Roots and Branches
A friend of mine posted yesterday to Facebook about our two dreary rain days this week. She posted a photo of her cactus which had withered and died during the drought we had a few years ago and reminded us that we need the rain. Imagine how wonderful the wildflowers will be now that their roots have been drenched in rain. Roots. They are essential. Without roots, roots that are nourished, nothing can grow. The same is true with education.
Donalyn Miller and I host a chat called #bproots that focuses attention on articles about the roots of our best practices. We have read Krashen, Trelease, Allington, Gambrell, and have others planned. These articles remind us that we KNOW what the best practices are; we HAVE KNOWN those practices. They have roots in research.
When I remarked about the stalled pendulum yesterday, a friend commented that perhaps it is because we settle on a practice, a best practice. The research about this practice seems to cease, so that when someone questions the practice, the research is dated. This permits the naysayers to deny the credibility of the best practice. Sigh. This may be the Catch-22 of educational research.
But Paul Thomas reminds us of those researchers of the past and ow they connect to contemporary teachers in his latest post here: https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/encouraging-students-to-read-a-reader/. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Lou LaBrant while working with Dick Abrahamson. I met LaBrant, Carlsen, Sherrill, Coryell, Dora Smith, along with the folks who came later. If you are an NCTE member, you can read Chris Crowe's genealogy of YA here: http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/0893-jan00/EJ0893Young.pdf. At the end of the article, Chris includes a bibliography that anyone who loves YA should use as a required reading list:
Some Articles That Look Back on YA Literature and Its Pioneers
Abrahamson, Richard F. “Collected Wisdom: The Best Articles Ever Written on Young Adult Litera- ture and Teen Reading.” English Journal 86.3 (1997): 50–54.
Alm, Richard S. “Dora V. Smith: Teacher, Leader, Legend.” English Journal 73.3 (1984): 30–37.
Barnard, Laurel, Jean Feiwel, and Marilyn Kriney. “Twenty Years of YA Books: The Publisher’s View.” The ALAN Review 15.3 (Spring 1988): 48–51. Reprinted in Two Decades of The ALAN Review. Eds. Patricia P. Kelly and Robert C. Small Jr. Urbana: NCTE, 1999. 201–10.
Carlsen, G. Robert. “Teaching Literature for the Adolescent: A Historical Perspective.” En- glish Journal 73.3 (1984): 28–20.
Donelson, Ken. “Honoring the Best YA Books of the Year: 1964–1995.” English Journal 86.3 (1997): 41–47.
Ellis, W. Geiger. “Adolescent Literature: Changes, Cycles, and Constancy.” English Journal 74.3 (1985): 94–98.
Hipple, Ted. “A Brief History of ALAN.” Two Decades of The ALAN Review. Eds. Patricia P. Kelly and Robert C. Small Jr. Urbana: NCTE, 1999. 323–29.
Holland, Isabelle. “What Is Adolescent Lit- erature?” Top of the News 31 (June 1975): 407–414. Reprinted in Writers on Writing for Young Adults. Eds. Patricia E. Feehan and Pamela Petrick Bar- ron. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1991. 61–69.
Monseau, Virginia. “Dora V. Smith: An En- glish Educator for the Future.” English Journal 75.5 (1986): 38–41.
Shadiow, Linda K. “The Development of the Young Adult Novel: A Progression of Lessons and Lives.” Reading Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the Classroom. Eds. Virginia R. Monseau and Gary M. Salvner. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/ Cook Heinemann, 1992. 48–62.
We need to know our roots; then, we need to find our branches.
Donalyn Miller and I host a chat called #bproots that focuses attention on articles about the roots of our best practices. We have read Krashen, Trelease, Allington, Gambrell, and have others planned. These articles remind us that we KNOW what the best practices are; we HAVE KNOWN those practices. They have roots in research.
When I remarked about the stalled pendulum yesterday, a friend commented that perhaps it is because we settle on a practice, a best practice. The research about this practice seems to cease, so that when someone questions the practice, the research is dated. This permits the naysayers to deny the credibility of the best practice. Sigh. This may be the Catch-22 of educational research.
But Paul Thomas reminds us of those researchers of the past and ow they connect to contemporary teachers in his latest post here: https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/encouraging-students-to-read-a-reader/. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Lou LaBrant while working with Dick Abrahamson. I met LaBrant, Carlsen, Sherrill, Coryell, Dora Smith, along with the folks who came later. If you are an NCTE member, you can read Chris Crowe's genealogy of YA here: http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/0893-jan00/EJ0893Young.pdf. At the end of the article, Chris includes a bibliography that anyone who loves YA should use as a required reading list:
Some Articles That Look Back on YA Literature and Its Pioneers
Abrahamson, Richard F. “Collected Wisdom: The Best Articles Ever Written on Young Adult Litera- ture and Teen Reading.” English Journal 86.3 (1997): 50–54.
Alm, Richard S. “Dora V. Smith: Teacher, Leader, Legend.” English Journal 73.3 (1984): 30–37.
Barnard, Laurel, Jean Feiwel, and Marilyn Kriney. “Twenty Years of YA Books: The Publisher’s View.” The ALAN Review 15.3 (Spring 1988): 48–51. Reprinted in Two Decades of The ALAN Review. Eds. Patricia P. Kelly and Robert C. Small Jr. Urbana: NCTE, 1999. 201–10.
Carlsen, G. Robert. “Teaching Literature for the Adolescent: A Historical Perspective.” En- glish Journal 73.3 (1984): 28–20.
Donelson, Ken. “Honoring the Best YA Books of the Year: 1964–1995.” English Journal 86.3 (1997): 41–47.
Ellis, W. Geiger. “Adolescent Literature: Changes, Cycles, and Constancy.” English Journal 74.3 (1985): 94–98.
Hipple, Ted. “A Brief History of ALAN.” Two Decades of The ALAN Review. Eds. Patricia P. Kelly and Robert C. Small Jr. Urbana: NCTE, 1999. 323–29.
Holland, Isabelle. “What Is Adolescent Lit- erature?” Top of the News 31 (June 1975): 407–414. Reprinted in Writers on Writing for Young Adults. Eds. Patricia E. Feehan and Pamela Petrick Bar- ron. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1991. 61–69.
Monseau, Virginia. “Dora V. Smith: An En- glish Educator for the Future.” English Journal 75.5 (1986): 38–41.
Shadiow, Linda K. “The Development of the Young Adult Novel: A Progression of Lessons and Lives.” Reading Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the Classroom. Eds. Virginia R. Monseau and Gary M. Salvner. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/ Cook Heinemann, 1992. 48–62.
We need to know our roots; then, we need to find our branches.