Growing Readers with Seedfolks: A SchoolWide Read at Hand Middle School

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Growing Readers with SeedfolksA School-Wide
Read at Hand Middle School

• Jennifer L. Wilson
• University of South Carolina, Columbia
• Dywanna Smith
• Hand Middle School
• Tori Thomas
• Hand Middle School

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Inspiration City-Wide Reads

• Chicago, IL In the Time of the Butterflies
  (Alvarez, 1995)
• Columbia, MO Enders Game (Card, 1985)
• Seattle, WA Persepolis The Story of a Childhood
  (Satrapi, 2004)
• Vermont Seedfolks (Fleischman, 1999)

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Inspiration Whole-School Reads

• Syracuse University The Kite Runner (Hosseini,
  2004)
• University of South Carolina When the Emperor
  Was Divine (Otsuka, 2004)
• Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain,
  Georgia The Giver (Lowry, 1993)
• Waterloo Middle School in Waterloo, Wisconsin
  Hidden Talents (Lubar, 2003).
• Summerland Middle School in British Columbia
  Run (Walters, 2005).

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• It would be nice to have something to pull us
  together at the beginning of the year. Something
  that would be common ground.
• -Maura Wilson

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A Common Ground

• Library Media Connection
• Book Selection
• Teacher created guide
• University Research Role

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Were Like the Gardners in the Book

• Teacher Practices
• Student Learning
• School Community

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Teacher Practices

• Critical Literacy
• Strategic Reading Instruction
• Content Area Litearcy

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Teacher Practices Critical Literacy

• Mostly we would take a question that was
  sparked by the story. For instance, Leona is a
  character who brings her garbage into the
  municipal hall to say, This is what Im living
  with. Please, fix the problem. And that was
  civil disobedience. And so, we would take an
  opportunity to say, when do you think civil
  disobedience is right and when do you think its
  wrong? And have you ever done something, or your
  parents ever done something where you have
  civilly disobeyed the law? And some kids have
  been in marches in Washington. It was really
  neat. -Helen Schell

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Teacher Practices Strategic Reading Instruction
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Teacher Practices Strategic Reading Instruction
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Teacher Practices Content Area Reading
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Teacher Practices Content Area Reading
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Teacher Practices Content Area Reading

• I pulled from Seedfolks the section when they
  were talking about having to put in the first
  barbed wire fence or the first do not enter
  sign. Even though that they had this community,
  they still had to establish some rules and they
  were basically community rules. So I read a
  section from Seedfolks as my introduction And,
  luckily, the ELA teachers on my team were
  actually teaching the whole novel, so I was able
  to piggyback off of some of the discussions
  theyd already had. It wasnt the first time the
  students were exposed to it. And a lot of them
  said, Oh, I remember that section!
• -Canisha Fletcher

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Student Learning

• A Sense of Community
• Valuing Multiple Perspectives

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Student Learning A Sense of Community

• A community is not just, like, one race of
  people. Like, theres a lot of different people.
  
• -8th grade student
• I think it teaches us that maybe some kids
  dont even know other kids in their school. And
  maybe it brought each and every person closer
  together just by reading this one book.
• -6th grade student

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Student Learning Valuing Multiple Perspectives

• I learned about other peoples experience when
  they come to a new country
• I learned that a lot of good people have bad
  things happen to them.
• You should get to know somebody before you
  judge them. And, you shouldnt, like, assume what
  people are doing or how they are because
  everybody has different backgrounds.

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Whole School Community

• Growing in our understanding
• Disrupting isolation

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Whole School Community Growing in our
Understanding

• I think theres a lesson in it for all of us.
  If you think about our community at Hand, we come
  from different backgrounds, as well, and together
  were like the gardeners in the book. To try to
  produce something beautiful or worthwhile, we all
  have to work together. People that we might not
  have known at the beginning of the year, that we
  befriend during the school year. We become more
  and more like a team.
• -Heather Elderidge

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Whole School Community Disrupting Isolation

• Were kind of separated when it comes to grade
  levels and schedules and teachers dont get to
  meet. And its just kind of nice that we started
  the year this way. And I didnt get to talk to
  a whole lot of people unless I saw them in the
  hallway. But, at least, when I did, we had
  something that we could commonly talk about.
• -Helen Schell

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Whole School Community Disrupting Isolation

• Insert Video on Family Night

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Producing Something Beautiful and Worthwhile

• Alternative Views
• The Golden Rule (Cooper, 2007)