Category Archives: parenting

20

Mar. ’12

5 Ways Parents Can Encourage a Reluctant Reader

Once a child has the motivation to learn to read, you as a parent are in the clear. Sometimes a reluctant reader might need a little nudge to discover the brave new world offered by reading. Here are some suggestions.

1. Let your child choose his or her own books at the library. If your child chooses Captain Underpants, swallow your pride and check out that book. A child who falls in love with reading will most likely continue to enjoy it for many years to come.

2. At the library, you should choose a few books for your child as well. Do a little research ahead of time or ask your librarian for suggestions that respect your child’s ability and interests.

learning-to-read-by-saundrag-via-flickr.jpg3. Model nuanced reading for your child. Release your inner actor and read with gusto! New readers are so consumed with sounded words out and learning new vocabulary that they often lose track of the story.

4. Read aloud together. Reading together is a wonderful social activity at any age. You and your child share the experience and can discuss or refer back to it later.

5. Encourage your reluctant reader with positive feedback. Given the right reasons, every child can be excited about reading–and writing too. Let your child’s interests lead the way.

[photo by saundraG via flickr]

Posted by . Categories: books, education, homeschooling, parenting, student. Tags: , , , . 2 Comments

16

Jun. ’11

Word A Day Project

Dictionary

Psychometrician Johnson O’Connor studies factors leading to career achievement.  His studies cover a wide range of areas, including age and level of education.  Every time he analyzed the data, he got the same results: the better a person’s vocabulary, the better correlation with success.

Scientists think that that a bigger vocabulary is connected to the ability to think in more complex ways.  O’Connor suggests four ways to increase your vocabulary:

  1. Be aware of words
  2. Read
  3. Use a dictionary (circle the words and make a note of them)
  4. Study and review regularly
If you’re looking for a fun summer activity to do with your kids, consider the Word a Day project.  Each morning pick a word that is unfamiliar to your children.  Look it up in the dictionary, discuss or act out its meaning, draw a picture or symbol to help remember it, and then try to use it several times throughout the day.   Post the new words on index cards.  Try to use them in a story or poem.  By the end of the summer, your children will be at least 60 steps–or words– closer to success.
by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools
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07

Jun. ’11

Silly, Violent, and Gross

Brad Dourif voices Chucky in Child's Play series

Image via Wikipedia

I used to go into classrooms with a very clear idea of the poems and stories I wanted the students to create.  I imagined beautiful, lyrical language, deep emotional revelations, memorable, personal themes.

Then I started reading some of the research about boys and writing.  I learned from experts such as Ralph Fletcher and Peg Tyre that I needed a new set of expectations and strategies to reach most of my boy writers.

I took away some valuable pointers, including allowing boys more choices when it comes time to write, advocating for boys with poor handwriting to get access to keyboards, and appreciating that my boy writers have more fun and produce better writing when they are allowed to be silly, violent, and gross.

Here is a good example of a boy who writes best when he’s talking about something he cares about: horror movies.

When I saw the movie “Chucky,” it creeped out my mom, but I liked it because it was cool.  Chucky is a doll with stitches all over his face.  He seems like a regular doll, but he isn’t because if you take the screws out, there are no batteries, just flesh.  The doll came in a box, but it escaped.  The boy who bought it looked for it everywhere.  Then Chucky jumped out.  The whole movie is about Chucky hunting down people.  The first time a scary part came, I screamed like I was going to be killed.  Chucky looked like he was going to cut my hand off.  I thought if he looked at me again, I would run to my grandma’s house.   But I survived.  I watched the movie every day for awhile.  My mom would jump at the scary parts and run to her room.  I like horror movies. They don’t give me nightmares.  They give me ideas to scare my brother.

By Nick, 10

by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools

Posted by . Categories: creativity, education, family, parenting, teaching, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , , , . Leave a comment

05

Apr. ’11

Child of the First Daughter and the Last Son

Washed-out Memories

I am from the pink ribbons,
the hot delicious coffee.
I am from the back deck.
I am from the purple roses,
the beautiful blue lake.
I am from the traditional everyday home-cooked meals
and the stubbornness that runs in my blood.
My parents are the first daughter and the last son
So I am from the respect your elders and don’t talk to strangers.
Still, I am from a less than pious family.
I am from the blue waters and spicy shrimp and greens —–
I am from Casper the ghost and winter —o.k.
Summer trips to the beach.
I am from the black long box containing childhood pictures of my family and good memories.

by Kasy, 7th grade

Photo by KaroliK via Flickr

This poem is featured as part of the 2011 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.

Posted by . Categories: family, memory, parenting, place, poem a day, self-portrait, writers in the schools. Tags: . Leave a comment

18

Feb. ’11

The Wildlife Is My Mother

Cheetahs

Image via Wikipedia

When I am bored, she sends cheetahs

so we can race.

When I am cold,

she wraps me all around with vines and leaves.

Whenever I am hungry,

she drops apples all around me,

or when I’m injured,

she grows medical herbs to heal me.

When I want to get refreshed,

she uses her long leaves and flaps them back and forth.

The wildlife is my mother,

my beautiful mother.

By Alexandro, 4th grade

Posted by . Categories: animal, nature, parenting, writers in the schools. Tags: , , . 1 Comment

02

Dec. ’10

Documentary Film: Race to Nowhere on Thursday

The award-winning film Race to Nowhere will be shown on December 2 at Alamo Drafthouse West Oaks at 7 pm. In this film director Vicki Abeles turns her lens on the pressures faced by American schoolchildren and their teachers in a system and culture obsessed with the illusion of achievement, competition and the pressure to perform. Race to Nowhere is a documentary film examining the pressures faced by young people, teachers and parents in our high-stakes, high-pressure public and private education system and culture. Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, experts and policy makers to examine current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens of today and for the future.

A panel discussion of Houston leaders in education will follow. WITS Executive Director Robin Reagler will participate.

Posted by . Categories: education, event, Houston, parenting, student, teaching, writers in the schools. Tags: , , , , . 1 Comment

19

Oct. ’10

Discounted Tickets for Friends of WITS — 40% Off

Writers in the Schools (WITS) is offering a special discounted ticket to the annual A Celebration of Story gala on November 4th. For a limited time only, the $250 seats are available for $150.  Come meet Jeannette Walls, best-selling author of The Glass Castle, in a rare Houston visit.

Jeannette’s story about  how she survived a dysfunctional upbringing of poverty and abandonment to become an award-winning author has inspired millions of readers to share their own stories about overcoming adversity.

Jeannette’s memoirs, The Glass Castle and Half-Broke Horses, will be on sale courtesy of Brazos Bookstore. Proceeds from the event  will support creative writing programs for under-served children.  Purchase your ticket today by clicking here or call 713-523-3877.

Critics have called Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, “spectacular,” “extraordinary,” “incredible,” and “riveting.” It has been a New York Times best-seller for more than three years, has sold more than two million copies, been translated into 16 languages, and is being made into a movie by Paramount. Read more…

WITS has been engaging students in the pleasure and power of reading and writing since 1983. Thank you for helping us to bring the joy of writing to the children who need it most.

Posted by . Categories: books, event, father, inspiration, memory, mother, parenting, story, writer, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

30

Jun. ’10

Advice on Conducting Oneself

Advice on Conducting Oneself, or Views On Natalie’s Future,
From People Who Eat Snacks and Play with Rolly Pollies at the Same Time

By the Kindergarten and First Grade Students

Eat breakfast first thing. Because your stomach
needs to have something. If you have leftovers
in your stomach, you’ll throw up.
Eat Toaster Strudel for breakfast. Every day.
On Saturday morning, eat oatmeal or Honey Sunrise.
Then watch “Oprah” because you learn facts
about other people and all different kinds of stuff.
Read The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
When your food is in your mouth,
don’t talk, or you might spit on someone.

(Actually, when you talk, you are spitting.
In fact, the “p” gives off the most spit.)

If you have a hammer, hammer nails.
Don’t hammer yourself. The worst place
would be on a scrape that’s already there.
If the copy machine breaks, don’t tell anybody.
If you get a flat tire, push your car
to the mechanic and get a new tire.
If you have kids, make sure they have food.
Watch and make sure nothing goes wrong.

You should have a super-duper big house.
You’ll know it’s time to get married
when you’re twenty. Or fifteen.
Listen to the teacher. Be quiet. Do your work.
Take Aleve for headaches.
Be fun.
Too much TV burns your eyes.
Wear pajamas to bed. Unless you’re a pirate.

Don’t be a pirate.
Don’t let children bother you.
Don’t fight or you gotta go to the police.
Don’t answer the phone or text while driving.
Don’t be a housekeeper.
Don’t be a lawyer because you have to walk around in a suit.
(Be an art teacher.)
Don’t draw on your hand.
Don’t leave.

Group poem by Kindergarten and First Grade Students

Photo by Ann via Flickr

Posted by . Categories: art, books, food, humor, parenting, poetry, writers in the schools. Tags: , , , . 2 Comments

14

Jun. ’10

WITS Appears on Fox 26′s Hola Houston

WITS Executive Director Robin Reagler recently appeared on Fox 26′s community affairs program Hola Houston to discuss the transformative power of reading and writing beginning with the early years of childhood. During the segment, she also explains how parents can get the WITS program in Houston schools. View her interview with Host Josè Griñan.

Posted by . Categories: education, Houston, parenting, Spanish, story, student, teaching, video, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , , , , . Leave a comment

14

Apr. ’10

Quetzalcoatl

quetzalcoatl by epauet via flickrI, the star god,
Take bones from the
Underworlds of past times
To create mankind.
Xanath, meaning star,
Another story for
Another night. Tomorrow’s
Sun will be here to wake
Us up soon enough.
Let us go to our mats
Now and sleep
As the stars up above.
A shining light,
The light of the night.

By Lorena, 6th grade

Originally published on November 17, 2009.

apad2This poem is featured as part of the 2009 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.

Posted by . Categories: national poetry month, parenting, poem a day, poetry, student, writers in the schools. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment

11

Mar. ’10

Menil Community Arts Festival

The Second Annual Menil Community Arts Festival will be held this Saturday, March 13th, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Writers in the Schools will be leading creative writing tours of The Menil Collection every half hour from 12:00 Noon – 2:00 PM.

There will be workshops, concerts, art exhibits and poetry readings as part of this event. Arts organizations on the Menil campus will provide activities for all ages. The participants include:

- Aurora Picture Show

- Art Colony Association

- Da Camera

- Houston Center for Photography

- Inprint

- The Rothko Chapel

- Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP)

- TALA

- The Menil Collection

- The Watercolor Arts Society

- Writers in the Schools

Click here for more information.

Posted by . Categories: art, creativity, event, food, Houston, parenting, travel. Tags: , , , . Leave a comment

22

Jan. ’10

It’s a Guy Thing Too: Books and Boys

Studies regularly indicate that girls score higher in reading and writing than boys by a statistically significant amount. Travis Elementary School in the Heights is working hard to change that. The PTA pays for Writers in the Schools (WITS) to help create a rich environment for boys (and girls) to grow as readers and writers. In January Travis librarian Amy Cole Barile (the beloved Ms. B!) started a special after-school club for boys, dads, and others called Books & Boys. The hard work is paying off! Below are three outstanding poems by 4th grade boys at Travis:

Evolution

A six-legged

glowworm

burrows into the

flame-resistant

magma

and

evolves

into a

winged

salamander.

By Ralph
[photo by Shutter Moments via flickr]

Bone Yard in the Clouds

I was rushing
to the bone yard
in the clouds
searching for the
happiness that
had spread all
across the world
when dripping
from the sky came
a drop of rain
clashing down
against the
concrete
beside a
homeless
man’s
feet.

By Max
[photo by freg via flickr]

Gold

glistening in the falling smoke

Gold

a contest of money

Gold

steals the sparkle out of every child’s eye

Gold

Gold

Gold

that block of gold.

By Kelly

[photo by Claire Médaisko via flickr]

Posted by . Categories: books, education, essay, Houston, parenting, poetry, writers in the schools. Tags: , , , . Leave a comment

15

May. ’09

WITS on the Echoing Green

Marcia&boy2Every Saturday morning from 10:30-11:30 Kent Shaw and I co-teach a free WITS workshop inside the HPL Express Library at Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston.  A group of 10-15 kids sit with us in a circle and write poems and stories. We use the downtown space as inspiration—studying the trees, the sculptures, and the skyscrapers and observing the yogis, Frisbee golfers, and dancers.

Some of the young authors are drop-ins, but at least half are regular WITS kids who come rain or shine with journals tucked under their arms.  The youngest ones show up because it’s fun to write about heroes and roller coasters and pet snakes.  The older ones come to get feedback on their work, including novels in progress, and meet other kids like themselves.

Most classes begin with a 5-minute Finger Warm-Up where we write non-stop about whatever pops into our heads—skunks, spaghetti and meatballs, the color green.  Once our brains are awake, we read and discuss a piece of writing, such as “Ode to a Tomato” by Pablo Neruda or “A Hand” by Jane Hirshfield.  Then, we write.

The class often ends with an impromptu reading. The kids stand up, one by one, and read out loud their works in progress.  Parents, siblings, and library patrons clap and snap.  Waking up on a Saturday morning to write and share poems and stories is something to celebrate!

posted by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools

Posted by . Categories: Houston, parenting, writers in the schools. Tags: , , . Leave a comment