Picture Books You Should Read Part 2

The Bad Seed by Jory John and illustrated by Pete Oswald is a picture book that all readers can enjoy. It takes us on a journey through the eyes of a sunflower seed who identifies himself as a baaaad seed.

(Yes, you must read it aloud with a lot of expression.) We all get a little giggle out of mischievous characters who do those naughty things we wish we could do, but we don't want to label ourselves. Does the seed continue to be the bad seed? Will he ever be a good seed?

The Good Egg by Jory John and illustrated by Pete Oswald is a fabulous follow up to The Bad Seed.

Readers get to see the viewpoint of the good egg. He has always been the good egg. He tries to get all his other egg friends to be good eggs. When his friends can't be good he starts cracking up. The egg decides do a little self-care. At this time of year, teachers can be a little weary of trying to be the "good egg". We need to remember that we need to take care of ourselves.

Choice Words by Peter H. Johnston

Peter H. Johnston published Choice Words, How Our Language Affects Children's Learning in 2004. Johnston's text examines the language between teachers and students and how it impacts learning. He states, "In other words, the language that teachers (and their students) use in classrooms is a big deal." p. 10

In chapter one, Johnston gives an overview of the importance language holds on students and learning. Explicitness is one aspect that teachers must determine. "We don't explicitly detail how we do things because one of the rules of conversation is that you don't tell people what they already know. (Grice 1975) Minority students often pay a high price for this assumption." p. 7. Since the assumptions by teachers can have an impact on students, it is important  to consider the explicitness we use in our language, "deciding what to be explicit about requires some knowledge of our audience." p. 8.

Thoughts to consider-

• What do I assume my students already know? How might those assumptions be detrimental to student learning?
• How might my explicit language help my students?
• Where do I need to be more explicit?