Gentry's Gift - Classroom Fiction

“But, I’m only 9 years old?” Gentry said, staring at his father with amazement. He looked again past his dad where they both stood in the driveway at the shiny blue vehicle, which was situated just behind the family car. It sure is small, Gentry thought.

“Yes, 9 years old is just the age they say is best,” his father said, smiling widely and referring to the thick manual he was holding in his hands. “It says right here, ‘The beginner operator of the Ford Motors Kidz-Mobile is ideally a child of 9 years of age and can sufficiently ride a bicycle, although the ability to ride a bicycle is not necessarily required’. See? It says it right here.” Gentry’s father held the manual out for Gentry to read, but he barely saw the words on the page. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the idea.  “Dad. That’s a car. You’re giving me a car for Christmas? A car?”

Gentry’s dad laughed at the incredulous tone in Gentry’s voice and nodded vigorously, motioning to the small vehicle that looked decidedly out of place in the driveway with its diminutive size. Aside from the modern, aerodynamic appearance of the thing, it looked like a clown car. And Gentry had to admit: he felt like a clown staring at it. “Dad, kids can’t drive cars. It’s against the law.”

“Correction, my son,” his dad said, holding up his index finger like a professor, “WAS against the law. Times have changed, kiddo. Kids can drive cars. These cars, at least.” He once again motioned to the tiny car. Gentry stared from his dad…to the car…then back to his dad.

“Don’t worry, Gentry. It’s completely safe. It practically drives itself. And now we know why they’ve been constructing all of those new tiny, narrow roads all over town. You kids get your own streets.”

Gentry cocked one eyebrow high on his forehead, looking adequately skeptical, but also hopeful. “You mean, I can drive this to school?”

“You can drive it anywhere the road takes you! Oh, I almost forgot.” His dad reached into the pocket of his robe and his hand emerged holding a tiny plastic card. “When I ordered it for you, it came with your very own kid drivers license. Here you go.”

Gentry reached an unbelieving hand and took the card and noticed right away that it looked amazingly similar to his father’s own State drivers license. He also noticed it already had his image on it, a smaller version of his school photo. Before he’d taken another wary step toward the vehicle, a strange motorized sound approached and Gentry watched in disbelief as a car that looked eerily similar to his own zoomed by driven by what unmistakably had to be a child around Gentry’s age. Both he and his dad watched as the car passed and then turned down one of the tiny new roads just beyond the last house on their block. “Well. There goes Stanley. Looks like his dad bought him one, too.”

An hour later, Gentry found himself not only behind the wheel of his new car, but zooming along at a steady pace on one of the new streets, headed for his best friend’s house two miles away. “Leon is never going to believe this,” he thought, as he turned on the Bluetooth sound system and his favorite song blared from the speakers. He relaxed back in the seat and waved at another young driver who was headed in the opposite direction, a girl he recognized from school. “This,” he said, smiling from ear to ear, “is the BEST day of my life!”

Carlos and Marc - Classroom Fiction

“Let me copy!” a voice whispered behind Carlos who was currently bent over his test, concentrating on the next question. Carlos knew it was Marc, the new boy who had just transferred from another school. Carlos had seen the boy bullying smaller kids on the playground. Carlos looked to the front of the room at Mrs. Potter behind her seat to see if she had heard. “Let me copy!” Marc repeated, a little louder this time.

Carlos didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to get caught cheating on a test. That resulted in an immediate F and a call home and probably a write up! On the other hand, he didn’t want to make Marc angry at him. Marc was bigger than most of the kids in the 4^th grade, and while Marc wasn’t usually scared of bullies, he didn’t really want to get mixed up into any trouble with anyone.

Carlos sat thinking of what to do. Suddenly he felt a sharp jab in his back. “You heard me! Let me copy!” Carlos looked again at Mrs. Potter, sure she’d heard this time. She hadn’t. Mrs. Potter was still bent over her desk, grading papers or doing some other work. Carlos cupped his hand to his mouth and turned a little so Marc would hear behind him. “No,” he whispered harshly. “She’ll catch us!”

“You better,” Marc whispered back, “or I’ll get you.” Carlos knew Marc would say something like that. Now he really didn’t know what to do. Should he tell? Should he risk it and cheat just to keep Marc from bullying him, too? It annoyed Carlos that instead of focusing on the test, he had to focus on this new problem.

Marc suddenly poked Carlos in the back again. “Let me cheat or I’ll—“. He didn’t finish his sentence because Mrs. Potter spoke up then, and Carlos looked with dismay to see her glaring at both him and Marc. “Is there a problem back there, boys? Carlos, are you two talking about the test?”Carlos’ blood ran cold. He didn’t want to be a tattle tale, but he also wanted Marc to leave him alone.

“No, ma’am,” Carlos said, quietly. “He just accidentally kicked my chair and said he was sorry.” Carlos’ face burned red with the shame of the lie. “Mrs. Potter, can I sit at the table in the back and finish my test so that Marc will have more room?”“Of course, Carlos,” she said with a smile. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

Carlos immediately jumped up, grabbed his pencil and test paper and stole a quick glance at Marc as he walked by, but he couldn’t read the expression on Marc’s face. Was he angry at him for not cheating? Was he relieved because Carlos hadn’t told on him? He couldn’t tell. With a shrug, he walked to the back table, sat down and finished his test. 

Something that's become very important to me recently as a 4th grade reading/writing/language teacher: From a study I read recently, supported by what I already learned in my masters program for my English Language Arts degree...4th grade is commonly known as the "4th Grade Slump" for reading...this is the year where reading takes a front seat in their education, where they are reading primarily for education/information/learning, reading for research, and it's the age where they find the LEAST amount of enjoyment in reading. Leaving them to simply read AR (Accelerated Reading Program) on their own while filling up "100s" charts from the AR tests isn't cutting it, specifically if that's all we are doing. We can't hear them read. We don't know if they are actually reading these books or if they are skimming to find the requisite facts to pass the brief AR test. We don't hear the mispronunciations, we can't hear the skipped words they can't pronounce at all, we can't hear them not paying attention to the words they are reading...in short, we can't see how ineffective AR is when left as the sole means of getting our students to read. When you finally sit down with a child and listen to them read...you'll often be SHOCKED at how poorly they actually read. I was. I became an instant advocate for what I will write below.

What we HAVE TO DO in order to see gains in reading is LISTEN regularly while they read to us...READ TO THEM regularly so that they hear modeled reading with prosody, proper diction, sentence structure, etc (while they follow each word on the page), and read WITH them in chorus so that they can practice reading with a person who reads with skill. There are many other strategies..whisper reading, CLOZE Reading, etc). These are, by far, according to all research, the best methods of seeing the fastest gains in reading AND in getting them interested in reading. They like the personal attention, and they improve without their even realizing it. IT. WORKS.

I have 5-7 small reading groups going on regularly throughout the week, where I sit down with 3-4 kids in each group at various times in the course of the school day, during lab time or during the morning or afternoon before the busses roll (10-15 minutes at a time), and we read a novel together (or passage, leveled reader, article, etc), a novel they love, a novel that's funny or is within the realm of their interest...I read a page to them...then each of them reads a page in turn, sometimes we all read a page together. Each child has a copy of the novel or story. This is better than traditional round-robin reading where every student reads in class because OFTEN many don't follow, or they don't listen, or they look ahead to see when they will read, full of anxiety and fear and apprehension. Children should never be forced to read out loud in front of the entire class. In small, carefully selected groups, I am seeing them thrive, they get to hear me read every 2-3 pages, and they are getting daily practice reading while I stop and question them, correct words they don't know, and talk about what we just read. This is MODELED CLOSE READING skills.

I also have them sit with me a minute or two at a time and just read to me a page of interesting text, a brief story or interesting paragraph about some interesting topic, and sometimes there is no attached assignment like comprehension questions. It's just reading for the fun of it. I often will read it to them first, and then they read it to me. And then they'll read it to me again the next day...and the next...until they can read that passage with skill. The only way to get better at something...is to practice, practice, practice. The saying "Practice makes perfect" is incomplete. It should read "PERFECT practice makes perfect". If your child is not reading with a skilled reader to undo or prevent bad reading habits, they will not improve. It's just that simple.

Since beginning this process, I have become a full convert to this practice. I see it working. I see the kids looking forward to the reading, and I see them becoming more fluent and better able to read for comprehension, which will show up in progress monitoring and milestones.

Lastly, I sent home a letter today to all parents asking them to sign and send it back if they want me to send home with their child short interesting passages they can read WITH their child for about 5-10 minutes a day. I have TONS of small passages, 1-2 paragraphs long, that they can read with their child. Not only does it build their skill...it builds a relationship between the parent and child! I did this with my son, I read to him all throughout his young childhood, and it was some of the best time I ever spent.

Teachers: You MUST take time to read with your students and LISTEN to them read. How else will you know where they are at their reading level, and how will you then design a strategy to serve their needs? You can't. Children must read. And OFTEN.