The Rebel Housewife

Okay, I'm so relieved to be done with the telling of the Tenants in Foreclosure tale, as I'm sure you are, too. With the exception of (not yet) returned deposits, which I'm sure will all work out in the end, it's over and Life is Good in the new fabulous house. Of course, there are still boxes EVERYWHERE, but I managed to find a missing Social Studies Time Line Report for 5th grade Drama Queen AND a missing (expensive) Math textbook for 7th grade Puberty Angst Boy in the midst of the chaos last night, so we're getting there, on as As Needed basis.

I wanted to share the Tenants in Foreclosure story because it helps -- helps someone else who might find herself in the same situation; helps with general knowledge and understanding of a mysterious and frightening process; helps us all sometimes to know that nobody's life is perfect and stuff (good sh** and bad sh**) happens all the time -- that's The Adventure.

Speaking of the adventure, we are looking at ONLY THREE WEEKS OF SCHOOL left -- arrrgghhh!!
What are YOU doing this summer?

I have been working on summer plans, camps and programs to make it through with the three kids, who will be 13, 11 and 8 this summer. It is definitely getting easier than the old CAMP MOMMY days, but it takes a computerized planning & scheduling program, practically, to coordinate all the whos and whens, not to mention the registration paperwork, medical authorizations (which normally require a visit to the doctor), transportation, deposits and, of course, the how-are-we-going-to-pay-for-all-of-this?! And then even more intriguing: We're spending so much money sending kids to summer camps and programs, we don't have enough to go on a decent family vacation...one week in paradise with kids/nine weeks at home, or three or four weeks with the kids occupied and active, having fun/six weeks at home in-between?

I'm sorry I don't have an answer to any of those questions, I was just whining a little bit and throwing it out there for discussion -- 16 days and counting down!

In October, I boldly (naively) jumped into coordinating this book group for ten 7th grade students at our middle school who had been identified as at-risk for high school graduation. (Working with the Graduation Coach at the school from CIS (Communities In Schools) of Atlanta, the nation’s largest community-based dropout prevention network.)

Ten weeks later, we had our last meeting of the Books & Breakfast Group on Monday, Dec. 17th. This was an amazing experience, as much a learning experience for me as I hope it was for them. My purpose with this, my hope, was to help them find books appropriate to their needs and interests, to engage them in conversation, spark enthusiasm and interest in skills which will help them succeed in middle school, and successfully make the leap to high school, graduation and beyond.

All ten of the kids made it through to the end and attended our last session (granted, there were Krispy Kreme donuts involved, but still--). Over the ten weeks, the kids got some refresh in media center skills, reading and how to find great books. They chose the three books we read and discussed, from the Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Medal Lists.

By generous donation from the Midtown Education Committee/Midtown Neighbor’s Association (Atlanta), we were able to provide copies of each book for each student to keep for his/her personal library. This meant a lot to them. They were really excited about the books and engaged in the reading and discussion we did in the Monday morning meetings. They also appreciated the fruit, granola/cereal bars and juice/water from Publix at Plaza Midtown (Atlanta) each week.

There were so many special moments during the ten weeks with this group. They are busy and active 7th graders, so we certainly operated on the edge of chaos most of the time, and I learned more about Chris Brown and hip-hop than any 40 year old white woman should know! But along the way, just as one example, 3 of the 10 kids who walked into the room the first week, who were so withdrawn and apprehensive, they would barely speak to me or look me in the eye – all 3 of these kids (two girls and a boy), were reading out loud in the group by the last weeks, comfortable and confident. (If I have told you this already, you know I tend to get teary-eyed at this point!)

I think we had a couple of kids there for the food every week, and that’s okay; a couple others were there for the social event, and that’s okay, too. They all read and participated, to one degree or another.

Here’s what the kids had to say, in a brief survey at the end (I got responses from all because I exchanged a wrapped gift (another book!) for a completed survey):

What did you like best about Books & Breakfast?

• “I love it”
• “That we read more than one book”
• “We got to read and eat”
• “I like when we eat and talk”
• “That we learned a lot about people’s life”
• “I liked how we ate and read and talked about the book”
• “Everything”
• “I really would like to come back”
• “I wish we could do it again”
• "It was fun and I would like to do it again"

(They were all so disappointed, when they realized we would not be coming back after the winter break.) It is a lot of work and coordination, but all very worthwhile. These kids are and can be truly amazing, given a chance.

More info about Middle School Book Group on The Rebel Blog:
PTA Volunteer - Middle School Book Group
Middle School Book Group - 10 Great Book Selections
Middle School Book Group - Treasure Hunt & Selection
Middle School Book Group - Award Lists
Middle School Book Group - How Do You Get Them To READ?
Back To Our Normal Programming - Middle School Book Group

Forgive me, if you are getting tired of hearing about the Middle School Book Group, but please bear with me. I'm figuring this out as I go, and keeping a record of the methodology behind the madness. I have found it so helpful to find teaching journals and lesson plans online as I've researched, I want to have this information search-available: Google-able!

I am learning something new each week, and I am loving my Middle School Book Group. Today, we finished talking about THE FIRST PART LAST (See The Rebel Review: THE FIRST PART LAST)

Today's Lesson:

How do you get kids to READ???

I am always open to more suggestions, and encourage Comments below.
This is what I discovered today:

1) Involve them in the book selection, to choose a book that will be relevant, interesting and engaging. We did this, by introducing the Award Lists and pre-screening appropriate titles; by helping them discover the books in the Treasure Hunt; and by letting them decide what they wanted to read with the Book Intro & Vote.

2) When 8 out of 10 still don't read all of the book on their own (most read some):
READ WITH THEM!

Much to my surprise today, most of the kids will jump to read out loud and read along with the group -- even the ones I didn't think would, did. I guided the discussion, by asking questions about plot, characters, events, etc. and then gave them the page # where the answer would be found, let them take turns reading out loud. So by the end, they all knew what this book was about, who the players were, and how it all came out in the end, and that's cool. Some of them will most likely even go back and finish it on their own.

They are so surprised and delighted that they each get to keep the book for their own personal library -- I think that is an important part of the whole thing, too, and I am very grateful to the sponsors of this "Books & Breakfast Group" -- our neighborhood Publix at The Plaza Midtown provides the food each week, and the Atlanta Midtown Neighbor's Association/Midtown Education Committee is sponsoring the book purchases for this group.

Okay, so that's my experience so far -- anybody else have suggestions?

I meet with my Book Group kids at the middle school on Monday mornings. This week is our 5th meeting, out of 10. This week, we are finishing discussing THE FIRST PART LAST a Coretta Scott King Award-Winning novel by Angela Johnson. We start reading
THE WHIPPING BOY by Sid Fleischman for discussion next week.

I helped the kids select three novels to read and discuss in the time we have together -- two weeks on each book, so we're running at a quick pace. I showed them them Award Lists -- available at Barnes & Noble stores, in the children's book section, or online. In searching for the various lists online, I found the best format on a website for the
Austin Public Library Youth Services:

The Coretta Scott King Award

The Newbery Medal

The Printz Award

These are great sources of really terrific books for middle school kids (and advanced elementary school readers), whenever you are looking...

Out of the Award Lists, with the help of our middle school librarian, I pre-screened to find 10 books, any of which would be excellent reading for this group; books they would like, with characters and situations they could relate to. We also needed quick reads on a 5th/6th grade reading level.

With the 10 books, we had a Treasure Hunt and Book Intro during our 2nd meeting: I gave each student an index card with the title and author of one book, which they went out to find on the shelf in the Media Center. When they came back with their books, I had them each quickly review their book and then we went around the circle and each student introduced their book to the group: the title, the author, and something about what the book was about, from what they could tell looking through it very quickly. I had some additional information on hand to help them out, but they all did really well with this.

After the Book Intros, I had each student vote for three books that they thought might be interesting and they would like to read in the Book Group.

The Winners:

• THE FIRST PART LAST
  by Angela Johnson
• THE WHIPPING BOY
  by Sid Fleischman
  
• MIRACLE'S BOYS
  by Jacqueline Woodson