Learning to Read from our Best Writers
Developing inquire skills is not an educational mission we need to work hard to sell. …[All schools] want their students to acquire the skills that will equip them to become independent learners, able to seek answers to their own questions.” So says Columbia University’s Teachers College Professor, Deanna Kuhn, in her book, Education For Thinking (Harvard University Press, 2005, p. 39.) The beauty of this idea is not missed on David Harrison, the well-known children’s writer whose writing spans topics from cave exploration to nest-building, from mountains to mammoth bones. The amount of research he has had to do for his, now, 100 published books is staggering. But how does he do it? What skills has he had to develop? Good questions!
Together, with the literacy specialist, Mary Jo Fresh, the two have written a book that teachers will treasure. 7 Keys to Research for Writing Success (Scholastic, 2018) gives advice, from the inside out, fortunately answering our questions: How does David think about choosing a topic? How does he pose questions? How does he do pre-research (new idea, yes?), figure out key, and central, ideas and words, conduct in-depth research, take effective notes, and organize what he’s discovered? What a gift! Here’s just a small excerpt of David taking to kids about his preresearch for Now You see Them, Now You Don’t (Charlesbridge, 2016).
Now You See Them, Now You Don’t (2016) is a book of poems I write about animals that use their natural camouflage to hunt for food or hide from those that want to eat them. During my preresearch I paid special attention to finding all the creatures that had those qualities so I would have plenty to choose from when it came time to start writing.
As a long time 3rd grade teacher I can tell you, first hand, that this is the sort of work that changes everything. Suddenly writing a research piece isn’t scary—at all. It’s just plain fun. I think part of the magic is related to what David and Mary Jo suggest toward the end of their book, “Research Notes Speak Many Languages.” The students learn that perhaps their work might take the shape of an information book? Perhaps a story? Perhaps a poem? Perhaps an ABC book? Perhaps a blog post? Wow.
As I think about all the skills that David and Mary Jo help students develop through their 7 Keys text, I’m reminded of the seminal work of Marie Ponsot and Rosemary Deen, who came to define five elemental writing skills that worked to change my own classroom into a dynamic learning space. Like David, my students worked from the inside out as they practiced the Ponsot/Deen skills—writing a whole lot (prolific writing), writing from the sense of a whole structure, making observations about writing, writing both concretely and abstractly, and rewriting (not as remedial practice but for discovery). I see that the steps David and Mary Jo suggest are flooded with these elemental skills, skills that turn children into fine writers, readers, thinkers, and explorers.
What a treat of a book! And, while I wish David and Mary Jo great success, the real winners will be the children who have the chance to use what their teachers learn, and then offer them. Read full review
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