Is that foxglove?

A few moments ago I walked by a patch of flowers and the foxglove memory came back. Here's how it went.

Years ago, one of my colleagues created me a series of spring break till the end-of-the-school-year "advent" calendars. Each year she came up with a different scheme, and one particular year it was a series of flower pots with numbers on them. Day by day my students and I flipped up a numbered pot to find another pot with a wildflower picture pasted above, the flower name in calligraphy on the pot. The flower illustrations had originally been hand-painted by James Audubon. An intact set of pictures in book form was included for my first graders to browse and learn more. I decided to match each child with a wild flower and as that flower was revealed, the kids took on the role of helper for the day.

Trillium, primrose, goldenrod, forget-me-nots, phlox, anemone. Each day another flower, each day another new name to playfully roll off the kids' tongues and to match with a flower. Who knew how engaged urban first graders could be with wild flowers!

In mid-May I scheduled a field trip to Snake Lake, a local nature reserve. Our elderly docent handed out nature name tags (Canada goose, fir tree, wood duck ...) to the kids and we set out on our walk. We paused at each natural feature along the trail for her descriptions, and she would then invite the kids to "take 5 bunny hops" or to "tip toe behind Canada goose" to the next stop on the tour. (Ah ... I should have known she was a retired kindergarten teacher!)

"Does anyone know this plant?" she queried at one stop. Brandon stepped from behind another student to look more closely. "Is that foxglove?"

Imagine her amazement! And imagine my own. Then again, she asked rather than telling the name. That alone is significant. And we had been studying wildflowers by chance!

Even though I know how smart even the youngest kids are, I continue to be amazed by what catches their attention and sticks with them. This recognition has helped me reconsider the "what" of curriculum. Seven-year old Leslie wanted to learn more about famine. A 9 year old student of a colleague decided to study how property taxes are assessed, an interest that was precipitated by his father's irritation that their taxes had increased. Another first grader shared that the last small gas station in Redmond was closing. When a classmate responded, "So what--there are lots of gas stations," he clarified that this was a family-owned gas station! Without fail, I now always focus part of my time with kids on learning more about their keenest interests.

Language researcher, Gordon Wells, reminds us that all of us learn language from the company they keep. If you want someone to sound like a lawyer, invite them hang out with lawyers. Kids learn "vocabulary" as they use it to talk about new concepts, and to a much lesser degree, through memorizing words and their definitions. (If you would like to read more about any of this, let me know and I'll share resources.)

Is that foxglove? Indeed.

98% of five year olds test creative

Fifteen years ago I heard a research report that measured creativity in young kids and then again at a later age. The results were alarming. A huge percentage of kids were judged creative at age 5, and then the number dropped precipitously after several years in school. I have kicked myself ever since for not noting the citation.

And then recently, out of the blue, children's author Derek Munson shared the same stats during a presentation. I talked to him afterward and got enough of the details to track down the description of the research. Suffice it to say, Derek is one of the most creative people I've met. His "alien baseball players" Web site launches this week, if his work on friendship and creativity doesn't hook you.

Here's the research description:

Are We More or Less Creative as We Age?

In Creativity and Innovation 

A 1968 study by George Land, a general systems scientist interested in the development of creative performance, revealed that we are naturally creative as children. However, as he shared in Grow or Die: the Unifying Principle of Transformation, as we grow up we learn to be increasingly uncreative.
How did George Land prove this?
Over a 15 year period he distributed among 1,600 5-year-olds a test designed to measure creativity. This test was used by NASA to select innovative engineers and scientists. George Land used the test to re-test the same children at 10 years of age, and again at 15 years of age. Here are his results with regards to their creativity:
5 year olds: 98%
10 year olds: 30%
15 year olds: 12%
The same test was also given to 280,000 adults with a 2% score for their creativity.
Why are adults not as creative as children?
For most, creativity has been buried by the structures we build that involve rules and regulations. Our educational system was designed during the Industrial Revolution over 200 years ago, to train us to be good workers and follow instructions.
Creativity is a skill that can be developed. Learning to be creative, like most things in life, requires practice to develop the right muscles, and a supportive environment in which to flourish.

Accessed on 5/21/09 from
http://blog.entrepreneurthearts.com/2009/03/04/are-we-more-or-less-creative-as-we-age/

Readers who struggle

Most young kids come to school eager to read and write and learn. If all goes well, teachers tap into the knowledge that kids have developed during their first years of life and provide the experiences that launch these fledgling learners into the world of schooling.

But we all know kids that haven't connected easily with school, and the reasons vary. Do you recognize stories like these? This site is dedicated to transforming them!

1. Scott was a kid who struggled with the simplistic reading books used in his first grade classroom, yet loved planes and would sketch jets and browse books about them by the hour. He came to my multi-age primary classroom as a second grader, and a beginning reader who had few literacy skills. He lacked confidence as a learner in school.

2. Tyler was reading when he started kindergarten, and there was a clear mismatch between the curriculum that focused on learning letters and sounds and his literacy skills. His teacher viewed kindergarten as a place to teach beginning readers and said she wasn't able to teach him within that context. A year later, he entered a 1st-3rd grade multi-age classroom as one of the youngest students, as a very experienced reader, yet disengaged from school.

3. Anne was the mother of a quiet and deliberative six-year old daughter. Anne volunteered in the classroom twice a week, and was unsure if her daughter was on target as a first grader. What could help her know?

4. Phil was a business owner who reported that he struggled to read the materials that could help him advance his work. His perceptions of himself as a reader were shaped in his first years of school, and were further defined by being the only sibling in his family without a college degree. His view of his reading skills was a mismatch with the thoughtful adult I spoke with who reads the New Yorker for enjoyment.

5. Nick was entering the fourth grade reading like a beginning reader. Based on the school's recommendation he had attended two years of remedial tutoring and summer school. Although he was bright in many ways, his literacy skills had not developed despite the suggested help. It was getting harder and harder for his mother to get him up for school.

In some small or large way I have been helpful to each of these readers, and I share details of how with the hope that the information can be used to help others. This blog is dedicated to ending the frustration that people feel when there's a mismatch between a kid's learning and the experience of school. There's nothing I love to do more than think through the issues and problem solve together.

But first, a little more on why readers struggle.

Learners "struggle" for a reason. The reason usually becomes clear when we spend time with them and pay close attention. The problem is rarely that there is something wrong with a reader. Usually, they become confused about reading as a result of their experiences in learning to read. This confusion might happen at home, or at school, and is rarely intentional. Clearing up their confusions is the first step toward successful learning.

One final point: I haven't found it helpful to label children. Referring to learners as lazy or learning disabled or at-risk (the latter two relate to funding categories) hasn't been helpful to me in teaching children to read. What we can do instead is listen to children and learn from them. I am committed to helping you do the same, whether you are the parent, grandparent, teacher, or foster parent of a kid whose learning is not yet on track.

Do you have a story of a struggling reader? Please share it!