2017 Winter Break #4 - Season 2, Episode 8

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 8 of The Book Love Foundation Podcast! And thank you for joining us in this celebration of teaching and the joy of learning. This episode is part of a series of special shows for winter break 2017! In each episode, we will help you figure what to do with those book store gift cards by sharing some titles you may want to add to your classroom library. Today Penny talks with Dana Johansen!

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Season 2 Ep 8 Show Notes

Penny talks about Enticing Hard-to-Reach Writers, by Ruth Ayers.

Dana Johansen  Dana has taught elementary and middle school for more than ten years. She currently teaches fifth grade English and is earning her doctorate in Curriculum & Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dedicated to the ever-expanding applications of technology in the classroom, she has presented at conferences on the use of iPads, wikis and blogs in the classroom.

Dana is the co-author with Sonja Cherry-Paul of Flip Your Writing Workshop: A Blended Learning Approach, and Teaching Interpretation: Using Text-Based Evidence to Construct Meaning.

Find Dana on Twitter.

Here are her book recommendations…

The Swap, by Megan Shull. (Megan on Twitter.)

Kate Messner includes a link on her web site to authors who Skype with classes and book clubs (for free).

Ghost, by Jason Reynolds

Patina, by Jason Reynolds

Sunny, by Jason Reynolds

The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, by Janet Fox.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Book Love Foundation podcast. The Book Love Foundation is a non-profit 501 3(c) dedicated to putting books in the hands of teachers dedicated to nurturing the individual reading lives of their middle and high school students. In the past five years, we have awarded $223,000. If you can help us in our mission, visit booklovefoundation.org and make a donation. 100% of what you give goes to books.
– Penny

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Creators and Guests

Host

Penny Kittle

Penny is Chairman of the Book Love Foundation and is dedicated to helping students and teachers develop a passion for reading and writing. She has taught English and coached literacy in public schools for 34 years.

Guest

Dana Johansen

What is The Book Love Foundation Podcast?

Celebrate the joy of reading with the Book Love Foundation podcast. This is a show filled with information and inspiration from teachers and leaders across grade levels, states, and school systems. We interviewed authors and educators for the first five years and now turn our attention to leaders in public, private, and charter schools. Find out more at booklovefoundation.org or join our book-love-community.mn.co of 2500 educators from 28 countries. We sustain joy together, one kid and one book at a time.

Penny Kittle 00:00
The Book Love Foundation podcast is produced by the teacher learning sessions, connecting teachers with ideas, experts and each other.

Penny Kittle 00:16
Welcome back to the Book Love Foundation winter special podcast series. This is our fourth in the series, and it's dedicated to giving you some ideas for spending all that holiday cash you got in book cards. Today I'm going to talk to Dana Johansen, a middle school teacher who has co authored with Sonia Cherry Paul two books for Heinemann. The first one, Flip Your Writing Workshop I found absolutely fascinating, and the second Teaching Interpretation builds on that original thinking. So before we get to our conversation, let me recommend another professional development book that has been on my desk this month. And I want to think about that phrase, professional development as it was intended. I love this profession of teaching. It's not a job, it's a profession that requires my continual education and development. I've never reached a place where I can sit back comfortable in what I know, because I chose work that expects more from me. I need to learn in order to teach well. So I embrace professional reading, and I imagine, if you're listening, you do too. This month, I read Enticing Hard to Reach Writers. It's been my companion since NCTE. It's a little book with great power. It's Ruth Ayers latest book, and she's a literacy coach who understands children and teenagers, and she writes with such beauty. She's given me this new phrase to describe so many of the kids I teach here in the mountains in New Hampshire, a history of hard. Some of my students come from the devastating effects of trauma, and Ruth's book is giving me new ways to see and learn from them. Listen to this. The amygdala is our emotional control panel. It's the part of the brain in charge of feelings, emotional behavior and motivation. Fear is the primary emotion in children from hard places, and the amygdala is where fear forms. Stephanie, and this is Ruth's adopted daughter, survived the first years of her life by learning to take care of herself. Although everything in her early years was unpredictable, she figured out ways to be in control. By screaming, flailing her arms and kicking she could get her own way. She didn't talk until the age of four, yet fully potty trained herself before the age of one. Stephanie has more willpower than most, and learned soon in life that if she wanted something done, she'd have to do it herself or with the help of her sister, Hannah. When most children were playing on swings, Hannah and Stephanie were sleeping through the night underneath the park bench. When most toddlers were learning to eat cut up grapes and broccoli, Hannah and Stephanie were digging through trash cans for leftovers. When most children were wrapped in a favorite warm blanket for naptime, Hannah and Stephanie were cuddled in a closet in a house without heat. They lived in fear, fear of being hurt, fear of being cold, fear of being hungry, fear all the time. Living like this alters the way a brain develops. The girl's amygdala became enlarged. Ruth's insights are so important for us to think about, but it's also true that she writes like a dream. I bought copies of this book for each member of my teacher's writing group, because she writes the way they want to write, with courage, with soul. You're going to love this book. Thanks for being here.

Penny Kittle 04:12
You know Dana's the kind of teacher who cuts into her vacation in Oregon to connect with me across the country so I could record her thinking about books you're going to love to have in your classroom. I'm grateful to her. I'm grateful to all of you who listen in just have yourself a wonderful start to 2018. Thanks for being here.

Penny Kittle 04:31
If I'm a teacher and I got a book card for the holidays, and I would love to spend it on some books from my classroom. What would you recommend?

Dana Johansen 04:43
I'm so excited to talk about this. So you asked me to choose three, and I thought, Oh, my God, how can I pick three? But what I decided to do was pick three of my go to titles in my classroom that are great for students where you know you're just getting to know as readers or students who have read everything and perhaps not heard of these titles. My first number one go to book in my classroom, I mean, this is the book I at the beginning of the year, I know it's going to be a hit. At the end of the year, I know it's still going to be a hit. This book is called the Swap by Megan Shull, and it's a book that's similar to Freaky Friday, and it's about body swapping so awesome and and so through some magic seventh grade girls, which is bodies with an eighth grade boy, and they need to live in each other's lives for a period of time. And this book really has it all. It has the touch of magic. It has a realistic fiction feel, and it has that tiny bit of hormones that really, you know, make it a little juicy. So it's really exciting, especially students. I love it. This is one that my middle schoolers can't put down. They beg for more books like this. Megan Shull actually also does really great Skype sessions in the classroom. So I begged her. I said, We have to connect with you. We love your book. So really, really awesome.

Penny Kittle 06:07
That is just ask if I'm a teacher, and I've never set one of those up, how would you figure out how to connect with her?

Dana Johansen 06:15
Sure. So my first way was through Twitter. Was through Twitter. I try first, you know, I just say, you know, Hey @MeganShull, or whatever her handle is offhand, I'm not sure. But I say, Hey, you know, we'd love to connect with you. Not sure if you're available that sort of thing. Not sure if you do this type of thing. And sometimes authors tweet back, sometimes they respond, sometimes they don't, but that's my first way. I also love to go to their websites and say, you know, for contact me, that sort of thing. Sometimes they have a bit of information there for teachers too. Yeah, yeah. I'm a little, you know, I try and search around. So if one way fails, try the other Yeah, but yeah, no. Really makes a difference.

Penny Kittle 07:06
It does. I had as spoken word poet Skype with us as well as an author last year, and I just my kids were so dialed in.

Dana Johansen 1 07:13
It makes all the difference. And the wonderful words that the authors saying, the recommendations they have for students as readers and writers. I mean so much more to my students than anything I could say. You know, I print all this stuff, and then the author says that it's like, Whoa, oh my gosh, yes. So it's just really, really powerful. It's really great. And then I have the book, Ghost by Jason Reynolds. And this book is actually part of a series. Have you read that?

Penny Kittle 07:46
Yes, I love kind of a Jason Reynolds. I have a little crush there. I read everything he writes, right, right. Oh my gosh. We all do

Dana Johansen 07:55
Absolutely Sonya and I always try to get our pictures taken with him when we go to the, you know, the teacher conferences, oh my gosh. And we're so excited if we can have our picture taken with Jason Reynolds, it's such a huge day for us. So this book, Ghost is the story of a boy named Ghost who's had who's lived a hard life, and he's been running from the past, and he's one of the fastest runners, actually, in his neighborhood. And this book begins when he's running by a track team, and Ghost knows that he's the fast he's faster than any of the runners on the field, and he wants to prove it. And this is such a great beginning to a book. It's so captivating. And it's, I mean, it's hilarious. I mean, Ghost goes down to the course and challenges the fastest runner to a race, and the coach of course, is yelling like, Who are you kid? And get off the track. And this is a private team, but Ghost really wants to race. And so finally, the coach gives in, and the two runners compete, and Ghost wins, and the coach and all the other spectators that can't believe it, they all want to know who's this kid. And so here's a short excerpt from the book. right after Ghost has won this race, the coach says to him, Kid, wait, wait, who do you run for? I run for me. Who else? I replied? I stopped walking. No, I mean, what team? No, team. I see. And he glanced over at the track. So then, who trained you? Somebody had to train you to be so fast. Nobody. I just know how to run. Yes, yes, you do. And the rest of this book is about Ghost journey. And I don't want to fully give it away, but you know, it's about, does he join this team? Do the teammates accept him? And how can Ghost learn how to stop running from his past? And so this book just has it all, heartfelt moments, great action. And then, I don't know if any of your students Penny have read Patina, but that's the next book in this series. And the best part about the series is that all these books are standalone, so you don't have to read one before the other. But the next one, Patina just came out, and my students have loved it. Have any of your students read it?

Penny Kittle 09:59
They haven't read. It yet, and it's sitting on my shelf. I haven't read it yet, so I'm dying to know, is it the same cast of characters?

Dana Johansen 10:07
It is. It's the same, the same cast of characters. And the next book, Sunny is coming out April 10. And so this is already something in our classroom. We have a display that says, you know, coming soon. So that one we're already thinking about, because it's coming out in April. And I love the series, and Jason Reynolds is just awesome. Really, really

Penny Kittle 10:30
love I'm sorry you because of your contagious passion, I listen to you, and I go, if I was in your room, I would be reading.

Dana Johansen 10:37
Oh, thank you. Thank you. Oh, I just love it. And I mean, what a great job. You know, you get to read all of these books. I mean, I I just think it's so much fun. I just have a kid at heart, I guess, love, love, love, all of us. And my final book that I want to recommend is called the Charm Children of Rook Skill Castle, and it's by Janet Fox. And this book came out in 2016 and I found that so many of my students have enjoyed it. It takes place in 1940 and it centers around a small group of children who've been a sent away from London to the countryside. This is very much like the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe or the War that Saved My Life, and they're sent to this place called Rook Skill Castle in order to be kept safe. However, the castle is not at all what it seems. And so here's an excerpt from the book that I love. The gate was an iron monster with crossbars, and at the very top of the arch, cat could make out an odd symbol. It was the number 13 inside an ornate circle with the letters RC flanking it. Cat gas guessed that the RC stood for rookskill castle, but the 13, maybe it was the house number. Did castles have numbers, and if so, who would choose the unhappy number 13? Silly? She scolded herself. Numbers weren't happy or unhappy. Numbers were solid things, things you could depend on. But as the wagon passed under the gate, she couldn't suppress a shudder and wouldn't look up at the 13 that stared down at them like a winking eye. Read it so great. It draws readers right in. They can't put this down, because everyone wants to know what's going to happen to these kids in this castle and will they survive? And it has it all. It has ancient curses, it has charms, it has spies, it has war, it has magic. It just has it all. And the cool thing about this author is that I have my students write, choose an author to write to every year, and so one of my students last year, loved this book so much, and wrote to Janet Fox, and she wrote back. And my student actually just received it about a week ago, and it was the most lovely letter. I just, I mean, I just thank authors for doing that. It's so incredible that they take the time to write kids back and and Janet wrote such a lovely message. And just amazing.

Penny Kittle 13:02
Just, really is such a cool story. I don't know if you know that EB White wrote to Linda Rief as a child. Linda Rief was this little kid saying, I loved Stuart Little and he wrote to her, it's so powerful.

Dana Johansen 13:19
Yeah, so powerful. I mean, it's, you know, it's things that kids frame and have in their house for the rest of their lives. I mean, because it means so much. And I mean, as a teacher, I say, oh, others are very busy. You know, there's probably no way that they're going to write back, and I don't have any expectation about this, but it's so powerful when they do and, I mean, everyone gathers around and listens to the words of the author. It's just so, I mean, I wish authors could be there to see, you know, a child's reaction to receiving their letter, because it's really special.

Penny Kittle 13:54
You know, yeah, talking to you, it's about more than just your love of books and your love of kids, but you've given us two things that some teachers have never tried, which is to connect with an author on Twitter and perhaps do a Skype session, and then to remind teachers that authors are human beings who might love to get a letter and send them back, and how powerful it is to help those authors live in the lives of our classrooms.

Dana Johansen 14:19
Absolutely, and when I was talking to the author, Sarah Weeks about it, and I was thanking her for responding to my students, and she said, the number one tip for getting authors to write back to your students is to send a pre addressed, you know, stamped envelope with your letter, because then it's, then it's free for the author. And that's, that's really cool. And it would really when she said it, I said, Oh my God, you're right. I mean, oh my gosh. It must be so much money in postage otherwise. So it's really, really great. It works. Yeah.

Penny Kittle 14:57
You know what, your love of our work is a gift. Thank you so much. It's a gift to the foundation for you to help us with our podcast, but also just to the kids you reach every day. Thank you so much.

Dana Johansen 15:08
Oh, thank you Penny. It's such an honor talking with you.

Penny Kittle 15:11
It's an honor for me. Have a wonderful holiday.

Dana Johansen 15:15
Thank you so much. You too.

Penny Kittle 15:17
Thank you. Bye. Coming up tomorrow is winter break. Super special podcast number five with Ariel Johnson. You know who she is. You follow her on Twitter. I'm sure you do, because like me, you follow all the people who make you think and live and love this work, see you next time.

Kevin Carlson 15:42
Hello, this is Kevin Carlson from the teacher learning sessions. Thank you for listening to the fourth of our special winter break reading episodes. We have also heard book talks and recommendations from Penny, Cornelius Minor and Tricia Ebarvia, in the previous episodes. If you missed them, I encourage you to check out those episodes. After we finish this series of mini episodes for the break, we will be sending a full list of all the books that people talk about to everybody on the teacher learning sessions email list, both as an email and as a PDF. If you would like to receive that yourself, just go to teacherlearningsessions.com and join the email list, you can do it right now. In our next episode, Ariel Johnson.

Ariel Johnson 16:26
Our students will, after all, ultimately become adults who have some type of relationship with power. Let's inspire them to use or antagonize that power in ways that expose them to new ideas and change them and the world for all of us, that's why we read in the first place, isn't it?

Kevin Carlson 16:43
Thanks for listening. I hope you're having a great winter break. Happy reading. Support for the Book Love Foundation podcast comes from Booksource. As a leading distributor of authentic literature for K 12 classrooms, Booksource makes it easy for educators to build, grow and organize classroom libraries that engage readers. With free teacher resources to accompany over 13,000 titles, Booksource helps busy teachers integrate classroom library books into lessons and save valuable research and planning time. Visit booksource.com to bring your classroom library to life with teacher resources today.Tthe Book Love Foundation podcast is produced by the teacher learning sessions, connecting teachers with ideas, experts and each other.