Auld Lang Syne–An Old Friend Not Forgotten

January 1, 2013January 1, 2013 Catherine Flynn7 Comments

I graduated from high school in 1978. This was the era of that old perfume commercial with the song: “I can bring home the bacon; fry it up in a pan.” When I arrived on the Orono campus of the University of Maine in September of that year, this was the very hazy vision I had of my future. And that is, for the most part, how it’s turned out. The route certainly hasn’t been direct, but 35 years later, here I am with my family and career.

That hazy vision of the future led me to the first friend I made at UMO (as we called it then). My favorite posters had made the journey from Connecticut with me, but any way to secure these to the walls had not. Fortunately, the girl across the hall had a little kit full of thumbtacks, nails, and other odds and ends. By another stroke of good fortune, she was kind, friendly, and generous, and shared her thumbtacks with me.

Over the next two years, we shared much more, and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding. When my first son was born, she was one of the first people I called. And despite the distance between Maine and Connecticut, her career-track life vs. my detour at home with my kids, and the fact that telephones and snail mail were the only means of communication, we stayed close for the next ten years or so.

I last saw my friend in 1990 or 1991, when I met her in Boston for a Monet exhibit. Nothing in that visit led me to believe it would be our last. Even though our lives were very different, we spent the afternoon talking about our lives, and laughing at memories of our younger selves. We said goodbye as if we’d see each other again in a year or so, but would be in touch by phone or letter long before that.

And then, before, I knew it, more than a year had passed since I heard from her. My Christmas card was returned, the forwarding order expired. I called a mutual friend to see if she had a current address. She hadn’t had any recent contact either. I even tried locating her parents, but it seemed they had moved also.

More years passed with no word to anyone she had known at UMO. By now, the internet was ubiquitous, but somehow it never occurred to me to search for her. After 9/11, I scanned the New York Times daily for her name. Boston had been the last place I knew she lived, after all. Thankfully, her name wasn’t there, but it was as if she had vanished into thin air.

When my high school class was organizing our 25th reunion, I volunteered to locate addresses. As I sat at my computer one afternoon, it occurred to me to try and find my long-lost friend. Suddenly, there she was. A Very Important Person at a Very Important Company. There was even a picture! I was overjoyed. I wanted to phone her immediately. Because it was Sunday, I didn’t, but I did write her a letter and sent it to her work address. I didn’t expect a response immediately, but I did think she would respond. Months went by. I even asked my cousin, who also works at a Very Important Company, if I’d breached some rule of etiquette. She didn’t think I had.

Friends come in and out of our lives every day. I know this. But somehow, my loss of this friend seems more personal. I’ve always had a nagging suspicion that my choice to stay home when my children were little or to be a teacher were unworthy, that I wasn’t good enough for her glamorous life. These thoughts come from my own insecurities and are completely unfair to her, but there they are.

I often I think of my friend at this time of year. Because any and all information is available every minute of they day, sometimes I Google her for the heck of it. She’s still at the same company, where she’s now an even more Important Person. But I haven’t tried to contact her again. Nor will I. I have my memories of the many happy times we spent together, and those are enough.

Poetry Friday: Turn Again to Life

December 21, 2012December 21, 2012 Catherine Flynn3 Comments

Turn Again to Life

If I should die and leave you here awhile,

Be not like others, sore undone, who keep

Long vigils by the silent dust, and weep.

For my sake – turn again to life and smile,

Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do

Something to comfort other hearts than thine.

Complete those dear unfinished tasks of mine

And I, perchance, may therein comfort you.

Mary Lee Hope

I first heard this poem when Lady Sarah McCorquodale read it at the funeral of her sister, Princess Diana. It touched me deeply, as a beloved aunt of mine was battling cervical cancer at the time. This poem was a great comfort to me when she ultimately lost her fight.

The past week has been beyond comprehension here in western Connecticut. Newtown is a neighbor, a friendly, welcoming town where I sometimes shop. As a teacher, this tragedy has the added anguish of knowing that my colleagues died defending their students. As a parent, I cannot fathom the despair the families are feeling right now, as they try to deal with their grief and loss.

Our country did a lot of soul-searching over the past week. Going about our daily lives seemed impossible. And yet we have gone on. Here at school, it is the children who make this possible. Each day, more than ever, I look forward to being with my students.

We owe it to the dedicated educators who died to take up their “dear unfinished tasks.” We must do everything in our power to create a world filled with love and joy; a world where all children can grow and flourish into the fullness of themselves.

Thanks to Heidi at my juicy little universe for hosting today’s roundup.

Poetry Friday: Something Told the Wild Geese

November 2, 2012November 2, 2012 Catherine Flynn11 Comments

As I was walking my dog this morning (thanks to another no-power day at school), a flock of geese flew overhead. “Something told the wild geese…” came to mind immediately. It is a typical November morning here in western CT: low, gray clouds, a light, chilly breeze and trees that are mostly bare. So even though the weather isn’t exactly like that in the poem, it still seems like a perfect poem to share today.

Something Told the Wild Geese

by Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese

It was time to go,

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered “snow.”

Leaves were green and stirring,

Berries, luster-glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

Something cautioned “frost.”

All the sagging orchards

Steamed with amber spice,

But each wild breast stiffened

At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese

It was time to fly,

Summer sun was on their wings,

Winter in their cry.

Although I’ve never “taught” this poem, I’ve had a poster of it hanging in my classroom many times. Today, rereading it with the CCSS in mind, this poem seems tailor-made for the second grade Reading Literature standard: “Describe how words and phrases (e.g. regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.” The repetition of the word “something” adds an element of mystery. What is this force that’s urging these geese away from the golden fields and summer sun? Vivid verbs personify the inescapable coming of winter in a way students will easily relate to at this time of year. (At least here in the northeast.)

I would begin a discussion by asking simply, “What’s going on in this poem?” As Calkins, et.al point out in Pathways to the Common Core (Heinemann, 2012), “…the absolute first order of business (Reading Literature Standard one) is that students need to be able to grasp what a text actually says and suggests.” (p. 39) Letting the students gather the details that point to autumn is excellent practice in inferring. I’d also ask the kids what questions they have, and hopefully they’ll wonder about “sagging orchards.” If not, pointing to this line and asking “What would make the orchards sag?” will get them thinking about trees heavy with fruit.

This poem also offers wonderful opportunities for vocabulary learning. The demands aren’t heavy, but “luster-glossed” and “amber spice” are marvelous phrases and are perfect for discussions of word choice. (Language Standard four and five)

A Google search turned up at least two different musical versions of “Something Told the Wild Geese” and many performances of the Sherri Porterfield tune. I prefer this clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sRIYcTNMhg sung by a group of very talented fifth graders. Repetition of “winter” at the end of the song offers a chance to discuss why the musician made the decision to emphasize that word.

I’m anxious now to share this poem with our second graders next week. I have some other ideas about how to follow up the discussion of the poem and song, but want to try them out with the kids first. I’ll share the results of our work next week.

For those of you who were affected by Sandy, I hope you’re lives are getting back to normal.

Growing Minds

October 29, 2012 Catherine Flynn2 Comments

Wallace Stegner once wrote that “Minds grow by contact with other minds. The bigger the better, as clouds grow toward thunder by rubbing together.” My mind grew by leaps and bounds at the 83rd Saturday Reunion of Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project on Saturday, thanks to Tony Wagner, Mary Ehrenworth, Lucy Calkins, Chris Lehman, Audra Robb and Jack Gantos. Their passion about education in general, and the potential of the CCSS in particular, was truly inspiring.

At the end of the day, I made a bee line for Bank St. Books, where I purchased Oh Rats! The Story of Rats and People, by Albert Marrin (2006). Mary Ehrenworth had read a passage from this during her session on teaching nonfiction skills and my interest was piqued. Did you know that an adult rat can bite down with a force of 7,000 pounds per square inch? Neither did I! Marrin’s book is filled with other amazing facts about this most-detested of mammals.

As I finished reading the text this morning, I had many thoughts about how to incorporate this book and all I had learned on Saturday into a unit for our 5th graders. Ehrenworth had stressed the importance of teaching kids how to note these details and then use them to support big ideas, of leading students to see not just a collection of interesting facts, but rather figuring out “what is this adding up to that really matters?” This is definitely a challenge for many students. I also wanted to revisit “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” which is of course mentioned by Marrin. So I headed to my bookcase and pulled this off the shelf:

My well worn (and puppy-chewed) copy of The World’s Best Fairy Tales

My grandmother gave this book (a Reader’s Digest Anthology) to me in 1968 and I have hauled it with me everywhere ever since. “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” was the first selection in the book. While reading, my thoughts flew to CCSS Reading Literature standard 4: “Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone” and the Language standards addressing vocabulary acquisition and use. The language of the version included in my anthology, attributed to Charles Marelles, Andrew Lang Collection, is rich and descriptive. The piper himself is “a tall, gawky fellow, dry and bronzed, with a crooked nose, a long rattail mustache, two great yellow piercing and mocking eyes under a large felt hat set off by a scarlet cock’s feather.” Isn’t that fabulous?

I’m not sure how this will all come together, but I do know that by sharing my thinking about Ehrenworth’s ideas with the 5th grade teachers, we’ll have the beginnings of a unit that will be purposeful and engaging; one that will grow the minds of our students.

12 for 12–A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

August 12, 2012August 12, 2012 Catherine Flynn8 Comments

Last week was filled with family, friends, and, dare I say it, work. So instead of 10 picture books, here are 12 of my favorites.

Picture books have been at the heart of my teaching for the past 17 years. Wordless picture books are particular favorites and I love teaching with them. They are perfect for improving students’ comprehension, writing, and visual literacy skills.

Wordless picture books can be used to support comprehension strategies in all readers, but can be especially useful with young readers as well as older struggling readers. Removing the challenge of decoding allows students to focus all their attention on understanding. They are a perfect scaffold, as they give students an opportunity to understand how to use a strategy to make meaning, then learn how to apply that strategy with print. Wordless picture books can also be used to address CCSS Anchor Standard 7: “Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.”

Not only do wordless picture books support comprehension development, they offer numerous writing possibilities. Narrative structure, dialogue, and use of details are just a few of the many writing skills that can be addressed through wordless picture books. The humor in many of these titles make them especially appealing to reluctant writers.

Some author/illustrators stand out in the wordless picture book genre. David Wiesner is my favorite, and most teachers are probably familiar with his work.

Tuesday, the 1991 Caldecott Medal winner, is a classic. Students love the humor this book, as well as the mystery of the airborne lily pads.

Flotsam, which won the 2007 Caldecott Medal, is a bit more mysterious and is better suited for older readers. They enjoy puzzling over the lush illustrations and discovering the endless creativity of David Wiesner’s imagination.

Emily Arnold McCully’s Picnic and First Snow (other titles featuring this family are School and New Baby) are well suited to the youngest readers. Featuring an endearing family of mice, these books chronicle their adventures through the eyes of the youngest sister. Identifiable by her pink hat or stuffed mouse, Kindergarten and first graders will identify with her immediately. Brief text was added in 2003, and although I have not used these versions with students, I prefer the wordless versions. These can sometimes be found at Powell’s, Better World Books or Alibris.

Be sure to read Pancakes for Breakfast, by Tomi dePaola, early in the day before everyone gets hungry. Or better yet, share the story, then make pancakes! The clear sequence in this book make it a perfect choice for writing an interactive how-to book.

Jerry Pinkney’s The Lion and the Mouse, winner of the 2010 Caldecott Medal, is a lush retelling of a timeless tale.

Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day. Dogs as babysitters are not new to children’s lit, but Carl is one of the most mischievous and lovable.

Mercer Mayer’s A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog is filled with the kind of adventures I loved as a kid. Perfectly sized for little hands, this book is the first in a series of the characters’ continuing escapades.

Sidewalk Circus by Paul Fleishman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes is a very clever look at how, with a little imagination, everyday scenes can evoke completely different situations.

Good Night, Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann is a mostly wordless gem. Students find great delight on being “in”on the fact that the animals are climbing out of their cages as soon as the zookeeper says goodnight. It just occurred to me that this may be a good text to introduce dramatic irony to older students. Again, those visuals provide lots of support!

Deep in the Forest, by Brinton Turkle, is a clever variation on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Teachers could easily pair this with a favorite version of Goldilocks to work on Anchor Standard 9 of the CCSS (Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.)

A Ball for Daisy, by Chris Raschka is this year’s Caldecott Medal winner. Again, students will easily identify with this story of a dog and her ball. Daisy’s expressions are filled with emotion, making these illustrations perfect for introducing inferring.

This is in no way a complete list, just my favorites. I’d love to hear about yours!

Write, Write, Write!

August 1, 2012August 1, 2012 Catherine Flynn4 Comments

It’s often been difficult for me to just write for the sake of writing. I’ve always thought I needed some larger purpose, like turning images from my morning walks into poems. Or scenarios that pop into my head while observing other people becoming short stories. I’m embarrassed to admit that it’s only recently that I’ve come to understand that all this writing is valuable, whether it eventually turns into something larger or not.

These thoughts were validated recently thanks to several posts from Kate Messner’s Teachers Write! Summer Camp. Last week, Kate shared her secret that “Not everything you write has to grow up to be something else.” (Read the whole post here.) Today, guest author Amy Ludwig VanDerwater strikes a similar note in her post Hummingbirds on a Wednesday. Her point is to step away and let your mind wander. Trust it to find what you’re looking for.

Both of these ideas have implications for the classroom. Students need to have time to write about their thoughts and ideas, not necessarily to turn them into a published piece, but to practice composing, organizing and clarifying their thinking. As teachers, we must ensure that our students are given this time. Jan Burkins & Kim Yaris have devoted several excellent posts to this very topic on their blog recently. They conclude that the CCSS does provide room for this time for in Anchor standards 4 and 10. Unfortunately, as they point out, these standards aren’t expectations until third or fourth grade. I agree whole-heartedly with their conclusion that this is a mistake, and that students in K-2 are completely capable of meeting this standards. Indeed, if we don’t give our youngest students time to develop as writers, it will be that much more difficult to develop these habits when they’re 8 or 9 years old.

I’ve read many excellent books on writing and the teaching of writing. Most of them are pretty adamant that the only way to become a better writer is to write. I even had this poster up in my classroom when I first started teaching:

However, it wasn’t until I actually started writing on a regular basis that I understood the truth in this. A truth that Leo Leoni’s Frederick (Knopf, 1967) captures perfectly. The other mice scoff at Frederick when he tells them that he is working when he gathers “sun rays for the cold dark winter days” and as he gathers colors, “for winter is gray.” But it is Frederick’s words, his poem of the “Four little field mice who live in the sky. Four little field mice…like you and I,” that save the mice from their bleak and gloomy winter.

Go and gather images and colors and words. Give your students, not matter how young or old, time to write their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams. We’ll all be richer for it.

Lava Falls

July 29, 2012July 29, 2012 Catherine Flynn8 Comments

How did it get to be the last weekend in July? I’ve been whittling away at my to do list, but haven’t devoted the time I’d hoped to writing and participating in Kate Messner’s Teachers Write! Camp. I have been reading her blog every day, though. This post, Tuesday Quick Write really resonated with me. I’d been thinking about this very idea; that it’s okay to write something for the sake of writing it. So I took Kate’s advice and wrote a campfire story. Here it is:

Lava Falls

Hands down, the best vacation my family and I ever had was our trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Everyone has seen the postcard-perfect views of the canyon from the south rim, the river a tiny green and brown ribbon snaking its way around the canyon walls far below. But in reality, the Colorado is a mighty river. Rapids formed by boulders as big as houses dot the 277 mile length of the river through the canyon. My husband and I have been kayaking and rafting down rivers since we were teenagers, and my children have been around rivers since they were born, so everyone was really excited as we got into our rafts and kayaks one hot August morning. The water was cold, about 45 degrees, but we didn’t mind. It was a fabulous trip. Rapids were scouted and run successfully. Hikes through side canyons brought us to clear, cool streams where we could splash and swim. Everything was perfect. Until we got to Lava. Lava Falls is the biggest, baddest rapid in the canyon, and we were appropriately humbled by it.

As we had with most of the other larger rapids, we pulled into an eddy and went ashore to scout the rapid. Because I was in a raft, I wasn’t concerned with the technical aspects of scouting; I just gaped at the roiling water in front of me. But our guide had done a fine job throughout the trip, so I really wasn’t too worried about his ability to navigate safely through Lava.

We piled back onto the raft. As I settled myself into my spot near the back, I cinched my life jacket and made sure there was something nearby to hold onto, just in case.

When you’re heading into a rapid, there’s an almost imperceptible pause at the top, just before the current sweeps your boat into the froth of water that is created when the river narrows or drops quickly. At that moment, you can see the foaming whitewater about to swallow you, but there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

Our raft plunged ahead. People at the front of the raft whopped and hollered as the water hit them. Then, walls of water poured over me as we went down. And down, and down. I remember thinking that I didn’t expect to drop for so long, or to be covered by so much water. It seemed as if the bottom of the raft had completely fallen away. Then, all at once, we were out from under the foam, back in the sunshine. But something was wrong. “Karen’s out! River left!” someone was shouting. I saw Karen, a tiny blur in the rushing water, struggling to keep her head above the waves. We managed to pull her back into the raft only after she swam most of the rapid.

Then I noticed we seemed to be drifting, just floating along the smaller waves at the bottom of the rapid. The engine wasn’t working! There was nothing for me to do but pray at that point. Panic has no place in this kind of situation. Somehow, the guide maneuvered the raft safely to shore.

We were all pretty shaken up as we stumbled onto land to figure out what happened and assess the damage. Apparently, our guide had changed course at the last second and had taken us through the worst part of the rapid. When I was thinking, “We’ve been going down for a long time,” the raft was actually bent in half, like a taco. When we came out of the hole, Karen, who was sitting at the back of the raft, popped out like someone being shot out of a cannon. The engine hit a rock so hard it bent the propeller. It couldn’t be fixed, but we had a spare. Fortunately, Karen’s injuries were minor. She had a broken finger and had several scrapes and bruises on her legs. Our guide injured his arm when he sailed through the air, hanging onto the engine control for dear life.

Ten years later, we took another rafting trip down the Colorado River. When we got to Lava Falls, I said to our guide, “Please get us through here safely.” He was puzzled by my concern. When I told him about my past experience with Lava, he replied, “You were on that raft!?”

We had become the stuff of legend!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

July 2, 2012July 2, 2012 Catherine Flynn3 Comments

I’ve been on the road with my family for the past few days, and doing most of the driving, so I haven’t had a lot of time to read. This has been very frustrating because I’m engrossed with Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein. I’m about halfway through this amazing tale of two young women in England during World War II and their adventures as members of the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force). I love Wein’s writing. It’s smart, witty, and full of images like this one: “Then the unbelievable bright loveliness of the English Channel, a shimmering, infinite lame cloth of silver and blue.” Amazing!

On a professional note, somewhere on my desk at home is Pathways to the Common Core, by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman. Again, I’m only about halfway through, but what I’ve read so far has been very helpful in clarifying some of the murkier language of the CCSS. More on my thoughts about that after I get home.

Time to Stop and…Sniff?

June 12, 2012 Catherine Flynn3 Comments

It occurred to me recently as I was urging my dog on for a brisk, calorie-burning walk that she had no desire to burn any calories. Her purpose, utterly opposed to mine, was to meander along in a general forward direction, stopping whenever she felt like it to examine and savor a scent left behind by some creature. As I had this thought, I also realized that if I continued to pull her along, I would spoil a glorious morning by rushing through it. So I let Lucy wander along and sniff, pausing while she was rooting around in a particularly delectable odor. During these breaks in the action, so to speak, I began to think that what she was doing was exactly what I want my students to do: become so thoroughly engaged in the text that they lose sight of everything around them, that they focus on one word, one well-turned phrase, and examine it closely, as if peering through a kaleidoscope; turning it this way and that, looking for shifts in perspective and meaning.

Unfortunately, I often feel the same frustration in the classroom that I felt at the start of our walk. “Come on, we’ve got a lot to do, much to learn, let’s pick up the pace.” I’m embarrassed to think how many times I’ve said such things to my students. However, I’ve learned that this approach is just as counterproductive with students as it is with dogs.

So what to do?

The best solution, I think, is to strike a balance. Reading workshop provides the framework for exactly this kind of balance. Quick-paced mini-lessons to introduce or review strategies and skills that are followed by lots of time to practice. In order for this to work, I have to lay the groundwork and establish routines that provide the flexibility to keep a lively pace when appropriate and slow down when necessary. Without this structure, we would accomplish little. Like Lucy without her leash, we’d be off in a field, running around in circles, getting caught in brambles, or worse.

I want all of my students to approach reading with the same joy Lucy brings to our walks. By being part of a reading workshop, they will have an opportunity to develop the skills and vocabulary they’ll need when they encounter complex texts on their own. They’ll be able to read widely about topics that interest them. Most importantly, they’ll know when to stop and bask in the sunshine of a glorious spring morning.

Life’s Soundtrack

June 6, 2012 Catherine Flynn3 Comments

Today’s assignment at Teachers Write! was to write for two minutes describing a very specific place. I thought about a number of places I might want to write about, but got busy with my day without making a decision. (Or writing anything, for that matter!) Then, on my way home, I heard a story on NPR that gave me my writing topic for today.

I love NPR’s quirky stories that bring tears to your eyes. This afternoon, I listened to “Remembering Mom and Dad’s Record Collection” as Mike Huckabee talked about how much his mother loved Glenn Miller. His comments got me thinking about the soundtrack of my childhood. We had a small portable record player on a metal stand in the dining room. My parents had different tastes in music, but there was no question that they both loved it. My mother was a Glenn Miller fan, too, and she played his records when she cooked and cleaned. She listened to other big bands and singers from the forties, but Glenn was definitely her favorite. She also loved soundtracks, especially “The Sound of Music.” My father, on the other hand, was a country and western fan.

So did any of these tunes have a lasting impact on my life? Absolutely. I still love harmonies and ballads. When I first heard She & Him (on NPR, of course!), tears came to my eyes. Their retro sound automatically brought me back to that sun-drenched dining room of the 60s, listening to that little blue record player. I don’t think I could ever choose just one song as my favorite or one that had a huge influence on my life. But, of all the songs my parents shared with me, and that I shared with my children, there is one that sums up my wish for them as they make their way in the world.