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    Karen Gallas

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    Gallas, Karen (1994) the Languages of Learning.

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    Karen Gallas

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    Download as pdf
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    Gallas, Karen (1994) The Languages of Learning.

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    Sebastian Muñoz
    Karen Gallas

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Coo, Near 3 f THE-—-—- ‘Languages —= OF —_—— Learning HOW CHILDREN TALK, WRITE, DANCE, DRAW, AND SING THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD sUILLIPOT ‘yo sosensuey oul esa TNs Karem Callas ® 3 LANGUAGE AND LITERACY Senies Dorothy 8. Strickland and Celia Genishi SEES EDETORS ‘The Complete Theory oPrcie Handbook of Adult ray “Caco Design nd Teaching Approsches, Rem Safe Mtn, Bree Cri, Bo Hoa Bai K Simons, and ebro ‘The chit Sens of Tene: epee aca Sean 5. Lek ‘The Teumph of Lear Te Ft of Teg cna Son Cars” "in Woy “The Child as Cee Teaching iterate in ‘Bement and Mid Scho, so ‘Gee Des See Proce Reading nd Wing 1 iets te Apponth Jee Fy Dati 8 Esto on Sly Hep, as tide / Outi: Teacher Reseach and Kaoge ‘Mati Cer Soon Ss ye Utgacy Evens ina Commuity of Young Writers "Yala M: Gola nS Wie, “The Ptr of Workphce Leary: ACase Study omen Shey! Creal ‘hole Language Ps: Bye on Litray Inthe United Sater sn New Zesana Charny Caen ‘The Socal World of Cite Leseing to Wate sn Ubon Pinay School ‘ae Hass Dyson Partnesein Lee “Teaches and Chlten a eaingRasovery cor gpa, Ou Pl and De Defoe, ‘The Languages of Leaning: ow Children Talk, Wise Dane, Daw, snd Sig The Undextanding othe Worl ‘iver Cale. THE LANGUAGES of LEARNING How Children Talk * Write * Dance * * Draw and + Sing Their Understanding of the World Karen Gallas ee gS Pr “Teachers Callege, Colaba Univesity few Yor ond Londen abl iy Tees aig Pa, 24 Asda ne Newer hor © 18 by ees Cais, Cai Uae ‘Aso opto he alin may eroded ‘etd yam ry ny mes, cece al, ‘ages rt ha sangsoo Es om Pia iC by Dl oe © 64 Ati Rb montage RSs (2 abies tn epi by pean Vato re Ste, Sit a Se pny ci ec SSeS ste at ste sib ietatiouedcauntina mateo Soowtgwnty quetsrasey nary ecrucearn Seine renee me a aos ect s gmt wet Re ante Soe baat timer “Reps with ermiin, nes te 1 Dee Lane moran Pitin “helm ang: ow hn tl, te Sen dnd sie ttestaninget wo Rene ela newt ener SSaincorcoe~ ovr pay 1 Ghent Satan 2 al tai, 4, Semen Weta Uaed ur. ase vay tee Tal a epg taiioises Teor? ssa sosa0s ‘snvogor-s0e7 Isinaesrnea gtk rt one pape Mantra a he Sao Ama Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 11 On Being en Aboriginal: A Made! for Teacher Reseach PART I Epiphanies of the Ordinary 2 Sharing Time: When Chiléen Toke ‘he Chair 3 Making Room for Many Volees 44 "Bod! Boys inthe Classroom PART II Stories about Science 5 Making Thinking Visible 6 Pigs Are Sclence 1. Rainbows on the Flaor PARTIII Art as Story 18 The Flexible Mind of Childhood 3 n 6 un ns 9 Artsos Epistemology: Enbling Children 10 Know What They Know coments ar 103 163 im for Kelsey, Liam, and Dave Acknowledgments 1 1085, when I etroed#o Matschurets and knew that wanted to tetum fo the clasrocm, I found tht few, any shoo tems were Interested inaring metabo a loom tesherBasae Thad my doctor stein education I was considered to be usulable for wok with cen. (One adminitrator even wondered ont loud wheter, trang eo mich trouble to study education ata higher lev, T would be abet withstand the coals of he clasroom. Fly, Ralph Toran an aistant supe tendent in Norwood, Massachusts, hired met stact a progam forthe (ied and talented, and that ban my ooroey bank nt the ie a the School. Fortwo yess, Dr. Toran supported all my efforts to work with tluldren whom we broadly defined a pited and tlete,” and thse thildrenbelpad mete base clawer about how I wanted to teach all sdilre. Tr 1087, penonal reamstance interven to snd me looking for & lasoom poston onc gain, an, as before, Iwas et with ite rere {bom administrators in erent tows, with ope exon. Nathan Pur- ‘a then the principal ofthe Layzence School, bed me when I tld ‘i that Italy wanted to teach fat gad, and e ook whet wa, fr im, clolated sik. The work I esrb inthis boo theres o i ‘oa in my ality to "withstand th contigs of the caseon and hi ‘const and poste support for my tecing and my research Teacher rseah, however, i uot eatly done in latin. In 1680, 1 stumbled upon the recently etabshed Brookline Teacher Researcher Seminar, and I jlnelinmmedistely. The members of tit goup have provided clei friendship, support and encouragement. Ther de feston other profesion wel thle itll gence aa eros love for chilen ae ltgyal to sstaining hs Kad of work. Special thks go tou them: Stove Grifta and Sarah Michal, o founders ofthe eo ‘ar, Ann Philips, Cindy allege, Catherine Connor, Cindy Morton, Enily Woodbury, Jim Swain, Joan Rector, Susan Black, Betsy Koes, Kim Wiliams, Vie Mors, Sera Burwell, and Eee Lands. ‘The werk that began wih my entry tt the Soins focused rier yom lence talks and was propaled forward to ge stent by the : Ackoouleignens lntret and eathsaan of Sarsh Mica, Sara's questions and prod ing, te lary with which she appogced cidrens language, ad her pets to many meanings were contagious, Further, Sera work on ‘harig tie prompted met take sero ta pint of ey, and ae 1 Stave Grin and Cindy Ballenger alo tinted porte werk ‘children’s communal talk The thinking pested in tha bok on thet {opie etatly began to develop, and continued to gan ary, theca Acusions with Steve and Cindy In he sine wy. it tok eve than ‘yea of tater tlk or eto bola to wrt about bad boys. In that a, Enily Wendbury, Ann Philips, and 1 groped around for ways to walk shoat “bad boys.” Tate conversations, thet question at het pessoal bervations api my elt to peak about this difel boe 4s the conceptual framework or this ook emerged, seer! dvd sl conebuted tos develpment in ways they gh no ave magn ‘Two former sadent teachers, Katen Kleinopt ant Kelly Demers, tet whom were graduate students inthe Cretve Ars in Letrng proprass st Lay College, in Cambridge, Masachutts, elaborating ‘ial and ides that are preeaed ia this took. Kanes snthasoe yrorkon the Egyptian cuscalum helped to propel the ciders terns forward, Kelly, & masian a wll a teacher, atght me's peat deal shot way to work with yocalig a wll arth deep poms at song and performance ‘There were othe fruits interventions; Naney Madden, a parent tthe Lavrence School, gave mete book The Songln (Chin: 667) a. it one dy, saying that she Inew Tonht toed. had ine {90 of her sng, and obviouly she knew something Tad aot, Tha ok & tof of Nancy's perceptive natre My resdag of The Snglne decd ‘ny thinkog on denature of ewoutonary lteligene and enabled ae to Degin geking about tin thi book, Ofer individuals have extended my thinking in diferent ways, Bob (Callahan's analy ofthe place of cacy and lcheny tn edaenune lps "eto dlarfy my thinking abou confusion. Along esucation od feed ‘hip with Shana MeNiF as deopened my ndersandingaf the wt caper face and inodoced me to the Sld of archetypal ppclugy, Shey lose reading ofthe manuel, an his appt ois ato ew ne Invaluable, thar readers have offered important nights ane saggutons, most, ‘sotably An Phlligs,etinographar ofthe Brookline Sena, tue of the founding memers. Anas deep understanding of teachlag end chi, rea, ber cae ef language, end her unwavering bl inte {a00e of teacher work have ford me to berate Sear about fy soa ‘workin the elasroom, Her broad and earful thinking abet they hee Actaouleenenie a“ rove a vey tage of my rach, 08 i was she who fst courage tow ahnk ny work nthe tard abet! Re ‘eo, th being th prover o ing ts book Foal pc thano to Sua Bol Techn Calle Pra for er spor his Kind of war, to Cael Cali, aa of eae rs nig xg omy mani, oy ‘ites pe Gal fore sng opprt oh ipre o in the tember vse ‘Thanks am fo my clengir atthe Lawrence Sool for he tnt my esr and rig forthe ngs ‘hey coninuallyofer aboot the art andthe Ibo, techng Tht ‘Sota sch for rfeonal grow cd renewal ong with he {gan thre ter Enodis cntnn to sna nd pend iy ‘trertandng fencing tnd Suc practon ores, ve weld bre Stok te ie Bagonng wih my own ere, Liam and Keay, eh ming ot, Ido yong in a arty die od nnd tnt they hve vay proved wonder, sagan ana, Th ‘Shafter, Aad thanks oy huand, Dave wud, for sppotng cour aspect fy wok and malin tiene a to we IT the word “text is understood inthe. ‘coherent complex of signs—then even the study ofart deals with texts. Thoughts about thoughis, experlenc of experiences, words broad sense—as any ‘about words, texts about texts. Mikhail Bakhtin (1986) Introduction ‘My moter mus net have goe the same in of sch! you wert {0 Cour she doco nas hl spent oy of Bose ngage you sak ate, ee “Thos Natalie stopped wen my was os Berth dy in y asroom, {orange os down on my sep and wonder how a year-old hd, Inmele nd eher fit week ef ha cold understand so mach, Even tier be ws removed rom ou acoa «week eter nd et tole fo ‘tote toe, her worsfollowed mead fred mee hiker ely Aout the powefl oe that langnge pas in consracing the Bsr of {emuey hd’ ve, aboot how my ace 10 many “hngngs” ‘feng ad made m Ife more privileged than ater, about how the caso has the poten to pce, all cen, “speak in teogua~and im dong move to Breader nd ore poweal way oF retin bends wold “Ps ba abut spelig i tongues about bow cen can be ge to ear theta poty toate ngage ely nd {or hat petal expaed ad develop as earner, laa ts dof ‘pane language ws nratie ad explores what an expanded tinton Farratie might mean se aon. “Ths bok a aut cides ing. tls on he work of ‘Bruper (1686), Caniea (O88, Hynes and Caden (16), Miche {loa na Wats (080, song thon who tave ced he inorance of ‘arate as asearce of knowlege for heen, bt pushes the dfintion narete farsa aes broadly «compe sigs ad {ex tht alec tkng vl. In ong th, {props that important tats re cane though he ch dla tha dens ‘cpl engages with one nae, with ne and with he world atarge {Tos gmt ent the on of arave premnedh sWia he aowor of promi” contin in he work of Bat ted at ss neti I Merson & Roe, 180). Win dat coset, “a mda of ln fing. mtn len cn hp as appr he ee ‘aes, complet and power of the nt inate nd oe changes” (p. 34). ~ ‘THE POWER OF STORIES. orci a, enn bl at sor thy we sate oan serge ere miedo at iy ke ri smn nly velar ih ese a eli. an th fel wa ee oe consecrate rg ofan cee {aratives are often part of the stent language that emt ing ‘You with, silence... we mast uncover the threads af silence that pen Is mised together wid” (pp. 19-4), naPannnnaie ‘expalanes, which ocur both fa snd out of shod, more host sorsin into speech Tam reside of my sero Cry a oan hls a hey eocountrel new eprona nt ais oe Eieickag brmeae es cana cet earner avant Se U4 have shared er observations aad thlking wit oboe we, ir sent narratives would have been made manifest and weighted with ‘ote Cade nan Tose rai is Suiiine ota mementos Intestin ~ EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF NARRATIVE Inthe proces of resgnting the power and importance of narrative fuocten, we must lio exprndou definition f narrate include ach trond ela of commniaton snd expreson In his bok, 1 preat ‘conceptual frariewrk whlch sugges hat fr children ehool, deep, thasformatve lesung aks page whe language e defined expansvely tonlade a complex of sigs. Cider areas ae ot naturally con fined to the palen or writen wor. From eat dldhecd oo they ell, ris in dramate play, in tha dawingy and pana, a movenent [od spectaaous song. As they move fore note aul weld og ‘ying soken language dos bein to take presedene, btn etnce ci tendo not naturally mi the forme that tht expresion rk, Because Adalt commanicaton sles o heavy on spoken und writen language, Ioweve, bole nabesy eat that erlentation and chara chiles taraies Into avery nero re of expres, a leat ting rather ‘han broadening the sls expreiv expat, ‘What wo weet acsme tat chien cameo schoal ore, rather than les, able to communes tel thinking aboot the wos? Why ot sume tht when the cd estar schoal, he or she presets as wit a0 fnormoas numberof latte tools fr aqui knowledge end, rather {Ban considering ther to be “sonsrains” at Gardner (101) sogpes, ‘ssidr them oe ast? What effet might ti sumption have oa ou? Soproach to what the languagi of leeoing are? Tf we en cidee's flex of nod othe Infant lesb of body, the analogy becomes ‘are, lf ean ules tos ans routed they show immense ‘lexis he jot and spins when they zl over or lange on thi ‘aca. logiel to stom thatthe mind ln Bata slur Healy, ‘hat intally tlcspable of taplngint procewe of thing and coms eatin that ze far more varied and fntershangeable than he spoken trod, process that we havea bith bt grad oe rom ack of. “The capi o repeat boughs within eld phrases, for ex le, sa form of ymboliaton mat of us rary employ. Inte book The liner (1087), Chatwin cvrbe the bel of aboriginal Australians {Gat the work wae sng Into existence a poss that continue In the rset aboriginal sng thee way scrote lad on ter wallabous this proces, seach ote ncetor, wi ravaling through the cous tay, war thonght to have soared ste of words and musa! rote along the line of hi forint (19) Ashe taton antnues ody, the lancet songe recreate creation, allowing member ofeach aborgal ‘Simi to der the cent pat actos the continent. In he sons | a 7 [sgt atop il st rote or ety | maint thamie cous astmanrr, ncn os edo en pat To ae | 21g back and renh ay pn sin cad eusnand many pa ht tretveca tke ough the mod EES ecminaraetens § — icwaliney pant aici i my! rae peed Tao wh Sear” fummy, there are songs in au The = of sara, boro, el aa sstenalageal | cay at ee ba ae hin wih uation hat a Se a neg sed roa root colonel night and filtered theough his thinkin dering the ey ‘kept him awake at ‘or not learned it? Much of the work in the classroom is driven by these ing that be must be ‘expressing ral uring the day. I remember think ‘questions. When narrative is conceptualized as a window fram which to cialis namenece'ardl pea acca tak es tome ee Seton el fr shor of fc mn 22 $08 them foe. Those Slenpatin of arrives leplimat and powetl wy fo deere he foyer nip pre “apron ers ppc As Brune 0060 sy yt ann fro cps inaaoiy. Om tance of an he ore sertoweese at hos even he on ow, iia oGone ae ere (1 Turandot ef bane alent inh oe ttc ef doo at ha ohn en fos ns Chm, tt, bate pe a tn ena nid ro fen No cement ete io omen sat eing ie# ‘eesti and rearganiation of xr mental epee oem for {be temper! intervetion ofthe participants: There isthe sary, Poe, taeblet up ino its clea bce nore eon Sees ptr pans th paso deer ep ewig th lg te a rial sone png he cnr ls, Te te seine or otal tools fr inlet nal Clonert th soy pitta terete ep ctrl od ortlog. fed rei he as re for al cba he some ty. The posi of ewtiude cece ‘meanest of ong ITSoeran by what Drogen QOD call teenage soon tks cno tite ot pens nen eo ‘Shona ley arty eats ar eae tp > (525, Whee she und wy tooo ally oxo Hace Ticaming eet, th wh pone to, pte ‘om, te Sl cect bat te ny Set at Sento sweat llth en thereto al alow cal Sot eer oi the of ering an eng =a Sat co sedrdaton sa! se dono what ht out iene ‘THESETTING rmeabert proas of education tanend mebese, The tests that are ced in ie bok rele teaching an reserch 1 tion transcends methodology Ihave doe in my elroom ins emirban pb scoala over the Invoducton Inredution a ‘communication, and jal the teachers boundaries in much the same ‘vay. Each seton speaks trough diferent Kinds of stoves, et each 4c nowedge the nom of speaking In tongues athe anchor of tho loar> fngproces Is no scoidet that he term poking in ongueremeged for sues animportantdeseption ofthe gal we strive fr inthe clsrors, Tt signal he tranformaton that cours when a comm of learner cel fae that language is tansendent; that what may fist be unintlighe ‘canbelnown wher anew stom of meaningmakingisconsrocted. Ths ‘Se imperative that hes emerged for est very pat nny research and teaching ithe urgency of exploring the untapped potential for erpresion tod losing tht al heal ulden bog with thm to shoal. Claely| ‘ur krowledge of cies capabilites ited ot by a lak of fot in ‘ying them, bot ater by» mid vison af what we sad, how we ‘pabout it and in what terms tisdsesed. 1 On Being an Aboriginal A Model for Teacher Research ‘bp. Shecomes at cy De fn be. Aba corso, Pile re sang ta hey amt ay nature per se, 2 on {har ewn vestigation of rate ‘Aro Dire (1974) 1 ike to think of teaches and ehilten asthe partic that cannot be tesa as they eases trough sce and tine, sive Ike the muskrat ‘sn iving within the Pini of Indetersnue. Seasons change, hot fy flctats, chicken pox aciv, cliente hungry. The buomeer falls, wars ben, the heating malfunctions, people de. Pets are et 2 i bling is vandalized, the oo leas, the ger cies. The sal has babies, t ster ara, parents vere, the teacher is dck, How can we say i fd track the eof the elasroom when that fe ambodis the dynam, 1 3 The Longa of earaing tangle peters of sate? Wha edn! rec, tee ‘iti thot wap hs co dc ech wrk ac hi bok al end tensa Ketan nd werent daly cage S deci y cco ste ces aes vals ne eae ng Sot at my presentation of the stories from my classroom he ‘hare debate going on about what efieicns Sar ea ts esearch on teaching Selden The irene of opin and of pate eigen athe seee! Riceectncegacss aire (yal nagar Possibilities rather than in settled certantec”(p. 26) y eae ‘fie academy andthe epic intent of aence. inden ator i it he ae iio mg era cn ne i Soule Sateen geome {5d ths promatssparan hs Cer [0 lou 0 anf tec bt nner te Dosh aD, ries moe than eng tol es ‘carreetly. Entry into the chub of teachess orth ecb woe ty ore cb a ‘ fnleaton,enitement, snd aproal bythe member ese (On Being on Aboriginal A Modal or Teaser asec a ‘ove luring to think, sc, and commune i catia ways, and those ‘Wops embody more than so egity with language oF soil imitation ‘Those ways ate ways of beng in the word. ‘More sere, mastering sourse often signals a movement up (cx, eomerly, dovt) inthe scl ecarhy, For teachers, aeoplanae Jn the halls ofthe esearch community fa procs of upward mobi, thd they groerally leave teaching, lene the physical and communal stro. tur ofthe school, to make that ansion. For esac, I would cba tetris soeptance nto the teaching community as akin to “goingalv.” ember th acadery who move buck nto the dastoom todo research ‘arly say. The labor of teaching share, physially and emotionally ‘Taining, allows ite oro tne for rfetion and recharging, and or ‘sil mpi lower soil status. They pve efor awhle parang fr outders who bave imide Inowedge that wil ap the community ‘hey study move forward, si were, nto the next century, o teaching ‘temporary a inser in ode to stay a patel phenenoa, Then ‘they move out again, publishing tht findings within the own eomm- fy, and the teachers and dln they once worked with become sib [pos tobe diaued and ealute. Very few people ive with fst lated ‘yin both worlds "Ac wt thi, 1m unable to shake the mage of ehaographers a ‘heeany part of this century asin the aboriginal they were stodying ‘a emerging from the Stone Age caltire thoy lived in, Any teacher who hr atonded atone! search conferences on edoaton cannot help but ome sway withthe fing that be or be wan signal. Every pet life in the community ofthe clasroom is highlighted fr study and “Asousion: and in those dscssons, the person ofthe teacher i tly Ivete, pee lente we inte Cason, Abn had one gato mal ends iat “be- nti However te of tinge wart pr far pete. soe fond ot are bgt ak tne ater gop that Sina el arya Sn soldat cole ar aps ay gh topet them on nw ohn way. Hr puch sled wid opt st #ar, log aos sd nile aly ning te ors or Simple objec aie Often when ting oak en nce, She would Have top nd si, al“ et i Yo tow the tng that you oe ox i dT wad ae gy teeter to sndasand woh te ea as eins ao sme oter atngintunent “ro pcs er, before 1 bd begun think more erly about how ma am ny amon my diferent ang ‘ou have refered be frp sd logge rani fe ab esl Heiney expos ter in tt sl emt "oulhae ghee mein bring hat shee pales th cl ‘ve be dal With proper in te aaron, with 22 ote cicen lng my tention, However bese mo hvableto en tia Staring Toe When Chir Tak the Chat 2 ‘Thad no grasp on thereat se brought with br tscool—on er ory, ‘sit were fat compelled tolsten and watch, to make te easoom 4 ‘oe that welooed her and id not sender sway doce to wit inde IANA AND SHARING TIME ‘ana waote to share from day on, sn he away td to past pate fn oer aden’ sharing by aking questions and oer com- ‘pens, When she got into the chai, t was as if she were siting io a {Erbin pac. She woul perch onthe de ofthe chat, with her log legs tucked neatly together. She would ouch her body to oe sie, pat er Singer to he chee, and cock her eof think. Towable would lookout etme, asf asing fr permission, and Tse, "Go shesd, Ja.” ‘Avihen she woald ty tostart. Her naraves were wally unite, bt she persevered, Here an example of eral in early October, when sho war haring a Ealfsnied bookmark (Fach dot nda a pase of ‘ne soon in ana tlk "Kare refers to me) uous Timade thls at ie (alter scboo program) Teactra: Ton thik they eas hea you, bony. Jasie got this in LEP, and .--- and T made and T ‘ido want 0. Tm ging give tt Kaen, ‘reacts Do you want otal more before yu ake quan? Jase Questions or comment» Fanny oot: What ar you going to mabe it out off What ae you going to ‘make out af? sae Tm not gonna mak it ANN: Butts not hed Wall, yor oingto have to show Karen Tho to doit because she does ow how todo And als, Ithink you nod noel for that pants Thaw Past: Ob, do you have anes ‘ana anguage was very bse; the den drew her out. Tht wat ‘tend that Dogan ely. Asst the bak ofthe cowed and watched, ter chien, ike Funy, began to teach Jana ow to fil in ber nara thes 2 pihenie ofthe Oriinay sedge f ming ar amy oy poeta ttn te a tga ene Se et ee Sree rie eds es Saree i merce rag nec rctatetsap tapestry iar seis sree Soto ai oe ee Se He are wn Cee ee ae en a ‘perform a simple function. However, although I secretly despaired that pene en ee ree Fle ero Sry eg ce er ia erabeber dc hrlenth ot ircboey a ae andy arate bl Date Sta sae emo ef tes et Sot pect gecmae i alee a Stcetalgiob ated masini cosy Sergei peeps ett ee ae era ae omens ae Ea iprmoetnt ao awa: Oh, Un, and wo sew the rears, we aww, um, there wat ‘un, thingon kway, tee and there was» afake sake, atl everybod), and, and me i wa a fake sske bt it wat Tong and somebody was moving fin back ofthe thing, and and cverybody thought twas snake and everybody sereamod Donat; Did you scream? akc Nol Beene «cae aasake could be. yellow. ftvenat: Sorta. I can IANA And Wes, and wesue um, ite kids of sels ‘and we went othe pickup thing, wher we pl up um, ur, um, he Dig erab We gt to pith it it, we gt tpl i up, and we pled, picked ap, with some de ings and hey havea oe. sevens Star Safa suns Yeah Stash Inthe woos that followed, Jona switsbed back to sharing bjs and ‘vas again unable to form a narrative aound Um. Yet db had gun 0 Sharing Time When Chron Tak the Chai 2 expander coments about otor ches baring into narratives sort bow ber fe was ike hss, For example sh ad bow he had eats, to, tnd she would ve deals of herent even though T id ot believe any of her sore, and ny ateade, my alight annoyance ha be Was Farting stories woul play itl ot later-In raking thee comments, owever, ber nfetion, intonation, and peronal fore would change; snd to narrasves often became seis of inked tore, whic we woul {omeline have to stop becase they gradually increased in length. ‘One day shortly after the Chrismas brek, lana brought a Chit smisorament to sare She sat in the chat and dexsbed i epaioed that she bad goten "slong tie ago ata Cirtmas party" and then launched inte the story of hes personal reality. Whe T ean what vas happesing, | fantaly groped around for my ntebeo, been, nur, the tae recorder war aot Insight. The follwing esse from my writen record of Jan's narative, together withthe cadres’ reponse uke My father wat on stage aig to hie ands, and ed, he wat ‘in this program. My father ding td something bad, and he's smear win a Gb des wat ad Uttara with a, bat doa want tall. And cocaine... Andthat's why Bes in the ro- gram, and bel sever come oat snonos: Wiat do you mean by what you sid, your father dag WP 1 do underand. suas Isle something bd ko rom oso aclnt na Tey, “what ‘szeyou doing” Shesays, “You dau need oko,” and she's sneaking ‘cigarette. And Tsay, thas god for you, My father sometime. “Sometimes fhe sys he coming to pik you up and he best come ss don say hear sy b's bbe. In aseoce, Jana had wed the prop ofthe Christma ball to enable ‘er ally to eanch int the story so realy wanted ttl She hed bose ‘made at fist, but then seemed to decide to eplan eveything, and in ong nally xsi a conte fo her presence in oa las ft a ‘the time that hie wat one of thee situations that speck 3p on you 2nd create huge dem, Atbough in my roles a ember ofthe acon would ever stop the dcuon, 1 wat wore vat thi Kind of tlk was ‘ot appropiate forthe elaroo It waza to esting the mot ere, of family Secrets, But als realized that Jana had wated four mons to ‘hare th, and she knew, I think, tht we cold eine this information ‘nd that would be portant tous. ” plane he Ordinary sore What des “eneane™ mesa? ‘ua: That nan ike drugs ted sow You mean yur father wed drags? Jus: No, My ater took drops ‘and he went na program ‘enot! Whatra program? ssa: 1 meats that when a lot of people have probs when he got ‘ick othe went tos program. ‘ost: Weatsa progam? I dat understand, IANA: A progam means you dot have no place to lve, and yo, you ust slay there for awhile nd wien you you've ready to go ind owe, you go ad a house ‘The cdven istened carey to her explanations, and here wae ‘eng of eee seounes inte ou, The wae ound nd qurtoned ber clei about meanings of words, They empathned Sind gavesuppor, and asthe dicusion expanded I war not onomlorable case Jina ws very compond. She was not shared. Sho vas Just talling har tory, and a look at hr language sows how wll onstrated nd coherent her trys, how layered et realty. Note inthe tet, bow hr talk has change. There are no o's and wh, fewer Tang pais, no crutches. Thi is real talk. This Ie powerful tal A queton lingered, however: Was ths appropriate for schol? Should «child be alowed publ to dil to her laimater the dutereunstanes of hee fe? tse, Tew thet ostop the conversation would have Been akin to censoring her wold. My ddsion to at ber coatinse releted, I think my intulden tht this hs wish to tell her story took presence ‘ver ny sonore at heasing i ‘and my mother bcked him out ‘THE BEGINNING OF FAKE STORIES 4m late Fobruey, I dcidod to desare March # month of sharing ‘witout objets. The ssions had become formulate, or so T prev, snd T wanted fo refeh the roses, Some eulden grmbled that there ‘would not be anything to share, but fr lane this did ot pov new ‘robert because sbe he fow objets to share. In the sod wesk fn ‘March folowing chs ecnunt of rp to azo, Jana gta the chai ‘and launched iat &narrave about how sh went tothe 200 ith bet ‘Bother and the 2ookeper came oot and took the gore out on lat for her mother to pet. This was simply too much for me, and T blurted ‘String Te: When Chen Tak ta Chair as ‘oat, “iaa, this a time for true stores!” But she was adamant that he ‘vant had ocurred ed red to contin ber ory. "No sooner were the words out of my month than al the chien ia the group turn areand and looked st me very bard snd long. Tine teed sop for me a I ealzed from the change thie ‘what Thad dove. They toned lowy ck stumbling boats ot Bing lave, how i could not be tue. laa teed to matin er tory in he face ofthe question about how a gorilla wuld come ot. She sited to sy maybe se just sa the gorlas ote interplay are, thea eked ‘ely for quatons and eamment. A few Kod clden tid tof the fon "Maybe ie was ehimparaoer” and "maybe it wat ptig 20" bot within toe few sesonde er aulence had tue wy from he. [Afterwards spoke with Jane, yng to explain may setions, od realy, 1 ‘hought to mysl, my betrayal. waste one penn who ad alway soppoted hain the hae. ‘She add to me that you could not realy pe «gril. Taha her f he euld come inthe next day and tll el, tue sary, ad she speed, bo tft ck about my own bavi The next dy jana did 1 come to school Sarah got up and shared try about a svg Incident in which her ste ll ot af boat an swat vith the dope ‘Too story was obvieuly completa alicaton, and fw ciléren si, ‘That cant be ua” and turned agin to ask me shat ra?” But thi tine did ot rpond. Daring he guston and coment the cides ‘ras examined Sarah onthe eof rth nd el, refuting ber tory Iie. Sarah red to mafstala tho story ba got caught incense de ‘ais. Tasked myself what was going on. Was the power ofthe cei 0 ‘Boat that it made you do anything tay nik? Did vme children secretly ‘smi Jana’ story and with fo emulate? More inmportanly, 1 wom” ered why Thad defined the shang nerativtozean tre rie. Iwaelagging behind sme othe ad 7-year in yeoman ‘on of what sharing time was. ‘That was ow our exploration of fake” stores began. The net day, 1 apologized tothe children and to Jan for my behavior and tld them (hati seed as if we needed to expand ou format. April would be a ‘month in whieh cen could tl tue fake storie. (The crn ad alld the stores “ako store” to dating them from fist peso accounts of ral evens, lough te tine Iwas nt comfortable wh the ue ofthe word jae. Itsered, however, to be aterm all the chien ule) Again, swith th cw osbaring witht bet, thee was some grombling among the group. Many elven sid they dd ot Sew how ttl a soles, ” piano th Ondaay [ana continued to share toe soi, and he was galing in Gusoey and reponavenes to her sudlence, oe using tei coments ak ‘pportusty to snp her arative a tehaige she had sera ued cl, fell by othe. In ealy Apel, afte « wes i which ao cid chow to ‘ake up a story Robin sat in the chair and made an attempt. She td aloat lp to 2 beach where abe fond "diamond shal" The des sed may eins, sd sh mae pee th pended. There wer no commento {volunteered sn improvised comment about hee? ‘ew my plane to Flaca yesterday. Robin got onto he cha, and Dam ‘am toner place. He alo tld a story abot a make believe tip ond ‘shod for ston or comments, Ja rated ber has, and her commnnt When vento Mars, wa poningand twas ong. ad {using lth aterm, Wh ae ai, Aired ow, sod fle pte wee Sheed fhe could comein ny boue, Tae te wats ne 2b dal thet wee sang ‘Ae sharing we moved towing ad forthe fit ine tat iat sid ead an efor wg abo Sh wanted te so, Bertipto Mars Irae thr wld binpora fr rt eb the wing the bock. Sinn Sel war se 0 ie ce Snvoad spling od had fw gt weds all pt Te a diay ot Se war nery pr sn ere Se arn steve pc cel er Thy were der aadibehede ae tea 6 date i oared om, he ele en ha ad ao estan th tat den, thet Thad waned se oe ep ave as wrk ina rting oat shat oral er wen Seg Bek prvrng conte abt th dara Soro Sen thingie poe mings rl arate had made aioe er to“wiste eat et forename. Tesh igcteas cut araaete coher mdb wen pc , arcs yy uae set mg a sanitation anes Shrng Tne: When Chen Te the Gate a fn that as she added new child to the te, she would rx the name, in order, of every ld who had gone before, and fea neided many transformations, Por exams ‘Then Karen ured into « monkey, and she sid “Quack, quack.” ‘Then Karen K. [student eaber) turned nto monkey, and she sai, “Quack, quack” Then Franny came along aad ate ham, and at all ‘he i, and Branny thre up, and al ite spdes came out, and enh ame atl at all he pers Ske oder ory for 15 minutes, 8 the clan woe bathe ‘rit dalgh T Inger tray ed sought te play cate in tng sory, Jane wd nuer of danati tego she tad need ere Shad «much rade ange of nove end ‘pein onthe ce fhe Gn, shea buck inf e owned Sith ber done hi Tesing eck end forth ever he cen, {etrng and ping to iret member of ance, Went {Ete bcae too Maou so would sy around over aking et figs, “S Ave you Tsering, ad they woud at. She wed ‘tis hf ir tn sty wa hl hanging paces he aed oe gen 1k aguas “Beware Janus aly br nthe cha. Sho had spe the yar turing ot rw fo tlk fo aviog an the Bad ‘Supe the mel tera ple Once had bee aly eat {eechoa she wat then seo aoc ot lvl of cou tht sh (goat audieneinvalvement by mos of the children. Aer av, thoagh, Taoticed the rations of sme of my Caucasian boys to faa’ naratives For several wees, none of ther ha seed able t partpate in er store. The were leary uncomfortable with both the completely fe ft apes of the sores and with the response of tht lssmates Thay ‘woul often say tocoe anctber, This doesn male any sense." ‘One day, as Tas observing thet reston very lay, T noticed {hee dscomfert as she began. They lok atone anther, began pate eonversatos, and two inthe font row tured thet Pdi sway from fm pian ofthe Orkney ‘ber ashe spoke, Joe sido te eiléen aroun him, wh were lughing atthe narative, "TAS is foney" end he ley down on the for. The ‘ther oye looked bored and very sere. As Jina went on, ee bu Sere of sequent saris using ferent children fn the cla, which wat ‘format he had etablchd and which was being aed by othe hon for thes stores. She was always very carefl not to inclade these boys because they had objected very suongly to being invoved in the etait Each tne se share, Jina would check with them saying, for example, “Donal, do you want to be ini” Normally, thy woud rte, Ae watched, te boys gradually telaed ae the uproar gained mores and inna edt calm the las by naming thre cde tobe inlet, By the me she was ined, they were sing, and laughing. By the third oth in fo, were neuen Jn el fake tres ead woul ‘lw Berto we the name, ANEW GENRE IS BORN ‘What the boys perceived oul 0, sp ltr cameo scoop, ws that Jana was changing the rales for storyeling im our clase. That Hind of ‘hange signaled, 1 thnk, that Jina had some sort of spell sutority ‘when she wasn the cal, tat he cold pot word and Seas opts in ‘ways that were unfamiliar and even provocative, that she had an sity {owe language in a way that was Afi forthe very article snd rvlged bop to understand. But the genre hat he was developing was ‘9 compeling and Inclusive that, En the ond, even ey ould ot fit actipatng nbs. The ional tories Became more frequent, Every child fn the case, begun to ince them in tht repel, Several expanded the format to inde call and-espose sequence: i wish thet language becrse epee, uch ikea preditale storybook, andthe allowed tee aa. ce to tke over tho repeating par ofthe teat. Jana beget introduce ‘ew uss of diferent clement fom the cites dlly vex. For example, she adaped her yoibe tous the speaing pater and inched exrent ‘evens nth elas, suchas Jou hen pox. Herr continued ta be incsve narratives in which every cid nth clas was nazned and in ‘cluded asa conta character at some point. To he, the etre ds be Ionged in be sary sus: When Lwent to Marsum, Keen and Ksren Kum, they ha le lcs of ir icking up « (aughtr) and um, and Karen ub, Karen lehicpers to me, potting to the red necklace Tm teeing, Shreg Te: When Chikden Tae the Chir » “what are thse” Lane “roves. rxebds, rosebud”) and when Karena the rsebodson she hd hr ite i wit er ‘rues: She doen't have one uca: And twas Rabin (razes: ARB ua and um, .. Nol And hi boy, ber boy was Roba oyfiead was ‘am, tse not gonna pick Andy acaase ede ike Aros, Oh no». Manoa, No, Brlge? No, walt, who? comets: Yoo! Manon! JaNss Manos. $0 when Mann went outwith Karen, ‘ae tha’ ber ‘mothe, and, Manon’ my ster-.. Me end Manon went eat and ‘save Andy. Manon sid (peeing fn hgh ole) "Aody, uly amy, ‘wll you come over to my house fo have dinner? sald (her ow oie) “um, st, ak im if he wants to go ott the restaurant” ‘Ans shed “Oh, um, um (igh oie ain), ‘onmat: Boewwww. Yack Juss Can we goto the restaurant? Can we go ovt to the restaurant? “And bo sad (loudly, “NOT And sabe sai, “I noes ea get oy" And ssh ake Jos. oud laughter) yoru: Ko! sa: Aso Joel sid "Yess." Jon: No, No! a Joa, Joe sl, "NOM Soshe asked Walla, ‘ots, Corot Src And id °N a And he su "No ‘The domino effect continued, Chien Sncorporeted Jina initia va, ung immediate contest el thal tri, ach a alading whet ou chdren were wearing or holding ia thir hand at mesg, wang ‘ature dialogue between character, expanding their by langage {augment the ser and manage he aden, raneorming ther settings In ine and place, and, finaly eve using ber model of inclusive storie ‘inser themselves at fends within the cls ta they witel they Ind. Danca, for example, who had been ignored by dhe boyy cle for the eat year and di not spp to hnow how to iat findshp, pin to develop ore in which he and the bye pen tie together. He \wasableto get ther attention and spor by semantically placing his ‘itn tat grap and by developing the character in eels around ‘ach boy's pats interests I noted neal Jane that all ofthe bye al bean to fctoe Donan otha lay ad thet they lly ewe ara fiend 0 ethene ofthe Ordo ‘What was most remarkable, however, wa the way Jan’ tstive coabled so many eidren to engage a4 new way of talking, OF cout, {his didnot ome witout srg for some very competent alles. WI. liam, forenmpl, who had quite high level of mastery over malntrear farative sole shaatly would ot make any attempt atthe fay ora I Herel had to force hin Yo ty iby refung to let hin chase some rays of his brotha’ broken arm unt he od ake ory. After Trealzed bow diferent and eallengng the fctional narratives Wer, ‘she every cid to uy atleast one fae try before they returned to a sowing format. ‘When Willim sw that was sees, be goin the hair ut eed ‘ot speak (rm fer I think) and was literally fighting back tars. He struggled for several seconds to exmpoxe himself and ily sated to talk, but very softy with isheadearoed away fom the audience, (One day went to Joe's howe to play, and we bla spaceship, We ‘wanted to goto Jupiter, bat Joa mam would leu, Sowe de- ‘ied tosneak Ase talked, he contind to look asd Shelly ated hi to speak loader, and repeated he request. Hocontoved, and the children began totter is eyes brightened, and he became caught up tn the tory tring his shoulders towards th ies. Thee, witha gleam in heey al a silo on his face, besa, ‘so Joss mom went Looking for rin the clot, id she ell into a box got stuck ‘The cidren loved that ide, an with their restion he copy r= led, made ee contact wih his eudeae, and tals lan sory abot thotrip ow they gol to wee the aliens were, and they ald, "Who are yout," and we std, “We're fom eat,” ‘and they sald, "You're aliens," and wes "No, youre aliens." gous we were al les, and then conclodod that they etarrad through the mize ofthe black hale" t find Joes mothers inthe bor. The story nse 10 minus, od when he was Hae, be war radiant, Tn the same way that Wiliam Was challenged, Andy, an Aican- “American child, foved his publ vele through thew of fantasy storie. ‘Andy had not rally partipated ln sharing thoughout the yar: Like ‘Shrng Tine: Whe Cites Tae ths Chir a Jans, some to have very few materi things that e wasted sare He would usualy itn the back during sharing, tering to himsel (e [havior Ihe observed in his brother the prior yea). However, wit slwajea vary ative qustionr and commenter, seminal plese fn pantcpating in the haring bt resting sy cata ole, Ta ate Apel, Iowever, Andy teed his it story. Twas basally «remake of he ree Ii pigs, axing, instead, the Ute rabbis, and he was very sl ‘usciou He ineladed ther cidea, ut only his fends. Two week Titer b ad bore regular share, andy eary Jue he was aking ‘st upand share everyday. Clearly, esd fond hie form ls Inter storis were very incasive and broke the mold, which hie ‘eos had etalised, of encoding gis. In Andy’ stories the es and ‘boys were equally matched both in importance and is power. One day a Inte May, afer telling 2 fabslosy log and complicate tory aboat Joe andthe is thar had great etal shut deren stingy, Andy and Sars {ho had also shared befor in) aed hoy ould oman Cee ties, liter n he day at oar activity ne. They both ald the cdcen who wasted to hear the vet oftheir tory fo ras thelr hands. Thea ey Fastructed thse cdr to remember who they wete that when ep called them hack, they would know to come end Isten. Sure envy ‘bout 45 minutes Iter lle up wo see sor seveneiren gathering (nthe stops at hal fet to hear the ro of heir sie. Te chen bal lock tomer as they see, and the eve was so natural that T knew something important had happened. The power ofthe stores, and Soe ‘mmuntyof tener thatthe tors created, had ase spt of {abe of our dlaroom, ‘But by that me, Jana had vantbed, Her frequent sbemces, which ‘gan in winter, had itp, and oon he eappected: phone icon ested, adress unknown, Sh was dropped asa cs by the sacl worker ‘cast hor family could not be found, ANALYSIS ‘What then, isthe val of sharing Une ia the primary sasrone? ‘Aa analysis of ow this acher research Gately changed cnsroom ‘conten forthe teaching of language mst be located within my own Stomp te undestand th elution ofthis sharing proves, Mot pesto ln, to appreciate the impeeance of lana conten tothe chide’ language, Imus locate her narrative syle in the content of cho! lam fiage. Cortaily in mest schools, fae narative, a we came 0 all, ‘hem, ae not contralto the childrens sudo orl language: Hower, a pint ofthe Ortary became clear as Jlaa inlate ber aarative spe, and then at other liven swage to work wit er goats that aft sr af aking land taling,obe that many competent tales had not encountered, wat ng on ‘ible (168) outline the literary made used by black chien io storymaking narrative retaling, 1s Ales etn of trying Mays une node of tn wor, welt ways even Termin an” O58). evident asthe children's narratives evolved. Ce The nw martes bce hie orn i, pute. uty he patton betwen ays ed gi ad ling a hin gtr toot hl tal ly. anh es ee ‘ling incon, snr” ars fhe dase ‘ih be, contol ateapng colnet sea ween ‘li'l en whch vay ch and nc a ee ‘The body of tre that grew from Jana ittvs expand the lide’ elletive floret inelud forays into fantasy, As aly (130) ‘ay “the claro tht dots aot eesti on leads has po led ‘encath the surface to where the living take pate (5). Cestaily the true saris had created a ih bitoni background that contandly supported and expande! our developments «community, We had ¢ going body of eammon experiences and shared accounts that we exld eyeatedly refer to in our Interaction in esence a sean sony tag ‘Sach orton Taiping tthe af nehow wh hn neve, Twat stot ney itt id of tt afr atin reper eaten St ha pr sty arbi nara gut awe ‘ater weit in vce sd lr mee oe Sena anasto ero slp nc nee ty Are ote eee so ar al ‘earner oy renege ot hat 1h war ad le nt mg feet ran i es Jeol apni en inet ite "seated ina xen op Sew om ny rant ew ater ooh ee snp iene ea, Sct comet eet at oan ma aed eng Sudo Sad are ton ol ove a ee me pn oan mae Tee ete fia sxe oat ht pn cl fey ord ‘Ercan sy oh cts pes ein By cad of er {raya ogy ween He ay, eget {he gn cad heer ltt og, gn ‘eh ac na lig wise aS Seg ‘ening und tse wes opty ie of hd [tocar aang psig hand wy Se ons, Eenotenay poet mig fete neh net nr npg pen ge Im wid sas tigih eer Sos lc oten, Home Teel oa | I i Mating oom for Many Voie » stand ber and she could uot undetand me. When she tale to me fl Indples and frastuated, She was very wing todo wat Tsai, when he ‘understood me, bat she had no bacyeoun in scool Tbagen to keep ‘ots of what she cold and coud not do, On hor th dyn echool, ‘ota in my ours Iman ears to do thse things ine up standin he line, flow the lin tots detain, and Ise to tape af a book and turn the ‘era thesia. Afr ooe ran through wit the story of The Lite Fe Hen, Inani his the format down. Shelistes tothe bok ve tierin row, cach ime rectig slong with the tape ery loudly Iner own dat and looing a the pees. That eras every body up By ber fifth day in hol, Iman at fouroal pictures showed @ remarkable development, aint zelng the developmental milstones of {tin fast forward. From the fist page ofthe Journal, whers she had ‘ava minute lie drawings of undinguihsbe figures, plstakingly tnd lovingly yng wo we the markers (Figure 3.1), naa capi po- ‘esd to fl age drawing of cir and hows hat sowed Alcan tharacerisics and syle of earn (Figure 3.3). On the Monday of br Second werk nschol, note the flowing conversation, which cured hile Ini was patng forthe it times “Karen, sbe calls ot rsh tana fon ofthe este ad a al ‘ited pitore. Tned grea!” “Mix” Teall back. “How omit it shereturas “With the othe clos." “Other cols” he sy to hosel. T walk dowa tothe art ues, gether a ey, and show bee how to is diffrent clr paintson te tray, tet setura othe able hare a working. She aes arash and beg ing pin ‘Thi sconds ltr heat, "Kate, lal I rea! and Ian palats arom with frsitre char and nae Th cal ‘en aod plated tice dimensionally. (Figure 3.3) Ta meeting Imai began totale great light in raiingher hand and ting sy smething oven when he didnot haves cue ao what we ‘ware talking about. She semod to celsh the mannerime and itl of ‘boot andthe audience that the children in the casroom provided. Al ‘hough we could aoe seem to commana abot ber ie in Afi, che ‘woul tay to eplain ber deewongs. In er pre story Beak, he drew ‘pla year pictures hous, candy, son, taking pleas in reding thre words doy an loudly from ber sight word ear. Then on dy, a pani the Onnry gute 3.1. Inn's fi droning. Men Room or Mang Voice a Fae 3.2. nei rmingt wok ee after drawing a pictre of 2 man and asking fr the word dad, she told ‘meher father dd not come to America. When asked why, she ete 4 sory of druskennes and abu. The children siting with w atthe {able were alan, bot their care woe lke elephant a they seine fo understand her, somebow infer from ber tone end serious the dus ra Epiphniesf he Ornary 1 esplaned to her that she had come im ate to relat, and decd ‘her tolookaroand the room athe other ere, who were ard work onthetr reading. “This i ike a rac," sid “We are here, ranning fa, working sbrg and you are here, To cte up, you will ave or far and werk ede. ‘She fed me with an impasive tare an then slowly turned he boy way, ST contined, “I cant teach you if you don't want to learn ‘when you'e ready toler, al me” And Iyalhed ey and att dove rth another child onthe other side ofthe classroom, lenght or ‘oe in er arms. Thisy seconds later, jut ot I bejan to fee a Gge of ‘morse forthe one of my remarks, Tbeard ave, stand Aan ie ‘song. “Karen, Pm ready. JOINING THE CLASSROOM COMMUNITY ‘he other children were als having the same proble with Ini. ‘When confronted with her a6 2 rating mecbero He sal learaing rps, they would take a deep Breath and give me ty look. Yat hoe bere somebow more persusv than I In shoverent one day, Toe, wig ‘at lescing her small rovp, handled ber matauly. When she did ot ‘spond & move a is requt he ot up, toa her hand and brought her tre, showing what wanted et todo, She di it with no retance, {was clearly at iadvantago. Some cidsen, however, parla {8s soo ted of Imani fetes pride, At reows ove ateroon, Ine alle unto mean ai, Katen, veto report Mil, Mato tad "Wy? sted “Because when Lak they wl ply with me, they ey, Nol™ Michel, Manon, and Bobbi were buy swinging onthe monkey bas, teu, but insted that Im never wanted to play te way. Ene tat {Bat was probably toe, too) However, I ped men ee, reminding Manan Miche, both ef whom had been sew Snmigrarts et none bow hard was tobe new tots county aod tying to mae id The {Bs were remorsfl and said hey would make ip with last, Thos ‘ga a sev fiend, asthe ol Tan under hl wing aad bape {ofeach he how todo any things howto ue the monkey bam, ho fo listen toa story, how odo he work ‘As the cide took ma in, 1 fund that my Job was eae Taso Mag om for My Vales « ‘ound that Thad definite fascination with Iman dat, avingspoken| ‘fom ofpldgn English myself as child, Hearing Iman peak rend ‘pe of my early ehiood language. Inprivte conversations with bee, 1 found mypef speaking ore ad mores Ina ad les and les key salt elf. Pinay in March, 1 fond out more detadsof Imantseleare snd, more importantly fr oe omminiaton problems, bet dat, and ‘ade thee ots ny areal awe'sDuecr 1, Has no negatives Negative denoted by se. Tan dit (Leant doit) Teando (Leen doit) 2. Hasno ial consonant, Toke = bal el» gh 8 Therese o plurals ga = ah asl = gh books = bob Book = bu {Although ths cies lp eto talk o Tani, I elie the proba ‘hey will present with phon traction ) ‘Tecoma ap bgeno now ant en so arto ede “we in Apdo Jan gt om he ssn oct er sox reamed tap cl fst roe, tent Std gr eer had eS i Mich seis arty iyo eign, Shwe enue nd her oy Te he pon ah tomes Shr tel ttt oat Ha and i ese Sl oa The te ite aged a wie ear a, Ian anne ad oe el sgt si i ot thee hen teste moe cree tee es ee dl thy wer coed sed aso of Ea ‘eto esi te cad ay Thee, ‘apna! wine ws eh yee id oy at eal Ae” hot wih arc tte aon ats conte epg lt ia et her ‘nese hn oe Ths ek es tlt ie « pipe he Ordinary Intra ry aout fendi, wing ber crcl slow pc, tyes sry about “Miche, Mebo, eed Bob, ‘Win clen thik when tht nds wont play wt he.” Ts is Tory, the ils woud ot lay with Andy was so «ory abut Mie ‘Sales inagraton I thoy, Mile ‘st trameribed is ws to. BS sed naw now. Sholoo Syanshesea busts gS haw 8 oy, an a sumthin ova dey haw. {In troslation (wanted wo By. But she dd not know hoe. She looked ‘up, apd sos a beaut old house up the sky, end asuset, ‘ining over the house) ‘Thelanguage ws engudand richly toed, dliered fn man's me- odious syle. Tom, siting net tome, with his characteristic ov of words was tasting to himself es be listened, someties saying t my “Did Shetay_——— Ftacck and soe he wang. Twat inthe dy, spd some Ge chdren seed ress. T wondered I try were bre, bot in the queons and comment that flowed i was appazet that they had leened and undentod, Tom commented that she Was good storyteller. Our expert i fae language cbviwaly was beginning 0 ap- recite the cadence and ton of Inen’s ye of orytling ‘Armani became mero engagod in bela taught, I bagan to astume tha her new motivation meant that her level of compedbenson ofthe ‘umulum {taught was ale ineasig. Like many chides who appear {o be biliagual, however, be grasp of or diet was oly supeitaly Improved. In May, after reading a book on reptiles that offered a very ‘ear decasion of reptiles and what diogutted them rom mammals ish, and birdy, Iman razed ber hand and ake, “What rept” Sho ‘ae sll bck at the tle of he Book war shocked and groped for are ‘ponte which would de my annoyance. “Do you sean, what dow the word replle mean, or what isthe word for?” Take, tying to dstnguh been wheter se wes misuner- standing a deeription ofan animal cr a semantic category (clases of Sol), Michell tied to explain the des ovr ga o he, but Iman {il didnot understand “T dot undestand,” she si, pation. “What do you mean, “ep ee ‘wasstumped As the weeks went on, and Iman! became more ine ‘ete in lenring, oor rgoommuniatios Imsame mare abvioas. Perhaps Mong Boom for Many Voices « ‘R-vas that Ime was now able to ak the question He hed had all slong, o that so had lnred enough of ur daet to communicate about tet oer eh sn) Pp me eon ‘proces embodind. Either ‘wa, she presented me wth iereasingly more panting quero In Je, as the butetis hatcbed out of ther chris, Ina was Tooking inteaty ito the buttery bo. She was captivated wih he ‘rtf colors ofthe newly emerged bute, hich were resting on same flowers inside the bax. T wondered whether Tn! understood he ‘enc of what we were doing. Tn other words, hen watching the pro ‘caro metamorphon, hd he conoeced caterpillar to christ buter- By? Samehow Thad always astmed that sexing a front of yoa ay by diy should do the Wik T asked her, "Where do the ulteriseome Ino? She looked at me blankly and waited for me toy agai. “Can you tll me bow the batterie grew in here” Stl blank, aad waiting, {he made no response, "Where do yoa tisk they cate fom" and ‘plated Into the bor, which had the my clays Banging onthe ide ‘ll. “The fowen?”sesai, leaking hope. ‘4, boy, T chou, sls mind the whole package. I olnted to the ‘no once again. “ls there anything nthare thay could have me frm” Imani sil Joked Blan, but I ould st she wanted to fnd an awe 0 eae me. I pointed tothe empty crys "Do you remember what was Inthere and just came ut?” "But, Karen, 1 don know the worl” she anewered patently and calmly, There ti Let to mysl, she doesnot know how to name i ‘nd therefore cannot even bein to speak about my egal qostion, I {give her the ward: caterpillar. 1 ata hard one for ert aay, bt she {led it several ne, Tzalzd that Thad ad the ord eaterpllar may ties with the cen, suming thst every cd new the meaning of ‘Beword, but Thad aeer had enh hid xy oat oud endow. Lhd Sorgten tht for Imani, as for many new English speakers, the words ‘ved js blended togethar and were indstinguihable from one ster. ‘eninded mul to check nore cael forthe meaning ofthe mest bse ‘words before taught anyehing “Twendared, though, why, Tan coal nt ey the word eater lar, she did ot jut find another way to excrbe the ania. Beas i vasa matter of egy Iman was Yrydlgalied and alo very ume sont the scenic way of regarding the worl, wating please me bot ‘ot having the language open about seni things. « Epiphanies th Ortinary IMAM IN SECOND GRADE tis fortunate forme thatthe children I teach have the opportunity to ay with me for wo years ave yet to ste any did who dos not ‘benefit fom a longterm teacherleident relationship and fom the dary ea lationship tht develop ovr tv yar. Av cettinly a teacher esarcber, I ain enorme sight when I wath len for to years. Imari returned to my elastonm in seco grade with a barely conceal ‘agers finally to master the dfclt pros of ean. In ist grade Shel managed to eaa ber leters and moe of er sound, Se entered Scand grade sll unsre aboot what he difference war betven eter tla werd bt witha mach diferent tue toward instruction, With {amon the had moved beyond aly reading strates and was ap Jy inresing her sight word vocabulary. At the Scand radars bourne erenied to bomewonk, Iman sed for mor, telling me Tdkd not give her enough. When the second prades started a formal speling program, Thasated to ak Imac to join ws, lowing that sh srugeed with reading spl word bt she sited Aste weeks went by, mani became the aueen of ming with a tresk of pret te, whl the ative Englhapesbngchiren lageed behind ‘She bogan to take great pleasure a writing, metleloly developing her own styl of srt which only she coud read. And at interet in science deepened a she partpted more etl nur siencecarsce- Iam, earflly drawing shel hor ans journal and writing abot he difeences barwoon cats and dog. Ske war etranoed by our dscusons tnd readings rom sence Book abot the beponngs of our planet, td So dew seri of pstres i er art and sence journals that were care lst ofthe tsrations thou book. Whea {sed bes to explain the drawings, she gave me deta ideas about what they mest. She seomod to be eomsalidting a very strong vival olattion to all er ud, By late fl, Imani wat a figure of inpartace ad authority in the cauroom. Is roe hater fre pre ad stabbornes sete go Ser ways tat her love f school uals had deepened te the pont where she was completly itlerant ofthe shenanigans ofthe fit grade boy, at nes fing them onthe back ofthe ead whe they would nt ule own; and that we sil streglod with gee in her everyday language (CKaren what i's It?) But a Thankeiving approached tod inet prepared to elabrate ber fst soc haliay in tir county, her presence Fped sto speak about the real meaning ofthe word plgrin. When 1 sled the chdsen if anyone of them wa a pli, they were pie, ‘nt aly one of hem pushed Tan's hand up inte ai and the other Moitg Rao for Many Vis ® children some in s rath of voles to grasp the ananing of the word, calling out be name. Chazectestcally, she id her face one hand and ‘ald, but the knowlege was power and important fo every eid. Ts tihng of depth tha hlden like Imani proveke ste more completely abort pat hitorier and thir adaptation tothe, Her ‘ory bebe describe the ich ita great eileen often bring tomy sasroom, spr have bosom bster ale to trek a doesent everyday events ad ales the atlas of ar efforts to boom par fa ls Tt lo presets some othe more else problems tht econ Teagugeleames, who ray have 20 formal prparstion for echls. jj, eit as they sppeae to Boome more profsent in English Ie has bon my obsvation ata clasroom tacher tha jut st the ol when row English speaker are doomed competent enough to be fally mai Streamed into the clustoom, new dale with language ad coraw Tum ener. ‘Those problems are vary sulle and are best latrted by Imantt ‘emerging misundentanding of the fer pene of language usage fo ex tiple, Ber bewiidement oer the kids of words and prae thattlte tohighrevel thinking, word such a rept, mammal, groping ‘elghborhcod, and pig. Just asthe tmnigeat el finds arn fe foncdonal language within reac, be or she begins to mest sbtacler te achieving real intellectual integration. Although the support Ime re ‘eed from our Englh asco language teacher whieh tiled aboot {5 minster pr dy, enabled her to ait guy ito the ular of theclasoom fe her soond year, whea she warn longer receiving these servic, sh and T began to strug fn every aoa of he carol with the more complex pars of language. For al rate papers, Imant ‘ud ack eetvlyparispate in group duane about bgger ques ‘ons, ander ineetvenes in conbaing to thee dacusons Lined ny silty toon whether she was understanding our sade, Only Beene ‘Sho hed sous to exten deawig materia, and tine oe them, did "elle how de her interstfn sene and socal des ae For example, her detaed drawinge of the changing eth and of 4 ‘ira Figure 3.5) sbow bert be aleen cheer of deta and an avid tw ‘ent of sence. The artist rena enabled Irian nd met speak futher ‘out ideas that might have negued ber sions Ison bat that she ‘would have bien able pune in a disuron. Morome, when In ‘overeat seston Ika the cdr creat pattern wit thor pat repetition, ani, who eould notin any en way expla what a patirs, ‘was or why pote could be aid to ave patter, ould erate ‘plex and inovatve dance ule superiort any oter_ Ar dimavered| ‘wth Jan, providing opportunities fr erentive ston give cilren who A plane of th Ordinary are es fl with dominant language form hance to communicate bout thmselver and hee mont important concern Tinan's tary a learner, which was moe clearly reveled because She had sant t9 many forme of commnltion, vs farther rience {Oat all asraome mate be plaes wher children ean lave tl it ‘were tralsthat help thm all eval emselves an ht fn tur el {he teacher ellow the path of thee learing and thle. In further. Ing this proces, every member of our castoom county prodded fo think aout th rerienoe and bravery of chlden like Imani and about ‘eke powerfl and sometimes voraion die to commit and en, Wie are constaty reminded though tude prene that language mut bend with dart and ere and that he at of belngschled, of aoa Ing to a clas of chldven and stending school dally, ea privigs eather than a burden, 4 “Bad” Boys in the Classroom aeyou ever ben ny ‘who the dag fase {de ra rere? eve yous ke that ons ‘atau ie team wh dunt pie inte sn odie rb hene ‘rdran Waten, ge This chapters a play incor ne. Its subjet matter swing from the domain of chen soch as Imaal, who Begin het ecationl carer fom a polo sadvatage, to cousidor th worldview of the mos prt lege chidren nou oly. Ta, Tonk atthe waye tn which vome bys, rough their we of lenguage, stamp to catcl the dynamic of te ‘lasoom, and in that proca sence may ober eden, Talo dsr what Isa student of hides atatvs who ha arugsled to se hese ‘oy ina ferent ight, have lured about “bad” boy nthe conte of ‘my clastoom, I plant laa the bad” boy's eas, arguing tht they ae sn underserved and misundestood catoanpopulton, That, in hal, lta groslyunpopulr stance. Clery, most stds of what Jos nat hap” ‘en for gil the lasreom fous on what does hagpen foray, ate fl espns. Thos sade ply ha taper Inadvertent ov tention Ally favor boy, and they te, for etme, observations of boys recelving, ‘more teacher attention and more poston of responsi in the clue roam. T prepa to look a what doesnot happen for thew prt ‘boys as ane ofthe ain renss that gear enced snd underserved, a a pips ofthe Oran (Atehough 1 il not eontinue to wee quotation marks around the word [ad forthe remainder of the chapter, portant to note tha rm {ng the term Bed a sletentype, plying ple image rather than a {tae portrait thes bss.) Tite much of my work, this lee of research bolas in my own ie: Myson, a a lamentary and high sho student, often played the zle (fa bad by, He ws not bad in he patolgia ee, besa bad boys {re not vleat oye they ae ot boy wth serious mental Bel ue ‘hey do not burt people pst. Ina, bad bys are somewhat revered {nth oltre, They are lite Janes Dean, Marlon Brando, a Elvis Pres dey, They are the ite Calvin of "Calis and Hebb” (Figure 4.1). Asa ‘Phenomenon, they make us neous, besaase bad bos are very intersted Inpomer of ilsot and ually ar ot nce bys nshoas, they contr aso i very sub ways. Inari, they alternately eae contr ration and selfconacios delight, Myson wa heft child ofeach me ‘hoot bad boy fom the bad boy peepee, Fora longtime [mistook my own cis bad boy sole in school as & inte of very enlecatedrbeliosrnes ad fastration ove the resi. tone of claeoom, He rejected mort of what school bad t fer hi, dé not allow seal rules, dlsupted clases, and resected any limits pt on bis time that ware schol reated, By hs sophomore year in high eho, be was cting a many claves a psble and doing only the minima, mount of work to attain grade at Kept hi on tho elloge wad. Yet ball accounts he wasa very right, ateulate, creative, and dep-hnk jing tld who shoud have done wel in school He clef shoal was 10 designed for hi. ‘Arbe progres through high schoo, nd Tegan to think move end smote abut ba boy, I noted that he had ways rooesinginformation {hat were oppatonal fo the ways mot of hr tenchers expected him to learn, He read Books too caret for meaning, preferring to vover orp heme ether than deta of plot and chatter o found it hard tovesd a test to enewer spate quaton; and he thought about main {eas too widely and loa dverget way, which mde it ard for hi to lake objetive ets, He evalted and sated rather then analyae "The big picture and big ear were more eting to him than her oompo: nent prt. He did not remember deal, would not use formulas, and tenlly wold not do homework beease he sald teil the subject tute. He rented patting things en paper to prove that he knew then, ould ot nae an ollie or sme, an id not sn sleto et papers ina thorough way. Mos of hs teaches atbute his flings, a i to Tacoes, and iost were etomelyGrsteated by the pottial hey sew slipping say “ pipet of th rdary 1 alo remembered, thought more crf abost hr relationship toschoay ha othe yearly dayof bir eeaton he eented having to go, He wanted to stay home with rear go to day cae It he wet to ‘shoo, was for is ends the ret wat generally no of ater. He let ‘me, a paren, astateofdespir Dera [ew fr many year that he ‘id aot Et ac what I eee was, ands, very good school ste. The ‘work that he preferred to do was ls work. The boos ha he wanted Co "ead were not on any reading Ist for any clas he wasn they were books fh oe chosing. Ihe ws sapped tobe writing his srr paper on Fans, he would get up cay in the noring, write « patagrah, aad then setleon the enact ead Hey Miler. threw an hand pe deer tion over and over again. What wt {rapped to thak? Which work Stoald have been more important fr hin the schools work, or his own? “Audlow di hie erople of oppclon beg? Finally, tI began to think move gtemaially abot the bed boys taught, T nied hat the boys who ted each year to drut my cas ‘wer very uc kay son. tart schol each ea eed aed led wth tetement about my new clas. Ineibly, to or three days into the ew seme, T hogs to tangle wih oe boy, and sometimes many boy. By thesecond we may find mall unable cot «dcuon shout 4 tory bok, or cll he clas to order, snd when I ook forthe ene of that vg Tn #2 yet wt he a op ny [WHAT ARE BAD BOYS REALLY LIKE? ‘The srg for contel always taker me by surprise aud is aways proeat to difering dees, Ie is something that teachers cre to expt 1 part oftheir job, and itis also the hardest work we do. Thee ‘orever more tious problem that this stage ndernoe, and tht {s that i tales time away fom teaching and Tesming, Te ips the proces fr al the cise ia the ca; depletes the teacher ney, fethuslasm, and tine. ArT Beam more worn down by the struggle to ‘nerd my son's bad boy bebvior sls patience withthe rug einschool Two yeas ag, I decided to explore the thinking snd etn ff thee cilren ed began, very self consoudy, documenting hse o> es, Why do Tus the word elf conztaly here? Mast probably beats Thad the uncomfortable fing hat might be pt of he publam ‘What ar bad boys elly Ik? ArT have tasked Wei behavior and setions inthe dasroom, sad eomperodthae with my son perone both “ad ayn he Cowra s a school and at home, certain consienis ve emerge. Unlike the picture mom teachers (inclding, Initially, mye) have of Sham a ai fered, opsentl learner, these chdrn se often very creative, deny {Hinkers who have an abscate love for meaty caccala, Most are estve td in some waye feminine in Ger sftspokenes, but they seo lve laud nase, yling,pasag and shoving, and lntense physicality. Thay often find school hardin hat hey dono lly want fllow my das Sf what they ought tolear; and although they are eventual er cos fa) tit and lean odo, they always resist any efforts to rake ering routine or cilia. They beome voracious readers who donot want to pare up the Ineratare to fil in worksheet and answer compehenion goat. They tus often srtellen witha very mievou and naughty agenda, Many ‘them cee roqued writing angameste and serie all ver Chair pes ling them with eraaer and eroming on, but they ove to do ‘neticlows handwriting cei, and sometimes, when thetr mas gts the beter of them, they ret oot withthe mot pial and pote wating br langasgs, such athe poom tht opens this chapter. They ane every Student teachers nightmaze, and they wil do everything in their power to tothe baddest ofthe bad boy: Crow tings, tra thir back on teachers, sr fights, tall os of tare, alk out of tom, alk out of tara. Often a {sone othe prime weapons Thave Found that thee boys ve many quale that, ara teacher, mie an work to culate, They are ral that I beleve sr impart forall leareers Yet even f thew boy become more engaged ia my els room, they retain thoes bad boy characteris that deve ober touches to sterner meas of conte, Some end up spending snort every msc, [and even gym la nthe fle itg on the bene bene they are fo diraptiv, epoca whea the teacher are women. They find ther shor under constant srtiey and cota. The dd gas Bie, offen Bring eet rom a elas be ks, nd the teacher dread his appearance ‘in elas All teachers recognize bud boys when they ss them, td they now they ae ob now belive that ese bos, for many comer reasons, work contol the dynamics of a lasreom, determining ts dicoure se, teacher management sratgies, and hidden agendas. T have Begun €0 avin thm as tle meters that ae fang irom outer space int te ‘croc of the castor. And in one cs, depending onthe penn Sly ofthe teacher an the yl ofthe schoo, the) are never pulled nto fhe casroom orbit choosing instead to bouee from ide to std, wae bing and erasing into the eer orbiting bodies, always reiting the pl Py pipe ofthe Ordinary cf grvy ilo the ctr of he cstoom community, This metaphor ap ok at th hss boys opting ed hanging the edpuve pat ee afimy secre nh casrtom, metas fo years sen ing cone cbdaen, hrasng eter, aod ditring mas. T wood, tre what massed for hse ches a wth 6 {ing ed pe my son—speding Joa aod yeu urhaply nan ‘Exsuton that abd ft What nin he satonp boon hee boys and sel that eats thet erin, « emma tat ity belo ca eae «sp forthe way thy wie ot hes Ho can fsa teacher, explore that plnt of low a leno a pall en Into th aaestrerm ofthe caso? ‘At Thave thought about ud boys, Thaecleted i stor, ome f the hari fake ts, ne talon fom ter ing ste ‘os ht thy hae tain pla ordre, tt ree eflig ea the paygound Many ef theories be no word bt inp ow tae toys pan tho ration te wor. Many of hee ere conv the coon oration of he uy tepy, cd ‘ho dba drops easroom aa, Al of them porta cl ten whore needa eens dey ented the ste of test ‘hala we ow them, In presage of thn {ave como & Scrip the Sl with ert remy ld ae Alex ‘Alex a ch who is pegyod asa bad boy before his mouth evn ‘opens, Usa dred in blac trlerak and ean with xb boots ‘ot ise, his unsaling face and closely cropped hai ive hm the sir of ‘omeone tobe reckoned with. He brite easly atthe slightest afront om another il, often striking out with hs elbows and sci men gly. Avastadet, bis at fist sllen and often responsive, besa g cas frstrated at repelve as or writing segment He dt the ‘wentons betwen subjects that ake him aay from his inte tran oF ‘hough td often refuse to put away coe pac of work ta begin another. “At eos, ean ually spot Alex out onthe des ofthe pleygrousd, oldinga huge branch or sck alt, leading ine of boys on ome rye flows chase ser the playground, Later he wil be crouched on he found wing the ack to aig «Bole tn the turk Leaves, tw and ranches wil pe up as Alex and fend ald ingiary trucures, Ofer teachers, ineluding myeel, el reprimand Alex forthe way in whieh he ‘cari thesticks and branches, ees aggresive, slr mirroring Ales simmering quality, as if the dighest change in nent could make Bien dangerous, “Bal” Boyt the Caso sr ‘Yet closer observation reveals «child of great complet, and sci sy. ‘Fla Notes: A basis anda ati play improvisational jain the ‘background asa moverent sein bogie, The chiren st quiet, the begin tos. Alex sup immediatly, novng tothe qk tae ‘to rhythn, He in complete conte, erasing and recog theroom, weaving in and out of dense resp of cden, me of ‘whom ae dancing in pais, hi fst moving nq inet the ap ‘hythm. He ies laenco dancer, deed In backseat {ng fist his way thea tat, body twisting and taring hands pus ing the spac ay in angular aod deol, ees sein, face ssl. Tiss uly a dace: tanized and tanported, He ody tnd mind moving throogh pace. Each mors th ides doin thi ature, Tt tale Sern sorczco ey roto, Hens with oe raping atl cea ‘with bold colors and simple forms. Alx Spends great del af ine “Soming cls, ng the Crypt oe an ed, apg ‘has at wold owes latins uta work ss ‘onzston Whence chien ume toga ings Sere thrm Th re ot an oe. Saya bringin a ashet of Shepherds Purse willowersto share, She shows show to snap each sed pod back, turn the sen ude

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