheda novel, Wired Love, certainly a very contemporarysounding title (Collins 2002). The sub-title is Aromance of dots and dashes, and Thayer’s protago-nist develops a relationship through the dangerousnew medium of the telegraph. The novel details thedeveloping romance between two telegraph opera-tors, Clem and Nattie, in frontier towns of the Amer-ican West. The couple’s romance has several turnsthat are as new as today’s blogs: other operators lis-ten in and “flame” them, Nattie attempts to pass as

The contemporary literacy world offers usnew ways to make relationships, in publicand in private, with friends, kindred spirits,and strangers near and far.



Jill

Ked

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aM

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Jill is anAssociate

Professor in theFaculty ofEducation,

University ofAlberta.

NNoottee:: I thank mydaughters

Jessica and Elisefor patiently andenthusiasticallyenriching my

perspective ononline literacy.

a man online (but Clem “sees” through her ruse), and a flesh-and-blood impostor poses as Clem to a disappointed Nattie—another case of identity theft. Like many contemporary peoplewho form a digital relationship, Nattie and Clem are awkwardwhen they finally do meet in person, tongue-tied and uncom-fortable (Jackson, 2005). Clem moves to Nattie’s town, but sheeventually complains, “I had more of your company on thewire.” Their solution is to string telegraph wire between theirapartment buildings, and they wire each other late into thenights. As You’ve Got Mail, and other chick flicks confirm,dots-and-dashes technology has its place for would-be lovers.

Cyrano and Clem notwithstanding, new literacyenvironments do allow us to make relationshipsin some new ways, and, as always, the new-ness is part of the attraction. But certainlymany of the old verities are still in place.Young and old meet online, in chat rooms,MMORPGs (massively multiplayer onlinerole-playing games), and palaces, playingwith multiple personas and switching gen-ders at will. There are bulletin boards andchat rooms for aficionados of every possiblestripe, and support groups for every knowninterest, malady, or condition. Now, young peo-ple are not bound by the isolation of geography orfamilial and cultural restrictions; they can become membersin communities, with these potentially life-saving connections.

Blurred or disappearing boundaries

New literacy environments allow relationships with unclearor no delineation of conventional boundaries, and many tra-ditional literacy boundaries do not hold in traditional ways.Here I want to consider just two such boundary transgres-sions: the boundary between private and public, and betweenchild and adult.

The boundary between private and public is now porousalmost to the point of disappearance. Cell phones, blogs, andweb sites all have a disconcerting habit of being heard andread by other than the intended audience, or, in the turbulentadolescent years, by the audience we intend one minute butnot the next. Adolescents and adults alike are caught in dis-grace when posting highly personal thoughts on their web sitesand blogs. There is a quality of almost magical thinking withwhich bloggers assume that their blogs will only be read byauthorized readers. But as the distinction between private andpublic gets muddied, young people are also perhaps workingthis muddiness with a different sense of social acceptability.One young adult commented to me on the benefits of postingon her blog the details of her anger at a friend:

“Well, if she reads my blog, she’ll know I’m pissed at herand know why. That way, I don’t have to confront her face-to-face and have an argument, but she can stop annoying meif she wants. I think it’s a way of being considerate when I’ma little mad about something a friend has done.”

It had not previously occurred to me that complainingabout one’s friend in cyberspace could be conceived of as aconsiderate act—but then again, I’m not the target demo-graphic. And that is a key point for those of us who attemptto teach children and adolescents about relationships in thenew literacy world: young people make their own conven-tions, and adults need to inquire about their thinking beforepassing judgments.

A generation ago, a person’s diary was sacrosanct, andreading it would be an unforgivable invasion of privacy. Butblogs are not only public diaries, they are interactive as well;

readers post comments in response to the authors’ orig-inal entries. Emily Nussbaum (2004) notes the gen-

erational differences in expectations and attitudes

about private and public writings in her discus-sion of bloggers:

For many in the generation that has grown up online, thesolution is not to fight this technological loss of privacy, butto give in and embrace it….The teenagers who post journalshave (depending on your perspective) a degraded or a relaxedsense of privacy; their experiences may be personal, but there’sno shame in sharing….If teen bloggers give something up bysloughing off a self-protective layer, they get something backtoo—a new kind of intimacy, a sense that they are known andlistened to. This is their life, for anyone to read. As long as theirparents don’t find out.

One oddly fascinating interplay of private and publicaspects of literacy comes with a cross-over of old and newforms of communication. Frank Warren (2004-06) encour-ages people to write a secret—something they have never toldanyone before— on a post card and mail the card to him. Firstintended as material for an art exhibit, the collection growssteadily and Warren posts new cards online weekly. The postcards range from the silly and embarrassing to the life-con-suming and tragic. People apparently find comfort in tellingsomething intensely private but telling in a way that preservestheir anonymity. The way in which this project has grown (nowincluding a conventional print book) is a case study in theboundaries between public and private, as well as in the over-lap of old and new media.

The disappearance of the boundary between child and adultaudiences and materials is perhaps the most startling and unset-tling aspect of new literacy relationships for teachers and par-ents. Children are now able to enter, unsupervised, the best and


“Look, Ma, No Boundaries!” Relationships in New Literacies...

The disappearance of the boundary between childand adult audiences and materials is perhapsthe most startling and unsettling aspect of newliteracy relationships for teachers and parents.



worst of the adult world, with no filtering or gate-keeping. Theytravel faster than we do, often arriving at new destinationsbefore the adults in their lives even know of their existence.

The absence of such boundaries can be dangerous, as chil-dren and adolescents are susceptible to predators. Just as inthe past, when we could not be certain whom they met insidethe movie theatre, now we can’t be certain whom they meetinside the chat room. Adolescents have always tested andsavoured their power to operate independently of parentalsupervision, and now this normal adolescent desire com-bines with their typically superior technological skillto make a chilling danger that can cross from thevirtual world to the real. When the MediaAwareness Network asks parents if they knowwhat their children do online, most say thatthey do. When the Network asks children iftheir parents know what they do online, mostsay that they don’t (www.media-awareness.ca).This divide reminds us that we cannot be pres-ent—physically or digitally—everywhere our chil-dren roam. It comes down to education and trust.Moreover, when the Network asks young people howlong it takes them to determine to their satisfaction whetheran online contact is “safe” or not, young people generally indi-cate a shocking (to adult sensibility) confidence in their abil-ity to make such determinations within a few minutes of onlineacquaintance.

Relationships with new audiences

While teachers and parents readily focus on the contem-porary blurring of time-honoured boundaries, I want to returnto some of the sustaining and encouraging aspects of suchblurred boundaries with respect to making new relationshipsthrough literacy. The immense popularity of fan fiction sites,for example, attests to some of the positive potential for rela-tionships in online venues.

Not a new development, fan fiction writing became pop-ular among science fiction fans in the days of Star Trek’s tel-evision popularity. The early trekkie conventions were placeswhere fans could circulate, in costume if they wished, andexchange fan fiction. As these conventions were held in thereal world (contrary to appearances, perhaps!), aficionadosneeded money, mobility, and some independence to attend(Knobel & Lankshear, 2005). In the contemporary literacyworld, fans of any particular fiction need only an Internetconnection, and they can access an online community totrade analyses and commentary on current episodes offavourite television shows, movies, or novels. More signifi-cantly, they can post original fan fiction: their own episodes,spin-offs, or cross-overs. The distinction between amateurand professional is now “obsolete” in online publishing(www.wikipedia.org/fanfiction)

For fans of a particular fiction—in any medium—fan fictionprovides a generally supportive environment in which to read

abundant offerings of variations on the fictional characters andthemes, and, more importantly, to gain a sophisticated reader-ship for one’s own fiction. Recently, Raylene, a student in mygraduate class, took up my challenge to write fan fiction. A mid-dle-aged elementary school teacher who had not previouslyknown about fan fiction, Raylene gamely wrote a CSI (CrimeScene Investigation) episode and posted it with great trepida-tion. Several weeks later, she reported being genuinely touchedand encouraged by the feedback she had received from several

readers. They praised her writing, cited specific aspects ofthe work that they appreciated, and encouraged her

to post more episodes. The gentle critiques thataccompanied the encouragement were indeed

quite constructive, well taken, and given in a gen-erous spirit; responders offered pointers on matters

of forensic investigation that are germane to the world ofCSI. I should acknowledge here that, as Raylene’s writingteacher, I did not have the expertise to offer such in-depth point-ers about forensic matters, nor did her classmates.

For young writers, this opportunity to relate to other fansof a particular fiction provides tangible evidence of belong-ing in this community; they can be accepted and respectedfor the power of their imagination and knowledge. On fanfiction sites, young writers interact on equal footing withadults who share their passions, giving and receiving detailedpointers for their development as writers of a given genre.The lack of distinction between adult and child audiencesseems irrelevant when writers are focused on a shared appre-ciation of a particular fiction. Needless to say, it also makessuch postings a risky business, as young writers are treatedas equals and are not allowed much “slack” by other fan writ-ers. Most fan fiction sites have clear rules about positive, con-structive criticism, but there is no guarantee of gentletreatment.

Relationships in New Literacies Teaching

As I think about the ways in which new literacies environ-ments offer possibilities for young people to make relation-ships, some clear implications for teaching arise. Adultssometimes feel inadequate in newer literacy environments anduncertain about the value of such environments; some con-tinue to deny that there is much new or much of value. Butone undeniable value is that these are the environments inwhich our young people are learning about literacy, and, tosome degree, learning about relationships. Our place in thisenvironment is vital—as teachers, parents, researchers, and lit-



On fan fiction sites, young writers interacton equal footing with adults who share theirpassions



erate citizens—and our experience gives us a role in helpingyoung people navigate this terrain. So the first point aboutrelationships in new literacies teaching is that we must enterinto relationships as participants. To teach productively, ourparticipation must also involve respect, attention to security,and broad perspective.

Participation: We need to be in the thick of it with our chil-dren and our students. The old traditional-vs.-contemporarydebate is irrelevant, because contemporary literacy environ-ments include both traditional and new ways of relating, waysthat define literacy for the next generation. We can impose ourolder definitions of literacy if we choose—for the limited timethat we will continue to hold power—as demonstrated by thoseexternal assessments that drive teachers’ classroom practices.But soon enough the next generation’s definitions will takeover. It will be more productive for us all if adults have somedialogue with the next generation as they develop their ideasabout literacy practices.

A great fuss was raised with the publication of the Read-ing at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America (2004).While charting a decline in the habits of literary reading in theUS, the survey does not include engagements with online lit-erature or other kinds of reading. John Lombardi (2005) rec-ommends that teachers and professors should find out whatyoung people actually do in the online world, noting the wildvariety of material available online:

Then I go online. Here I find a complicated world filledwith the good, the bad, and the ugly. Alive and constantlychanging, engaged and engaging, requiring my constant deci-sions about what is worth reading or seeing and what is not.From the lowest pornography to tours of the treasures of theLibrary of Congress, from the stupidest blogs of the radicalfringes, to the most sophisticated discussions of the decline ofAmerica’s reading habits, everything is there.”(http://insidehighered.com/views/2005/08/23/lombardi)

We need to enter into new literacies practices with our stu-dents and our children, not only because it makes good ped-agogical sense to do so. We are morally obligated to go therewith them. The literacy world requires sophistication far sur-passing the sophistication required to develop or delineate apoem’s metaphor or to trace the foreshadowing in a novel.These are still valuable analyses and a source of great literarypleasure, but they are hardly sufficient. The very dangers thatadults see in the relationships that are forged in new literacyenvironments make it imperative for adults to engage withyoung people in these environments. Adolescence is prima-rily about the making of relationships—with close friends andwith the wider world, and it is a time when young people lookwith sharper, but still inexperienced, eyes at the adult world.

We need to consider how we enter into relationships withyoung people in these environments. It is imperative to gothere with them as fellow explorers, not as authority figures.We certainly are not experts—adolescents and even youngerchildren go faster than we do and are often more adventur-

ous, more interested in exploration for its own sake, and lessencumbered by our baggage. They travel lighter. But we cango there in dialogue, negotiating and sharing authority basedon expertise. We can draw on their superior knowledge andexperience in some aspects and contribute our superior knowl-edge and experience in others. We have greater perspectiveand experience in the real world; often, our young people havegreater knowledge of the online world. Because they are mak-ing relationships in new literacies practices while young, theytake these relationships as part of the given world; as the MediaAwareness Network notes, for young people, “The Internetjust is” (www.media-awareness.ca). Furthermore, the Networknotes that “Kids are ahead of their parents - and on their own- in their explorations of the Internet” (www.media-awareness.ca). The disjuncture between what young peoplesay and what their parents say in the Media Awareness Net-work surveys are all the evidence we need of the imperativeto make relationships with our children while they make rela-tionships online. Such relationships must be founded uponrespect.

Respect: We need to take a more collegial stance in our lit-eracy relationships with young people, negotiating authoritywith respect to their expertise. Respect is key, and we can earnit if we give it. In research involving a series of case studies ofmultiliteracies teaching and learning in classrooms, I havebeen struck in each of the case studies by one constant: whenthe teacher assumes a less authoritative stance, the studentsrespond with respect (McClay, 2006). The multiliteracies workthat the teachers established in their classrooms gave studentsmany opportunities, as one teacher noted wryly, “to torpedothe project” (McClay & Weeks, 2004). But students did nottake advantage of such opportunities; instead, they appreci-ated seeing their teachers as people who liked to learn newthings and were eager to learn with them. Paradoxically, whenthe teachers assumed the less authoritative stance of “fellowlearner,” they actually enhanced their authority and credibil-ity with their students

Security and safety: We do need to help young people toattend consciously and realistically to security and safety issues.They won’t see the same dangers that we do, but we can helpthem to be better attuned to danger in subtle forms. The incli-nation of too many adults who work with digital literacy envi-ronments with young people is to make the environments safeand unproblematic before we allow young people in, so as notto have untidy or inappropriate material barging into our class-rooms. But some attention ought to be paid to the untidy, theinappropriate, the vulgar, even (perhaps especially) the down-right fraudulent and immoral in order to teach our youth aboutthese aspects. Our warnings and lists of safe and unsafe behav-iours are not effective, as we have seen in the headlines andin the Media Awareness Network’s surveys. But our discus-sions with young people when we enter online environmentstogether can be more powerful, more effective, and more





grounded in reality.We also need to be clear in teaching young people about

the real limits of their online power. We have had examplesof hapless adolescents being arrested because of the contentof their web sites and blogs. When children and adolescentsenter the adult literacy world, they suffer adult consequences.They need to understand that their freedoms do not extend toposting hateful or libellous comments; the distinction betweenpassing a note to a friend in class and posting the same com-ment online must be clear to them. These distinctions shouldbecome discussion topics of our classrooms.

Perspective: Adults can play a useful role by helping youngpeople to see the old in the new literacies and the new in theold. Young people will decide what to preserve, and how to pre-serve it. Undoubtedly, they will do so in ways we would not, asin the case of my young friend who used the forum of her blogto complain about her friend. We old folks have the historicalperspective, but they have the future. Ultimately, their decisionsabout standards and conventions will be upheld. Some of theirconventions will seem raw or wrong to us, but many will bemuch cleverer and more useful than we would imagine.

Marc Aronson (2003) discusses the need for adults to pres-ent young people with complex portrayals of human relation-ships in books. He considers various conceptions of“brotherhood” in fiction and nonfictions’ books, arguing per-suasively for a more complex, inclusive portrayal of the humanfamily. He notes a distinction between children’s and youngadult literature, commenting that in children’s books, thereader/child is part of a family. In adolescence, however, the

challenge is for young people to become individuals and toleave their families. This challenge is difficult for adults:

“Inasmuch as we—authors, publishers, reviewers, parents,librarians, teachers—want our books for younger readers topass on our ideals and values, we feel a kind of queasinessabout YA books. After twelve years or so of trying to get kidsto listen to us through books, we have three years of trying tohelp them think for themselves. We just don’t know how toconnect those two opposite agendas” (Aronson, 2003, p.132).

Young people do not only use television and books as ref-erences for their developing sensibilities. They also use onlineresources—at their fingertips they have the full wealth andpoverty of the adult world, unfiltered through custodians ofthe public airwaves or of the publishing industry. As Aronsonnotes, we adults have a short period of time in which to influ-ence young people as they develop their sensibilities and val-ues. The very unfiltered view of the complete array of the adultworld is part of the attraction of digital new literacy. In theenvironments of new literacy, young people are not mere view-ers and readers, voyeurs of the presentations of adult life aswe select and present it for their viewing, as they are whenthey watch television and movies. Online, young people haveagency and the ability to act, to connect, to have impact.

There are no boundaries and no rehearsal period on theInternet—a web site posted is public, open to scrutiny and tocomment from strangers of varying intentions. The adults whowant to be influential in the lives of young people must engagewith them in the literate landscapes in which they travel. Wedo not have many years in which to do so.




References

Aronson, M.(2003). Beyond the Pale: New Essays for a New Era. Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature, No. 9.Lanham, Maryland, & Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.

Collins, P. (2002). NewScientist, Dec. 21/22, 2002. pp. 40-41.

Jackson, M. (2005). http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/balance/archives/121904.shtml Accessed Oct. 4, 2005.

Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2005). “New Literacies: Research and Social Practice In B. Maloch, J. V. Hoffman, D. Schallert,C. M. Fairbanks & J. Worthy (Eds.), 54th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 22-50). Oak Creek WI:National Reading Conference, Inc.

Lombardi, J. (2005). http://insidehighered.com/views/2005/08/23/lombardi Accessed Aug. 15, 2005.

McClay, J. K. (2006). Collaborating with Teachers and Students in Multiliteracies Research: “Se have camino al andar”.Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 52(3), 182-195.

McClay, J. K., & Weeks, P. (2004). Ensemble Improvisation: Chats, Mystery, and Narrative in a Multiliteracy Classroom.The International Journal Learning, 10.

Nussbaum, E. (2004). www.nytimes.com/2004/01/11/magazine/11BLOG.html?ei=1&en=36132f7693f2b. Reading atrisk: A survey of literary reading in America. (2004).). Washington DC: National Endowment for the Arts.

Smith, F. (1985). Reading Without Nonsense. New York: Teacher College Press.

Tobin, J. (1998). An American Otaku: (or, a Boy’s Virtual Life on the Net). In J. Sefton-Green (Ed.), Digital Diversions:Youth Culture in the Age of Multimedia. London: UCL Press Ltd.

Warren, F. (2004-06). www.postsecret.blogspot.com. www.media-awareness.ca. www.wikipedia.org/fanfiction.


Barry Sullivan Law CupThursday, April 19, 2007U

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On behalf of the 2007 Law Week Committee of theCanadian Bar Association, I am pleased toannounce the annual Barry Sullivan Law Cup forPublic Speaking competition. We are inviting par-

ticipation in this competition from students enrolled in Grade11 and 12 in a British Columbia high school.

Law Week commemorates the anniversary of the procla-mation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Law Cup is named in memory of Barry Sullivan. Hiscontributions to both the legal and educational professions arehonored each year through the presentation of this Cup to theprovincial winner.

The competition is sponsored by the Canadian Bar Asso-ciation (CBABC) and will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday,April 19, 2007 at the Law Courts, 800 Smithe Street Van-couver, BC. Ten students will be selected for the finals, whichwill take place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 19thIf youare interested in participating, please complete the attachedentry form and return it on or before the deadline of March15, 2007. We will contact all interested parties to confirm reg-istration.

The CBABC seeks participation from all areas of BritishColumbia. To meet budgetary guidelines and ensure propor-tionate regional representation, the Law Week Committeeof the CBA retains the right to limit the number of contest-ants. Please do not send more than one entry per school. Ifyour entry is accepted and the competitor does not appearfor the Law Cup (Public Speaking Contest), the committeereserves the right to refuse to accept future applications fromyour school. Priority will be given to early applicants becauseof the limited number of spaces.

The finalists will be judged by a panel composed of theChief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, theChief Justice of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, aProvincial Court Judge and a law professor from the Univer-sity of British Columbia Law School. The Barry Sullivan Cupwill be awarded to the winner. In addition, the winner willreceive a cash prize of $200.00, second prize $150.00, thirdand fourth prize is $100.00.

The CBABC will underwrite certain transportation costsfor students from outside the Lower Mainland. The amountof money available for this is not yet known, because itdepends on sponsorships, grants and contributions from thegovernment and the legal profession. We do encourage youto participate and also to indicate on the enclosed entry formwhether your school or other civic organization can con-tribute to the cost of transportation and accommodation (orif you or your student are able to stay with friends or rela-tives). Students from outside the Lower Mainland, if unac-companied by a parent or guardian will be chaperoned whilein Vancouver, and the overnight accommodation provided

will be by billets or at a local hotel.The attached application form must be completed and

received by the close of business on March 15, 2007. Pleasefax, email or mail the attached application form to the atten-tion of:

Alison Z.A. Campbell, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Suite 2100, 1075 Georgia Street West, Vancouver, B.C., V6E 3G2 fax: 604-632-4852 email: [email protected]

Please call me or Alison Campbell at 604-631-4852 if youhave any questions. We look forward to your involvement inthis event.

Sincerely,Frank C. Kraemer, Executive DirectorPhone: 604-687-3404 Toll Free: 1-888-687-3404Fax: 604-669-9601 Toll Free: 1-877-669-9601

RULES

1. Contestants are to choose one of the two topics and pre-pare one speech.

2. The speeches must be no longer than five minutes. A fif-teen second grace period will be allowed. Once past 5minutes, 15 seconds, contestants will be penalized 1 pointfor every 10 seconds beyond 5 minutes and fifteen sec-onds.

3. No penalties will be levied if the speeches are shorter thanfive minutes. A timekeeper will monitor each student’sspeech and will give the times to the judges when theyretire to deliberate.

4. Contestants will be judged according to the enclosedguidelines.

5. All Application Forms must be received on or beforeMarch 15, 2007.

The Committee will ensure that the judging of this eventis in accordance with these rules.

LAW WEEK 2007– PUBLIC SPEAKING

1. The theme for the National Law Week this year is “Accessto Justice”.

Topic 1: Is there or is there not an issue with the acces-sibility of justice to the average Canadian citizen? Whatdoes Access to Justice mean to you?

2. This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Char-ter of Rights and Freedoms.

Topic 2: Does the Charter of Rights and Freedoms setCanada apart from other countries in the world?


In judging this contest, the judges will have in mind the fol-lowing factors:

1. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE EFFORT AS A WHOLEIn judging the effectiveness of the effort as a whole, thefollowing factors should be considered:a. Was the speech a well-rounded, cohesive effort?b. Was the speech convincing?c. Was the speech logical and well organized?

2. THE TEXT ALONE (Thought content)In grading the text alone, the judge should have in mindthe following factors:

a. Originalityb. Soundness of reasoning and accuracy of statementc. Did the speech adhere to subject title?

3. DELIVERY ALONEIn grading the delivery alone, the judge should have inmind the following factors:a. Emphasis, voice controlb. Enunciation, pronunciationc. Sincerity, enthusiasm, poise.

4. EMOTIONAL APPEALa. Did it have emotional impact?


Barry Sullivan Law Cup - Thursday, April 19, 2007

Student’s Name: Age: Grade:Gender:

School: School Address:City: P.C:Teacher’s Name: Teacher’s Phone Number: Office: Fax: Parent or Guardian’s Name:Parent or Guardian’s Address: City P.C.Parent or Guardian’s Phone Numbers: Office: Home:Does the entrant have any medical problems? Yes ______ No

______If so please specify:

------------------------------------------ out-of-town participants only ----------------------------------- Can your school or civic organization assist with transportation costs? If so, please elaborate:

Does the entrant have a friend or relative he or she can stay with in Vancouver? Yes______No_____ If so please specify Name & Relation:Friend/Relative’s Address: Friend/Relative’s Phone Number:

Authority and Waiver of Claims

To: The Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch

From: ___________________________________For:_____________________________________Name of guardian (the Guardian) Name of entrant (the Student)

I, THE GUARDIAN, authorize the Child to attend the Barry Sullivan Law Cup, Law Day 2007 Public Speaking Event, sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch, to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia. I also authorize the representatives of the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch, to transport, accommodate, supervise, direct and chaperone, if necessary, as the case may be, the Child from the Child’s arrival in Vancouver, B.C., to the Child’s departure fromVancouver, B.C., or during the Child’s attendance at the Public Speaking Contest, as the case may be (the Direction). I hereby waive any claims and causes of action that I or the Child may have against the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch,its agents, servants, employees or representatives arising from the Child’s conduct outside the Direction of the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch, or from the acts of third parties not associated with Law Day and the Public Speaking Contest.

DATED at ________________________, the _____ day of __________, 2007.

______________________________Signature of Parent or Guardian

ENTRY FORM FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING CONTEST


BCTELA WORKSHOPSBCTELA executive members are available to come to your school to give a wide array of work-shops. The only costs your school will have to pick up are travel, accommodation, and TOC costs.Priority will be given to requests that come from outside the Lower Mainland. Contact thePresident (Dave Ellison: [email protected]). The only other stipulation is that therequest comes from a teacher who is a BCTELA member.

◆ “How to Make English 11 & 12 a Course for AllStudents”

◆ Vancouver Novel Study Units◆ Media Literacy◆ How to Make Sense of Exam Data◆ Strategies for Struggling Readers◆ Writing Ideas/Activities for Grade 11-12

(focus on argumentative & expository)◆ Public Speaking:“Language Aloud”◆ Debate◆ Drama Techniques in English◆ Global Education & Social Responsibility

through Language Arts

◆ “Replenishing the Tool Box: InstructionalStrategies”

◆ “’Novel’ Ideas: Active Strategies to TeachNovels”

◆ “Tuxedo Writing: Formal Composition”◆ Shakespeare

“Fifty Nifty Ways to Teach Shakespeare”Shakespeare through Film Study

◆ Creative Writing “In My Backyard:Writing from ChildhoodExperience”

◆ How to Run a Poetry workshop

LSAs and Regional Conference Seed MoneyBCTELA will supply up to $500. for start-up costs

subject to the approval of a written request.

For more information, contact:

BCTELA President Dave [email protected]

If you are interested in having your own regional

spring conference, BCTELA will supply up to $1000.

for seed money subject to approval of a written

request. For more information, contact:

BCTELA TreasurerJune [email protected]


Barry Sullivan Public Speaking CompetitionU

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Law Week in British Columbia is held at approx-imately the same time every year to commemoratethe anniversary of the proclamation of the Cana-dian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The BarrySullivan Law Cup is an important event in our cel-ebration of Law Week.

Barry Sullivan was a well-known lawyer in Van-couver – both as a prosecutor and as a private prac-titioner. Mr. Sullivan is said to have pioneeredBritish Columbia’s move to a more sensitive andeffective approach to dealing with the abuse of chil-dren. His contribution to the future of education inthis Province through his role on the Royal Com-mission on Education speaks for itself, as thatenquiry has become known as the Sullivan RoyalCommission. Barry Sullivan is remembered by manyas a “great lawyer and a great British Columbian”.Barry Sullivan passed away on March 21, 1989. Itis a fitting tribute to Mr. Sullivan that the Law Cupwas renamed the Barry Sullivan Law Cup in hismemory. It continues to be my deep honour to havebeen the first winner of the Barry Sullivan Law Cupin 1990. The Sullivan family is very supportive ofthe Law Cup competition, and every year there areat least 2 or 3 of Mr. Sullivan’s family members whoattend the Finals and honour the winner with thepresentation of their award.

I was first asked to sit on the Canadian Bar Asso-ciation’s Vancouver Law Week Planning Commit-tee as an articling student in 1996. At that time, thecompetition retained the same lustre that it had sixyears prior. We had so many students wanting toparticipate that schools and local jurisdictions hadto hold their own preliminary rounds just so thatthe number of students participating in the Finalswas manageable. In 1998, I moved to Calgary andinstituted a public speaking competition as part oftheir Law Day celebrations. Again, the responsefrom high school students was overwhelming.

Upon my return to the VancouverLaw Week Committee in 2005, I wasasked to head the organization of theBarry Sullivan Law Cup, the essaycompetition and the poster competi-tion. I was saddened to learn that dueto various cutbacks and economicconcerns, a great many high schoolsin British Columbia no longer offereda public speaking program. Eventhough travel and accommodation

costs are covered for out-of-town studentsthrough the generosity of the CBA, we have

found it more difficult than it should be to attractstudents to this competition. In a typical year wehave no more than 20 students participate. How-ever, this should in no way reflect on the calibre ofthe students who do participate. Every year, I amconsistently told by the judges that they have beenextremely impressed by the students that they haveheard speak at the competition.

It is important to me that the students who par-ticipate not only view this as an opportunity to prac-tice their oratorical skills, but also to meet and beexposed to a diverse cross-section of the legal pro-fession. The semi-final rounds are judged by volun-teer lawyers who are private practitioners, in housecounsel and Crown prosecutors. This year the finaljudging panel will be made up of a Professor fromthe University of British Columbia as well as thethree highest judges in the Province: the Chief Jus-tice of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, theChief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Colum-bia, and the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court ofBritish Columbia. The opportunity to speak beforesuch an elite panel is not one that is afforded to highschool students in British Columbia in any othercircumstance.

I encourage any teachers or students whohave an interest in participating in this year’scompetition to contact me directly at:

[email protected]


Alis

onC

ampb

ell

Alison Z.A.C.Campbell is anassociate in the

Fasken MartineauDuMoulin

Practice Group.

Law Cup Finalists

Speech given by Lindsay Spencer in support of theresolution:

Be it resolved that a .00 legal alcohol limit whiledriving a motor vehicle be established as the newlaw in Canada.

Good afternoon ladies and gentleman, fellow competi-tors and honourable judges. Every year at my school, thestaff invites various individuals to come and make presen-tations to the student body. Generally these presentationsare made to inform us of life’s difficulties and how to over-come them. Usually the topics are how to deal with drugs,our health, but also drinking and driving. However, while Iwas sitting and listening to the presentation being made inregard to drinking and driving, I asked myself, “Why is itthat in school and all throughout our lives, we are taughtnever to drink and drive, but our very own legal systemdoesn’t uphold this teaching?”

Quite frankly, the law is rather contradictory to thisthought, and it can be seen as dangerous when all of itsaspects are considered. Currently, the law allows an indi-vidual to operate a motor vehicle when under the influenceof 0.08% of alcohol. However, there are a number of rami-fications and consequences that are evident due to the exis-tence of this law. By having a law such as this, the public isput at risk. Additionally, by allowing an individual to drinkand operate a car under the influence of a substance, thelegal system is in essence condoning the action. As a result,the existence of this law creates a dangerous mentality.Lastly, the law is inconsistent and sets a dangerous prece-dent. Due to all of these dangers, perhaps it would be with-in the government’s best interest to advocate a law that dis-allows drinking and driving altogether. It is time to adopt apolicy of zero tolerance for drinking and driving.

We often hear of tragic instances of those who are hurtor killed in accidents as a result of a driver who was underthe influence. At this point in time, those tragic statistics areat an all time high. As a result, we can draw the conclusionthat these drivers are not only a danger to themselves, butalso the general public. Despite the fact that the law onlyallows an individual to drink a small amount of alcohol, thefact of the matter is that the small amount impairs theirjudgment. All it takes for a tragic accident to occur is for adriver not to be aware. Simply running a stop sign, or fail-ing to look to one side even when the car is fully stoppedat an intersection can cause a fatal accident. The intoxicat-ed driver and another innocent victim can be hurt ininstances such as this. Allowing an individual who isimpaired and is operating a two ton piece of machineryseems rather questionable. It is the law’s obligation to pro-tect its people, however the existence of this law contra-dicts that objective. In fact, in essence, it is putting the pub-lic at risk. The safety of both the individual and society as awhole is in jeopardy.

By having a 0.08% limit on the consumption of alcohol,the law does not only put people in danger, but it creates adangerous mentality. Despite the fact that we as teenagersare taught never to drink and drive, the law acts as a safe-ty net. We are told that we shouldn’t commit such an act,but in essence the law is there allowing the act just in case.It is inconsistent with the fundamental values of society. Itundermines our education and creates a dangerous thoughtprocess. Essentially, it is sending the message that no mat-ter what the act and despite the consequences, as long assomething is legal up to a certain point, then it is ok. Butthat mentality creates a blurred line.

By allowing an act that is legal, but only up to a certainpoint, it makes it very difficult to differentiate between whatis right and wrong, and what is safe and unsafe because thepublic has the mentality that they will always have room tomove within the law. It doesn’t allow for any consistency.The only option is to pass a law that encompasses a 0.00limit. Additionally, it sets a dangerous precedent. A lawsuch as this is flexible as it is only built upon a number thatcould be easily changed at any point in time. The line canbe and will be pushed; where will the distinction be made?

As long as laws such as this exist, people will continueto stretch them and push them as far as they can. The safe-ty of the individual and society are in danger as well as thefact that the law is inconsistent. It undermines the funda-mental values that we as a society hold dear and condonesan act that can seriously harm another. It acts as a safetynet and creates the mentality where individuals know thatthey will always be able to push the legal limits. Now is thetime to act and address the issue; now is the time to adopta policy of 0.00 alcohol consumption when operating amotor vehicle. The law is blurred and has created a danger-ous mindset and puts the public in jeopardy. Now is thetime to make that blurred line crystal clear.


Barry Sullivan Public Speaking Competition



Lindsay Spencer

Speech given by Sam Nuyens against the resolution:

Be it resolved that a .00 legal alcohol limit whiledriving a motor vehicle be established as the newlaw in Canada.

Esteemed judges, ladies, gentlemen, and fellow competitors.The resolution before us today states: Be it resolved that a

.00 legal alcohol limit while driving a motor vehicle be estab-lished as the new law in Canada.

Many of those in favor of this resolution are motivated bypersonal tragedy. I, too, have stories of friends killed or injuredin alcohol-related crashes. But this resolution would not haveprotected them. I take the negative and urge you to reject theresolution for these three reasons:

It fails to remove the dangerous drinking drivers fromour roads. It denies discretionary power to enforcement authorities.It is based on the false premise that a simple change inlaw will result in a change in behavior.

Let’s begin with the facts. The data I have found indicatesno reduction in impaired driving and its related fatalities bylowering the legal alcohol limit to .00.

Of the nearly 2,000 drivers fatally injured in car crashes in2003, 38% of those tested had been drinking.

That 38% of drivers who had been drinking can be brokendown further:

6% had BACs from 1-80mg.10% had BACs from 81-160mg.22% had BACs over 160mg.84% of them were over the legal limit of .08. 58% of those

people were double the legal limit. Let’s be clear about this: The people we need to worry

about are not under .08; the majority of them are well aboveit. And nearly 6 out of 10 of those drinking drivers were twiceover the legal limit of .08.

Secondly, the .00 law limits discretionary power to thosewho enforce the law. If a person were to have just 10 mg ofalcohol in her system, she must be prosecuted.

I want to relate an incident that happened to me just a fewweeks ago, which involved some police officers using their dis-cretionary powers.

I was at my friend’s house for a small get together. Every-one was drinking, including myself. But after my first drink, Idecided to stop. When it got late, a few people needed rideshome, but I was the only one capable of driving.

So I borrow my friend’s car, and all five of us pack in. Afterdriving along for a while, I hear the sirens, see the lights, andpull over. The officer comes up to the car and says, “Do yourealize you have a flat tire?” As a new driver, I have no ideawhat driving on a flat tire feels like; I just thought it was acrappy car.

The officer asks for my license, which I do not have, andthen asks, “Have you been drinking?”

“No, sir, I have not.” “Would you mind taking a Breathalyzer to prove that you

haven’t been drinking?”“I guess I could do that.” And I think, I am so screwed.“And what is it going to tell me?”“Mmmm, that I had one drink, three hours ago.”I walk to the police car, take the Breathalyzer, blow a .02. At this point, I think, well there goes my license. But to my

surprise, the officer says, “Young lady, I am not going to giveyou any tickets, but you and your friends are going to have totake a taxi home.” Not one ticket. I could have gotten five, oneof them for breaking the zero alcohol limit.

With all these tickets, I would have lost my license formonths. But I didn’t, because the officer understood that I haddone the responsible thing by putting myself behind the wheel,instead of one my drunken friends.

Enforcement authorities must have the power to let somethings slide. The reality is that designated drivers aren’t alwaysat .00. The reality is that a responsible driver already takes itupon herself to stop after one drink, so she is able to drive.And the reality is that accidents with drivers below .08 are notthe problem. It’s the people above or doubling the legal limitthat are the problem.

My third and final point, the .00 law is based on the falseassumption that simply changing the law will result in peoplechanging their behavior.

It’s naïve to think that drivers already well above the cur-rent .08 limit are suddenly going to stop drinking and drivingas a result of passing a .00 law.

Consider the proposed resolution in light of the fiasco ofgun registration. The Chretien Liberals passed a law requir-ing Canadians to register their guns. This was an attempt toreduce gun violence. But we all know it didn’t work. Thepeople who registered their guns weren’t likely to get intoany kind of gunfight.

Likewise, the people blowing below .08 are not the prob-lem. It’s the people above who are; so lowering the limit showsno understanding of the true problem.

To conclude, lowering the legal limit from .08 to .00 willnot get dangerous drivers off our roads. Lowering the legallimit denies the discretionary powers of judges and police.Finally, lowering the legal limit is naïve and may give us a falsesense of security. For these reasons, I urge you to reject theresolution that a .00 legal alcohol limit while driving a motorvehicle be established as a new law in Canada.


Barry Sullivan Public Speaking Competition


Sam Nuyens


I Blame Johnny WeissmullerU

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“Me Tarzan, you Jane.” These oftenmisquoted words are attributedto Johnny Weissmuller, Tarzanto those who may remember. A

prominent ad for hair colouring proclaims: “I do itfor me, myself and I.” The ad merely perpetuates(and perhaps capitalizes on) the confusion begunby the alleged Tarzan quotation, but to me both rep-resent an annoying and frequent erosion of correct,spoken English and of the use of the first personpersonal pronoun.

Well, I had to begin somewhere to find a rootcause for the epidemic of “Me and him...”, “ Me andmy Friend...”, “ Me and Mom...”, “ Me and mywife/husband...” that I hear and even read almosteverywhere and constantly. Equally dismaying isthe following: “When you have completed the forms,please turn them in to myself” or “ Myself and Ms.——- will take care of it” and any number of otherstatements erroneously using “myself” when a per-fectly good “me” or “I” would have been appropri-ate and correct. Ironically I often hear this type ofmisuse falling from the lips of supposedly educatedprofessionals.

So what gives? Was it Johnny Weissmuller’sfault? After all, everyone knows he, that is Tarzan,was raised by illiterate apes, and Edgar Rice Bur-roughs (perhaps) but Hollywood more likely gavehim what would be considered grammatically incor-rect speech patterns with which to express himselfbecause, after all, what do apes know about “ me”,“myself” and “ I”? Perhaps Jane was not a qualifiedteacher of English. And we, degreed and otherwisesuperior beings, certainly do not want to sound“ignorant”, so we use the two - yes two syllable per-sonal pronoun “myself”. Even teachers of English(who should know better!) are falling into the trapof wanting to sound “learned”. “Me” does soundrather ignorant. But is it?

The rules of basic usage of the first person per-sonal pronoun are clear. Let’s review: “I” is the sub-jective case; therefore it must be used as the subjectof the predicate in a sentence and as the predicatenominative after a linking verb as in: It is I! (I alwaysliked the snooty sound of that statement.) Thus itis correct to declare:

I am going to the movies tonight.(“I” is the subject of the predicate “am going”.)

My friend and I are going to see the movie later. (“My friend and I” is the subject of “are going”) And here’s the problem: now there is a com-

pound subject, “My friend and I”, and conversation-ally, very casually, most of our students will say “meand my friend” to which I explain that, out of polite-ness, we put the other person ahead of ourselves,and for correctness we use “I” in the subjective case.Now the poor darlings are really confused, so I say,“Stop and think. If you were going alone, whatwould you say? Answer: I am going to the movies.The fact that you are taking a friend does not negatethe fact that ‘I’ is still the subject of the predicateand therefore “I” must be used.” After this explana-tion our usual encounters consist of conversationsthat go something like this:

“Mrs. Waber, can me and Joe help in the gym?”“Pardon me?” I reply as I peer sternly over the

top of my glasses.“Oh. May Joe and me go help in the gym?”“Who?”“Joe and me.”By now giggles emerge within earshot of the

exchange. And then the penny drops. “Oh. Sorry.May Joe and I (emphasized) please go help in thegym?” “Of course you may!” After a few moreweeks the normal practice of using “ I” correctly isestablished.

There is also a time and a place for the correctuse of “me”, and often the error here is the use of“myself” instead. Back to Tarzan and not wanting tosound... well, you know. The correct use of “me” isbased on simple rules of grammar: “Me” is the objec-tive case of the first person personal pronoun. Inother words, it must be used as the direct or indirectobject of a verb and as the object of the preposition. For example:

My mother gave me a ride to work. (“me” is theindirect object of the verb “gave”)

She called me at the park. (“me” is the directobject of the verb “called”)

She spoke with me about her plans. (“me “ isthe object of the preposition “with”)

As usual the problem arises in compound con-structions, but guiding students to stop and createthe sentence mentally in the singular, then addingthe compound object usually helps.

So what about “myself”? It too is based on asimple rule of thumb, or grammatic usage. To usethe word “myself” requires the “I” in a reciprocalrelationship in the sentence. Or to put it more sim-ply: “I” comes before “myself”. For example: I hurtmyself; or I’ll do it myself. Both sentences use


Ange

laW

aber

Angela Waber isa retired teacher,currently working

as a FacultyAdvisor at UBC.


“myself” in a reciprocal structure; that is, the doer of theaction, “I”, is doing the action to the self. In addition thereis the use of “myself” for emphasis as in I myself will lookinto the situation. In other words, I am emphasizing that Iwill do this thing. Thus both the pseudo-sophisticated whoshudder at the use of “me” and the bill board have it wrong:the word “I” must precede the word “myself” in a sentence.“Myself” cannot be used as a replacement for “me” or “I”, nomatter how much we may think “me” sounds ignorant. I sug-gest misuse of “myself” in an effort to substitute two sylla-bles, a bigger word, for one so often misused and confused

does not make the speaker sound less ignorant. To my earsat least, he or she sounds more so.

So, English teachers of the world, unite! Declare your-selves as champions of the correct use of “I, me and myself”and pass both the knowledge and the attitude about the valueof both being and sounding correct on to your students. Afterall, just as they will be judged on their choice of dress whenthey walk into a job interview, so too will they be judged bytheir choice of words, and the first person personal pronoun,misused, does indeed sound ignorant, uneducated and isunworthy.


I Blame Johnny Weissmuller


THE

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DEADLINE MARCH 15, 2007FIRST PRICE $500SECOND PRIZE $300THIRD PRICE $200

Entry fee: $18. for one genre. $20. for two genres.

Every entrant receives a ONE YEARSUBSCRIPTION to The ClaremontReview, plus a chance to win one ofthe three prizes. For complete details,please visit our website.

All entries are eligible for publication inThe Claremont Review. For guidelines,samples, and more details on the con-test, please check out our website.

The Claremont ReviewThe international magazine of young adultwriters publishing writer aged 13 to 19.www.theclaremontreview.ca


A Poem for CharlotteU

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A Poem for CharlotteCharlotte can’t read or write yet.

She ca1n’t ad2d o3r subt4ract to 5

with any degree of consistency.

Charlotte is “not yet meeting expectations.”

But she ‘wrote’ another poem today.

“Diamonds are falling,”

she ‘read’ from her journal.

“It’s a miracle.”

We stopped our pencils and our

mundane Monday thoughts.

The air froze with the shiver

of her naive brilliance.

Charlotte has the soul of a poet,

and that’s the one thing

I could never teach her.


Julie

W

eath

eral

l

Julie Weatherall ison leave from

teaching gradeone, she is

working on herMasters andwriting a YA

novel. Her twosons, ages 12

and 14, keep herin line.


Websites and IMs and Blogs, Oh My! : A Response to Dr. Jill McClay’s BCTELA PresentationU

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There were so many choices of wonderful-sounding sessions to attend at the BCTELAconference, but one of my choices was a no-brainer. Dr. Jill McClay was my English Cur-

riculum and Instruction professor way back when Iwas an Education student at the University of Alberta.We’ve kept in touch over the years, and of course Iwanted to hear Jill’s current thoughts on the issuesof English and literacy. I settled into my seat withanticipation, knowing that whatever the topic, herpresentation was sure to provoke lots of thinking!

Jill began by talking about the “new literacies”of technology, including blogs, instant messaging,sharing videos online, and many other kinds of lit-eracy that go well beyond “print on paper.” One ofthe most interesting and potentiallyalarming things Jill told us was thefact that eight- to ten-year-olds arethe fastest-growing group of userson the internet. Two other state-ments struck me as related tothat piece of information: “Rela-tionship is the work of adoles-cents” (from Lev Vygotsky), and“Literacy is always about relation-ships” (Frank Smith). What we havethen is a situation where young peo-ple are seeking relationships through onlineliteracy, and as we all know, this can have positiveand/or negative ramifications.

The core of Jill’s presentation, however, was notto showcase cool new kinds of literacy, nor toinspire fear of the Internet, nor to invoke paranoiain parents and educators, but rather to ask a keyquestion: “What is the ethos of this technologicalliteracy?” In other words, a new culture is beingcreated before our eyes, and we need to know whatit’s like, and what people are doing with it. Whatare the values of this community? What is its dan-ger and its potential? How should we as a commu-nity of educators and parents respond to this newculture?

Jill gave us some examples of the ethos of theonline literacy community. Fanfiction.net is onesuch community; in it, fans of many genres writetheir own versions of their favourite book, movie,comic, game, and so on, in the style of or in thespirit of the original. Others in the community readthem and write reviews. In this way, relationshipsare created. In this particular online community,the ethos is that of good writing. There is no dis-

tinction between amateurs and professionals, youngpeople and adults; all are welcome to write, read,and review. The people who run the site encourageconstructive criticism and discourage bad writing,such as wish-fulfillment fantasy, and plot contin-uum errors.

Online literacy, Jill pointed out, tends to blurboundaries between speed and rhythm (emailmys-tery.com sends you a novel in installments), betweenpublic and private (read others’ secrets at postse-cret.blogspot.com), and between child and adult(fanfiction.net). Adults worry about these blurredboundaries, and with good reason. According toresearch done by media-awareness.ca, a non-profitorganization that develops media literacy programs,

kids can be exposed to inappropriate contentand risky situations online, including bul-

lying and sexual harassment. On the

other hand, the same survey makes it clearthat most young people have positive expe-

riences online, and they use the Internet to fos-ter existing social relationships and create new ones.How can we help keep kids’ online literacy experi-ences positive?

Jill gave us some examples that made us realizethat, regardless of the fears (and often, regardlessof the rules) of parents and educators, kids are usingthe web and joining online communities; they aresharing their writing and secrets, reading those ofothers, and creating relationships. The Internet isnot going away; in fact, access to the web is nearlyuniversal in Canada, either at home, at school, orat public libraries and Internet cafes. Children aregrowing up with computers and they are far out-pacing the adults in their lives in their use of theweb, but not necessarily in their ability to assess andthink critically about it. This is where we, the adults,come in. Jill’s final point of the session was that weneed to participate in web-based communities andliteracy and respect, not dismiss, kids’ online rela-tionships. We need to learn the conventions ofonline literacy. Young people are not going to learnabout online safety and security from us unless they

a new culture is being created before oureyes, and we need to know what it’s like,and what people are doing with it.


Joan

nePa

nas

Joanne Panas isa TeacherConsultant(Adolescent

Literacy),Richmond School

District #38.


see that we know what we’re talking about, and that we arealso part of that community.

At the end of the session, I had a lot of notes and a lot tothink about. I am already part of one online community Jillmentioned, PostSecret, which I check weekly. However, Iwas unaware of most of the other kinds oftechnological/online literacies and communities she dis-cussed. I had considered myself a competent user of the Inter-net; I know how to use search engines, I use email regularly,and have my favourite sites bookmarked. Jill’s presentationmade me realize how much more was out there, and that alot of it could be very useful in the English classroom andbeyond. But if I was so Internet savvy, and so were manyother educators, what was keeping us from using the web inthese ways? I realized that there are some practical barriersto that kind of knowledge base for many educators and par-ents. Time is a major barrier. Most of us don’t have the timeit takes to find these sites, figure out how to use them, andthen actually join in at least semi-regularly. Access to hard-ware is another barrier for teachers; how can we teach Inter-net safety when many computer labs are too small forindividual and sometimes even paired access, or have out-dated computers with very slow connections, or are simplyunavailable because other classes have priority? Finally, manyteachers might use these sites on their own time, but whenit comes to planning how to integrate Internet literacy into

the curriculum, many teachers are simply at a loss. We needsome guidance from those who understand both technologyand curriculum.

So what can we do? One possible way to deal with thebarrier of time is to connect with some interested colleagues(from anywhere—this is the Internet we’re talking about!)and share your experiences with only one or two web com-munities in a kind of jigsaw. Teachers might get around lim-ited access to computer labs by creating their own web-basedcommunity, so students can use the Internet on their owntime, at home or in the library. For example, on-line litera-ture circles could work; many school districts have their ownintranet and can set up a conference with student access.Some districts have mobile laptop labs (and technical assis-tance), which can make computer-based projects a possibil-ity for classroom teachers. Above all, teachers need trainingand support. Districts might consider giving workshops onthe basics of Internet literacy communities. Most schoolshave at least one person who is Internet-savvy; that personmay be able to get some release time to work with interestedstaff members. Regardless of our own concerns about tech-nology, teachers are working with a generation that sees com-puters as part of daily life, and that includes literacy. We needto make the effort to get “with it” so we can ensure our stu-dents and children are navigating safely and effectivelythrough this territory.


Websites and IMs and Blogs, Oh My!


UUPPDDAATTEE -- NNEEXXTT IISSSSUUEE DDEEAADDLLIINNEE

NEXT ISSUE - SPRING 2007, VOL. 49 NO. 2DEADLINE - APRIL 15TH, 2007

Update intends to continue providing you with the opportunity to write and be read. Ourreaders want to read what you have to say. Your viewpoints, lessons, opinions, thoughts,research (formal or informal) are welcomed.

We welcome a wide variety of formats from lesson and unit plans to more formal academicpapers, to poetry and fiction. Consider submitting short articles, personal reminiscences andreflections on what it means to be a teacher/learner. Share your excitement, your frustration,your insights in any format which suits your purpose, but do let us at Update hear from you.

Articles can be submitted on both on disk or e-mail. If possible, please use a Macintoshprogram. Send articles to:

LLEEYYTTOONN [email protected]

KKRRIISSTTAA [email protected]


BCTELA AGM Executive Reports for 2006U

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President’s Report submitted by Dave Ellison

I moved from the Records Coordinator position into thatof Acting President when our president at the time, DentonMuir, accepted an administrative position in Surrey at theend of the 2005 school year.

Over the course of the past sixteen months, I have donethe following on behalf of BCTELA members:

◆ attended PSA council meetings in November, February,and May during the 05/06 school year

◆ applied for emergency grants and loans to offset some ofthe losses that resulted from the cancellation of last year’sconference

◆ attended English 10 provincial exam reviews in May, July,and October 2006

◆ participated in the BCTF selection committee for Lan-guage Arts 8-12 curriculum review and Grade 6-8 novelreview

◆ provided affiliates CCTELA and NCTE with informationas requested

◆ published the President’s Newsletter in December 2005,May 2006, September 2006

◆ applied for the per capita grant in September 2006

◆ set agendas for and chaired executive meetings

I want to especially thank June James, who has both men-tored and assisted with some of the paperwork associatedwith this position.

Treasurer’s Report submitted by June James

This year, I consulted with our acting president, DaveEllison, to secure from the BCTF both an emergency loanand a grant to cover losses from the cancellation of our2005 conference. I also worked as a member of the plan-ning committee for our 2006 conference and presented aworkshop at the conference.

Conference Report submitted by Dauvery MacDonald and Nicole Widdess

This year the British Columbia Teachers of English andLanguage Arts Conference was held in Richmond, BC, atA.R. MacNeill Secondary featuring two keynote addressesand 33 speakers offering 29 workshops on topics from Lit-erature Circles to Graphic Novels. By all accounts the con-ference can be considered a success with 218 participantsfrom all areas of BC.

Karen Hume gave an inspiring address on differentiation

in the classroom Thursday evening, October 19, at our wineand cheese. This set the stage for some wonderful conversa-tions and exciting possibilities within classrooms across BC.

We were fortunate to have Carl Leggo open the Confer-ence on Friday, October 20, with his address, Reveling in theWilderness of Language: Ruminations on Poetry and Peda-gogy. Inspired and energized after listening to Carl’s ideason living and teaching creatively and imaginatively, partici-pants then attended the first of three workshops

BCTELA was thrilled to have three celebrated andrespected feature speakers, Kathleen Gregory, Dr. Jill McClay,and Jon Terpening. Kathleen spoke on assessment for learn-ing. Jill presented on engaging young people in fulfilling lit-eracy practices, and Jon opened up discussion on readingnovels. What an astounding amount of knowledge!

We were fortunate to have sponsorship from RichmondSchool District, Thomson-Nelson Publishers, and PearsonEducational. We couldn’t have managed without the sup-port of these organizations. Our diversity of speakers, excel-lent location, and rich content for the conference wasachieved through funding and “in-kind” donations from thesesponsors.

The response from teachers was positive and exciting.Many teachers noted how wonderful it was to get togetherand collaborate with one another. A community of learnerswas certainly apparent, and many participants noted theyare looking forward to our conference in 2007.

We are pleased to have had the opportunity to act asBCTELA Conference Chairs and want to thank our execu-tive for their support. Their gentle guidance was invaluable.We also want to thank the UBC and MacNeill student vol-unteers who spent a tremendous amount of time and efforthelping us.

The 2007 conference is expected to take place in Van-couver or Burnaby. We welcome Conference Co-Chair PattyHolmes to the executive. We are hoping for 250 - 275 regis-trations this coming year and look forward in sharing anothersuccessful conference with colleagues for 2007.

Update Report submitted by Krista Ediger and Leyton Schnellert

As Update Editors, Krista Ediger and Leyton Schnellert con-tinued to publish Update: the Journal of BC’s Teachers ofEnglish Language Arts during the 2005-06 school year. Wewould like to take this opportunity to thank passionate Surreyeducator Melissa O’Byrne, our co-editor in 2004-05, for hercontributions to the restructuring and shepherding of Update.We have received positive feedback regarding the internalcoherence of Update due in part to the departments introduced



in the 2004-05 school year: Teaching Ideas, Investigating OurPractice, Musings and Meandering and Check This Out.Submissions have varied in tone, purpose, style and form. Asa result Update serves as a professional, creative, pedagogicaland political forum. We continue to publish creative works,narratives, position pieces and practical strategies and activi-ties. We look forward to future submissions on varied topicsincluding:

◆ Benefits of public speaking

◆ Something from the land of differentiation

◆ Canadian Literature in High Schools

◆ Conference highlights – photos and reflections

◆ Math and Science and Literacy

◆ Report on the new IRP

◆ English 12 with a First Nations focus

Student Writing Journal Report submitted by Celia Brownrigg

Celia Brownrigg came into the position of coordinatorfor Voices Visible in February/March of 2006. The hand overfrom past coordinator Sarah Hambley went smoothly andCelia now has all the submissions for the 05/06 season cat-alogued and awaiting judging. Due to the job action of Oct2005, an edition of Voices Visible has not yet been judged orpublished for the 05/06 season. Celia is looking forward tocoordinating the judging and publishing of both the 05/06and the 06/07 contests in the coming year.

Inspired by BCTELA’s current financial situation, Celiahas also been seeking sponsorship for the student writingjournal. A letter of request has been drafted and possibleleads are being investigated.

Celia has also represented BCTELA in presentations touniversity methods classes in an effort to recruit newly cer-

tified teachers into PSA membership. A presentation madeto a class at Simon Fraser University resulted in three newmemberships on the spot, with others possibly forthcoming.

Curriculum Coordinator Reportsubmitted by Rachael Corneil

As a new member of the BCTELA executive, I continuedto familiarize myself with the content of the curriculum pack-ages created by BCTELA members to support English Lan-guage Arts teachers. The packages are used as a resourcewhen implementing activities based on the ideas, resourcelists and current research found in the English Language ArtsIRPs.

The majority of current curriculum packages contain activ-ities to support the study of individual novels, with the excep-tion of a package focused on creative writing ideas and oneon poetry. With the movement in teaching practice towardscreating differentiated learning environments, there has beendiscussion at BCTELA executive meetings around the needto expand the scope of the packages offered. By decreasingthe stipend paid for each curriculum package, we would havethe opportunity to increase the number of packages createdeach year. A motion was passed to decrease the amount tobe paid for a completed curriculum package to $400. I lookforward to continuing to expand the support materials thatwe have to offer BCTELA members.

As curriculum coordinator I also had the opportunity todiscuss the English Language Arts curriculum with a num-ber of educators and with publishers looking to create appro-priate resources. I presented at the BCTELA annualconference on the topic of improving literacy through theuse of leveled materials in Science and Social Studies class-rooms, further increasing interest in the BCTELA organiza-tion. I welcome phone calls and emails from members ofBCTELA and those interested in curriculum as a way toexpand what we are able to offer our members.


AGM Executive Reports


Write a Curriculum Package for BCTELAHave you developed an interesting unit for your English Classroom?Do you have a great idea for a unit, but haven’t had the incentive to

put it together? We’ll give you $400.00 for your approved and finishedcurriculum package. Interested? Contact Rachael Corneil, Curriculum

Coordinator, at [email protected] 604-517-5940 for more details on format and content!

3755 Yorkk Avenuee Winnipeg,, Manitobaa CANADAA

Brought to you by:

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Plenary Speakers

Alongg withh Keynotee speakers:

Fayee Brownliee Katherinee Whitecloudd Tomm Lickonaa Deann Mooneyy

!" Literacy – current issues in reading & writing, strategies for literacy improvement,engagement with literature…

!"Aboriginall Education – cultural awareness, integrating aboriginal experiences and the arts into classroom practices, current issues in aboriginal education …

!" Characterr Education – teaching social responsibility, current issues in character education, integrating core beliefs and positive values into classroom learning…

!" Inclusivee Education – best practices in differentiated instruction and differentiated assessment, current trends in inclusive education including EAL, working with students with exceptional needs,…

Forr moree information,, pleasee contact:::

Elaine Lochhead, Co-chair at [email protected] or Teresa Yestrau, Co-chair at [email protected] or visit our website at www.srsd.mb.ca

Pre-conference:: Fulll Dayy Workshopss withh Keynotee Speakerss —Octoberr 3,, 20077 Fayee Brownliee Juless && Margarett Lavalleee Characterr Educationn Partnershipp Deann Mooneyy

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Book Review: Writing with Power by Peter ElbowU

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Ibegin my review by telling you mypreference for creative and freeforms of doing things. As some-one new to the writing process, I

was looking for a “how to” book thatwould help me understand the writingprocess. After skimming many bookson writing, this was the one that spoketo me. I was delighted to find a vastarray of offerings about how to get ideasdown on paper that weren’t overly pre-scriptive. The author, Peter Elbow, offers recipesand stories that help articulate to beginning writersthe competing creative and critical thinkingprocesses occurring and offers strategies to sepa-rate them in the writing process. He gives a widerange of activities and ideas for writing anythingfrom a novel to a business correspondence.

For someone starting out in this field, the begin-ning chapters were very useful as they validated typ-ical struggles beginning writers have in getting thingsdown on paper. The author first helps articulatewhat is going on inside your head, then offers a vari-ety of strategies to help you through those chal-lenges. It’s as if Peter Elbow is sitting beside youlistening to the bubble inside your head andresponding with practical advice or anecdotes.

The value of this book is that it gave specificexamples of strategies for specific types of writing,often including questions to consider, recipes forediting, getting feedback, addressing various audi-ences, and offers a summary at the end of each

chapter. I found the exercises helpful tounderstand how to separate the creativeand critical process and how to focus ondifferent aspects of writing. For example,I found the chapter on getting ideas downon paper the most useful. Ideas such aswriting using dialog to help get away fromessay language and to get you to talk onpaper from the point of view of differentpeople can get to their speech and whothey are.

It’s a sensible and practical book that offers a“cookbook” approach, “a collection of everythingthat the author finds useful and tasty.” It’s self con-tained chapters can be read in any sequence.

The introduction to the second edition addressesprevious criticisms that Elbow’s approach is too“romantic”, with its emphasis on freewriting, but forme, the emphasis and his belief in this process arewhat make this book speak to my needs.

What surprised me was that perhaps I’m not soalone in my challenges with writing. What I didn’texpect was that writing would be such an inwardand deep journey into notions of self and identity.Elbow helps articulate this process then offers strate-gies to help address different aspects of the writingprocess.

It raised the question about implications for theteaching of writing in our schools and how we mightencourage a greater variety of writing formats whichhelp students develop a real voice, while at the sametime develop strategies for assessment.


Julia

Leon

g

Julia Leong, aVancouver

School Districtteacher, iscurrently a

Faculty Associateat Simon Fraser

University.

Set in the sub-Saharan region ofAfrica, this novel is about a six-teen year old year girl namedChanda who is not only dealing

with the complexities of being ateenager, but also coping with the silentepidemic of AIDS that has now inflictedher mother. During this difficult time,Chanda finds inner strength to stand upfor what she believes in, while also hav-ing the courage to bring AIDS out into the open inher community.

Reading this book helps us learn more about thelives of teenagers living in Africa and the harsh real-

ities of HIV/AIDS. This novel is a winnerof numerous awards as well as beingvoted one of American Library Associa-tion / YALSA Best Books for YoungAdults which is quite an accomplishmentfor a Canadian Author. Proceeds from thesale of this novel go towards helpingAfricans living with HIV/AIDS. I wouldhighly recommend this novel for middleschool or high school students as it has

timely topics of sex, prostitution, and HIV/AIDS.

Kat

hyPa

ntal

eo

Kathy Pantaleo isa Grade 6 and 7

Teacher at TalmeyElementary

School, SD #38.

Book Review: Chanda’s Secrets by Allan Stratton


Book Review: Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned by Judd WinickU

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This is a very important book – that’s a boldstatement, I realize, but it is well deserved.In Pedro and Me, author Judd Winick payshomage to the life and work of late AIDS

educator and activist Pedro Zamora by relating howthe streams of their lives come to flow into the sametorrent in a story of learning and friendship. Bothinformative and endearing, this graphic novel radi-ates with humanity.

The story is told in bite-sized portions that giveoff a seemingly non-chronological sequence, butorder does in fact take residence through theauthor’s organized pacing and his control over theinformation that completes the understanding ofeach episode. It begins by briefly introducing thereader to the atmosphere and mood; it is instantlycasual and informal – lending to its accessibility –and at the same time, the reader feels that there isa personal message of real substance wait-ing to be conveyed. Judd tells his ownstory of growing up middle-class inthe 1970s and ‘80s on LongIsland, New York. He explainshis early love of drawing andart; they are the foundations ofhis passions as a cartoonist.Highly influenced by his verycharismatic and open-mindedteacher from high school (whoone day writes “I am gay” on theblackboard to force his students toaddress important questions and to chal-lenge their existing ways of thinking), Judd sourceshis values in a deep sense of liberalism. However,when Judd – fast forward into his twenties – isaccepted to become a housemate on the reality TVshow The Real World with the likeliness that hewill be bunked with someone who is HIV-positive(Pedro), he struggles internally when he finds hehas big apprehensions with which something a self-professed “liberal weenie” should be completelyfine. This catapults us into an important themethroughout the novel: the necessity of confrontingour prejudices by being informed and aware of real-ities that are very much a part of our world.

Subsequently, Judd recounts Pedro’s upbring-ing. A Cuban refugee who flees to America whilehalf of his family is left behind, Pedro actually recallsa childhood of happiness, simplicity and beauty. InAmerica, Pedro works hard against the backdropof a family that is slowly disintegrating; his mother

does not win the battle against the cancer thatclaims her by the time Pedro is 11 years old.Immersing himself in school and social activities,his high school years bring about two revelations:Pedro is gay, and he has AIDS.

These two very different people with very differ-ent lives meet in San Francisco, at the doorstep ofa reality TV series that will last 6 months, and whathappens next is a most moving and inspirationalbiographical account of strength and friendship.Pedro and Me is a fine piece of graphic literaturewith themes that range from discrimination andsocial activism to human experience and loss.

One of the great things about this medium is thepowerful nuances made available through the com-bination of images and text, the visual and verbal(for example, sequencing and wordless images thatspeak volumes.) The art is done in black and white,

with a caricature-like touch to the realisticexpressions of the characters. There is

room for plenty of examination of both

the messages in the story as well as the sto-rytelling techniques that are employed. And at

the same time, it gives students a chance to engagein discussions about HIV and AIDS in our worldwith many of the common distortions – distortionsthat Judd himself had – laid out on the table.

The book contains profanity, but nothing that isinappropriate for readers aged 14 and up (grade 9and up); however, I would recommend this titlespecifically to senior students in grades 11 and 12for a number of reasons related to appreciation andunderstanding of the subject matter, as well as hav-ing increased accessibility since Pedro was only 17years old when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive.Students will find the reality and the gravity of thestory easy to approach, and the inspirational qual-ity of the voice won’t leave them for a long time.

Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What ILearned by Judd Winick, Henry Holt and Com-pany, 2000. ISBN 0-8050-6403-6. 187 pages.

Pedro and Me is a fine piece of graphicliterature with themes that range from dis-crimination and social activism to humanexperience and loss.


Sus

anM

a

Susan Ma workswith Christianne'sBookclubs and

she is theresident expert

on graphic novelsand manga at

VancouverKidsbooks.


Catalogue offers recommended novel titles for classroom useU

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The Ministry of Education has remindedschool districts that novels used in class-rooms must be evaluated and selectedthrough policies and procedures estab-

lished by the district and approved by the localschool board. The Ministry of Education used tocarry out these evaluation but stopped running themin 1998.

Considering the huge number of novels thatmust be evaluated, it would be far too costly for dis-tricts to do the work independently. That’s why Edu-cational Resource Acquisition Consortium (ERAC),after extensive consultation with school district edu-cation leaders in curriculum and resources, hasestablished a process for creating a provincial listof recommended novels.

ERAC is an association of BC public school dis-tricts working together on software, textbook andvideo acquisition. It is run by an Executive Com-mittee, comprised of senior school district admin-istrators. Educators from throughout the provinceparticipate on various ERAC committees.

Last summer, ERAC piloted a novel-evaluationprocess and then produced a catalogue of 141 nov-els (including 19 French novels) recommended forclassroom use. Over the December break it ran asecond evaluation session, which will be followedby another during Spring Break, adding more titles

to the catalogue.ERAC arranged for training for BC teachers to

evaluate the novels. The BC Teachers’ Federationcoordinated the identification and selection ofteacher-evaluators. Teachers read their assignednovels and then work together to evaluate them,using a rigorous ERAC evaluation process that wasadapted from the existing learning resource evalu-ation process.

The evaluation criteria focus on: intended audi-ence (including reading level), quality of the litera-ture, and social considerations. Each novel isidentified by descriptors, such as Canadian, BC oraboriginal content, curricular and instructional suit-ability and genre. Each successful evaluationincludes a recommended grade range, specific rea-sons for recommendation and identified social con-sideration for teacher selection and instructionalplanning.

To view the novel and each title’s evaluationcontent, please got to ERAC’s website,www.bcerac.ca, click on Novels in the top menubar and then click on Current Novel Catalogue inthe drop-down menu.

If you have any other questions, please contactyour district’s ERAC District Learning ResourceContact (listed on ERAC’s website) or ERAC’s BarbHyde at [email protected] or 604-713-5920.


Jenn

ifer

Gra

y-G

rant

Jennifer Gray-Grant handles

communicationsfor ERAC

Volunteer copy editors/proofreaders required for disaster relief training program

The Canadian Red Cross is revising its DisasterServices curriculum. These six courses will beused to train thousands of volunteers across the

country to provide shelter, emergency feeding, first aidand other urgent services to disaster evacuees inCanada.

The new course manuals require editing for spelling,punctuation, grammar and usage. Red Cross is recruit-ing a team of experienced copy editors/proofreaders to

ensure that the new training material is of excellentquality and readability. Volunteers should be able tocontribute 8 hours of work in April or May. Editing willbe done on the volunteer’s home computer. Files will betransferred by e-mail.

To volunteer or to request more information, contactBarry Growe, National Training and DevelopmentCoordinator, at [email protected] or (604) 325-7299.


English 12 First Peoples UpdateU

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The BC Ministry of Edu-cation, in collaborationwith the First NationsEducation Steering

Committee (FNESC) and theBCTF, is currently developing anew language arts course: Eng-lish 12 First Peoples.

English 12 First Peoples isintended to appeal to both abo-riginal and non-aboriginal students and will pres-ent authentic Aboriginal voices (i.e., historical orcontemporary texts created by or with Aboriginalpeople) and will feature various forms of text –including oral story, speech, poetry, dramatic work,dance, song, film, and prose.

It will give students opportunities to

◆ work with oral texts and develop an understand-ing of the significance of oral tradition

◆ look at connections between texts and distinc-tively Aboriginal worldviews and themes

◆ experience texts in a way that reflects pedagog-ical approaches prevalent within Aboriginal cul-tures

◆ examine texts grounded in varied Aboriginal cul-tures, including local Aboriginal perspectives

The development of English 12 First Peoplesoccurs within the context of the new English Lan-guage Arts curriculum, which recognizes the impor-tance of oral language by having ORALLANGUAGE (Speaking & Listening) as one of 3main curriculum organizers.

English 12 First Peoples will go beyond this byrequiring students to:

◆ study some specific oral texts

◆ demonstrate understanding of the role and sig-nificance of the oral tradition in Aboriginal soci-eties, with reference to specific examples

How will the English 12 First Peoples curricu-lum be the same as the English 12 curriculum?

◆ It will be equally rigorous (counts as a RequiredCourse in English at the Grade 12 level).

◆ It will include opportunities to study (& create,as appropriate) texts in a wide range of genres(novels, drama, song, speech, stories, film).

◆ It will use similar organizers, learning outcomes,and achievement indicators for the curriculum,where appropriate (i.e., adapt, NOT adopt).

How will English 12 First Peoples be differentfrom English 12?

◆ It will focus exclusively on texts that presentauthentic Aboriginal voices.

◆ Themes, images, and ideas that are common tothe experience of many Aboriginal people willbe highlighted (social context for texts).

◆ There will be even more emphasis on oral text,and students will be expected to learn about theoral tradition (social context for texts).

◆ The use and student awareness of pedagogicalapproaches prevalent within Aboriginal cultureswill be encouraged.

◆ Close connections between the classroom andlocal Aboriginal communities or organizationswill be promoted.

When will English 12 First Peoples beintroduced?

◆ May 2007 draft curriculum

◆ July 2007 pilot resource package available

◆ September 2007 pilot testing

◆ September 2008 full implementation


Dav

eEl

lison

Dave Ellisonteaches at Earl

MarriottSecondary

School in Surrey.

BCTELA wants to keep English language arts teachers “inthe loop” during the development of this exciting new course.Keep posted for lists of recommended resources and opportuni-ties to get involved with piloting units of study by checking outthe BCTELA web site (www.bctf.ca/bctela) and the First NationsEducation Steering Committee web site (www.fnesc.bc.ca).


BCTELA OPPORTUNITIESU

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Did you know that BCTELA provides funding for the fol-lowing initiatives and special projects?

Curriculum Packages

Curriculum Packs are teaching ideas created by teach-ers for teachers. Currently, BCTELA has sponsored theproduction of nearly 30 Curriculum Packages thatcontain teaching ideas for a variety of novels, playsand poetry collections that are used in the EnglishLanguage Arts curriculum.

Teachers interested in producing a Curriculum Packmay be paid $400 and should contact BCTELA’sCurriculum Coordinator, Rachel Corniel(Tel) 604-517-5946, (Fax) 604-517-5941 or by [email protected]

LSA Support

BCTELA will provide up to $500 to members who wishto start up a Local Specialist Association (LSA).

Members interested in more information about therequirements for this grant, may contact BCTELA’sPresident, Dave Ellison, email: [email protected]

Regional Conference Support

BCTELA will provide seed money for at least oneregional spring conference in a given year. Specialconsideration will be given to conferences held out-side the Lower Mainland.

Members interested in more information about con-ference support may contact BCTELA’s Treasurer, June James , (Tel) 604-588-7601 or (Fax) 604-588-7762 or email: [email protected]

Send PSA Membership Applications to B.C. Teachers’ Fed-eration, 100-550 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4P2

_____________________________________________________

BCTELA (English PSA) Membership Fees:

$35.00 for BCTF Members/ $15.00 for B.C. Education Students/ $55.64 for Non-BCTF Members

Social Insurance Number ______________________________

Mr. __ Mrs. __ Miss __ Dr. __ Ms. __

Surname _____________________________________________

Given Name(s) _______________________________________

Address ______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

City _________________________________________________

Postal code __________________________________________

Home Telephone _____________________________________

School number _______________________________________

Name and address of school/institution/business ________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________


English Language Arts 8-12 IRP Revision updateU

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As you may well be aware, the final draftof the K-7 English Language Arts learn-ing outcomes and achievement indica-tors have been posted at

www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/drafts/elak7_finaldraftlos_dec06.pdf. Over the next several editions in Updatewe hope to provide an overview of the structure ofthe ELA IRP from K-12, examine how the new ELAcurriculum aligns with research and to makeconnections between the new ELA IRP, othercontent areas, and literacy.

Over the Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 new learn-ing outcomes were developed by a working groupcomposed of educators from around the province(including myself). You may recall that the BCTF’sprotocol for committee selection had not beenadhered to. Since this time, the BCTF selected mem-bers who participated in a two-day review of draftlearning outcomes and achievement indicators onOctober 5 and 6, 2006. The input from this broad

cross-section of BC teachers then went back to anediting team composed of two members of the firstworking group and two members of the BCTFreview committee writing team.

Teachers who attended the fall 2006 BCTELAconference also had the opportunity to attend aworkshop entitled “Peek Preview of the Draft Eng-lish-Language Arts Curriculum,” which was con-ducted by Gail Hughes-Adams of the Ministry andCass Crest, a member of the original working groupwho was also a member of the committee duringBC’s last English Language Arts curriculum revi-sion (1995).

Now, the Ministry is inviting input from the pub-lic. It is crucial that teachers familiarize themselveswith this draft document and have their voicesheard. We understand that the “window” for feed-back is from March 1st to June 30th 2007. Checkout the Ministry web site and this link: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/drafts/


Leyt

on

Sch

nelle

rt

Leyton Schnellertis Co-Editor of

Update and and apart-time FacultyAssociate, Field

Programs, Facultyof Education,

SFU.

Keep your BBCCTTEELLAA membership/subscription currentso that you don’t miss out on a publication

For changes of address or PSA membership inquiries,contact EElliizzaabbeetthh LLaammbbeerrtt at [email protected] or write:

BB..CC.. TTeeaacchheerrss’’ FFeeddeerraattiioonn100 – 550 West 6th Avenue Vancouver, BC V5Z 4P2604 – 871-18481-800-663-9163 (local 1848)


Novel Title Collection ProjectU

PDAT

E


Our past Curriculum Coordinator, Donna Bennett,gathered many of these titles from teachers whoattended the fall BCTELA Conference “Far from the

Madding Crowd.” Teachers were asked to share the titles ofbooks they have added to their bookrooms since the time ofthe last Ministry of Education recommended reading list (c.1995). If you have others you would like to add, simply email

our new Curriculum Coordinator, Rachael Corneil [email protected]

In the post-recommended reading list world we live in,it is up to departments and teachers to decide which novelsthey use. So, get out there and exercise your professionalautonomy—or like they say—“use it or lose it!”

English 12

A Fine BalancePigs in HeavenSlaughterhouse FiveNo Great MischiefSuch a Long JourneyThe Jade PeonyThe Life of PiThe Things They CarriedThe Torn SkirtThe WarsWhat the Body RemembersStanley ParkPoisonwood BibleThe Englishman's BoyConcubine's ChildrenDisappearing Moon CaféThings Fall ApartCure for Death by LightningObasanThe Handmaid's TaleOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestNot Wanted on the VoyageEaters of the Dead (aka The Thir-

teenth Warrior)Kit’s LawThe Bluest EyeOryx and CrakeFugitive PiecesNative Son

English 11

Fried Green TomatoesThe Bean TreesSnow Falling on CedarsBriar RoseDifferent SeasonsThe Concubine's DaughterThe Body of Christopher CreedThe Kitchen God's WifeThe Lost GirlsTamarind MenThe Joy Luck ClubThe Laughing FalconMy Left FootMedicine RiverSwamp AngelInto the WildThe Black ShipLovely BonesGirl with a Pearl EarringGhost SoldiersThe Curious Incident of the Dog in

the Night-time

English 10

The MaestroThe Tribes of Palos VerdesLooking for AlibrandiBlaine's WayInto Thin AirWe All Fall DownThe Boy in the Burning HouseKite RunnerHouse of the ScorpionFeed

English 9

Tuesdays With MorrieThe Painted HouseStonesRules of the RoadWhirligigSpeakWithin My Reach: My Everest StoryShipwreck at the Bottom of the

World: the Shakleton AdventureFlippedI Capture the CastleThe EdgeGhost BoyThe Gospel According to LarryThe First StoneTouching Spirit BearCheeseburger Subversive

English 8

The Hobbit (it was on the list, butwhat they heck)

The Blue AvengerThe Little PrinceThe GiverWild ChildrenThere Will Be WolvesInvitation to the GameThe WreckersAccelerationCharlie WilcoxThe Shakespeare StealerDustHold Fast

This contest is open to all students takingEnglish 6 …12. Our purpose is to recognize theexcellent work being produced in Englishclassrooms. Students are invited to submit theirbest poetry and prose (fiction or non-fiction) tothe contest. Writers whose work is selected will receive

copies of the journal in which their work ispublished or honorably mentioned. BCTELA’s Student Writing Journal is nowpart of the National Council of Teachers ofEnglish Information Exchange Agreement. Thisagreement allows student writing to be quotedwholly or in part in other NCTE publications.

9. Copyright of the work reverts to the authorsafter publication of the Student WritingJournal, with the exception of those piecesrequired by the NCTE InformationExchange Agreement.

10. Teachers of writers selected for publicationand honourable mention will be notified.The list of those writers will also bepublished in .

11. Entries must be postmarked no later than

12. Mail entries to:

Student Writing Journal EditorCelia Brownrigg1636 E 2nd AveVancouver B.C. V5N 1C9E-mail inquiries: [email protected]

1. Entries must be typed … or word processed… on 81/2 x 11 paper and on one side ofthe paper only.

2. Prose entries must be double spaced andcannot be more than or sixpages in length.

3. Each entry must have a title.

4. Students may only submit two poems andone prose piece. Students who exceed thismay be disqualified.

5. A completed cover sheet must be stapled toeach entry. Please type or printinformation neatly.

6. Students must NOT put their names on their work. Only the cover sheets mayidentify authors.

7. Entries become the property of theBCTELA and will not be returned.

8. Outstanding entries will be published in theStudent Writing Journal. The BCTELAreserves the right to not award publicationshould there be no outstanding worksubmitted in a category.

BCTELAWriting Contest

CONTEST RULES:

May 1, 2007

1500 words

2006 - 2007

(Please read and follow them! The success of your entry depends on it!)

UPDATE

SAMPLE

COVER SHEET REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 2006 - 2007 CONTEST

PLEASE NOTE THE FORMAT:

--all information except for the two signatures must be typed, word processed or neatly printed . --follow the order as given below --copy the information heading as well as provide the information (i.e. type “GRADE: 9” and not just “9”)

REQUIRED INFORMATION:

Grade School name Category: (poetry or prose) School address, City & Postal Code Title School phone Your Name School fax Address, City & Postal Code English Teacher Phone Teacher signature

COPY THIS SENTENCE ONTO YOUR COVER SHEET.

My signature verifies that the work I am submitting is my own, has not been previously published and has been written after May 1, 2006

STUDENT SIGNATURE __________________________________________________________

BCTELA 200 6 - 200 7WRITING CONTEST COVER SHEET

We would prefer that this information be typed or word-processed. If this is not possible, please fill out the following form in neat, accurate printing. Do NOT leave out any information as we need to be able to contact the right person at the right time. Incomplete forms will result in your writing being disqualified from the contest.

Grade __________ Category: Poetry Prose

Title __________________________________________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________ Phone _________________________

Address ________________________________________________________________________________

City _______________________________________________ Postal Code _________________________

School Name ____________________________________________ Phone _________________________

Address ________________________________________________ Fax ___________________________

City ______________________________________________ Postal Code __________________________

English Teacher __________________________________ Teacher Email: __________________________

Teacher Signature ________________________________________________________________________

By signing on the line below, I am verifying that the work I am submitting is my own, has not been previously published, and has been written after May 1, 2006

STUDENT SIGNATURE ___________________________________________________

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BCTELA CURRICULUM PACKAGES

CURRICULUM PACKAGE SUPPORT

• the thinking in the EnglishLanguage Arts IRPs (1996)

• the literature on the resource list(1996)

• current research in EnglishLanguage Arts instruction

CURRICULUM PACKAGES CONTAIN

• a variety of pre, during and postteaching and reading strategies

• a variety of discussion, writing,reading, viewing and representingactivities

• many more ideas than any oneteacher would use with one class orone unit

• ideas created by teachers forteachers

CURRICULUM PACKAGES COST

• almost nothing! (the price includesshipping and clerical costs)

$10.00 each OR any 5 for $45.00 OR any10 for $80.00

TO ORDER YOUR CURRICULUMPACKAGE

• make cheques payable to BCTELA• photocopy this page and fill out the

order form• send your cheque and request to:

Curriculum CoordinatorShelley PorterFaculty of EducationSimon Fraser UniversityBurnaby, BC V5A 1S6Tel: 604-291-3209Fax: 604-291-3203

GRADE 7

❏ Forbidden City (Bell)❏ Hatchet (Paulsen)❏ Legions of the Eagle

(Treece)❏ Log Jam (Hughes)❏ Sea Wolves from the North❏ Who is Francis

Rain?(Buffie)

GRADE 8-10

❏ A Question of Loyalty(Greenwood)

❏ Blaine’s Way (Hughes)❏ Catherine, Called Birdy

(Cushman)❏ Children of the River

(Linda Crew)❏ Cowboys Don’t Cry

(Halvorsen)❏ Cue For Treason (Trease)❏ Dancing Carl (Paulsen)❏ Dare (Halvorsen)❏ Days of Terror (Smucker)

❏ Monsoon Country (Sudham)

❏ The Poet’s Craft (Ireland)❏ Promises to Come

(Heneghan)❏ The Singing Stone (Melling)❏ Singularity (Sleator)❏ 16 is Spelled O-U-C-H

(Weir)❏ The Third Magic (Katz)❏ The War Between the

Classes (Miklowitz)❏ Watership Down (Adams)❏ The Wave (Strasser)❏ Z for Zachariah (O’Brien)❏ Build a Paper Castle❏ Creative Writing Ideas

GRADES 11-12

❏ Hunter in the Dark(Hughes)

❏ King Lear (Shakespeare)❏ Macbeth (Shakespeare)

BCTELA Curriculum Package Order Form Name: ________________________________________________

School: _______________________________________________

District: _______________________________________________

Mailing Address: _______________________________________

Postal Code ___________________________________________

Phone Number: ________________________________________

Fax Number: __________________________________________

Quantity Of Order: _____________________________________

Amount Enclosed: _____________________________________

(DO NOT SEND CASH! – only cheques, money orders or district pur-chase orders accepted)

Checkmark the titles you wish to order


PPrrooppoossaall CCoovveerr SShheeeett

Title of Curriculum Resource Pack:___________________________________________________________

Intended Grade Level(s):___________________________________________________________________

Please include all of the following in your draft Curriculum Resource Package:

❏❏ NNootteess ttoo tthhee tteeaacchheerr

how the package can be usedphilosophy behind the package; why it was developed

❏❏ TTaabbllee ooff CCoonntteennttss

❏❏ SSuummmmaarryy ooff tthhee nnoovveell oorr uunniitt ooff ssttuuddyy aass aapppplliiccaabbllee

biography of the author and/or forward and acknowledgments

❏❏ PPrree--RReeaaddiinngg// WWrriittiinngg SSuuggggeessttiioonnss aanndd//oorr AAnnttiicciippaattiioonn GGuuiiddeess

❏❏ DDuurriinngg RReeaaddiinngg// WWrriittiinngg SSttrraatteeggiieess

❏❏ PPoosstt--RReeaaddiinngg//WWrriittiinngg AAccttiivviittiieess

extension activities (ie use of primary documents, non-fiction, other novel packages)

❏❏ RReepprroodduucciibbllee mmaasstteerrss ffoorr ssttuuddeenntt aaccttiivviittiieess..

❏❏ AAsssseessssmmeenntt aanndd EEvvaalluuaattiioonn ssuuggggeessttiioonnss oorr mmooddeellss

❏❏ BBiibblliiooggrraapphhyy aanndd CCooppyyrriigghhtt ccoonnssiiddeerraattiioonn (( uussee MMLLAA aanndd tthhee PPSSAA gguuiiddeelliinneess ))

theoretical and practical referencespermission for and recognition of activity resourcesexamples of student work

Describe the pre-, during, and post-reading/writing activities in point form, step by step instructions. Clearlyarticulate the connection between the English/Language Arts IRP and the activities.

Send the cover sheet and proposed Curriculm Resource Package to:

Curriculum Coordinator RRaacchhaaeell CCoorrnneeiill [email protected]

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BCTELA Curriculum Resource Pack

NCTE MEMBERSHIP ENROLLMENT FORM

❐ Yes,I want to join the National Council of Teachers of English

Name _________________________________________________________________________________________

Address________________________________________________________________________________________

City________________________________________________ State/Prov _________________ Zip ____________

CHOOSE ONE OPTION

❐ Regular NCTE Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$40.00Please choose a voting section and journal:

❐ Elementary Section—LanguageArts❐ Secondary Section—English Journal❐ College Section—College English OR Teaching English in the Two-Year College

(circle one)

ENHANCED NCTE MEMBERSHIP

❐ NCTE Plus Membership* (available to NCTE members only—please select membership journal above) . . . . . . . . . . . .$55.00*Includes subscription to the quarterly ideas magazine NOTES Plus, the classroom idea book IDEAS Plus, and your choice ofmembership journal subscriptions.

CONSTITUENT ORGANIZATION ADD-ON OPTIONS:

Only NCTE members are eligible to take advantage of the following membership options. (Each organization publishes its own quarterly journal.)

❐ Conference on College Composition and Communication (College Composition and Communication) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$18.00❐ Conference on English Leadership (English Leadership Quarterly) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15.00❐ Conference on English Education (English Education) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15.00

OTHER PERIODICALS:

❐ Primary Voices K-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15.00❐ Voices from the Middle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15.00❐ Teaching English in the Two-Year College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15.00❐ Research in the Teaching of English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15.00❐ Quarterly Review of Doublespeak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10.00

TOTAL (International postage: $6 for section journals, $3 for quarterlies) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .______

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

❐ Check enclosed (made payable to NCTE)❐ Charge to my VISA or MasterCard.

Card Number ____________________________________________________________________________________

Expiration Date ________________________________________ Signature __________________________________

❐ Please bill me. Signature ________________________________________________________________________



UPD

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Are you submitting an article to Update that contains samples of student work? If so, it is nec-essary to get permission from the students’ guardians. Please submit the following form (pho-tocopied as needed) completed with your article. If you have questions about this, please emailor fax an Update editor. Thank you!

B.C. TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTSAN ASSOCIATION OF THE B.C. TEACHER’S FEDERATION

The B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts sometimes prints samples of student work in itseducational journal, Update. English teachers from around the province both enjoy readingstudent work and find assignment samples useful in planning for their teaching.

BCTELA would like to have permission to publish some of your child’s work in one of theupcoming issues of Update. Please fill in this parent/guardian permission form if you wouldallow this to occur.

I, the parent/guardian of ____________________________________ give my permission to publishhis/her work in Update, the educational journal of the B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts.

Date:___________________________________________________________________________

Child’s Name: ___________________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name (please print): _____________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature:_______________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________

Telephone: _____________________________________________________________________

AFFILIATE OF THE CANADIAN COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTSAFFILIATE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

STUDENT WORK RELEASE FORM

Join CCTELA today! With your annual subscription, you get

• 2 double issues of English Quarterly

• 3 issues of the CCTELA Newsletter

Individual Membership

• In Canada and the United States: $50.00

• Affiiliate members of ATEQ, BCTELA, STELA, MATE, • NATE: $40.00

• Undergraduate students: $25.00 This rate may be used • only once: acceptable proof of student status (e.g.

• photocopy of dated student ID card or tuition fee• statement) must be included with your subscription.

• All other Countries: $60.00

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These rates include all handling and shipping charges

Please do NOT include GST

Membership Type: Personal Institutional❑❑

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Mailing Address:

City: Prov./State: Postal/Zip Code:

Your membership year begins with the deposit of your payment.

Please return this form to CCTELA at the following address:

The Canadian Council of Teachers of English Language Arts

201 Laval CrescentSaskatoon SK S7H 4K6Phone: (306) 933-6552

Fax: (306) 933-6556

Cheque or money order enclosed, payable to the CCTELA❑

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CCTELA Memberships

PSA MEMBERSHIP

Subscriptions are available to non-BCTF members or institutions. Fees include GST (R 106779291 RT0001).

41 ❑ $35.00 Art ❑ $20.0042 ❑ $35.00 Business Education ❑ $23.0044 ❑ $40.00 Counsellors ❑ $25.0045 ❑ $35.00 Immersion/Francophone ❑ $15.0046 ❑ $35.00 English Language Arts ❑ $15.0047 ❑ $35.00 Home Economics ❑ $16.0048 ❑ $35.00 Intermediate ❑ $15.0049 ❑ $40.00 Teacher-Librarians ❑ $15.0050 ❑ $40.00 Mathematics ❑ $20.0051 ❑ $30.00 Modern Languages ❑ $15.0052 ❑ $60.00 Music ❑ $36.00

53 ❑ $35.00 Learning Assistance ❑ $10.0054 ❑ $19.00 Physical Education ❑ $15.0055 ❑ $42.00 Primary ❑ $21.0057 ❑ $35.00 Science ❑ $10.0058 ❑ $30.00 Technology Ed ❑ $20.0059 ❑ $30.00 Social Studies ❑ $15.0060 ❑ $30.00 Special Ed ❑ $15.0062 ❑ $35.00 Drama ❑ $20.0063 ❑ $35.00 Gifted ❑ $18.0064 ❑ $25.00 Distributed Learning ❑ $10.0065 ❑ $35.00 Computer ❑ $15.00

BCTF MEMBER STUDENT/ RETIREE/ TOC



Print your name, address, etc., and check the appropriate association(s). Cite Visa-card details, or enclose your cheque or money order, made payable to the B.C. Teachers’ Federation. Do not mail cash. Retain a photocopy of your completed application for your records. Only BCTF members and students pursuing bachelor of education degrees in B.C. can be members of the PSAs. Only retired BCTF members can pay the retiree rate. All others must become subscribers. The membership/subscription will run for one year from the date this form is processed. The BCTF ID number and the expiry date appear on envelopes bearing PSA publications. Six weeks before the membership/subscription is due to expire, you’ll be sent a renewal form. Receipts are not issued because PSA fees are not tax deductible. If in the course of the year

CB ,revuocnaV ,eunevA ht6 tseW 055–001 ,noitaredeF ’srehcaeT .C.B :FTCB eht yfiton esaelp ,sserdda ro eman ruoy egnahc uoyV5Z 4P2, 604-871-BCTF or 1-800-663-9163, fax: 604-871-2286, www.bctf.ca.

This form is void after March 31, 2007.

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SUBSCRIBER

53 ❑ $57.25 Learning Assistance 54 ❑ $50.83 Physical Education 55 ❑ $65.00 Primary 57 ❑ $57.25 Science 58 ❑ $51.90 Technology Ed 59 ❑ $51.90 Social Studies 60 ❑ $51.90 Special Ed 62 ❑ $57.25 Drama 63 ❑ $57.25 Gifted 64 ❑ $46.55 Distributed Learning 65 ❑ $57.25 Computer

SUBSCRIBERSUBSCRIBER

41 ❑ $57.25 Art 42 ❑ $57.25 Business Education 44 ❑ $62.60 Counsellors 45 ❑ $57.25 Immersion/Francophone46 ❑ $57.25 English Language Arts47 ❑ $57.25 Home Economics 48 ❑ $57.25 Intermediate 49 ❑ $62.60 Teacher-Librarians 50 ❑ $62.60 Mathematics 51 ❑ $51.90 Modern Languages 52 ❑ $84.00 Music

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( if different from school)

66 ❑ $25.00 Environmental Ed ❑ $15.0067 ❑ $20.00 Rural ❑ $10.0068 ❑ $25.00 Peace & Global Ed ❑ $10.0069 ❑ $25.00 ESL PSA ❑ $15.0070 ❑ $30.00 Alternate Ed ❑ $15.0071 ❑ $25.00 Aboriginal Ed ❑ $15.0072 ❑ $20.00 Co-operative Learning ❑ $10.0073 ❑ $35.00 Dance ❑ $12.5074 ❑ $20.00 Adult Educators ❑ $10.0075 ❑ $30.00 Culinary Arts ❑ $16.0076 ❑ $20.00 Educators Against Racism ❑ $10.00

UPDATE — the Journal of the B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts

Notes

Notes to printer:

Use this page as filler for any trailing blank pages. (delete this text)

UPDATEthe Journal of the B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts

of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation

Volume 49, Number 1, 2007

www.bctf.ca/BCTELA

A second shot of thoughtful literacy instruction: Supporting struggling adolescent readers

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Transcript of A second shot of thoughtful literacy instruction: Supporting struggling adolescent readers