Express Yourself!

E is for "Express Yourself!!!!!"

The the more you do it, the better you get.  And in our world today, there are SO many options and ways to express ourselves.  When you think of it, it's breathtaking...

...and yet there is so much misunderstanding.

Aside from the obvious messages when expressing ourselves, an understated part of expressing and communicating is incorporating verbal and nonverbal cues; to listening to what IS said or portrayed, and to what IS NOT; to carefully selecting visual objects or words while keeping in mind length, message medium, and the audience involved.


HOW DO YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF???  Here are some examples - enjoy them and leave your expressions in the comments.


Whether you express yourself with the faces you make, or the images you create

... be they comics
 

 ... photos

... or paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc.

The songs that you sing...

OR The way you move your the body and gifts you were given -as this Dance clip at Central Station, Antwerp Belgium shows..

And this Martha Graham clip expresses:

Or the words you share...Be they:
(Kenneth Branagh's) Shakespeare's Henry V Speech on the Eve of Saint Crispen's Day

Or. (Taylor Mali's) Slam poetry, relaying bravery, passion, and pathos

 

Others may take a completely different approach and express themselves through cooking, baking, decorating...

From: djssugarshack

The keys to successful expression are:

• experiment in multi-modal means of expression
• practice with others
• practice in front of a mirror or tape yourself
• keep track of others' reactions to your various means and modes of exprssion
• put your whole 'self' into it
• embrace it and have fun!

Some interesting tid-bits on expression:

1. Slam poetry is a multi-modal means of expression. While it is a verbal-visual-vocal retelling involving words, facial expressions, body posture and movement, voice volume adjustments,  and visual body cues.
2. Comic books are another means of multi-modal expression integrating visual and verbal communication.  While the writers select the essence of the story, artists enhance the message as readers integrate the art and word with their own stores of knowledge and experiences to construct the entire story.
3. Music and science:  Michaeleen Doucleff in Saturday/Sunday (Feb. 1-12, 2012) Wall Street Journal article, "Anatomy of a Tear-Jerker" notes that science has uncovered what in music evokes emotional reactions - in this case why Adale's "Someone Like You' makes listeners cry:

Twenty years ago, the British psychologist John Sloboda analyzed properties of songs that made people cry and found they contained an "appoggiatura" - a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound, which when resolved releases a 'feel good' feeling.

"'Someone Like You' which Adele wrote with Dan Wilson is sprinkled with ornamental notes similar to appoggiaturas....[and] during the chorus, Adele slightly modulates her pitch at the end of long notes right before the accompaniment goes to a new harmony, creating mini-roller coasters of tension and resolution" said Dr. Guhn, psychologist at the University of British Columboia who co-wrote a 2007 study on the subject."

Martin Guhn and Marcel Zentner found that 'chill-provoking' musical passages shared at least four features: (1) "They began softly and then suddenly became loud. (2)They included an abrupt entrance of a new 'voice'. (3)They often involved an expansion of the frequencies played (ex. the voilins jump up one octave to echo the melody). (4) They contained unexpected deviations in the melody or the harmony.  Music is most likely to tingle the spine, in short, when it includes surprises in volume, timbre and harmonic pattern."

 Regardless of the mean or mode of expression, do it as Taylor Mali says..."with authority!"

Kicking back a bit...What's all this about Inference?

In my last post I summarized my C2E2 presentation.  What I would like to do this week is kick back, discuss some of the comments and take them a bit further, talking about the nearly unlimited opportunities you can make to read with your kids, talk with them and help them learn to think critically and evaluate the world around them.

What's all this about inference?
Inference is the act of drawing a conclusion by deductive reasoning.  Inferences are assumptions or images we connect or construe when reading, when talking with others, even watching television or movies.  Reading and writing poetry is an example of making inferences.  In poetry the reader provides images, similes, metaphors that the reader must interpret in order to fully comprehend the author's intent. Some people describe making inferences as 'reading between the lines' which is SO appropriate when talking about reading graphic novels.

We make inferences all the time - at work, at home, talking to colleagues and friends, in school, at play, when reading, when thinking about the world around us.  The thing about inference, though is that it is actually hard to teach and hard to learn.  Graphic novels are so helpful because they provide so many cues - text, art, and even page design all provide the reader with important information.

Types of inferences we make when reading graphic novels:
When we read regular novels, we typically make inferences about what the characters, places, events look like.  We are almost always told what the protagonist is thinking and feeling, and motives are often included by the narrator or third-person voice.  In graphic novels that is not the case.  When reading graphic novels we typically must infer:

• Character motives and intent;
• Emotions;
• Time sequences;
• What is happening 'beween' scenes (and in the gutters) that is not 'given' or provided by author/artist.

Kicking back with an example of the awesome power of graphic novels and making inferences:
This image s taken from I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly (Image comics).

Story Background:  Barbara is a fifth grader who tells anyone who will listen that she kills giants.  The reader is uncertain at this point if she really kills giants, if she lives in a world of her own, out of touch with others, or if this is one giant metaphor for her having to face huge scary issues in her life.

On this page, Barbara is arguing with her sister.  Barbara hit the school counselor and her sister was called to pick her up.  The sister is really upset.

Inferences we must make:

• Why does Barabaras's sister have to 'do this on her own'?
• Where is their dad?
• Where is their mom?
• Why are there words inked out?
• What might Barabara's sister be saying?
• Why can't Barabara hear them?
• What is with the eye thing in the middle panel on the bottom?
• Why is there a shadow over Barbara's face in the last panel?

This is just one page from one graphic novel.  Each graphic novel is different in part, because the stories, the art, and the page design are different for each book.  That is part of the thrill or reading these new books and formats.  As always, the quality and appropriateness of these books vary.  While I recommend reading them at home and in school, I strongly recommend that adults look through the books before giving them to kids to check for appropriateness of story and vocuabulary.  That said, graphic novels are well worth the effort.

How else can you help your kids learn to make inferences?

• Talk about books you and your kids read (graphic novels, poetry, prose).  Ask them what the author intended when she/she wrote something vague or something different. 
• When reading graphic novels:
• Talk about how the art and the visual details add to the story.
• Talk about how the choice of color palate helps explain depict emotion.
• Discuss how the choice of text font and shape add to the story detail.
• Talk about the titles of books and chapters.  After reading them, would you have chosen those titles?  Why?  Can you think of different titles?
• Talk about metaphors and similes.  They are such graphic means of expression.  When you come across them, talk about them.
• When going for walks talk and think about the things you see around you.  Why are they that way?  Why do you  think squirrels have busy tails?  What color do you think is the most popular one for the outside of a house?  Why?  
• Design scenes and worlds for dolls/lego designs, trains, dinosaurs as you play together.  Talk about the choices your child makes when designing the scenes.
• What is so great about jello - the taste, the texture, the fact that it jiggles?

These questions go on and on.  The point is to notice things around you, to notice things others say or write and to think and further analyze and understand them.  The more you model and practice critical thinking and inference, the easier it will be for your child to tackle the world around them.

What are some of the ways you practice making inferences together?  I'd love to hear some of your ideas or questions!

Great Reads for Avid 4th and 5th Grade Readers

In my last blog post, I was asked to consolidate my student reading suggestions for her 4th and 5th grade boys - avid readers in search of quality material.  As my previous suggested reading lists are for all ages, I decided to make more specific recommendations for the ages she requested.  Feel free to comment, add, and state your own requests.

I have tried to suggest less well-known books as avid readers have probably read the typical selections. The books below are all classics, all favorites of mine and well worth the read (and ensuing discussions). This is only the beginning of a list, and these are the ones that stick out for me:

Poetry

• Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is as he put it, "a very tricky poem."  It is about his walking in the woods, coming to a choice of two paths, and taking (what initially appeared to be) the road less traveled.  It's a beautiful metaphor about life's choices where only later on you learn if the decisions made were the best ones.  
• Billy Collins.  Sailing Alone Around the Room.  New York.  Random House.  2001  and The Question About Angels. University of Pittsburgh Press.  1991 are two of my favorite books, but just about anything by Billy Collins is wonderfully thoughtful, provocative, and often full of energy.
• Karen Hesse. Out of the Dust.  Scholastic Press.  1997 is a brilliantly written and orchestrated "verse novel" weaving poetry and story telling about a girl growing up in the Oklahoma dust bowl in the 1930's.  Truly breath-taking!

Historical Fiction/Non Fiction

• Esther Forbes  Johnny Tremain.  Houghton Mifflin (1943) tells the story of the Boston colonists' struggle towards independence as seen through the eyes of a young silver smith apprentice, Johnny, who meets Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Doctor Joseph Warren, James Otis, Sr., Governor Thomas Hutchinson, and Thomas Gage - to name a few.  This book has also been referenced in two (at least) episodes of The Simpsons ("Whacking Day" and "Skinner's Sense of Snow") as well as in Family Guy.  
• Baroness Emmuska Orczy The Scarlet Pimpernel Hutchinson Press (1905) - (originally a play) takes place during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. There is intrigue, history and lovely twists of story and fate.  I would read this first and then introduce Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities (which is a bit denser) but obviously a classic as well.
• Yoko Kawashima Watkins  So Far From the Bamboo Grove Harper Teen (1986) is a semi-autobiographical book that takes place during the last days of World War II and Yoko and her family must flea their home in Nanam, northern Korea and end up, eventually in the United States.  It is about how she must flee with a torn family as father and brother are separated early in the story.  This book skirts some difficult (and often adult) issues, but is well worth the read and ensuing discussion.
• Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston  Farewell to Manzanar  Houghton Mifflin.  (1973) is a story of a Japanese American family sent to an internment camp near San Pedro California during World War II.  It describes the plight of loyal Japanese Americans who were confined during the war by their fellow citizens.  Riveting and quite thought provoking.
• Laurence Yep.  Dragonwings HarperCollins (1975)  is about a young immigrant Chinese boy who immigrates to San Francisco in the early 20th century (living through the Great Earthquake).  It is about he juggles the two worlds and cultures, fights discrimination, and how he and his father - inspired by the Wright brothers embark on an airplane project.
• Gene Luen Yang. American Born Chinese First Second Books (2006) is a brilliantly written and illustrated graphic novel that weaves three apparently unrelated stories together in an action-packed, humorous and poignant modern fable. The first story is about Jin Wang -a 'new kid' in school who finds he's the only Chinese-American student and desperately wants to fit in; the second is about the Monkey King an old Chinese fable; the third is about Chin-Kee, the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype who is ruining his cousin Danny's life.
• Nick Abadzis. Laika.  First Second Books (2007). is a graphic novel about Laika, an abandoned runt of a puppy who becomes the Earth's first space traveler.  The reader learns about and relates to Laika and her owners/care takers while reading about the space race from the Soviet perspective.  I highly recommend reading this and then reading Homer Hickham's October Sky (the story of the 1950's space race from an American boy's perspective).

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Fiction

• Orson Scott Card.  Ender's Game Tor Books (1975)   is a series - all worth the effort.  This is a science fiction classic with outstanding character development.
• Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy Ballantine Books (1995)  This is a three book series.  The first, The Golden Compass was made into a movie.  The book is infinitely better.  It does, however, touch on some mature topics including organized religion and the concept of the 'original sin'.  My son, in 5th grade LOVED these books so much that when he found out they were based on John Milton's Paradise Lost he actually read the seventeenth century poem!
• Neil Gaimon The Graveyard Book Harper Collins (2008)  is a lovely introduction to Gaimon for the younger reader. While it is about a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard, it is warm, alive and really entertaining.
• Cornelia Funke, Inkheart.  Scholastic, (2003) is about a girl whose father can read characters in and out of books.  Despite the fact that this gets them into a lot of trouble, Meggie still wishes she had her father's talents.
  
• Joe Kelly I Kill Giants Image Comics (2008) is about a girl who plays dungeons and dragons and kills giants.  It is incredibly moving as the reader must untangle what giants Barbara is actually killing.  This is one of my favorite works - well worth the read for you and your kids.

These just touch the tip of the iceberg.  Let me know what you like and recommend!

Happy reading!