2017 Winter Break #6 - Season 2, Episode 10

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 10 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 Tiana Silvas-Brunetti!

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Season 2 Ep 10 Show Notes

Tiana Silvas-Brunetti considers effective teaching to be an intersection of continuous co-constructed learning, self-confidence, and lifelong leaders that emerge from teacher teams and classrooms. Silvas feels that the best way to grow as an education leader is through experience in the classroom saying, I continue to lead from the trenches. She says true leadership isn t what you do in the moment, but the legacy you leave behind. TIana is a 4th Grade Teacher, and former Literacy Coach at PS 59 (from her Heinemann Fellows bio).

Find Tiana on Twitter and Facebook.

Read the recent post from the Heinemann Fellows blog, Heinemann Fellow Tiana Silvas on Fostering Empathy and Understanding Among Students.

In their conversation, Tiana and Penny mentioned several authors who have books that kids can connect with throughout their development as readers.

By Jacqueline Woodson: The Other Side, Brown Girl Dreaming

By Gary Soto: Baseball in April, his many books of poetry

By Matt de la Pena: Last Stop on Market Street, Mexican WhiteBoy

By Jason Reynolds: Ghost, All the Way Down

By Kwame Alexander: The Crossover, Solo

Here are Tiana’s book recommendations…

Her Right Foot, by Dave Eggers

The Paper-flower Tree, by Jacqueline Ayer

Family Pictures Cuadros de Familia, by Carmen Lomas Garza

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

Tiana Silvas Brunetti

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 to the Book Love Foundation podcast, and thanks for joining us. This is the last in our winter special blast of podcasts where I interview some teachers about the books that they're using in their classrooms and loving so that you can enjoy them too. Today we're talking to Tiana Silvas Brunetti, who teaches fifth grade this year at PS 59 in New York. She's looping with her students this year after having them as fourth graders, she currently is working on some writing for Heinemann through the Heinemann fellows. I love Tiana's blog on the Heinemann website, fostering empathy and understanding among students. She is brilliant, wise and wonderful. I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. Thanks for joining us.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 01:05
It's interesting this year. I mean, teaching in the heart of the city, like my I actually looped with my fourth graders up to fifth grade, and it's interesting how we have this relationship. And they completely, like, ripped apart our class collection of books and like, we have this, like, ongoing list in the in our in our room now. And I mean, just searching and searching and searching. And I mean, I even find myself searching, and they're looking for everything. I actually have, like, about 20% of my students are Muslim, and they're looking for books right now that they can see themselves in, and the Albanian Muslim and so they're looking for that. They're looking for. Let me think, what else more, more girl empowerment but girl empowerment of color that isn't just like, this is the adversity I went through, but a narrative that is like, I'm a woman, I'm a girl, and this has been my journey, but not necessarily, like I struggled through the Civil Rights or I struggled through this, yeah, so it's kind of interesting to see. And it's like every week, like something new goes up on that board. Mental mental illness is another one. Yeah. Kids are curious. One of my students is like, there's no books out there that tell my story. And I'm like, I'm searching. I'm searching. So it's kind of, I mean, for me, it puts me in check and keeps me going. But also, I think it's really cool that they have these eyes that they're they're reading the classroom with.

Penny Kittle 02:39
No kidding. And I love that you have this ongoing list. It's always been a staple in my classroom that kids can add books that they know that I'm missing. And after I had the podcast with Cornelius, I had ordered many of the books he talked about, and I the one on hip hop was back ordered, and that one of my kids came in that day, and I said, Oh, and you've been asking me for a good hip hop book. And I went online and showed him where it was and what Cornelius had recommended. Cornelius had recommended, and he was like, that's the one miss Kittle. That's the one I'm looking for. How to name it until Cornelius gave me an idea and I could find it. And I think that reading requires so much of that searching on behalf of the teacher, oh, absolutely knowing our kids and trying to, trying to help them find the books that they're looking for. It's not just, let's get everybody excited, it's, let's do this with a real purpose for helping our kids grow.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 03:33
Right, I think there's something like super magical about it, of like, I think about the instances in my classroom where a student has finally found that book to open to that world of reading to them. And I always wish I could just capture it on film, but it's just too intimate, because it's almost this emotional, like crossover. And I've seen kids once they've found themselves in literature or found what they've been looking for. It's unbelievably emotional, and they show it. And this small little girl in the Bronx, I'll never forget that day she was sitting in the fifth grade. I was a literacy coach at the time, and she just started crying. And I was like, you have found it, huh? And she's like, I absolutely have. And this is what you guys have been telling me about, I'm like, Uh huh. I go, welcome. Welcome to this world. Beautiful, yeah. But I mean, it happens, but sometimes it's a journey, though you have to search and search and search and then. But when it does, it does.

Penny Kittle 04:35
Yeah, and I have two boys this year that they're both juniors in high school and have discovered books for the first time that they know, of books that really spoke to them. And it was that same kind of moment I can remember with one I was looking across the room, and I could see him experiencing it. And when you called it intimate, it's, you know, I wouldn't pick up my iPad or my camera. Because it's so raw. And you know, even though I always ask permission from my students to share their thinking or their images, I wouldn't want to ask. I wouldn't want them to say yes, because it isn't for anyone else.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 05:17
Absolutely not, but it is. It's cool to see kids get to that point.

Penny Kittle 05:23
Yeah, yeah. And also, you know, it takes such persistence. My good friend, she worked for the Annenberg Foundation, Elaine melinage, we've been talking about professional stamina, the ability to stay with what's hard, yeah. Do you find that in your classroom.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 05:43
To stay what's hard in terms of, like, instruction, passion, all of it, like, all of it, I do. I do think that there's, I think, I mean, depending on which direction we wanted to go, I think, I mean, teaching is exhausting on many levels, and there's always systematic pressures that occur. And, yeah, I mean, I could, yeah, I could speak to you for about three hours on that.

Penny Kittle 06:17
Well, I think, you know, what I think was interesting about that is that it's, there's, I've been kind of reading my own and you know, what gives me energy, what takes it away? Was a famous Don graves research project, and he asked teachers to name the things in their days over a course of about 30 of them that gave them energy and took it away. And I always think about how we have to work within we know this is going to take energy the meeting that has an agenda that you know is really just a verbal memo, and you don't want to attend, but you have to attend, and so you know you're going to lose energy there. And I often take my notebook and write about students or write about instruction while I'm absorbing this list of announcements. But the other piece is that there's a professional stamina to figuring out what that kid needs. And so you're doing that with your list. And you know you're, I can just hear it in your voice. I'm going to help those kids find those books. I don't know what they are, but I'm and that means that you're going to, you're going to find space to do that kind of work for those kids.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 07:18
I think you actually spoke about this earlier too, like the art of slowing down. And just because the professional stamina that it takes to be able to really, really get to know our kids and all their dimensions, but the art of slowing down and how, when it it's kind of like, contradicts itself. But like in order to have that professional stamina, you need to be able to slow down and look at our teaching practice, but also the students in front of in front of us as humans and as individuals, to be able to co create this learning ecosystem that is rich and full and has longevity in their lives. I mean, that's what I think about with professional stamina, at least on my part, is putting on the brakes and slowing down so I can do this work, which is hard, it's very hard, but it's definitely a practice. And I've talked to my principal about this, just slow down. Let's slow down. Let's slow down so we can really, really, really do our jobs. Well, yeah, yeah, it is. But also, like, when I think about, like, books, and I was like, after I had written you that emails, thinking about, like, what else besides the books that I recommended, I thought about, what about the authors that end up in my students hands that they can grow with over time? And it's not just as from picture books to YA literature to adulthood, and I started thinking about that, and I was like, Wait, there's particular authors that are in my students hands, whether it be they're reading them, or they serve as actual writing mentor texts for them that are growing with my students and that they will continue to grow with once they leave me and go on to middle school and high school. And I was thinking about like Jacqueline Woodson right her picture books all the way from the other side to Brown Girl Dreaming, to her adult literature. Then you have like Gary Soto that baseball in April to his poet, a poetic works, Matt d la pena. I mean, my heart, I know, yeah, last stop on Market Street, to Mexican, Mexican white boy. And what's interesting with Matt de la Pena, my son, he came in, and I was like, looking at some of his work, and my son goes, That's me. That's my favorite book. And I think about how and my son is half Italian, half Mexican. Like how he's going to be able to grow with my. At over the years, and I think that's beautiful. And he's like, Oh, I could be like him. I'm like, absolutely you can. And then, like Jason Reynolds, you have like ghosts to the long way down, and then Kwame crossover to solo like these books are going to grow with my kids. And I think about not only building like love for literature, but also lifelong writers and how much of an impact that they've had on my kids in their narrative, but also with the beauty of their craft and how they're trying to write like these authors now. And it's almost like a two for one thing, and that that makes me super excited as a classroom teacher.

Penny Kittle 10:42
Wow. You know, what else is cool about what you're talking about is that it's, you know, Terry Lesene's Reading ladders, the idea that you can lead a kid to much more complex thinking in one idea through a series of books. But you're really talking about author ladders, and I don't think I've ever articulated that Well, the idea that when a kid grows alongside one author, and they develop this allegiance to that author, they're going to not only see the work, especially all of the ones that you mentioned that have a variety of different genres they write in, but they're going to see themselves as a writer mentored to the works of that author.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 11:18
Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, I've had some kids in my class who who point blank, told me, I'm not a writer. I'm like, really. And then all of a sudden, I remember putting Kwame in their hands, and three months later, I mean, the lyrics and the beauty of their writing has completely transformed. And their parents even came and told me, like, thank you. Like, thank you for putting this book in my son's hands. And I'm like, I didn't do anything. I was like, that's the magic of reading. And then I just gave them an opportunity to write. But yeah, it's really cool. Really cool.

Penny Kittle 11:55
That is just such a it's so beautiful the way, you know, we're not even there, and we're not doing these particular mini lessons, but the author is giving the lesson in the book as the kid reads.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 12:10
Oh yeah. And it's just like this influence that it's like we want, we hope, that students will embody this life full of reading and writing. And I mean having an author's authors to grow alongside it with is, I mean, true like transference, but just like, I think a really rich reading and writing life that goes hand in hand together.

Penny Kittle 12:33
Yeah, I think about my own reading life and how I'm always pulling these examples, I, you know, turn the corner down on pages, or I highlight them on my Kindle, but I'm always when a passage strikes me as, Wow, that's written well, I want to look at it again and again and again, and I want to think about what's that writer doing. How can I name what they're doing and do that in my own little notebook here and try it out. And as long as we transfer that thinking to kids, I really feel like we get to this point where they do it effortlessly, just as we do as readers and writers.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 13:05
Oh, absolutely do see, I could keep talking to you for hours about this. I know you want to come to my classroom.

Penny Kittle 13:14
Actually, I was going to suggest next, because I'm going to be in New York Valentine's Day week, and I really want to come visit.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 13:19
Yeah, you should. It'd be fun, especially our how our reading and writing lights go together. The kids, the kids, I don't even teach writing workshop anymore, they do it, yeah, but they use, like, all these mentors, I mean, to guide them, which is crazy cool to see. Gosh, I'd love it. Yeah, you should. So should we talk about some books? Yes, we've talked about, like, quite a few books.

Penny Kittle 13:47
And yeah, what else do you have in mind? What do you want to share with us?

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 13:49
So Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, that one is a really cool narrative nonfiction book. It's beautiful and it's intriguing, because it's not what you expect from narrative nonfiction. I mean, it has a storyline, but it's all done in illustrations, and it's incredibly entertaining too, because of the humor tucked in, for example, like the author Dave is like he loads the the beginning half of the book of like, facts and information about how the Statue of Liberty was constructed and the idea was constructed, and how it was built. But then he like, texts in this humor, of like, well, you probably knew blah, blah, blah. And he's like, you probably know this. And then he's like, he gets you at one point later on the book, and he's like, but there's one thing that you might not know, and it is the central point of this book. And the author apologize apologizes for taking so long to get to it. And like, literally, like, through the book. And like, when I was reading it to my students, they're looking at me like, okay, the type. It was her right foot. We're learning all about the Statue of Liberty, and now the author is throwing this at us, and then they were like confused. But then the storyline comes of another storyline, because there's multiple storylines in there. This new perspective to readers about the Statue of Liberty is on the move because her right foot is in motion. And I've lived in New York 17 years, going on 18, and now I have to go take the Staten Island Ferry to look at the Statue of Liberty again, because I never noticed that that her foot is on the move like it's moving. But the reason for this, as the story says, is because she's moving to find freedom and liberty for all, and looking at the Statue of Liberty in this text from that perspective is absolutely mind blowing, because it's not something you ever considered. And I think about how this opens up the thinking premise for kids of to ponder like, what does that mean today? What does freedom and liberty mean today, when the United States received this statue years and years and years ago, what does freedom and liberty mean today? And that's the questions that I pose for my kids towards the end of the book that they're grappling with and whole class grand conversations. And it opens up some really nice avenues for critical thinking and talk amongst your students. And I also love pairing this. I love pairing all my books with some types of articles too. I love pairing this book with articles from the New York Times and other newspapers from that time period about the opening ceremony of the Statue of Liberty, because obviously there was power struggles and privilege, when the ceremony happened and when students read the articles and the accounts, getting them to think with another critical lens about power, privilege and perspective alongside this text. I mean, it's just a lot of fun in class, but really, really important thinking for kids to be doing doesn't matter what age.

Penny Kittle 17:22
So wise, to take a nonfiction article, pair it with this narrative nonfiction picture book, and then to just have a classroom that's alive with this thinking that's going to carry over in all kinds of other ways.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 17:36
Yeah, and it just makes reading like so much more fun, too. It's like, what kind of investigation can I do off of this, especially with nonfiction, it's like, yeah, I can read. I of course I can read, like another book on the Statue of Liberty, but this narrative nonfiction book is just so unique in itself, and then going out and pairing it from like a journalistic component, it gets the kids all riled up, and they just have fun doing it. So I would highly suggest that.

Penny Kittle 18:04
Wonderful. We're going to put that in the links to our show notes here.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 18:10
Oh cool. And then, like, I think about, like, also the other two that I was thinking about, the Paper Flower Tree by Jacqueline Ehler, and then Family Pictures, Cuadros de Familia by Carmen Lomas Garza, those texts have been around for years, and I think about why I pulled they kind of found me again, but why I pulled them out as an upper elementary teacher again is because where we are today, and the stories behind the authors are incredibly important to remember the adversity that others once lived and our students continue to face, and that backstory of the authors just enhances students journey as a reader. They're reading the narratives for the purpose of seeing themselves in the book or getting to know a different perspective, but also to learn about the lives of real people and adversities that they faced and how they have documented it through the works of their writing and the Paper Flower Tree by Jacqueline Ehler that found me just before break my principal put it in our box as a gift. And the book was written in the late 1950s and it's just been reprinted this year. And our book is based on a tale from Thailand about a little girl named Miss Moon, and she notices peddlers paper flower tree, and the girl desires this tree on her own. And Jacqueline does is her language in the book is just unbelievably lyrical and captivating, and the Peddler actually gives the little girl, Miss Moon, a paper flower to plant with a bead, a black bead, and he doesn't guarantee her that it will grow, but the book just shows, illustrates the journey of faith that one little girl must have to make something possible. The story, the language, is gorgeous, and I do think that the backstory of the author is just as incredible, because Jacqueline is the first generation Jamaican immigrant that grew up in the Bronx. Her father was an artist for one of the first black modeling agencies, and her father taught her how to draw, and that's where her art came from, and she became a fashion illustrator for Vogue, but she had some barriers to break down as a woman of color. She was not given the same privilege as others in her field, and she had to supplement her salary and basically make her way as a woman of color in the industry. And she later settled in Thailand with her husband and two daughters, and she lived there, and I just think her life story that is important for kids to know is that this is a woman of color breaking through societal barriers, and the reprint of her work is really an honor to who she was as an individual and an opportunity for others to learn and take action and see just multiple worlds.

Penny Kittle 21:26
I love this. I also love that you work for a principal who would find a book that's that special and then put it in your box for the holiday.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 21:35
Oh, yeah, we my principal does a great job of finding these little gems, and then she, like, tucks them into our box a couple times a year, which I'm really blessed to have that and just being able to even think alongside her, like, how do we use these books in our classroom, not just for the story, but to help build a foundation for the real world, for our kids.

Penny Kittle 22:02
Yeah, the idea of resilience and persistence and vision and hope that is across time.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 22:09
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And those stories have to continue living. And that's why I think about, I mean, this book was late 1950s like, we have to, like, bring these stories out again. Our world's in a very different place. Well, I don't know different, but I think about where my parents came from and what they fought for, and how we're doing the same thing now, and that actually leads me to, like my next author, who, even growing up, I didn't really see myself in in literature as much I enjoyed reading, I was an avid reader. But it wasn't until later, later, later on, down the road, where I found this book, Family Pictures, Cuadros de Familia by Carmen Lomas Garza, that when I first she said she's a painter, she's an artist, and she illustrates her her growing up as a Mexican American, growing up in a real town. And when I opened those pages, I was like, oh my goodness, this is my life story here. And I think about my students who are Latinx, who have had similar upbringings. She pairs these like vibrant illustrations about like hitting pinata at birthday parties to like the rite of passage as as a young Latinx girl and having a quinceanera. It's almost like jumping into a text and living my life do this. And I had not had that experience until I opened up this book and saw my story on the pages of her art, and it was paired with just really simple narrative memories of growing up. And just to have that connection was cool. And when I've put that out, it's so cool to watch kids just be so engaged with the story and say, hey, my family does this too. Or hey, my cousin just had her quinceanera, and look and look and look and look at what the what the illustrations and the paintings are showing. That's just like what I did. Now that was magical. And the cool part is it's both in Spanish and English, and also her backstory is what's really intriguing is because, and that's important to highlight is that Carmen joined the Chicano movement in the 1960s and her work celebrates and honors the one perspective of growing up as Latinx in the United States, and that's why I think it should be in classrooms, is because it's another perspective. Of that kids can either see themselves in or learn and get insight about others, so we can create more compassion in our world.

Penny Kittle 25:11
Absolutely, and especially as this new political debate starts with the DACA versus the wall, and we have, you know, these urgent questions that, of course, kids are listening to and to bring in literature that's so beautiful. And I love that you share your own connection to it, your own, like I found myself here.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 25:31
Yeah, I did. I did my girlfriend and I too. I mean, we look at that. I mean, all of her illustrations are gorgeous, but I think when, when they're making the tamales we I think about my girlfriends, my best friend's family, and how we would sit around the table with her, and just about when we had our Quinceaneras, and we just like connect to it automatically. Yeah, it's magical, but that's what books are. Books are magical, and if we can get more and more kids to experience that magic. I think the possibilities are endless.

Penny Kittle 26:05
I agree. I just I so appreciate the passion that you're sharing with all the people that will listen to this podcast and perhaps support the foundation help us get books to teachers who are all over the country trying to do exactly what you're talking about, but are often in places where they can't get their hands on the books their kids need.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 26:25
Yeah, yeah, this is great. I'm so glad you guys are doing this. No, what a privilege to be a part of it.

Penny Kittle 26:31
Oh, I just appreciate talking to you so much. I am excited to think about these books in a new way. I had just purchased the her right foot. Okay? And I haven't even really absorbed it. I read it quickly, and I'm really looking forward to going back and thinking about it, and then I'm going to definitely, I love the show notes, because I go right into my cart and add some more books in. I have a new grandbaby coming, and she's going to need all of these books. Oh, my goodness, congratulations. Thank you. Anything else you want to say, Tiana, before we sign off today? Anything you're thinking about?

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 27:07
I'm excited that this community of educators is coming together to share resources and offer insight. I mean, I grow alongside each and every one of them every day, and I just feel just honored to have that privilege, and I'm so so glad other teachers are gonna get in on the fun.

Penny Kittle 27:33
Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time, and hopefully I will come and visit you in February.

Tiana Silvas Brunetti 27:41
Yes and stay warm. All right. You too, bye, too, take care. Bye, bye, thank you.

Penny Kittle 27:50
Well. I have a whole new stack of books that I have added to my collection by listening to these last few podcasts. I want to encourage you to join us in a couple weeks for our interview with John Irving. I spoke with John about A Prayer for Owen Meany and his life as a writer for the book love summer book club. And I encourage you to listen to what this American literature legend has to say about writing and thinking and what struck me the most planning his stories.

John Irving 28:22
My job is to make you, if not love someone, at least care enough about them so that you don't want them to be hurt and and then hurt them.

Penny Kittle 28:36
See you next time. Thanks for joining us.

Kevin Carlson 28:42
Hello, this is Kevin Carlson from the teacher learning sessions. Thank you for listening to the sixth and final of our special winter break reading episodes. In the past shows we've heard a lot of great book talks and recommendations. Thank you to Cornelius Minor, Tricia Ebervia, Dana Johansen, Ariel Johnson, and in this episode, Tiana Silvas Brunetti. If you missed any of these episodes, I encourage you to check them out. I hope you enjoyed listening and that you discovered some new titles to try, either for your classroom library or for yourself. In the next couple days, we will be sending a full list of all the books that people talked about to everybody on the teacher learning sessions email list, both as an email and as a PDF. So if you would like to receive that list yourself, just go to teacherlearningsessions.com and join the email list. You can do it right now. Thanks again for listening. I hope you had a fantastic winter break. Support for the Book Love Foundation podcast comes from Booksource. As a leading distributor of authentic literature for K 12 classrooms, book source makes it easy for educators to build, grow, and organize classroom libraries that engage readers. With a newly updated book source reading level chart you can see at a glance how the various leveling systems correlate to one another. The new book source reading level chart is easy to print and share as a handy reference, and now it's interactive too, so you can easily shop for books at your desired reading level with just one click. Visit booksource.com to see how the new book source reading level chart can help you match students to texts they can read with success. The Book Love Foundation podcast is produced by the teacher learning sessions, connecting teachers with ideas, experts and each other.