HELLO Dear Reader,
Call me crazy, but constructivist such as Piaget and Vgostsky are speaking to me.  IT seems that watching kid play reveals development.  And this creates the zone of proximal development through the story of play.  I am going to kid watch all day and try and match the story line with the cognitive development stage.  So we will talk later.

Hello Dear Reader,

I have just finished putting together a story for my grandson.  The story was fun and Jayden and I had a hoot reading it.  But what interested me was the impact that it made on my  young grandson's  understanding about the way print works that made the experience really stand out.  Young Jayden, was part of the whole "book writing" process and contributed by writing to the main character (Ernie) on a regular basis.  He owned  the story line and is having a blast sharing it with any family member who will listen. My learning intention was to  bring home the concept that writing has a purpose and can also be fun. 
I thought you might be interested in the story set-up.

 

Mystery Visitor at Brannenbrook

 

 

It wasn’t expected.  It wasn’t requested.  No one predicted it. It just happened one dark December morning.

I woke up kind of cranky.  It was still dark. 

“Winter! It’s  dark when you wake up.  It’s dark before supper . Winter isn’t fun!  Winter is dark.  I hate winter!”

I did a lot of complaining back then.  I complained in the morning.  I complained  in the afternoon.  And at supper-time, I complained. But that all changed December 12, 2014. 

Why this big change?  What made my frown turn upside down?   What happened to make Grandma Grumpy Pants do a three-sixty attitude adjustment?

I give full credit to a certain short visitor who showed up (totally uninvited ) in my living room.  And I mean really short...as in fifteen centimetres and I repeat TOTALLY UNINVITED!

 

 

He wore a floppy red hat with a white stripe.  He had a collar that was perfectly white.  His shirt was red and for some reason he wore white mittens.  His eyes twinkled.

 

 

 

At first I thought he had a smile on his face, but the more I looked, the more I would have to say it was an impish, mischievous grin. His arms and legs were long and skinny. Short, skinny and dressed in red and white. Oh and one more detail.  It was as if he was frozen in time.  Not a move did he make.

 

 

I decided to call Jayden.  He is short.  Maybe he knows what is going on.

“Jayden, get over here! There is a very short person playing scrabble with the Pine Forest animals! “ I yelled into the phone.

I decided to call Jayden.  He is short.  Maybe he knows what is going on.

“Jayden, get over here! There is a very short person playing scrabble with the Pine Forest animals! “ I yelled into the phone.

Jayden came running over to the house...(We live on the same farm.)

“Look! Can you believe your eyes?”

 

 “Grandma, he spelled BUM!”

“That is all you have to say?  He spelled BUM!!!!

Who is he ?  Why is he here?” What should we do?”

 

“I don’t know Grandma.  He looks like an Elf.  Let’s call him Ernie.  Ernie Elf. 

Hey, look at Moosie,  Reindeer and Mountain Goat.  They can read! Did you know they  play Scrabble? Did you know they could read?”

“This is a real mystery.  You better get to school.  There is something strange going on at this farm.” 

But Jayden didn’t seem to think it was very strange.  When he came home from school he came over and started playing Scrabble with Moosie,  Reindeer and Mountain Goat.  They had fun. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just hope Ernie doesn’t teach Moosie how to spell BUM!

 

 

 

The next morning was interesting.  As soon as I got out of bed, I checked to see if there was a Scrabble game going on.  Nope.  No scrabble game.  The drawer was no longer askew and everything seemed nice and tidy. 

 

Mysterious short visitor- gone. Pine Forest animals playing Scrabble- gone.  Good riddance to “Short Uninvited Guests”. 

 

I was just about to start complaining about the rotten winter weather when I saw something on the living room floor.

This is what I saw!

 

 

Twizzle Sticks!  Really?  How did he get into my secret candy cupboard?  I need to get a lock for that cupboard! Does he really think Pine Forest animals know how a maze works? 

On the third day of this madness, Jayden  discovered Ernie on the very top shelf of a bookcase. 

“Jayden, do you know what Ernie is doing all night long?” I asked, hoping my  grandson would solve this mystery.

Well Grandma, can’t you see?  They are playing

“Go Fish.”

 

“That is all you can say?  They are playing “Go Fish”!!!

 Why are they here?

How did they get in?

Where did they get the cards?

Who invited them?

How do the Pine Forest animals know how to read numbers?” I asked hoping my detective grandson would solve this mystery.

 

“Grandma, are you cranky today?  I think Ernie likes everyone to have fun.”

Don’t worry, I will write Ernie a letter and ask him to explain everything.”

Well Jayden wrote Ernie lots of notes, but Ernie only wrote back one time.    

Ernie asked if Jayden had good candy at his house. Can you believe this guy?

 

 

 

 

We are  finally getting used to our new visitor.  Jayden arrives bright and early to help me find the little imp.  I have to admit, he is kind of funny.

I also must agree with Jayden that Ernie likes everyone to have fun.

 

Here are more examples of Ernie’s antics.

Into the toothpaste! 

 

 

That’s right!  He likes to play checkers!

 

Ernie thought all the Pine Forest animals would like a candy cane feast.

 

 

 

One night he made angels in a pan of salt!

 

 

The next night he turned marshmallows into a bubble bath!

 

Ernie decided to visit Jayden’s house and got into Scott’s  shaving cream.  I didn’t think Elves needed to shave!

 

 

 

Ernie thinks he should be in a circus. One night he made a zip-line and used candy canes to swing across Jayden’s playroom!

Jayden worked hard to solve the “Ernie Mystery”.  He made lots of notes and kept a good  case file -as all good detectives do.  Here are some of his observations.

The Ernie Case File

1.  Grandma laughs every time she sees what Ernie has done all night long.

 

2.  Ernie has a hard time staying away from candy.

 

 

3.  Ernie likes to play games with his friends. (He has elf friends and likes Pine Forest Animals.)

 

4.  Ernie thinks shaving cream and toothpaste are play things.

 

5.  Ernie can read the letters I write him,  but he doesn’t answer important questions.

6.  Ernie and his friends did not get into the cookies we left for Santa.

7.  When Grandma went to feed the horses on Christmas morning ten bales of hay had disappeared- vanished!

 

 

8.  Grandma, Grandpa, Mummy, Scott, Jayden and Tubbs got all the things they asked for from Santa.

 

The Ernie Mystery remains unsolved. 

Maybe next year, on a dark December morning, we will discover a short, impish, uninvited, visitor on top of a bookshelf.

 

 

Ernie  Elf... you are always welcome at Brannenbrook Farm. 

You are fun and you make us laugh!

 

P.S. Lilly and Athena say they will make sure there is lots of hay for Christmas Eve. (Just in case.)

 

 

Very Young Readers Teach Me What is Important to Know about Reading

 

Dear Reader,

 

 I have thought about it, and I have thought about it some more, and I have come to the conclusion that the Concepts About Print Checklist is perfunctory, uninspired and bland as milk-toast. This list is supposed to summarize the events that take place along a very young child’s journey to mastering the notion that squiggly black lines splashed on paper or signs reveals meaningful ideas and messages.  I am here to announce that the present day list known to educators as the Concepts About Print Checklist is a series of obvious and mostly perfunctory milestones. The big ticket items have been completely missed!

Here is a sample from the Concepts About Print list of skills to check for:

Knows a book is right side up, knows a book has a front and back,the book should be right side up (really?),knows there is a title, knows words, not pictures, hold the meaning-(FYI, not always.)

The list continues to drone on and is as exciting as this morning’s oatmeal. 

 Dear Reader, the worst of it is; it simply misses the opportunity to go ga-ga over the brilliant learning that occurs as our young rug-rats grab and wrestle with the big ticket ideas about “making meaning from black squiggly lines–aka reading and writing”.

Rather than complain to the experts (especially when I am not sure  how to contact the experts), I decided to ask my shorter friends to talk to me about all the things they have figured out about how books (print) work.  I told the kids that this would help big people like me understand how reading works. 

I think their nuggets of information on this topic really nail down the key items that are so important in the engaging and joyful journey toward literacy competence.

Will you read what the kids have to say on the subject and let me know what you think?

 

       Newly-minted Concepts About Print: According to          Shorter Friends.

HOW BOOKS WORK

·         You can ask for a re-play (like a pause on the remote) of a good story at bed time and this will end up keeping the light on and you can get more cuddle and talking time instead of going to sleep.

 

·         You can talk back to the people in the book and give them better ideas when they make mistakes. It is also helpful to tell the writer person if they are funny /not funny.

·         Letters are just like you and me and get their feelings hurt when you don’t know their story and they really want you to say a certain sound when you see it. So now I say “SSS” when I see the S letter because Sammy Snake likes me to do that.

 

·         Auntie can leave a bunch of blue squigglies on the message board in the barn, and it sounds just like Auntie talking even though she is nowhere to be seen.  (It really happened in our barn; you should come and see it-(the message is still there-she is still talking to me every time I pass the message board. Weird but true!)

 

·          If the egg word is in  “The Odd Egg”  story it is so big it fills the whole page and if it is on the egg carton it is small; and if we are making cookies and the egg word  is in the cookbook it is even smaller but it still says egg!  This is ridiculous but it is just the way it is so you have to get over it.

 

·         It is really awesome when I see my name. Every time you, or my friends see it -you get to say my name. You can ask me to write my name on my best drawings; and this will make the drawing even better because you will see my name when you look at it and you will think about me.  I like Alexandra’s name because it has so many letters and takes a long time to say it.

 

·         If you let my cousin drink milk from my cup that says my name on it- that’s not nice.  He should drink out of his own cup that says his very own name on it. That is why there are letters. All you have to do is look for the J (the J has a hook and a hat on it) and you will know it is my cup.

 

·         If you really want a special toy or a new Lego set, you should find the picture in the TOYSRUS flyer; and then cut out the toy with the words that fit the toy; and then give it to someone in your family who will get you this toy because you really, really want it.  The flyer helps the big person remember what you really, really want.  Ask them to put it in their purse or pocket; so they will remember even though you are at kindergarten.

·         Don’t be embarrassed if everyone talks about when you were little, you liked to read tractor flyers because you thought wheels were cool.  I know a lot and I know that you need to tell everyone what you like to read about.  Things change a lot-because now I like to read about Star Wars characters and so I have to keep telling Grandma I don’t have hardly any Star Wars books.  (and this is how I get my family to get me gajillians of books.)

·          It is cool when you know about dragon flies or,like my cousin, Ari,-she knows about horses.  When you read a lot of books, big people say things like “You are a very smart boy”. 

 

·         Oh and don’t forget to use big words like nocturnal and stegasaurus and epic when you talk to younger brothers or sisters.  This helps them learn.  It also tells them you  know more than they do.

 

·         It is kind of fun to look at a book and guess if the writer person has a pattern in her book. This makes it so you can guess what the next page will talk about.  Grandma says I am like a Reader Detective when I search for clues.  One good clue is to listen for rhyming.  This makes reading really easy when you see the writer likes to rhyme things. I think they do it so it sounds like a song.  I like songs.

 

·         Have my uncle read Three Billy Goats Gruff to you.  You will be shaking because he makes the Troll really loud and very scary.  You should notice that he always says the same things every time he reads this story but really loud and scaryier.  One time he did it wrong and I had to help him. (This story is Not recommended for younger kids like my cousin Ari.)

 

·         It’s good to pay attention to where the letters are; because if you are trying to read go and you start making the sounds the wrong direction, it comes out weird.  But if you start to read no the wrong direction it comes out on…but pup stays the same backwards or forwards.  It’s easy if you know the way it works.

·         If you like to keep track of all the  Monster Trucks you have, you should put down a letter for each part of the truck’s name and you will be able to read the list and keep track of your monster trucks and this means cousins will know which monster trucks belong to me.   MNSTR TUK LIST GRVDIGR is an example for you to read.

·         If you get worried, or if certain things are scary, you just find a book that talks about it; and then you know that other kids have some of the worries you do and you can get ideas about making the trouble less troublesome.  (I don’t like dust bunnies, because they move around and are called bunnies; but they are not really alive; but they still scare me.) We read a book about Scaredy Squirrel who was afraid of EVERYTHING and I don’t know why, but felt better after reading this book.

·         When you are reading a book and it makes you think of a really FAT (hard) question for Grandma or Grandpa, you just grab it out of the air, put it into your head; and then you can keep it there or write it down and put it into the I Wonder Box  we have on top of the fridge. 

 

·         Oh, I think the most important thing is to pretend you are inside the book when there are awesome pictures.  This helps you know what is important and you can see  what is happening better.  I am a good pretender. Lots of times you will see more than your uncle or mom does when they are reading to you. This is because they forget to be in the picture; and they don’t have as good of eyes as we do. 

·         Here is something that you can only learn when you are very smart.  When I was reading a little book called Are you Hungry Little Bear?, Grandma said hungry was just one word.  I helped her say it properly:  Hungry   She kept saying Hungry.  Maybe she will learn it someday.

 

·         You should learn the things we have learned about books.  My Grandma writes books with her friends. She asks us kids to help her because we know when a story is good. We get stuffies out and put them in a big circle and we listen to my Grandma’s new stories.  We tell her if the story is funny or not funny. Sometimes she writes a book that nobody likes so we try and figure out how to make it better.  This is hard work but my Grandma really needs our help, so we don’t mind. Did you know we have a lot of stuffies? (One hundred and eighty-six)  

You can come and see them.

We hope this helps you know how to read.  It’s easy when you know how.

Ari, Jayden and Ethan

Well Dear Reader, Let me know if this helped you learn about reading.  I always think it is good to go right to the source.  Asking your favourite shorter friends how they know about how things work is always helpful.

In friendship,

Donna Klockars

The Literacy Lady