Literacy in Schools: The Reading Tree

Have you ever heard of a Reading Tree?

I myself often enjoy reading in the park under certain trees, but this concept is something a bit different. It is related to literacy in class and it encourages one of the healthiest intellectual activities for children with the involvement of the whole community of children, including their parents! It helps children develop their reading skills thus enhancing their vocabulary and understanding of the world, it allows a whole class to work for a common goal and it also creates some understanding around biology concepts around the tree as a living habitat.

So here is how such a project can happen:

1. Teachers build a real size tree (trunk and branches) and place it somewhere in the classroom. 
2. Teachers then build different types of crafts on categories: for ex.: leafs for level 1, flowers for level 2, apples or other fruits for level 3, caterpillars for level 4, chrysalis for level 5 and butterflies for level 6. For these two steps the help of an artist should be more than welcome. Perhaps you have one in your parents community?
   
3. Teachers then introduce the project to the children and parents: The Reading Tree is set at the beginning of the school year and can be cleared at the end. This project is suitable for all years, provided that the levels are adapted to the children's age. Children are told that this project aims to encourage them to read more and find out more things about the world or themselves. The advantages of reading should be explained, but teachers should also accept the fact that there could be children who refuse to participate in the project. Again, the project is not mandatory! Each child is given a reading card or booklet. One can be created and adapted by the teachers or just downloaded from any site with teacher resources. Here is an example:  

Each child should write down the titles of the book/s they read, the pages or hours spent reading and any other comments. The parents should then put a signature there as well, not so much to confirm what the child wrote but to show they are also aware of the child's efforts and that they also support and encourage the child at home. Teacher and parents should, for example provide a NON MANDATORY reading list, for different levels of reading, which the children could use for choosing their books. They could be group by themes or by the different concepts they will learn at school for each subject throughout the year. Children should be free to choose whichever books are appropriate for their age, following their interests and curiosities. This projects also offers children a good opportunity to learn about the School Library or the County Library.

       4. Different levels are then established. For example a child reaches level 1 after completing one hour of reading or 20 pages. For level 2, two or three hours or the equivalent in pages, and so on. Once the child has completed a certain level, s/he brings the completed reading card to the teacher. The teacher then gives him/her the correspondent craft for the level s/he completed, which the child will then hang in the Reading Tree, with a little paper note attached with his/her name on it and date.

Special "seasonal" crafts can be created for Easter, Christmas, Summer or Autumn. Should someone reach level 6 before the year is finished, then other levels can be created, with crafts such as cones, bird nests, birds or bees. The theme of the tree should be respected, as it is a wonderful opportunity for children to refresh biology concepts such as species of trees and correspondent leafs, life cycles, tree mini beasts, birds or the tree as a habitat.

Something else that can be done to support reading through this project is to create a Reading Cosy Corner under the tree, by adding a couch or bench with pillows. On the nearest walls you could put some shelves and children could bring at school some of their favorite books to share with colleagues. These books could be browsed during breaks or during language classes. The teacher/s could build activities around it to keep it active and the children engaged.


   5. At the end of the school year, the Reading Tree should be filled with life, and lots of colored, beautiful proofs of the children's work to build themselves as individuals and community. Since all the crafts will be named and dated, they can be taken home and kept in the family archive :).

I have discovered this project working with two wonderful children who participate in it at school at the International German School of Brussels. I hope it will inspire parents and teachers to build many more stimulating learning environments all around the world! Enjoy your reading everyone!

Source of pictures:

1. http://www.tipperarylibrarynews.ie/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/clonmelrt.jpg
2. http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4053/4458531454_cd4916c35e_z.jpg
3. http://suzyssitcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Quilled-Butterfly5.jpg
http://pad3.whstatic.com/images/thumb/2/2e/Make-Ornamental-Pine-Cones-for-Christmas-Step-3.jpg/670px-Make-Ornamental-Pine-Cones-for-Christmas-Step-3.jpg

Reading charts:

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/misc/homework/reading.html#.UpNgR9KkpZP

Crafts:

http://suzyssitcom.com/2013/05/feature-friday-quilled-bug-in-a-jar.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Ornamental-Pine-Cones-for-Christmas

Two by Two: Two Children's Books that Teach Colors Unconventionally

Two by Two is a new exciting children literature project. Its purpose is to bring more or less known children books in the attention of teachers, parents and children around the world, paired on specific themes such as death, communication, self esteem, anger management, friendship, learning about colors or numbers, unconditional love, etc. All of these books are in my personal library, carefully chosen to fulfill some of the criteria described here, and have been used during my teaching classes. The children I work with had wonderful reactions to them, and this has inspired me to write this Two by Two series.



Two Children's Books that Teach Colors Unconventionally


1. Little Blue and Little Yellow, Leo Linonni

Leo Leonni is by far one of the genius illustrators and writers of child literature. His genius lies in the simplicity with which he can talk, both in writing and through his images, about complex things. Little Blue and Little Yellow is not only about colors but about friendship and feeling positive and negative emotions and how these emotions can transform you.

It's the story of two good friends, who enjoyed each-other's company and had many other friends with whom they played hide and seek and other interesting games. One day, Little Blue seemed to have lost little Yellow, as he searched for him all around. When they

finally find each other, they hug so strongly, they both become green! Although happy with this transformation at the beginning, it soon becomes a burden. When their parents see them they don't recognize them anymore. Torn up with emotions Little Blue and Little yellow start to cry,

and their tears are blue and yellow. Released from their emotions they become once again Little Blue and Little Yellow. When they go home to share the story, a hugging revolution begins, and both family and friends experiment with this new thing, while reinventing themselves in lots of different colors!

2. The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments, Arnold Lobel

Lobel isn't so popular nowadays, he was well known in the 70's and 80's, especially in the United States, and today you might recognize his work from the Frog and Toad book series. His illustrations are rather classic but expressive, quite a different style from the minimalist Lionni. His stories may seem traditional, but they always come with a twist.

The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments tells the story of a magician, who would wake up every day and think that there is something missing in the grey world he lived in.

Often he would go down in his gloomy cellar and begin doing all sorts of magic tricks to forget about the world he lived in. In these playful experiments, mixing this with that, one day he created something different. He decided to make good use of it so he went outside and spread it all over his house. It was the color blue, and his neighbors got so excited that they demanded more of it so that they could also paint their houses. In short time everything was blue. 

But soon they all began to loose their smiles and feel very unhappy. So the magician decided to go back in his cellar and try something new. He added bits of this and bits of that and he created yellow.  The people were again enchanted with the new trick and used it plentifully to paint every nook and cranny with it. Until yellow too became too much for everyone. Then our magician turned to more mixing and merging and came up with red, which of course, everyone loved and used to fill the streets, houses, fences and pebbles. Until everyone became so very angry they began throwing stones at the poor magician who was himself red with anger. 
  

Once again, the magician began to blend and merge but all he could come up with was just blue, red and yellow. He kept on making more and more until the barrels overflew with colors which started to mix. With great joy, the magician found the solution he was waiting for. He presented it to all the people in the land who began to paint their world with all the colors the magician had created. 

I loved the story and the association between feelings and colors. I loved his somewhat medieval drawings and the step by step approach to introducing the primary colors. 

There are many other books which aim to teach colors in innovative ways. From simple bed time story telling or reading to a group to complex artistic representations, they can stimulate imagination and creativity! Here is an example of how a school in France was inspired by Lobel's story! 

Hope you enjoyed these two books as much as I did and that this article will inspire you to give the most beautiful colors to childhood! 

Two by Two: Two Children's Books that deal with Loss

Two by Two is a new exciting children literature project. Its purpose is to bring more or less known children books in the attention of teachers, parents and children around the world, paired on specific themes such as death, communication, self esteem, anger management, friendship, learning about colors or numbers, unconditional love, etc. All of these books are in my personal library, carefully chosen to fulfill some of the criteria described here, and have been used during my teaching classes. The children I work with had wonderful reactions to them, and this has inspired me to write this Two by Two series. 

Two Children's Books that deal with Loss

1. Rabbityness, Jo Empson

During one of my trips to Waterstones one book popped into my eyes. Its cover looked like one of Pollock's colorful explosions with the smiling face of a black, rather silly looking rabbit in the middle. I picked it up, then noticed it had a "Waterstones Children's Book Prize" Sticker on it, which I suppose further determined me to poke my nose into it. Then once I opened it, I couldn't stop reading until the end. 

Rabbityness tells the story of a rather unusual rabbit, who, beside being a normal rabbit with normal rabbit habits, also had some unrabbity artistic passions: painting and making music. His passions made him so happy that he became an inspiration for all the other rabbits, who joined him in filling the woods with color and music. 

One day, Rabbit disappears and the other rabbits were very sad. The woods were quiet and grey and all that was left of Rabbit was a deep dark hole. But in that hole, rabbit left some gifts for them: things to make colors and music! And once again, with the gifts from rabbit, the forest was filled with wonderful joy, with music and drawings and paintings made by very happy rabbits, who discovered that they too loved doing unrabbity things!

I very much loved how the author combined bits of reality with fantasy, how she made it so simple for children to identify themselves with the rabbits. I also loved the metaphors: the big dark hole is the void the loss of someone dear leaves behind, but in it, the author shows, we can always find the gifts those dear ones leave behind, colors and music for our wounded souls. This is an excellent writing about loss, inspiration and creativity! Last but not least, the illustrations are amazing!

2. The heart and the bottle, Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers is one of my favorite authors and illustrators. His work is simple but very meaningful, warm and subtle and his art is often made with a combination of drawings, paintings and real photography collage. 

The Heart and the Bottle teaches us about the beauty of childhood and ways to deal with loss. The story goes like this:

Once there was a little girl whose head was filled with all the curiosities of the world. She loved to read, draw and explore the world together with a special someone, with whom she shared all her findings and her wonders. 

Until a day when all she discovered was an empty chair. She then decided to put her heart away in a safe bottle which she wore around her neck, until she grew bigger and bigger and the heart became heavier and heavier. 

It took meeting a little girl whose head was still filled with all the curiosities of the world to make her want to put her heart back. Once she did, she was again sensitive to all the wonders of the world. And the chair was not so empty anymore.

Dealing with loss is part of life, and I believe it is important to start talking to children about it even before they are faced with such events. Although we may never really be prepared for death, reading and talking about it helps both children and parents deal with some of their most powerful fears in a warm, positive way. These reading moments also strengthen the parent - child relationship, develop the child's vocabulary and reading or listening skills. There are many more children's book on this theme. You can find some of them in LH Johnsons's List. 

Enjoy the readings and the peace they may bring!

With love,

Alexandra

Why Play is so Important!

Although sometimes seen by parents or even educators as a “waste of time”, 21^st century scholars consider that “free-play” (Bruce, T., 2006) has significant short and long term benefits for children, leading to a healthy psychical and emotional development and better understanding of the world (Bjorklung & Pellegrini in Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2010). This article will cover an explanation of the concept of play, from different perspectives, together with its characteristics and types, taking into account the latest findings in the child development literature on the impact and benefits of play. I will also examine how play facilitates and is impacted by the child’s physical, intellectual, linguistic, emotional and social development during the first six years of life and how adults can support play.

Drawing from the works of Moyles (2005), Bruce (2006), Mcleod-Brudenell and Kay (2008), MCI (undated), Goldschmeid & Jackson (2009) and Wood & Attfield (2005), play is a freely chosen process in which children engage with their already acquired knowledge, values and skills, and which has as end result, although not direct purpose, the development or refinement of further lifelong physical, socio-emotional and cognitive skills. It is a natural inclination (Moyles, 2005), a creative attitude in which the child attains a degree of independence supported by the representations of his inner and outer worlds (Wood & Attfield, 2005).

There are several characteristics of play. First of all, play is child chosen and spontaneous (Wood & Attfield, 2005). It unfolds in a creative manner and it can stop as unexpectedly as it began. Adults may come with ideas of play but a child will only accept what will resonate with his/her inner needs or passions. So another characteristic is that play is an intrinsically motivated process (Bruce, 2006).

During play, children invent and pretend. They use the events and behaviours they have observed to experiment different types of behaviours and outcomes, attitudes and family or social roles (Bruce, 2006). They project themselves in the future, as teacher or doctors, or mothers or fathers, adopting the behaviours of their role models. Play focuses on the process, not the product (Wood & Attfield, 2005), and in this process it is them who have control over their actions and decisions. Children use play to repeat or try–out recent learning, and to create or consolidate friendships (Mcleod-Brudenell and Kay, 2008). When engaged in free-play, children are deeply concentrating and can hardly be distracted from their learning. This is why the best plays are never time-constrained. Ultimately, play is a fun process, it generates positive emotions and it brings balance. This is why play helps children cope with difficult events in their lives (MCI, undated).

There are different types of play identified by researchers. Moyles (2005) distinguishes between physical play (wrestling, hide and seek), object play (construction or play with cars) and pretence play (mother and father, princess pretend). Piaget (in Moyles, 2005) defined: sensorimotor play (in the first year of life, characterised by repetitive muscle movement and simple object play), symbolic play (focuses on pretend, also with objects or imaginary objects) and games play with rules (such as football). In addition, Smilansky (in Moyles, 2005), includes constructive play defined as object play (construction with geometrical shapes or puzzles). Hutt (in Goldschmeid & Jackson, 2009) describes epistemic play, within which children learn and explore the world and its properties (such as mud play). Parten (in MCI, undated), categorised play as: solitary play (such as riding a tricycle), parallel play (when a child plays alongside other children, each absorbed in his/her own activity), associative play (together with other children, following his/her own play agenda, for example a pretend riders play, where each child invents what his/her character would say) and co-operative play (children establish the rules and roles together). Goldschmeid & Jackson, (2009) researched on heuristic play, a type of exploratory play with objects without the direct intervention of the adult. Fantasy play is a highly imaginative play during which children act on their own, using real or imaginative objects (Bruner in Moyles, 2005). It develops creativity, language and fine motor skills and can become socio – dramatic play if it is done in cooperation with other children. During socio–dramatic play children consciously act out social interactions by means of symbolic representations; It counts among its benefits concentration, development of cooperative skills, creativity, projection of social or family roles, development of abstract thought and self-esteem (Kitson in Moyles, 2005).

Physical activity play involves a large body activity, such as running, climbing and other large body or large muscle activity. This type of play includes: “rhythmic stereotypes” (Smith in Moyles, 2005), gross motor movement during the child’s first months without any apparent function, “exercise play” (Smith in Moyles, 2005), gross locomotor movement, such as running and climbing in the context of play and “rough-and-tumble play”, which involves wrestling, grappling, kicking, tumbling, rolling on the ground or chasing; Physical play has numerous benefits: it helps maintain friendships and develop skills of emotional control, enhances the physical training of muscles, strength and endurance. Studies (Pellegrini & Davies in Moyles, 2005) show that exercise play in break times improves concentration during class activities. Some other types of play are communication play, such as mime, play acting or poetry and deep play, which allows the child to meet risky or potentially life-threatening experiences, to develop survival skills and conquer fear (Macleod-Brudenell & Kay, 2008).

In order to have a clearer picture of how play impacts and is impacted by the holistic development of the child in the first six years of age, we shall first take a closer look at the development processes that occur from birth to three years. Goldschmeid & Jackson (2009) describe how a baby’s first toy is the body of the caring adult. Before the age of 6 months, the baby can move his/her hand and grab his/her carer’s fingers, hair or certain surrounding objects. Eye – hand – mouth coordination marks a big step in his/ her development; as s/he is able to sit his/her universe unveils: objects, persons and movements. Before one year of age, the baby can clearly observe differences between different sets of objects and will begin imitating (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2010). 

Play at this stage is physical, rhythmic stereotypes occur. Gradually, the development of sucking, mouthing and handling allow epistemic and heuristic play to take place, allowing the baby to find out details about the smell, taste, feel and weight of a certain material. These types of play foster further development, such as decision making, concentration and mobility. The baby will recognize sounds heard in the womb and gradually will start experimenting with uttering sounds of language, not yet producing any recognizable words (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2010). During the first year of age, s/he will be able to live the basic emotions: joy, surprise, sadness, disgust and fury (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2010). Socially, the baby starts to trust in the main caregiver and develops a certain type of “attachment” (Bowlby in MCI, undated), an enduring emotional bond between him/her and the main caregiver. Parallel play enables babies to communicate with other babies through sounds, movements or facial expressions thus developing inter-personal skills.

During the second and third year, the baby will grow in height, allowing construction play to take place. Two and three year olds are able to build cube towers, climb stairs, run or jump. This opens a window of physical and exercise play opportunities. At this stage cognitive development impacts the intellectual play of the child, as s/he will be able to count, differentiate colours, understand consequences of actions. I have often watched children at this age being engaged in fantasy play: fishing with a stick, eating off leaves which served as plates, pretending to read newspapers or walking babies in carriages. The development of language enables the child to use new words and communicate with adults and children, therefore leaving an open door to simple communication play: songs with gestures, reading of poetry and cards games. In turn, this type of play fosters the development of vocabulary, pronunciation and the construction of sentences. Socially, two to three years old have an increasing need of independence. Solitary and parallel play remain the most preferred types of play.

Now that we have seen how development and play are interconnected during the first three years of the child, let us take a look of how they unfold from the age of three to six years old.

Physically, fine motor skills refine and writing skills develop. Now the child can pour liquids, eat with cutlery or get dressed on his own. S/he can jump or change running or walking directions and engage in rough-and-tumble play. This new degree of physical competence enriches the fantasy play, which becomes socio-dramatic play, as it is often done together with other children. I have seen children pretending to be animals, playing doctors performing precise eye or hand operations, going shopping with the families (composed of friends in the roles of children, husband or wives) and carrying full baskets. Their cognitive development allowed them to create intricate stories, engulfing abstract concepts or to thoroughly plan their play. Two boys were once building a spaceship, and planning what materials to use. They applied knowledge and used specific words such as “mission”, “oxygen” or “engine”. This was possible because of their language development. Between three and six, children know more than 20.000 words and can easily build short stories, and this is clearly reflected in their play (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2010). Emotionally, children at this age are able to recognize his/her feelings and the feelings of others (no longer ego-centric). They should be able to recognize when other children are playful or not. “Segregation” (Moyles, 2005) naturally happens as children spend more time in groups of similar sex. Socially, leadership and followership skills are developed, both with equal importance for the later adult (Bruce, 2006).

So what is the role of the adult in this natural development process? One of the most important roles of the adults relate to creating the necessary space, ensuring its safety and allowing independence and freedom for the child to explore it. All outdoor and indoor spaces should reflect the learning and development needs of the child, and the adult must make sure the equipment serves this purpose. Adults should supervise and observe the child and track his/her development, organize the objects and groups if the children are under three and give enough time for proper exploration and for putting the materials back as the session finishes. 

During heuristic play, the only intervention which could aid is to stop a child who will bother others, by suggesting him/her a new object and facilitating his/her interaction with it. Adults involvement in certain types of play such as socio-dramatic play can enhance the child’s learning by focusing his/her attention and challenging the process. The adult should act as a behavioural model and help children differentiate between reality and fiction. An adult can subtly structure the learning in play without significantly reducing the child’s ownership (Moyles, 2005). Lindon (2002, pp. 5) argues that: “children cannot benefit from their play if adults overplan and over-supervise the daily events of any setting or the family home”; therefore, adults should respect the child and his/her play agenda and understand which the right moment to intervene is.

Play is one of the most important processes which need to occur unhindered from infancy for the holistic development of the young child. It comes in different types and contexts and it affects and it is affected by each area of development: physical, cognitive, social, emotional and linguistic. It evolves together with the development of the child and changes according to his/her needs. Adults can facilitate this process by ensuring a safe and stimulating environment and by knowing when to intervene or not. All children should be able to experience play equally, and real alarm signals should be addressed when a child does not engage in play!

Source of the images:

1. http://www.aspenhillclub.com/Portals/252655/images/kids-playing.jpg
2. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv92g6y2klf5jN91mhKTOXzmjNgDt0RfSDQvjuYh1wfMJR6MZKH0McM94eIse1JmU06t_mIbucB0_SL-YahksJxmj93twENE30QafulVXQW3cMxjx87J558vD_vtJK68tX8u5j5QUOk0zz/s1600/AAA_7160.jpg
3. http://theimaginationtree.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Roads-and-construction-site-in-play-dough.jpg
4. http://www.myantelopevalley.com/media/2013080681807boyswrestling.jpg
5. http://www.chilboltonpreschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/role-play.jpg
6. http://studio3music.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/fantasy-play.jpg
7. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9cK8Oq8HdgDaH_TnE9c_s0OYczqsKNJdK6T9p7V1loxKyax2tAFN-69xJEokguk010u5FeB_7IvPWCIyCVXf5quMhFQsSQ1E-Xv0v2B_6esk2KTnkfrh2KyCLa04VzCHvWD9fAKSSFLR/s1600/IMG_6433.JPG

Bibliography

• Bruce, T. (2006 reprint) Developing Learning in Early Childhood London: Sage
• Elkind, D., (2009), Learning from play Montessori International, (Issue 91, April/June) pp 12 – 13
• Fass, P. S., (2004), Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood In History and Society New York: Macmillan Reference USA
• Goldschmeid, E. & Jackson, S. (2009 reprint) People Under Three London: Routledge
• Lillard, P.P, (1972),  Montessori, a Modern Approach  New York: Schocken Books
• Lindon, J., (2002), Factsheet: What is play [online] National Children’s Bureau: London, available online from: http://www.somerset.gov.uk/irj/go/km/docs/CouncilDocuments/SCC/Documents/CYP/NCB%20What%20is%20Play.pdf, date accessed (2.07.2013)
• Macleod-Brudenell, I, &  Kay, J. (2008, Second Edition) Advanced Early Years for Foundation Degrees & Level   4/5  Harlow: Heinemann  
• Montessori Centre International (undated) Module 2 Child Development London: MCI
• Morris-Coole, S., (2009), The Serious Business of Play Montessori International, (Issue 91, April/June)
• Moyles, J. (2005 2nd Edition) The Excellence of Play Maidenhead: Open University Press
• Nutbrown, C. & Clough, P. (2006) Inclusion in the Early Years London: Sage
• Papalia D. E., Wendkos-Olds S. & Duskin-Feldman, R., Human Development, (2010, 11^th ed.), Bucharest: Editura Trei
• Wood, E. & Attfield, J. (2005 2nd Edition) Play, Learning and the Early Childhood Curriculum London: Paul   Chapman Publishing