This teacher wrote the following response to a post about “close reading” in first grade. When I read her or his comment, I thought of John Greenleaf Whittier’s great poem “Barbara Frietchie.” I leave it to you to figure out why.
The first-grade teacher wrote:
“Retired teacher, you hit the nail on the head! Six year olds are not ready for this! I am a first grade teacher, and this CCSS garbage is going to ruin our children’s education. In desperation this week, I pulled out my old Margaret Hillert books & used them in my reading groups. The children were so excited, and said, “Teacher, we can read these! This is so fun!” It nearly brought me to tears. In first grade, it’s all about Reading, capital R. My job is to make my babies fall in love with the written word-to make them not be able to wait to turn the page to find out for themselves what funny thing Junie B. Jones or Amelia Bedelia is going to do next. I’ve been teaching first graders to read for 19 years. I know what works. I’m keeping the Margaret Hillert books on the reading table and Pearson Publishers, David Coleman, and Bill Gates can come pry them from these gnarled hands.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reading under the blankets with a flashlight…a love of reading and reading to learn. My Father (an ES Education prof) often noted that if we taught sex-ed the way we taught reading, that we could wipe out the species in a generation. And for successful readers, reading in school is not how they learn to read–they learn at home, riding in the car…and school should amplify and increase this self- learning. So how do we think about learning holistically? How do we think about reading not as just a skill but part of the human need to learn, to communicate, to share, to tell stories–that it’s language learning which is how we think.
Give them a reason to read, to share, to talk, to draw, to work in discourse, to make a difference in their small and then ever larger in communities…ES can do this well if we stop the nano-particles of decontextual learning.
Buy and give out books, fund libraries and encourage family reading time. TURN OFF THE SCREENS!!!!
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My 6-year-old first grader was recently required (on a bubble test, of course) to read four sentences and decide which of them contained an example of alliteration. The mother in me is horrified. The early childhood educator in me can’t stop asking WHY?
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Why? Gates and Coleman and their kind love to outsmart 6-year-olds.
What’s the biggest class at the University of Washington?
Introduction to dinosaurs.
6 year olds need to memorize the meaning of words like alliteration, and once 18 year olds are college ready, they learn about dinosaurs.
Go figure.
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Ryan and Amy and the teacher who wrote to Diane — I am a retired first grade teacher/reading specialist and everything you have all said is sooooooo true. It breaks my heart to think what these so-called reforms and never ending testing are doing to our precious little ones who come to school so excited to learn to read. Then, before you know it they have all their enthusiasm and interest stolen from them by the excessive testing and unrealistic standards thrust upon them. They deserve so much better.
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“Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
bravest of all in Frederick town,she took up the flag the men hauled down…”; My fourth grade teacher — Mrs Debbie Smith in Temple Hills MD — made the world come alive through social studies and the arts. We memorized Barbara Fritchie — a very long poem to a 4th grader — and did a choral recitation for our families as part of our integrated Maryland unit. Let’s just say that it is almost 50 years since I sat in Mrs. Smith’s class and I can still recite the poem and have lots of good ideas about the historical and geographic contexts. Wonder what David Coleman would say about that?
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Barbara hung the American flag outside her window as “Down the street came the rebel tread; Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. Stop! the Rebel troops stood fast. Fire! Out the rifle blast. ……”Shoot if you must this old gray head. But spare your coutry’s flag she said.” I know that’s not quite the correct wording, but I wrote it from memory, Diane, just to show you I loved it, too.
Joanne Yatvin
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Reblogged this on Mansfeld225 and commented:
For the love of reading…and click on the poem. It will make you cry.
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This is a great post with a wonderful last line..version of the NRA from my hands you will NOT take this book. Made my day. Thank you.
I can’t remember learning to read.
I do remember a grade three assignment to write a poem and illustrate it on a separate sheet of paper.
We read our poems to a first or second grade class and showed them our illustration of the poem. That required poise and patience, especially from the younger students.
These poems and illustrations were then put into a book format and placed in the school library for the whole school to see.
So we were learning to read, to write, to speak, and to listen, with attention to rhymes and rhythms, and adjectives, must make pictures in mind with words, not just draw pictures.
We were learning skills in self-presentation for an audience, and introduced to the idea that our writing and artwork was worthy for placement in the library.
This without an SLO in sight, no CCSS.
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Math instruction has been squeezing the life out of numbers since I can remember. Never thought you could squeeze the life out of words and stories. Common Core ELA standards seem to be doing just that.
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I also recommend Arnold Lobel’s books. My elementary ELL students loved anything by him. Although these books may have been written a few years ago, my ELL students devoured them. They deal with wonderful themes of friendship, taking responsibility and learning how to handle your feelings. My older ELLs also felt as though they were reading a “chapter” book, and the animal illustrations didn’t insult them. They were excited by reading. Isn’t that the way it should be?
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Fly Guy!!! I first gave one of these books to a far-behind second grader and asked a more proficient neighbor to help her read it. The proficient neighbor was a little jealous that her struggling neighbor got to read such a good book!
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There is disagreement in the field–and it won’t be settled by Federal mandates. There is research for and against different methods, concluding with the novel idea that some children learn best one way, and others another. Majorites are irrelevant. The “close reading” idea however lies outside anyone’s known theory for young children–thus no research backs it up.
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Would that your common sense would propagate and become more common…
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Bravo!!! I believe Frank Smith is attributed with the statement, “The more they read, the better they read and the better they read, they more they read.” As a former NBPTS certified early childhood teacher and current teacher educator, I applaud teachers who put their children first! Thank you.
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Perfect poem to go with this post. I’ve always thought that the Fireside Poets were unfairly maligned; Whittier is one of my favorites.
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This is a fabulous, important post. Don’t we want children to fall in love with reading? To be captivated by unforgettable characters? To laugh, cry, shriek, shake their heads in disbelief, groan with embarrassment, have their jaws drop and their eyes widen in wonder…all because of a book?
I teach middle schoolers, not elementary children, but I want them to experience the same excitement as the little ones. After nearly two decades in the classroom, I have found that the best way to help adolescents become good readers is to provide as many types of books as possible, read engaging stories and novels aloud, show them that I, too, love to read, and give them some support when they struggle.
I have nearly 2,000 books in my classroom that I have picked up at tag sales and library book sales. These include as many of the newest vampire, zombie, or dystopian series that I can find as well as old-fashioned favorites like Nancy Drew, the Babysitters Club, and the Oz books. I also have many books that some “expert” probably feels are not at a challenging enough level. But frankly, I have never seen a student harmed by devouring “too many” graphic novels, fantasy books, adventure stories, or Wimpy Kid tales.
And — in for a penny, in for a pound — when my students are finished with a book I actually ask them for their personal opinion about what they read. Sometimes I ask if they have a connection to a story. Frequently I will talk about the context that adds to a work’s significance. If the ONLY questions I ask are text-dependent, aren’t I short-changing my students? Isn’t it my job to provide context, and challenge them to seek it out as well?
P.S. I remember reading the Barbara Frietchie poem in my 6th grade classroom. My teacher was Mrs. Kiernan. She asked different students to read different parts of the poem aloud, and I got to do the lines “Shoot if you must this old gray head, but spare your country’s flag, she said.” I can still remember how much we enjoyed reading that poem and how our teacher made it come alive for us. I was in 6th grade in 1961, and I still remember reading that poem.
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Steven Krashen points out that the best way to create a “nation of readers” is to allow students to self select and read for pleasure. He argues all the money wasted on the CCSS would be better spent developing fully stocked school libraries. See the following: http://skrashen.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-common-core-disaster-for-libraries.html
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And paying for librarians. We’ve discovered that having the books without the librarian does not help.
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I want to weigh in on this topic. I chose my screen name, RetAZLib, because I was a retired Elementary School Librarian. I’ve gone back to work, teaching. Unfortunately, not as a librarian. That’s one of the first positions cut to pay for test prep and technology for testing. I know that choice is the most important thing in improving reading skills.
The best way to improve reading skills is to read more. And students read more when they WANT to know about the topic. The best question a librarian can hear is “Do you have another book like this?” I want to add two related comments. I seem to recall a quote by Deasey when there were hearings over laying off librarians in LAUSD. I believe he said, “We don’t need libraries anymore; everyone will be using E-readers.” I’ve often wondered if he was already deep in the Apple/Pearson deal by then. The second related comment was about close reading. If “the powers that be” want students to practice close reading, why can’t they start with something like the Encyclopedia Brown Mystery Series by Donald Sobol?
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This is such an important post. Three of my four grandchildren are primary grade students. As a retired middle school teacher I am amazed at what they are doing. The 3-5 language arts curriculum has been pushed into the primary grades. What a total lack of understanding by David Coleman!
How in the world is this helping children love reading? This is when they are most excited about learning!
I live in a city named after the poet John Greenleaf Whittier. It’s unfortunate that so many people are unaware of who he was.
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What has been said about CC reading standards in first grade, I am sure can also be said about math. Already in kindergarten CC is problematic. I felt like a laser gun hit me as I looked at the workbook on my daughter’s table- “Common Core Math Workbook” published by Pearson Co. It is a workbook that stays at home except on Fridays. Pages are not to be ripped out. My grandson, as I mentioned previously, is in kindergarten and won’t be five until the end of Oct.
There are several things that bother me about that workbook. First of all, kindergarten children should not be given homework; parents need time to read to their children. Evidently the teacher can’t meet the standards with her 26 students so she forces the parents to become tutors regardless if they have time or not. Schools have no right to dictate to parents how to utilize their time at home.
Another aspects about that math workbook is that is requires using a pencil. Parents don’t necessarily know how to help their child hold the pencil correctly. Bad habits formed at an early age remain throughout life. I cringe when I see adults wrap their entire fist around a pencil or have all the finger tips on the pencil. My daughter gave her son a thick marker to use to do his homework because he could control it better. The teacher responded telling her to have her son use a pencil. He exerts more energy trying to control the pencil instead of concentrating on the concept being developed.
The workbook has no color or eye catching pictures to develop concepts. The workbook pages assigned to reinforce the concept of three via 7-4 and subsequent sentences were four rows of examples. My grandson was expected to cross out all the objects on a line not needed for the number three; e.g. with 7 circles four had to be crossed out. With 8 circles 5 had to be crossed out etc. Then he had to practice writing the numerals. While eating his clementine after school, he had no problem understanding less and greater than or what happens when slices are eaten- taken away. He is not ready for the didactic regimentation and the semi-abstract.
Another aspect that bothered me is that math is only one part of his homework. He had phonics and a sight word to commit to memory, review the five sense and his parents are expected to read 20 min. to him each night. Reading to him should have been the engaging activity and no more.
I always ask him what story his teacher read to him. All too often he doesn’t remember – I hope it isn’t the fact that his teacher might not have read a story to the class. Yesterday he remembered the story of the “Ugly Pumpkin.” HIs grandfather than showed him the story of the “Ugly Duckling” on U Tube via his iPad. From there he made up all kinds of stories with the same structure but different characters such as “The Ugly Tiger”, “The Ugly Turtle… plus there was a connection made with his little brother. He went up to him and gave him a hug.
Election is a month away. We need to actively support all the candidates that want to get rid of the Common Core and its high stakes testing. The powers that be are pouring tons of money into campaigning to hinder our candidates who are speaking out against the Common Core.
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My daughter is in a dual language kindergarten class in NYC. The homework is crazy! I totally agree that kindergarteners should not have homework at all. I’m a full time working, single parent, so her after school program work on her homework with her. I had to speak to a supervisor to get them to have her stop after a half hour. What happened to Chancellor Farina’s promise to bring back the joy of learning to the classroom?
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My daughter is in a dual language kindergarten class in NYC. The homework is crazy! I totally agree that kindergarteners should not have homework at all. I’m a full time working, single parent, so her after school program work on her homework with her. I had to speak to a supervisor to get them to have her stop after a half hour. What happened to Chancellor Farina’s promise to bring back the joy of learning to the classroom?
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Children at this age are naturally curious, and they do best when they learn through their senses. As you pointed out, your grandson had no problem understanding the concept through the real experience of eating sections of a clementine .It was the perfect “teachable moment.” What do you think your grandson will remember, his workbook page or his real experience? Five year old children need to explore and meet with success. In my experience, success breeds success, and we all know what failure does.
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The ultimate “unreal” experience is that received via a computer/tablet/cell phone screen. Kids need all three dimensions and things that smell and feel a certain way.
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One of the best programs I have ever seen and used is something called,”Math Their Way.” It was designed by a woman who struggled in math herself. The premise of the approach was that children need to understand to learn more. Too many math programs make a lot of assumptions about the learners and move to abstract ideas too soon, Her program allowed students to use manipulatives to explore the target concept. Only when students had these understandings could they then move to the symbolic level of doing math with numbers. It worked great in K and 1st and gave the kids a good foundation.
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I agree MTW was a great program. We first grade teachers taught it to ourselves and used it in our classrooms.
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I have always loved the lines:
“Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country’s flag,” she said.
Thank you for reminding us of this poem.
😎
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I am deeply saddened by this post. My district has become program driven. We have a program to teach reading but there are now 3 reading blocks in our day since we are a D school. The state mandates a program for Tier II intervention and another program for extra reading instruction. There is no correlation between the fragmented programs. We have a program for math and another for math intervention. We have a science program but no social studies program and both are given a meager 20 minutes a day. Several programs are online only and kids hate them and say they are boring and too hard.
We are no longer allowed to teach with good books or to have classrooms humming with excitement over a praying mantis or a bag of apples. That is not in the programs. We are threatened with discipline if we are caught doing things the old way during random walk throughs using the nefarious Danielson rubric.
I sneak what I can as far as read alouds and living things in when I can but our discipline problems are skyrocketing and the kids are bored and overwhelmed much of the day with recess no longer allowed either.
This is the result of Jeb Bush, NCLB, RTTT, CCSS, and all the reformist mess.
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Jeb Bush is behind the scenes pulling Scott’s strings. He’s another “know it all” Bush. Rather than making millions sucking oil from the earth, he wants to make his millions sucking the life blood out of American children. The dumbest idea I ever heard is his “Virtual Preschool.” It’s about as brilliant as invading Iraq.
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We also have a state mandated ELL program that the kids hate. Forgot ot add it to my list of complaints! lol
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I taught ESL in New York and left before the deformers took over, I taught English and content in a literature rich environment to my ELLs If I had had to work in such a toxic, oppressive environment, I would have been going out of my mind. Keep your chin up as they will topple in time.
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Imagine the rigorous, stultifying EngageNY treatment that “Barbara Fretchie” would receive: “first, kids, cold read the standards. Now here’s the standard we’re going to learn today. Turn to your neighbor and discuss the standard. Now read the poem cold by yourselves. Now let’s read it aloud together. How does this poem relate to the standard? Discussion. End of class: now didn’t we learn a wonderful standard today?”
Understanding this poem depends on background knowledge about the Civil War –including the looks of the two sides’ flags and uniforms, the fact that Maryland was a border state. Under NCLB kids were unlikely to learn facts about the Civil War, and CCSS won’t change this. Understanding also depends on knowledge of a lot of words that many of my seventh graders don’t know: “royal”, “bier”, “rent”, “score”, “spires”, “rebel”, “horde”, etc. If I were teaching this poem, I would briefly explain the Civil War before reading it (since, these days, few teachers can count on kids knowing about this event)) and then explain these vocabulary words as we read the poem together, rather than leaving the kids to struggle with them. In this way, kids would start to learn about the Civil War and the new vocabulary words, as well as more quickly apprehend the gist of the poem. But Common Core does not conceive of literacy development this way. It’s got to be an arduous, “unscaffolded” workout of one’s analytical skills, the better to strengthen mythological “complex text reading muscles”. No problem if this struggle takes place in a knowledge vacuum. Teacher interventions like the ones I mentioned will keep the kids’ minds weak. The text becomes mere fodder for mental weight-lifting exercises of dubious value. Thus we foist on our kids the CCSS’s untested hypothesis about how to make “college ready” readers.
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Way to go! I totally agree with you :).
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The new first grade….what 3rd grade used to be! Such a sad state of things……
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