Professional Learning
Day
3/16/2016 / Living Sky School Division
Grades 3-4 Teachers
3-2-1 Bridge: LSKY’s Writing Journey
Initial Response - Morning / New Response-AfternoonIdentify how your new responses connect to or shifted from your original response.
See Think Wonder Thinking Routine
______
Review the photos provided to establish a context and make connections before reading When I was Eight.
Work in groups of 4. Each person will complete the thinking routine below with the images on oneof pages A, B, C, or D individually, and all respond to the question on page “E.”
Share your thoughts about the photos you looked at with your group.
Photo source: We were so far away The Inuit experience at residential schools:
See Think Wonder Thinking routine:
What do you see? What does this photograph tell you?
What do you think? What can you infer from the photo?
Does the photo confirm what you know? Does it extend or challenge your thinking?
Whose voice is represented? What is the worldview presented?
What questions arise?
*MAKE NOTES THROUGHOUT THE ACTIVITY IN PREPARATION FOR THE WRITING TASK
Find a link to the visible thinking Routines on curriculum connections / Instruction/Literacy / Writing or go to:
Cultures of Thinking -Think from the middle:
R.C. [Roman Catholic] Hospital and residential school, Aklavik. Dept. of the Interior / NWT Archives / G-1989-006
All Saints Indian Residential School. New arrivals, Aklavik, NWT. The General Synod Archives / Anglican Church of Canada / P7538-848
A
Photograph of Father Isaïe Desautels o.m.i. helping Jean Ayarwark (junior), a young Inuit, on a swing. July 1938. Archives of the Saint-Boniface Historical Society, Oblates of Mary Immaculate of the Province of Manitoba Fonds SHSB 26944.
[Class of boys] – These boys are from the same school as Lillian Elias. The boys and girls were kept separate from each other. Photograph provided by Lillian Elias. 1987/363-E-110/31
B
School boys. These children live too far away to go home in the summer. [Students at the Anglican mission’s residential school]. Aklavik. 1940-42. Saich / NWT Archives / N-1990-003: 0223
Shirley says, “This suitcase was bought for me when I was going to the Dorm to put my stuff in for the winter. All my winter supplies came in that. […] That’s what I took all my winter clothing in, whatever that I needed.” Photographed by Jeff Thomas.
C
Marjorie says, “I didn’t want to go by the rules but yet I knew if I didn’t then I would be in trouble. So I would write these letters home to my parents and make little teardrops. I wanted them to see how sad I was and I thought if I did that, or if I didn’t do well in school then maybe they would let me come home.” Letter and envelope provided by Marjorie Flowers.
Marjorie Flowers scrubs the floor as part of her chores at Lake Melville High School in North West River, Labrador. Photograph provided by Marjorie Flowers. D
Compare the two photos.
How did life change for the children that went to residential school?
Photo source: We were so far away The Inuit experience at residential schools:
E
READ LIKE A WRITER:
When I Was Eight,
By Christy Jordan-Fenton
______
Work with a partner making notes / or using sticky notes to organize your thinking process. Fill in the empty spaces on the second chart that follows as you practice “reading like a writer”.
- Paraphrase what happens in the story each time you turn the page. Fill in the chart as you move through the text.
- Identify key themes or a big idea that the writer focuses on as you move through the text.
- Notice and highlight text examples that illustrate an element of craft as you read. Name the technique the writer is using.
THEMES: After you fill in the “Themes /Ideas” column in the Read Like a Writer sheet – consider the following questions:
Can you make connections to the characters’ conflicts or insights that might also be true for others reading the story?
Does the story reveal something larger about people or life?
What makes you say that? (Provide evidence)
CRAFT: After you fill in the “Craft” column in the Read Like a Writer sheet – consider the following questions:
What literary techniques such as simile, metaphor, descriptive language, sensory imagery or other elements of craft does the writer use most often in the book to enhance meaning? Are they effective?
How does the writer use internal thinking or dialogue to help the reader make connections or to enhance meaning?
How does the author use voice, word choice and sentence fluency to enhance meaning?
STRUCTURE: After reading Identify and analyzehow the writer has organized the story. Consider the following questions as you think about the writer’s organization:
Does the writing focus on a moment that is the most important? Are there turning points in the story? Is the conflict or problem in the story internal (within the character) or between characters or something outside of the character? Is the conflict resolved?
What happens / Themes / Ideas / CraftOlemaun tells us about who she is and where she lives.
We learn that she is eight years old and lives with her family in the Arctic. / Worldview: Connection to the land and Mother Earth / First person memoir creates strong voice. “The sun slept” and “slumbering ice”: Visual imagery and discussion of traditional lifestyle, knowledge and culture embedded in introduction through metaphor.
Olemaun wants to learn to read but her father does not want to send her away to residential school. / Desire to read
Cultural identity: The significance of Olemaun’s name / “Begged like a hungry dog after scraps”
”The stubborn stone that sharpens the half-moon ulu knife used by our women” : Descriptive language and metaphor
She eventually convinces him and by spring she travels to the school.
When she arrives a nun cuts her hair and she is given different clothes and a new name. / Cultural identity / “the sun awoke again”: Use of metaphor to introduce the season:
“wore away at him”: connection to the natural world – process of erosion
Olemaun has to do chores at the school but no one is teaching her how to read. / Cultural identity
Disappointment
Bravery / “My Inuit name was taken”: strong voice
When she is finally in the classroom hoping to learn how to read she is punished for raising her hand. / Disappointment / “First skiff of snow returned” – descriptive language
“hopes nearly dead”- metaphor
Olemaun continues to use every task she is given as an opportunity to learn new words. / Determination / “longed to read an actual book—my book” : Emotive voice
When Olemaun complains to the nun she is sent downstairs for a cabbage. / Frustration / “threatening tone” – “shoes creaking as she crossed the kitchen”, “pinned me against the sink”: Sensory description evokes emotional response.
She goes downstairs to get the cabbage. / Fear / “disappeared down in that dark cavern” “shutting out all light”: Descended, scurried: Descriptive language and word choice are emotive and connect to natural world (cavern and light)
She realizes she is locked in the basement and controls her fear by imagining being with her father. She thinks about how to spell her name and the name of her home. / Self-regulation
Safety – The power of imagination / “His proud smile made me stronger” : Strong voice/ internal thinking
Using spelling aloud for emphasis: O-L-E-M-A-U-N (capitalization provides emphasis)
When she returns to the dorm all of the girls have been given a pair of new dark stockings. The nun gives her a red pair. She runs to her bed and tries to read, feeling even more determined. / Humiliation
Determination
Imagination / “until those letters became words and grew into a familiar story” : Metaphor Let the story carry me far away”: Internal thinking
The other girls tease her and she decides to get rid of the stockings forever. She burns the stockings in the fire in the laundry. / Determination / Problem solving / “after a bite of magic cake”: Literary comparison to Alice in Wonderland.
“crackling”- sensory words
The nun orders a search but the stockings cannot be found. / Fear / “The queen’s henchmen” Alice in Wonderland comparison
Olemaun gets a new pair of socks the next day and the nun orders her to read in class. / Victory – Overcoming fear / Descriptive language: “slammed a book on my desk”
To the nun’s surprise she is able to read the book. She feels victorious…brave and confident. / Confidence / “cut me down to size” “twisting my tongue around the consonants and forming my mouth around the vowels” internal thinking
She feels brave and confident because she has learned how to read. / Victory – overcoming fear / “I was Olemaun, conqueror of evil, reader of books. I was a girl who traveled to a strange and faraway land to stand against a tyrant, like Alice. And like Alice, I was brave, clever and as unyielding as the strong stone that sharpens an ulu.” :Strong internal voice
Try filling in the spaces in the chart that follows.
What happens / Themes / Ideas / CraftOlemaun tells us about who she is and where she lives.
We learn that she is eight years old and lives with her family in the Arctic. / Worldview: Connection to the land and Mother Earth / First person memoir creates strong voice. “The sun slept” and “slumbering ice”: Visual imagery and discussion of traditional lifestyle, knowledge and culture embedded in introduction through metaphor.
Olemaun wants to learn to read but her father does not want to send her away to residential school. / Desire to read
Cultural identity: The significance of Olemaun’s name / “Begged like a hungry dog after scraps”
”The stubborn stone that sharpens the half-moon ulu knife used by our women” : Descriptive language and metaphor
She eventually convinces him and by spring she travels to the school.
When she arrives a nun cuts her hair and she is given different clothes and a new name.
Olemaun has to do chores at the school but no one is teaching her how to read. / Cultural identity
Disappointment
Bravery / “My Inuit name was taken”: strong voice
When she is finally in the classroom hoping to learn how to read she is punished for raising her hand. / Disappointment / “First skiff of snow returned” – descriptive language
“hopes nearly dead”- metaphor
When Olemaun complains to the nun she is sent downstairs for a cabbage. / Frustration / “threatening tone” – “shoes creaking as she crossed the kitchen”, “pinned me against the sink”: Sensory description evokes emotional response.
She goes downstairs to get the cabbage. / Fear / “disappeared down in that dark cavern” “shutting out all light”: Descended, scurried: Descriptive language and word choice are emotive and connect to natural world (cavern and light)
When she returns to the dorm all of the girls have been given a pair of new dark stockings. The nun gives her a red pair. She runs to her bed and tries to read, feeling even more determined. / Humiliation
Determination
Imagination / “until those letters became words and grew into a familiar story” : Metaphor Let the story carry me far away”: Internal thinking
The nun orders a search but the stockings cannot be found. / Fear / “The queen’s henchmen” Alice in Wonderland comparison
Olemaun gets a new pair of socks the next day and the nun orders her to read in class. / Victory – Overcoming fear / Descriptive language: “slammed a book on my desk”
To the nun’s surprise she is able to read the book. She feels victorious…brave and confident. / Confidence
She feels brave and confident because she has learned how to read. / Victory – overcoming fear / “I was Olemaun, conqueror of evil, reader of books. I was a girl who traveled to a strange and faraway land to stand against a tyrant, like Alice. And like Alice, I was brave, clever and as unyielding as the strong stone that sharpens an ulu.” :Strong internal voice
When I Was Eight Writing task for teacher workshop
Write a short personal response to the visual thinking, reading and discussion activities we have engaged in. (about three paragraphs). Make a connection to one of the themes in Olemaun’s story.
The quick write might be a “snapshot” or a short vignette.
Consider:
Feelings
Inner thoughts
(Dis)comfort level
(Un)certainty
(In)actions
Use a pull quote from the book to begin writing if you need a prompt: For example:
I knew many things when I was eight…
But I did not know….
Behind the teacher’s desk sat…
I was ______conqueror of ______.
I finally knew this…because now….
Sample:
(Connecting to the theme of overcoming fear / determination)
Leanne’s story: When I was Eight
When I was eight I was the quiet one…never the leader. I loved to collect bugs and I loved to feed them. I fed them whatever was available and they thrived. At least I believed they were thriving. I did not know that my mom secretly replaced the dead bugs with live ones.
At school I loved the playground, especially the swings. Finally the day came when it was my turn for “under ducks”. I was pumped! I was excited! I was thrilled! But inside I was afraid. I had seen the other kids quickly and easily duck under the swing as they pushed their passenger high in the air. Their confidence was palatable. I could do this.
Full of anticipation I pushed and pushed and I ran…but suddenly everything stopped. Everything was black. When I awoke I could feel my head pounding. I can still feel the dent in the top of my head from that fateful day. To this day when I see “under ducks” I return to that moment.
I dared not share this story with my mom. Peer pressure is a powerful force.
Kate (writing in Leanne’s voice)
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