Knowledge and Reading: What Happens to 4th Grade Readers Who Struggle & Positive Role of Robust Reading Aloud

I was reading Gina Cervetti and Freddy Hiebert's article, Knowledge, Literacy and the Common Core, (Language Arts, 92 (4), 256-269) and thought a lot about the fourth grade children I have been working with who are in the middle of a study of Greek mythology and how their increasing knowledge of myths helps them to learn more about mythology and to read increasingly challenging texts. As Luis and others in the class have told me, we're Greek mythology experts.

In the article, Cervetti and Hiebert argue well that knowledge and comprehension are synergistically related and do so by providing four claims that are all research-supported.  Specifically, they find:

1. "...knowledge of the topic has been found to influence comprehension" (p. 257).
2. "...general world knowledge, not simply topic- or domain-specific knowledge associated with a text has also been found to aid comprehension" (p.257).
3. "...knowledge supports inferring and higher-level comprehension processes, not simply remembering information from a text" (p. 258).
4. "...while knowledge aids comprehension for all students, having a knowledge base can be particularly beneficial for students with lower levels of reading skill...Knowledge about a topic can compensate for reading skills" (p. 259).

Whereas all of these statements are interesting, it is the last claim that most interests me as I think about some of the students and how reading aloud first followed by small group comprehension conversations has proved valuable. In the design of the unit, we privileged reading a variety of Greek myths aloud first, along with independent reading (managed choice of texts) before beginning small group comprehension conversations. As I was modeling for teachers the process for comprehension conversations, I worked with the highest performing readers in the class in one group and the most struggling readers in a separate group. The text I had selected for the children who most often struggle as readers was Joan Holub's The One-Eyed People Eaters: The Story of Cyclops. The text has a lexile level of 400 and also is coded as a guided reading text level K (beginning of second grade). The four students in the group (2 boys and 2 girls) have a history of reading difficulty and all receive special education services.

Comprehension Conversations

A comprehension conversation is a scaffolded method for guiding students' reading.  Students read a text or portion of a text and write answers to a few questions the teacher has prepared. This helps the teacher to ascertain the children's understanding of the text and to prepare for the conversation she or he will have with students. Specifically, the teacher prepares factual, inferential, and when appropriate critical questions for students to answers and then reads the students' responses prior to meeting with them. The student responses help the teacher to determine the content of the conversation, by seeing how well students understood the factual aspects of the text and more inferential understandings. Some questions that help are:

1. What did the children understand about what actually happened in the text? Did anything disrupt this understanding? What are my theories?
2. When asked to infer, to what end were children able to do this?  Did anything disrupt this understanding? What are my theories?
3. When asked to think critically across a text, were children able to do this?  Did anything disrupt this understanding? What are my theories?

Based on the interpretation of students' answers, the teacher then crafts an engagement with the students that will help to explicate the areas of comprehension strengths and challenges the students showed. Usually, I want to anchor a group's reading of a text before engaging in a such a conversation. In this case, I wanted to make sure the children could actually manage the reading before setting them out to read and respond to a few questions. 

The children's significant knowledge of different Greek myths and how they are related has impressed me as I've worked with this small group. Their knowledge of Odysseus allows them to understand the Holub book with greater ease.  Although they had not read about the Cyclops and how Odysseus outsmarts it, they did know about Odysseus, the Battle of Troy and the Trojan Horse.  So when Holub's book opens, we are met with a tired Odysseus who is making his way home after the Fall of Troy. The children's understanding of the text at a factual level allowed me to set a task for them that would help me to see how they inferred about Odysseus based on his actions and dialogue.

Tomorrow, I'll try out the charts with students and then use what they generate to inform the conversation we have on Friday.  In addition, I'll be sharing a collage by Romare Bearden, The Cyclops from his work, Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey, so we can discuss how Bearden portrays the Cyclops.

Romare Bearden's Cyclops.

4th Graders Wanting to Learn More = Productive Learning

I. And What Do You Mean By Learning?

I know the learning is going well when I top the staircase and enter into the hallway and from the distance of a city street I can hear the children's voices in Mr. Watson's class.  As I enter the classroom, this is what I see:

Purposeful Learning in Grade 4

Some students are illustrating myths, others are creating a comic series, Mr. Watson is engaged with a small group, while other students record a myth and on and on and on. The atmosphere in this 4th grade classroom in Newark, NJ is joyful, purposeful, and appropriate for children.

Earlier tonight during a Twitter chat, I had reason to mention Seymour Sarason's book, And What Do You Mean by Learning? Sarason defines learning as either being productive or not.  In the preface of the text, he writes:  

Learning is not a thing it is a process...And by productive, I mean that the learning process is one that engenders and reinforces wanting to learn more. Absent wanting to learn, the learning context is unproductive or counterproductive. Is it not noteworthy that the word or concept of learning probably has the highest of all word counts in the diverse literature in education and yet when people are asked what they mean by learning they are taken aback, stammer or stutter, and come up with a sentence or two which they admit is vague and unsatisfactory? (ix-x)

Mr. Watson reading aloud today in 4th Grade.

The children in this classroom want to learn more and do so.  Mr. Watson, his students, and I are exploring Greek myths by listening to texts being read aloud, reading myths in small (un)guided groups, independently reading written, audio, and visual texts, and doing lots and lots of talking, drawing, and writing. The children do this with and without their teachers. They use resources found in their classroom and at home to deepen their understanding of mythology and often to answer questions they pose as they learn.  I noticed today that squirreled away in their desks are books they are reading about myths, mythological creatures, plays, comics, cartoons, histories and more. Given that we usually work in a 2 to 3-hour block and the children do not seem to tire even a little--I know the work matters simply because they want to learn more. 

II. Reading Greek Myths

For the last week I have had the privilege to teach Dionni, Antoine, Luis and Kamila--all of whom are fourth graders in this public school classroom.  These children, like their classmates, are capable and motivated to read a Nathaniel Hawthorne text as all things Greek mythology are of interest. Their teacher has engendered a desire on the part of the children to want to learn more. There's not a child in the room who isn't turned on. Way turned on.

I like to think of the small group work I do with the children as being (un)guided. I call it (un)guided to suggest that the teaching is neither guided nor unguided, but rather both guided and unguided. I'm always looking for a space in the work we compose where I can bow out and the kids can take over. We shuffle control back and forth as needed. So it's not unusual that earlier today I found myself smiling as I realized I could sit back further in my seat and listen when Dionni said to the other 3 in her group, "There's one thing I've been thinking about that I just don't get. Why didn't Ceres just use her powers to find her daughter?" 

It's the command and tone that lets me know Dionni is on to something she values. We are at the midpoint of Hawthorne's story, The Pomegranate Seeds, which is his retelling of Demeter and Persephone that he published in 1853.  It's a challenging text.  Today it will be Antoine who will help us explore Dionni's question as he uses an example from his Minecraft play to help us contextualize why Ceres' powers cannot help her to find Proserpina.

Antoine tells us:

One time when I was playing Minecraft I used a portal and got transported to the Netherworld.  It's all lava there--like what I think Pluto's Underworld is like.  Anyway, the portal got damaged, it got shot, and I was stuck there for awhile. I had to make do with what was there. I couldn't use anything I had back in my chests. Finally, I  found a way out of the Netherworld by fixing the portal. You see what I mean? That's what it's like for Ceres. Her power works on Earth, but not in Pluto's Underworld. She can't use her powers to find Proserpina. That's why she's so upset. She's pretty powerless.

Dionni who is also a Minecrafter catches on immediately. "I get it.  She can speed up crops on Earth, get the animals to help, but she can't use those powers to help Proserpina because she's already in the Underworld with Pluto. It's like she doesn't have a Portal to get there or to get her power there."

"That's why Hawthorne says she's sad and anxious," says Luis reminding us of a section from the text we had just reread.

"Could you read that section to us?" asks Dionni.

He reads: "And when they saw only a sad and anxious woman, with a torch in her hand and a wreath of withered poppies on her head, they spoke rudely, and sometimes threatened to set the dogs upon her."

"And she's a goddess and she expects her power to work and it isn't," adds Kamila.

"She's so ungoddess-like. The people in the palace want to set the dogs on her. That's not what she's used to," adds Dionni.

"I also notice the poppies which were fresh at the start of the story are now wilted, kind of like her  spirit," I add.


III. Why This All Matters

"I think we should read on," Kamila tells the group and they chat briefly, deciding to read the next few pages and determining a stopping point. They're used to taking charge and do so. A few minutes later, a music teacher arrives and it seems that everyone has forgotten that today is music.  There's a bit of a clamor as the children put away their books, roll up drawings, and leave the classroom. Mr. Watson and I are seated at a table in the room when the one remaining child, Xavier, whom I don't know well, makes his way to the table.

"Hey, you think I could be an expert tomorrow?" he asks his teacher. "I'm gettin' this Greek mythology." 

"Yeah, show us your stuff," Mr. Watson tells him.

"Yeah, I got stuff to show," he says with a certain pride before turning and leaving the room.

The child is fairly new to the city, the school and the classroom and he's got stuff to show. Thankfully he's landed in a place where that matters, where we're not confused about what we mean when we talk about learning.

BTW, I've blogged about this experience in these other two posts: 

• The Power of Reading Aloud & Comprehension Conversations in Grade 4
• Noticing: 4th Graders & Literary Language & Techniques

The Power of Reading Aloud & Comprehension Conversations in Grade 4

Two fourth graders reading during small group comprehension conversation. 

I.  Big Questions 

It's early morning in a fourth grade classroom in Newark, NJ and the children and their teacher are at work studying Greek mythology. Beyond the classroom windows the weather hints at the possibility of spring.  But March has already been fickle and most anything could occur. Against the quiet of the classroom you can hear cars and trucks rumble by--the highway that splits this city runs just a few feet from the school. And in this mix of sounds it is the voice of one boy that we must pay attention to.

He turns and says to his teacher and classmates, "I've been thinking about the myths we are reading. How they are thousands of years old.  Do you think a thousand years from now people will think Christian and Muslim religions are myths, too?"

When the teacher tells about the child's question, I am contemplative--considering how children compose profound ideas in the company of their peers and alongside excellent teachers.

No gimmicks needed.
No scripts required.
No reform necessary.

What is needed are just a few well chosen texts, the agency to act, the mindfulness to notice singularities, and the intimacy of learning that gets made and remade alongside an exchange of ideas.

II. How Read Aloud Matters

As I listen to Mr. Watson, I'm reminded that in the right hands, read aloud can be a powerful method of knowledge building and need not be limited to the primary grades.  For the last several weeks, Watson has been reading Greek myths to his students and they have been talking, charting, and drawing what they understand, want to understand, and at times fail to understand. There's an intensity here as the children lean in physically, offer their comments, questions, and connections to one another.  You can feel the power that accompanies the made idea.  I tell you here that to see such learning is to know joy.

Children in this class have heard and read multiple versions of myths about: Prometheus, Epimetheus, Pandora, Persephone/Proserpina, Hades/Pluto, Demeter/Ceres, Echo, Narcissus, Hera, King Midas, Daedalus, Icarus, Pegasus, Bellerphon, Chimaera, Jason, Eros/Cupid, Perseus, Medusa, Hyperion, Zeus/Apollo, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Artemis, Cronus, Hercules, Aegeus, Heracles, the Minotaur, Theseus, Ariadne, Odysseus, Cyclops. I'm going to build on this foundation.  And it is a sturdy one.  As Luis will say about himself when I meet with him and three of his peers, You could say I'm an expert on Greek myths. 

III. Studying Hawthorne's Retelling of Greek Mythology: Small Group Comprehension Conversations

A example of a story map.

The work that Watson has been doing for the last few weeks provided the foundation for small group comprehension conversations about myths that I conducted with his students. In order to model what these conversations can encompass, I asked him to select students who I then worked with in order to demonstrate the process to other teachers.  On Thursday, I introduced Luis, Antoine, Dionni and Kamila to Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, The Pomegranate Seeds, which is a retelling of Persephone but based on Roman deity.  In order to scaffold the students while reading, I provided questions for the four students to think about and discuss at various points in the text (blue print), word explanations (red print), and some background notes (blue print).

Below are the first two pages of the story that show how I altered the text.  Because the students had heard their teacher read two other versions of Persephone, they are well versed in the story and could easily retell it. They also are familiar with both the Greek and Roman gods/goddesses and are able to understand quickly the alignment between Persephone and Proserpina, etc.  A main focus during the read alouds is the construction of story maps. These help children to not only grasp a literal understanding the myths, but also to name possible themes and symbols.

Page 1

Page 2

After the retelling, the students and I began reading the first page to ourselves.  I used the first four guide questions as discussion points making sure that students were able to comprehend what they were reading. These questions were used to generate conversation among the group and because comprehension was excellent, I invited the students to work collaboratively to read through the next few pages, stopping to make a prediction where indicated and to draw, label, and discuss their visualization of the last paragraph on page 2 and to then read on from there. They would work for the next hour.

IV. Nocturnal Tendencies

Dionni' s Sketch and Word Selection. Dionni mentioned that she placed
the ? on the face to indicate that the king is unknown to Proserpina.
She explained later to me that she got the idea while speaking with Luis.

While these students worked in a different part of the room,  I demonstrated another comprehension conversation with a different group of students who were reading a text about Odysseus's encounter with Cyclops.  I had infused that text with a few questions too. Understanding was anchored with students reading, annotating, and discussing the first two chapters of the text.  One of these discussions led us to view online a few of Romare Bearden's collages from The Black Odyssey.

These students then worked together to read and respond to the next few chapters and I returned to the first group who by that time had read on through page 4 of the text.

Instead of working through the text question by question, I asked the students if there was a section of the text or a question that was unclear.  Luis indicated that he didn't understand this question:

What did King Pluto's reaction to twilight and his characterization of sunlight tell you about him?

I don't understand that at all, Luis said. None of it.
Okay. Reread the question and think about what part is most confusing you. 

We reread to ourselves and then Dionni read the question aloud.

I don't get his reaction to twilight or what he says about sunlight, explained Luis.
What if we reread? Might that help? The children nod and I continue by asking, Luis can you show us the section in the text where Hawthorne mentions Pluto's feelings about twilight and sunshine?

Luis quickly finds the appropriate section and we all turn to it.  This is a continuation of the scene where Pluto has stolen Proserpina and they are in his chariot speeding towards the Underworld.  They have left the familiar landmarks of her world behind.

We reread and then I read the section aloud asking them to think about how they might retell the passage.

"Ah this twilight is truly refreshing," said King Pluto, after being so tormented with the ugly and impertinent glare of the sun.  How much more agreeable is lamplight or torchlight, more particularly when reflected from diamonds! It will be a magnificent sight when we get to my palace."

The talk initially is tentative as the students determine what they know. Kamila states that Pluto does not like light. Antoine clarifies saying its not all light and that Pluto likes the refreshing feel of twilight.  The kids are trying on ideas largely using Hawthorne's words. The group works together to establish that twilight happens between dusk and night and between dawn and sunrise. We use my phone to help us define impertinent and the students settle on the synonym, rude which they write above the word. This initial work helps them to begin to interpret, but this quickly dissolves into more confusion.

I then ask them to paraphrase sentence by sentence what is happening and they are able to offer this translation:

Even though it is midday, they are cast in a gloominess as the chariot flies across the land. Pluto is relieved to be out of the sunshine and thinks how the lighting in his palace, especially given all the diamonds, is more agreeable than the light from the sun. He's pleased to be getting close to his home.

Throughout this retelling, Luis is quiet as he listens to Kamila, Dionni and Antoine work the paraphrase.

Luis, does that help you to make sense of the passage and question? I ask.
He nods and then says, Pluto is nocturnal in thought and deed.

Nocturnal? Wow that's an interesting way to see him. I'd write that down, I tell the children, making note of Luis's words on my copy of the text.

Later, the teachers who have been observing and I express interest in how Luis characterized Pluto using a simple, yet profound statement.  The intense work of small group comprehension conversations rests on the weeks and weeks of hearing, discussing, and charting Greek myths via the read aloud that Watson has been conducting each day with his class.

Yet, what also connects read aloud and small group conversations in this classroom goes well beyond content.  It's about the space of permission that gets generated by the daily actions of the teacher and the children. They all know that big ideas are permitted and often happen while groping towards meaning.  This requires being wrong, being less precise, and being mindful to really hear that odd comment that when attended to opens the class to reconsider, rethink, rename something really big.

I think here of Gilles Deleuze who expressed this best when he wrote about the play of singularities. He noted, "beneath the general operation of laws, however, there always remains the play of singularities" (1994, p. 25). 

At the end of the day as I leave the school I'm thinking that it is so often this play of singularities that we must most tune our ears to hear. 

Works Read Aloud (So far...)

1. Burleigh, Robert. (2002). Pandora. Illustrated by Raul Colon. San Diego, CA: Silver Whistle/Harcourt.
2. Byrd, Robert. (2005). The Hero and the Minotaur: The Fantastic Adventures of Theseus.  New York:  Dutton Children's Books. 
3. Clayton, Sally Pomme.(2009). Persephone. Illustrated by Virginia Lee. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. 
4. Craft, Charlotte M. (1999). King Midas and the Golden Touch. Illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft. New York: HarperCollins. 
5. Craft, Charlotte M.  (1996). Cupid and Psyche. Illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft. New York: HarperCollins. 
6. Fisher,  Leonard Everett. (1990). Jason and the Golden Fleece.  New York: Holiday House.
7. Kimmel, Eric A. (Retold). (2008). The McElderry Book of Greek Myths. Illustrated by Pep Monetserrat. New York: Margaret L. McElderry Books. 
8. Mayer, Marianna. (1998). Pegasus. Illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft. New York: HarperCollins. ((960L)
9. Osborne, Mary Pope. (1989). "The Four Tasks: The Story of Cupid and Psyche" (pp. 57-66). In Favorite  Greek Myths. New York: Scholastic.
10. Russell, William F. (2010). Classic Myths to Read Aloud: The Great Stories of Greek and Roman Mythology, Specially Arranged for Children Five and Up by an Educational Expert. Crown Publishing  Group. Kindle Edition. 

Some of the Texts in Use for Small Group Comprehension Conversations

1. Evslin, Bernard. (1984). Prometheus from Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths. New York: Laurel Leaf. 
2. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. (1853/2014). Tanglewood Tales: Greek Mythology for Kids. Illustrated by Virginia Frances Sterrett. Cedar Lake, MI: ReadaClassic.  
3. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. (1852/2011). A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls: Greek Mythology for Kids. Illustrated by Walter Crane.  Cedar Lake, MI: ReadaClassic. 
4. Holub, Joan & Suzanne Williams. (2012). Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom. Illustrated by Craig Phillips. New York: Aladdin.
5. Holub, Joan & Suzanne Williams. (2012). Poseidon and the Sea of Fury. Illustrated by Craig Phillips. New York: Aladdin.
6. Holub, Joan & Suzanne Williams. (2013). Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire. Illustrated by Craig Phillips. New York: Aladdin.
7. Holub, Joan & Suzanne Williams. (2013). Hades and the Helm of Darkness. Illustrated by Craig Phillips. New York: Aladdin.
8. Holub, Joan. (2014). The One-Eyed People Eater: The Story of Cyclops. Illustrated by Dani Jones. Simon Spotlight. 
9. Little, Emily. (1988). The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War. New York: Random House Books for Young Readers. 
10. O’Malley, Kevin. (2005).  Mount Olympus Basketball. New York: Walker Childrens. 
11. Smith, Charles R (2008). The Mighty 12: Superheroes of Greek Myth. Illustrated by P. Craig Russell. New York: Little, Brown. 
12. Williams, Marcia. (2011). Greek Myths. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Deep Learning in 2nd Grade: One Child's Questions

Suzanne reading aloud in 2nd grade.

I.

What do we make of these questions that Christopher, a 2nd grader wrote while listening to his teacher, Suzanne Capuano read aloud chapter 8 of Cynthia Rylant's Gooseberry Park?

1. What is the danger that is going to come?
2. What are Stumpy and her babies doing during this ice storm?
3. What are Top, Bottom, and Sparrow doing while Stumpy is worrieng?

In the second grade where Christopher is a student, he and his classmates are engaged in a novel study that Suzanne (posts about Suzanne: here, here, here) has created. After the novel was anchored and students cared about the text, they began to write questions during the read aloud that they were wondering.

As I read Christopher's questions I thought about Nel Nodding's notions of caring and noticed that he wonders often about the welfare of major and minor characters. Noddings would tell us that an ethics of caring is an essential foundation that (in)forms ethical decision-making. I'd certainly agree.

In writing about care theory, Noddings notes that caring-about can be connected to cared-for.

The key, central to care theory, is this: caring-about (or, perhaps a sense of justice) must be seen as instrumental in establishing the conditions under which caring-for can flourish. Although the preferred form of caring is cared-for, caring-about can help in establishing, maintaining, and enhancing it. Those who care about others in the justice sense must keep in mind that the objective is to ensure that caring actually occurs. Caring-about is empty if it does not culminate in caring relations. (Noddings 2002: 23-4)

Christopher's questions reinforce the belief that the study of literature can provide opportunities for children to try on caring roles that begin with noticing other and lead to making ethical decisions based on the text. What is Kona willing to sacrifice to save his friend?  At the age of 8, these book-informed decisions are life-like. For example, there's an immediacy to Christopher's questions that suggest he is right there alongside Stumpy, Top, Bottom, and Sparrow.  Christopher's use of the definite article, this, in question 2 suggests an intimacy with the story's action. It's not an or even the ice storm, but rather this ice storm. He's right there.

The range of questions the children posed during the half-hour was extraordinary and could make for an interesting study about how young children think across a novel. As I listened and read, I wondered what patterns might emerge with regard to the children's question posing, such as Christopher's concern for the welfare of the characters.  Here's just a few of the questions children posed (orally and in writing) while I was there:

• Will Kona risk saving Stumpy? 
• Because Stumpy is his best friend, will Kona find a way to save him? 
• Now that Stumpy is scared will she change? Will she continue to be a great mom? 
• What's making us think Kona will do whatever is necessary to save Stumpy? 
• Isn't Stumpy already in serious trouble? Can Kona really help?
• What is Stumpy doing while Kona is worrying about Stumpy and her babies? 
• Why is Kona trying to save Stumpy when he will get hurt? 
• Why is Kona willing to risk him(self) to help Stumpy? Is that love? Friendship?
• Does it matter more that Kona is willing to risk than what happens?

II.

As I think about the importance of literature in Suzanne's class, I think of Alice Walker's critical question: If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for?  I realize that becoming better human beings isn't something Pearson can aptly test (and we may be the better for that) and doesn't show up as an explicit standard, but surely we don't need others to tell us that learning how to make ethical decisions in the safety of the classroom is apt and important learning. I'd be so bold as to say it could well be the most critical learning we can occasion. Years ago I was listening to Noddings lecture.  It was May of 2004, two weeks after 60 Minutes reported about Abu Grahib and Seymour Hersch's article about the abuses and torture at the prison was published in The New Yorker.  That day at Columbia University, Noddings raised the question about how outcomes might have been different if students learning how to make ethical decisions throughout their school lives was privileged. Might some of the soldiers have thought or acted differently?

Today while in Suzanne's class I was thinking about caring and the power that often accompanies such commitments. I noticed several things that could get lost given our rather singular focus on the CCSS & the various tests that accompany it.  These included:

1. Posing questions suggests an emancipation of sorts.  There's power to question making as opposed to the often singular role children occupy. They answer questions given to them day after day after day. One of the shortfalls of the high stakes testing in the United States is the servitude that accompanies question answering, not question posing. One only needs to think of the Walmart Greeter whose job it is to answer customers' questions to see how narrow such experience might be. In contrast, CEOs and others with power are expected to problem frame and question. 
2. I noticed that the children did not have to write questions, nor did they follow the directions at the top of the sheet. I'm guessing that Suzanne who has helped them to study question-posing all year used the sheet as it provided space for writing. 
3. Suzanne didn't stop reading in order for the children to write questions.  They did so at will. It's tedious to have to do everything together as a class and in some ways such requirements can be anti-intellectual. I loved the spirit here that children determine when and what to write. This makes sense.
4. The freedom to write or not, along with the joy the teacher and the students take in the text and each other gives me hope. There was a lot of giggling and some gasping as chapter 8 unfolded. No one needed to sit in a particular way, ask permission to get a tissue or drink of water, etc. and choice (in seat/standing, etc.) remained present throughout the reading. 
5. There's an intimacy that happens when literature is shared. This class cares for one another. The applause for 'smart thinking' and the way the children wait for their peers to finish a thought is significant. They help each other which is Nodding's cared-for in action.
6. Children talk to one another, look at each other, respect each other all without having to use 'accountable talk' tag lines that many adults think are important. They try on caring using their own language: "I hear you..." "See, that's what we're talking about..." "Yes, like that..." "Conner, Con, it's easy...".  They also demonstrate respect and encouragement by applauding one another's great thinking rather spontaneously.

I hope next fall when Pearson or PARCC or the State of NJ releases test scores that we will pause and remember this slice of learning and others like it. The most important things we do in the company of children are rarely measured by our high stakes tests.


Cited

Noddings, Nel (2002) Starting at Home. Caring and social policy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.