Middle School Reading Spring 2012 Reading in the Middle...Middle School Reading Spring 2012 If you can find the heart of middle school readers, they are yours. As a young reader, I

Middle School Reading Spring 2012

Reading in the MiddleA newsletter for the Middle School Reading Special Interest Group

of the International Reading Association

Deadly as a Tool:Teaching Science and

History ThroughHistorical Fiction By Julie Chibbaro

Page 3

Eye on Disciplinary Literacyby Vicky Zygouris-Coe, Ph.D.

Page 6

Picture Books as Mentor Textsfor the Middle School Grades:

A Bibliographyby Melanie D. Koss

& Donna Werderich Page 16

Chester’s Masterpiece: Using aPicture Book as a Mentor Text for

Middle School Writers to Develop the Trait of Voice

By Melanie D. Koss & Donna Werderich

Page 10

This issue of Reading in the Middle offersmany practical and hands-on suggestions for yourmiddle school classroom.

First, suthor Julie Chibarro discusses usinghistorical fiction to teach science. Next Melaniekoss and Donna Werderich share practicalsuggestions for connecting mentor texts to writing

instruction. Finally, Vicy Zygouris-Coe presents anew colum Eye ton Disciplinary Literacy.

We know that you will find some usefulinformation in this issue, and we hope that you willenjoy it.


MSRSIG

Call for ManuscriptsReading in the Middle publishes original

contributions on all facets of language artslearning, teaching, and research focusing onyoung adolescents. Reading in the Middleoffers middle level educators a practical guideto best practices in middle schools.

Reading in the Middle follows specificsubmission guidelines. Articles should:

• be approximately 3,500 words and, when appropriate, include photocopied (originals will be requested upon acceptance) samples of students’ work, photographs of students working, charts, diagrams, or other visuals (work submitted by students may be of any length up to 3,500 words); • offer specific classroom practices that are grounded in research;• be double-spaced with 1-inch margins in 12-point font;• include 100-word abstract and bulleted list of key points;• follow the current edition of the

publication manual of the American Psychological Association—please do not include an abstract, footnotes, endnotes, or author identification within the body of the text. • identify any excerpts from previously published sources; should their use require a reprint fee, the fee payment is the responsibility of the author.

To submit a manuscript:• submit a copy of your manuscript for blind review as a Microsoft Word file to [email protected]• attach a separate cover letter that includes your name, affiliation, home and work addresses and telephone numbers, fax number, email address, and issue for which you are submitting. Your name should not appear anywhere in the text.

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Editor: Nance S. Wilson

Officers:President/Chair: Nance S. WilsonPast President/Chair: Eileen DiamondSecretary:Cathy DenmanTreasurer: Billie Jo DunawayEditorial Staff:Billie Jo Dunaway

Review Board Members:Sherron RobertsUniversity of Central FloridaJeffrey KaplanUniversity of Central FloridaVicky Zygouris-CoeUniversity of Central FloridaMelanie KossNorthern Illinois UniversityLisa LaurierWhitworth UniversityJennifer FongToledo School for the Arts


If you can find the heart of middle schoolreaders, they are yours. As a young reader, I readwith my emotions as well as my mind. Once myheart was captured, for that book, I belonged to theauthor. From the battle tactics of rabbits inWatership Down, to the dynamics of sisterhood inLittle Women, I learned about life through books.While my novel Deadly contains lessons of scienceand history, in writing it, I was guided by the sourceof my passion and curiosity, what I call my heart.The teaching arose naturally from that.

At first glance, Deadly is a story about thehunt for Typhoid Mary in New York City in 1906.That’s the infamous Typhoid Mary, a cook whospread the typhoid fever, a form of salmonellabacteria, to many households through the meals sheprepared. She never got sick herself; in fact, shewas the first known “healthy carrier” of disease inthe United States. An immigrant from Irelandsensitive to discrimination against foreigners, shethought the accusation of healthy carrier by theDepartment of Health and Sanitation was just that:an accusation. Tooth and nail, she fought. She hadtrained to be a cook, she couldn’t stop preparingfood for folks! The Department tried to make herbecome something else. She didn’t believe sheshould or could. Ultimately, she was sent to aquarantine island, where she spent the rest of herlife.

Deadly is not just about Typhoid Mary. Infact, it’s the passionate and lonely diary of outsiderPrudence Galewski, a 16-year-old Jewish girl fromthe Lower East Side. Prudence is not like othergirls. She’s a natural scientist. She wants to knowhow the world works, why people get sick, whythey die. She goes to a girls’ school, and helps hermother, the midwife, a job that lets her see life and

death up close. She’s lost her brother in an accident,and her father disappeared in the Spanish AmericanWar. Boys are a mystery to her. She writes throughher heart; her diary reveals her as a complex girl ofher time. She wants to do something with her lifethat’s meaningful, something that will answer herquestions. But in 1906, girls didn’t look throughmicroscopes.

The two stories of Prudence and TyphoidMary collide when Prudence gets a job working forMr. Soper, an epidemiologist for the Department ofHealth and Sanitation. Their first case is anepidemic of typhoid fever. They know nothingabout healthy carriers; in fact, this theory is new.Most people don’t even really understand that othernew thing called “germs.” Clues lead Prudence andMr. Soper to a cook named Mary, a fiesty womanwho resists their attempts to test her. Prudence istorn by Mr. Soper’s suspicions of Mary being ahealthy carrier. As a Jewish girl, she knowsdiscrimination when she sees it. Is the departmentreally going to treat this Irish immigrant so harshly?

In her writing, and through her drawings,Prudence struggles with this and other questions. Atthe end, encouraged by the one female doctor in thedepartment, she decides to go to medical school, totake matters into her own hands and learn, reallylearn, how the human body works. Mary is, ofcourse, put in quarantine, away from the public shecontinues to harm.

What do young readers come away withafter having read Deadly? Besides understandingthe heartrending frustration of a young girl scientistin the early 20th century, they will see how the pastshapes the present: in medicine,

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Deadly as a Tool: Teaching Science and HistoryThrough Historical Fiction

by Julie Chibbaro

Middle School Reading Spring 2012germ theory, epidemics, women’s rights,immigration. They will see the value of readinghistorical fiction to learn about history. They will beable to compare their time – how girls are treatedtoday, how we now deal with healthy carriers ofdiseases like HIV and tuberculosis – to a hundredyears ago.

Learning is an intellectual practice, but it canalso be holistic. Because Deadly is a fictional diarywith short entries, and not a textbook, reading it,students will learn through their hearts.Understanding the past with their whole selves,through being transported there by a novel, givesstudents a more complete knowledge of each of theissues brought up. History is not made by one eventneatly folding into the next. Science is notdiscovered one revelation at a time. Life involvespeople who interact, who hurt each otherintentionally or by mistake, who fumble and whoadore – and the job of a novel is to weave life into afacsimile of patterns, to untangle it, to frame it andlay it out, to make it make sense. Readers youngand old need that.

Here are some discussion questions andprojects to try out with your students (taken fromthe Teacher’s Guide for Deadly created by TanyaAnderson at School Street Media. The complete32-page guide can be found on my websitejuliechibbaro.com).

History• How can historical fiction give valuable insightinto past events?• What were some stereotypes of women in the early1900s?• Have students look at the photographs in JacobRiis’s How the Other Half Lives, and compare themwith pictures of New York City today. Discuss howlife was then and now, and how Mr. Riis’s workhelped improve life for people in the city. Comparepictures of your own city a hundred years ago withpictures of today.

Science• What is an epidemic? What are some epidemicswe struggle with today?• Prudence has many characteristics that will makeher a good scientist. Name two. Talk about howthese characteristics are strengths for being ascientist.• Why do you think it was so easy to spreaddiseases in the early 1900s?• Have students do some research on famouswomen scientists of the first half of the 20thcentury, and create a visual presentation for class.

How can teachers meet their requirements byallowing students to learn from the heart?Standards must be met, tests taken and passed.Deadly can be used as a tool to help teachers withlessons of science and history, English, and healthby getting students fully engaged in the world of thepast, while still learning what’s needed to guidethem through the world today. Deadly can helpteach by reaching students’ curiosity, intellect, andhearts.

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Calling all Middle GradesEnglish/Language Arts/Reading

teachers!We want to learn what books your students are

reading in your classrooms. Please take amoment to complete a brief 12 question survey

by going tohttps://www.surveymonkey.com/s/62HT57K


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At the Middle School Reading Special InterestGroup Presentation at IRA, attendees willparticipate in an interactive workshop that willdemonstrate two teachers used a variety oftechniques to build students’ twenty-first centurylearning and connect with authors of Young Adultliterature.

Twenty-first century learning requires that weprepare our students for a world whose wonders wecannot predict. As technological advances andscientific discoveries change how we work, live andplay, teachers must assure that students engage withtechnology, collaborate, think critically, andinnovate. This can be accomplished through theintegration of Young Adult Literature, technology,questioning, and collaboration.

Lessons learned from classroom teaching willbe a highlight of this session with a fifth and eighthgrade teachers sharing how they integratedtechnology, questioning, and collaboration.

The fifth grade teacher, Monique Myers, willshare a unit centered around the I Survived series byLauren Tarshis in which her students worked inliterature circles to engage in discussions around thetext, used iPads to research the facts behind thebooks, and prepared engaging in-classroompresentations to share each of their texts.

The eighth grade teacher, BernadetteThompson, created a unit centered on AdamGidwitz’s novel A Tale Dark and Grimm to havestudents research multiple versions of the Hanseland Gretel tale, analyze narrative voice, and use anonline blog to facilitate discussion about the textwithin and beyond the classroom walls.

Young Adult LiteratureYoung Adult Literature (YAL) is the body of

literature that is written for young adults withcharacters who are tweens or teens, whoseprotagonist’s actions decide the plot and whosepoint of view is that of the adolescent (Herz &Gallo, 2005; Tomlinson & Brown, 2010). Theauthors of these texts take special care to assure thatreaders connect with the protagonists in a uniquemanner that supports their developmental stage. Atthe middle level the author must appreciate thechanging nature of the young adolescent whilesupporting his/her desire for trying on newidentities. In this presentation we are fortunate tobe able to see the contributions of two middle levelauthors who will discuss their books and what theyhave learned about writing for middle schoolstudents.

• Adam Gidwitz, author of A Tale Dark and Grimm(Penguin Books, 2010) will share how he uses hisknowledge of middle school students, writing, andthe real Grimm fairy tales to connect with readers.• Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived bookseries (Scholastic books), will share how theintegration of fact and fiction engages middle levelreaders.

We look forward to seeing you at IRA!

Critical Thinking, Literature, and Technology inthe Middle School ClassroomMon, Apr 30, 2012: 3:00 PM - 5:45 PM Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Room: CC12D

An Invitation to “Celebrate the Middle GradesTeaching” At IRA’s 57th Annual Convention


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We know that each content area or disciplinehas a unique structure, goals, texts, language, andways of developing knowledge. Mathematicscourses are different than history courses; the textsare different; the ways in which teachers andstudents talk about knowledge in each content areaare different. We do not read a science text and anEnglish language arts text the same way. So, if weare knowledgeable about the distinct differencesamong content areas why are we using genericliteracy strategies across the content areas? Genericliteracy approaches across the content areas havenot produced the results we have been looking for inour students’ literacy or content knowledge, skills,and performance. In addition, how are we planningto address the complex content and literacydemands of each content area in the context of theCommon Core State Standards (CCSS)? Accordingto the CCSS, close reading of complex texts, deepunderstanding, collection of evidence acrosssources, an inquiry approach to learning,collaborative inquiry, and reflection are necessaryinstructional elements across grade levels and ineach content area (Zygouris-Coe, 2012).

What is disciplinary literacy? “Disciplinaryliteracy involves the use of reading, reasoning,investigating, speaking, and writing required tolearn and form complex content knowledgeappropriate to a particular discipline.” (McConachie& Petrosky, 2010, p. 16). Disciplinary literacy isnot a new term for reading in the content areas(Shanahan & Shanahan, 2012); instead, itemphasizes the knowledge, skills, and tools of theexperts in each discipline; the mathematicians,historians, authors, and scientists whocommunicate, use, and create knowledge in theirrespective discipline. Disciplinary literacy is notabout a set of strategies we can use to help studentsorganize text or make connections among words; itis referring to the ways of thinking, knowing, anddoing that are consistent with each discipline.

So, why keep an eye on disciplinary literacy?In my view, because we must; we have to if we areto prepare our students to learn and succeed inmiddle school, high school, college, career, andbeyond. We need to move content instruction froman emphasis on generic strategies for reading,vocabulary, and comprehension toward an emphasison practices and pedagogical frameworks fordisciplinary inquiry that will support bothdisciplinary content and literacy learning.

What Does Disciplinary Literacy Have to Dowith Middle School Reading?

Reading in middles school grades “feels,sounds, and looks” different than it does in earliergrades. We know from research that manyadolescents struggle with a) engagement withreading (especially expository text) and motivationto read, b) vocabulary, c) comprehension, and, d)self-regulating their own comprehension. Manyadolescents face challenges with reading andcomprehending the texts of each content area (Lee& Spratley, 2010; Moje, 2002, 2008). Reading inthe content areas places many demands both on thereader and the teacher. It requires rigorous contentreading and learning. Content instruction andliteracy development in the secondary grades shouldbe taking place in tandem.

How can adolescents think and learn likemathematicians, historians, or biologists if we donot teach them how to read, comprehend, and thinkdeeply about the texts of each discipline? To teachstudents to think like historians, we have to teach

Eye on Disciplinary Literacyby Vicky Zygouris-Coe, Ph.D.


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them how to identify the author, the audience, thecontext, whether others agree, or whetherinformation is credible. According to Lee andSpratley (2010), adolescents need more targeted,comprehensive, and even tailored support forreading in the academic disciplines because of thedifferent structure, goals, and literacy demands ofeach discipline. We need to prepare students tosuccessfully deal with the reading, writing, andlearning demands of each discipline. We need toteach students how to engage with, read, build theirbackground knowledge, comprehend text, and writein a way that is consistent with each discipline.Comprehension and deep learning are not naturaloutcomes of teaching students a few effectivecomprehension strategies; they require rigorous,specialized, and multi-faceted teaching andlearning. Key factors for successful content areainstruction also include developing a classroomculture of high expectations (Lee, 2007) anddelivering instruction that is purposeful, authentic,relevant, and critical. Teachers need to organizeinstruction in engaging ways, provide guidedsupport in small and whole group work, sequencediscipline-specific tasks, include reading of contentarea texts that will help build backgroundknowledge, teach students how to access texts,develop discipline-specific vocabulary andclassroom discourse (Michaels, O’Connor, Hall, &Resnick, 2002), and build students’ self-efficacy asreaders.

What Might a Disciplinary Literacy LearningFramework Look Like?

There are key questions to ask oneself, as acontent area teacher, about disciplinary literacyteaching and learning. Discipline-specific (contentand literacy) teaching and learning is complex,rigorous, specific to each discipline, interactive, andcollaborative; it places many demands both on theteacher and the learners. For the purpose of thissection, I will use History as an example to illustratedisciplinary literacy learning framework principles.I invite you to reflect on the following questions anddiscuss them with your colleagues; these questionscould be used as “conversations starters” in

department meetings, professional learningcommunities, and school-wide literacy efforts insecondary grades. 1. Am I knowledgeable about the unique

structure, goals, content and literacy demands of my discipline?

2. What do I do to teach my students about the unique structure and ways of knowing of my discipline?

a. Do I teach them about how history is designed? How knowledge is organized, learned, and communicated by historians?b. Do I teach my students to read, write, inquire, speak, and think like historians do?

3. Do I teach my students the literacy skills they will need to have to meet the demands of history?

4. Am I developing my students’ history and history-specific literacy knowledge and skills in tandem?

5. What is my role? a. Am I the sole deliverer of knowledge in myclass?b. Do I teach content or students?c. What are my beliefs and attitudes toward the role of collaboration in my class? Do I expect, model, value, and practice collaborative inquiry?d. What kind of classroom environment do I create? e. What role do inquiry and collaboration play in my classroom?f. Do I teach my students how to read history texts?g. Do I model how to think like historians do?h. Do I teach my students how to talk and write about history?i. Do I teach my students how to compare and critically evaluate multiple sources, provide evidence for their assertions (orally and in written form), and provide feedback to their peers?j. Do I teach them how to communicate, write, evaluate, and reflect on history concepts, texts, and ideas?


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k. Do I model history-specific strategies to help my students understand history in a deep way (e.g., close reading, source and documentanalysis, corroboration, contextualization)?l. Do I provide scaffolded corrective feedbackand support and mentor students along the learning process?m.Do I allow for extended practice of ideas and learning?n. Do I teach them how to be committed to meaningful engagement by practicing accountable talk? By being accountable to:

i. deep thinking about ideas and (accurate) reasoning

ii. listening to others with purposeiii. their classroom community iv. providing evidence for their statementsv. building upon others’ ideasvi. contributing to meaning-making in

classo. Do I use formative and summative assessment to guide my instruction?p. Do I value my students’ efforts and celebrate their learning?

6. What is my student’s role? a. Do I hold high expectations for all?b. Do I view them as apprentices in the learning process?c. When and how do I allow them to read complex texts, problem-solve, inquire, collaborate, experiment, and reflect on their learning?d. Are my students reading, investigating, questioning, interpreting, writing about, and solving history-specific problems?e. Am I expecting my students to be actively involved in the learning process?f. Do I hold them accountable for their own learning and for contributing to others’learning in class?g. Do I expect them to value and practice collaborative inquiry?h. Do I expect them to monitor their learning and progress?

What Can I Do to Learn More AboutDisciplinary Literacy?

I highly recommend that you study Shanahanand Shanahan’s work (2008, 2012)—they have beendoing pioneering research on the topic. In addition,I recommend McConachie and Petrosky’s (2010)book titled, Content Matters: A DisciplinaryLiteracy Approach to Improving Student Learning;they and others at the University of Pittsburg,Institute for Learning, have been conductingresearch and have been implementing a disciplinaryliteracy-learning framework in schools. Forinstructional suggestions on the relationshipbetween the CCSS and disciplinary literacy, readZygouris-Coe’s article (2012). If we are to bringabout positive change in student learning, we haveto change our perspective and practices about therole of literacy in each discipline. Considerdeveloping a teacher study group at your schoolwhere you can discuss these issues and learn aboutways to help students develop content and literacyknowledge and skills that are consistent with eachdiscipline’s structure, goals, demands, texts, andways of knowing, reading, writing, speaking, andlearning.

Share Your Questions/Comments/Ideas:

Let’s start a dialogue on disciplinary literacy,let’s spread the word about it, and let’s collaborate inour schools with colleagues in developing ourunderstanding of disciplinary literacy and designinginstruction that will bring about both content andliteracy learning.

ReferencesLee, C. D. (2007). Culture, literacy, and learning:

Blooming in the midst of the whirlwind. New York: Teachers College Press.

Lee, C. D., & Spratley, A. (2010). Reading in the disciplines: The challenges of adolescent literacy. New York, NY: Carnegie Corporationof New York.

Middle School Reading Spring 2012McConachie, S. M., & Petrosky, A. R. (2010).

Content matters: A disciplinary literacy approach to improving student learning.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Michaels, S., O'Connor, M. C., Hall, M. W., & Resnick, L. (2002). Accountable talk: classroom conversation that works. Pittsburgh,PA: University of Pittsburgh.

Moje, E. B. (2002). But where are the youth? Integrating youth culture into literacy theory. Educational Theory, 52, 97-120.

Moje, E. B. (2008). Foregrounding the disciplines in secondary literacy teaching and learning: Acall for change. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 52(2), 96-107.

Shanahan, T., & Shanahan. C. (2008). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: Rethinking content-area literacy. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 40-59.

Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2012). What is disciplinary literacy and why does it matter? Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 7–18.

Zygouris-Coe, V. (2012). Disciplinary literacy and the common core state standards. Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 35-50.

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Middle School Special Interest Group of theInternational Reading Association

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following projects/activities?! Annual Convention Program! Professional Development! Teacher of the Year Award! Chapter Membership! Chapter Officer! Membership Committee! Publicity Committee! Web site development! Newsletter

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Walking past a middle school writer’sworkshop, one peeks in to hear the teacher reading-aloud from a picture book that is displayed on thedocument camera. The teacher pauses periodicallyto focus students’ attention on the writer’s craft. Forexample, she might think-aloud how she analyzesthe lead; the author’s use of figurative languagetechniques; how the author makes use of whitespace in the layout; the author’s use of repetition;and so on. Next, she distributes copies of the bookto small groups of students, and asks them tocontinue analyzing the text to understand characterdescriptions. She poses open-ended questions toguide their analysis: What do you notice about howthe author describes these characters? Whattechniques did the author use to create strong, cleardescriptions of the characters? How did thedescriptions of the characters help you as readers tovisualize them? How can you use these techniquesin your writing?

Effective writing teachers use literature asmentor texts for writing instruction that clearlyexhibits author’s craft and traits of good writing(Culham, 2003; Spandel, 2009). Teachers set asidetime during writer’s workshop for students to readand/or listen to a mentor text, to discuss it, to reactto it, to study the craft, technique, and genre beforethey begin writing. This framework encouragesteachers and students to explore the reading–writingconnection that can bolster students’ writing ability(Goodman & Goodman, 1983; Harwayne, 1992,2005). To develop as writers, students have to becareful readers so that they can learn how toimprove their own writing (Hansen, 2001). Ray(1999) recommends five points to help studentsread like a writer:

1. Notice something about the craft of the text.2. Talk about it and make a theory about why a writer might use this craft.3. Give the craft a name.4. Think of other authors you know. Have youseen this craft before?5. Try to envision using this craft in your ownwriting. (p. 120)

During a writer’s workshop, teachers use acombination of minilessons, mentor texts, andguided practice activities to draw students’ attentionto the qualities or traits of writings. These traitsinclude ideas, organization, voice, word choice,sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation.Culham (2003) briefly describes the traits:• Ideas: the meaning and development of the

message• Organization: the internal structure of the

piece• Voice: the way the writer brings the topic to

life• Word Choice: the specific vocabulary the

writer uses to convey meaning• Sentence Fluency: the way the words and

phrases flow throughout the text• Conventions: the mechanical correctness of

the piece• Presentation: the overall appearance of the

work

To help students understand the key qualities of thetraits, teachers choose award-winning and otherhigh-quality stories and nonfiction books that areappropriate for students and that exemplify the

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Chester’s Masterpiece: Using a Picture Book as aMentor Text for Middle School Writers to

Develop the Trait of VoiceBy Melanie D. Koss & Donna Werderich

Middle School Reading Spring 2012quality of the traits. Middle school teachers shouldnot feel restricted on the types of mentor texts to useto teach craft lessons. Increasingly, picture booksare being used as supplementary material in middleschool classrooms because the books are"sophisticated, abstract, or complex in themes,stories, and illustrations and are suitable for childrenaged 10 and older" (Lynch-Brown & Tomlinson,2005, p. 83). New picture books are being writtenwith more complex content and multipleperspectives, lending themselves to the higherdevelopmental levels of middle school learners.Picture books indeed serve as good models ofquality writing. They can serve as “a magnifyingglass that enlarges and enhances the reader'spersonal interactions with a subject" (Vacca &Vacca, 2005, p. 161). As Ray (2002) noted, “Everysingle text we encounter represents a whole chunkof curriculum, a whole set of things to know aboutwriting” (p. 92). For example, middle schoolstudents can improve their craft of organization byimitating the structure or “pattern” found in apicture book story (Neal & Moore, 1992).

Picture books can be the perfect venue forusing a mentor text, as the nature of picture booksrequires very specific and focused word choice.Every word is carefully selected to fit the 32-pagestandard format, so character development andpoint of view must be carefully crafted to make thecharacters vivid and believable for readers. Manypicture books also exemplify other literary qualities,such as vocabulary support, picture cues, directsentence usages, and language play. To gain anunderstanding of what a picture book as mentor textlooks like in the middle school writing classroom,we unpack one picture book that is an exemplarmentor text to use to teach and study author’s craftand the traits of writing. Specifically, we highlighthow middle school writing teachers can use Watt’s(2010) Chester’s Masterpiece as a quality mentortext. We provide a few activities that teachers canuse to help students unpack Mélanie and Chester’scrafting of the story and the steps they used in thewriting process. Middle school teachers can involvestudents in these activities to expand their

knowledge about ideas that make interesting storiesand how to apply the elements of characterizationand voice to revisions of their own writing.

In Chester’s Masterpiece, Chester, a spunkyand bossy cat, decides that his author is irrelevantand that he will write a “masterpiece” of his ownwithout the help of his creator, Mélanie. He hides allof Mélanie’s tools and supplies, including her paper,pencils, markers, and even her computer mouse, andgoes at it alone with torn notebook paper, tape,computer paper, and his trusty red marker. AllMélanie has left at her disposal is a pad of stickynotes. When Chester attempts to write his ownstory, a duel ensues with Mélanie attempting to giveconstructive criticism to Chester as he struggles hisway through the writing process. Chester getsdefensive. Mélanie gets exasperated. As the twobicker back and forth, Mélanie subtly guidesChester through the art of writing a story andprovides insight into the writing, crafting, andrevising process.

What is masterful about Chester’s Masterpieceis how the takeover of the book-writing process iscarried through in every detail throughout the bookproviding a strong model for students. Middleschool students can pore over the pages and identifyall of the small items that comprise a picture book,including the cover, dust jacket, flap copy, versapage, title page, and even the author’s dedication,biography, and photo image. From start to finish,this book depicts the writing and the book-makingprocess and displays strong models of craft,organization, literary elements such as setting,character development, genre and theme, point ofview, voice, and even the process of getting overwriter’s block. One challenge for your students is tohave them identify the many writing-processelements hidden in the novel. Do they notice thatChester has inserted the words “with NO help from”before Mélanie Watt’s name on the front cover? Dothey notice that it

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appears he stapled his own book cover on top ofwhatever Mélanie Watt actually had planned for thebook? What do they see on the flap copy that setsthe tone for the book and immediately gives clues tothe different characters and their individual voicesor personalities? An initial discussion of the manydetails included throughout this book should get aconversation going on the elements of the writingprocess.

We recognize that a key part of teaching with amentor text is to select the elements of craft tohighlight based on the needs of students (Fletcher &Portalupi, 2007). We feel that Chester’s Masterpiececan be used as an exemplar mentor text specificallyto teach the trait of voice, the way the writer bringsthe topic to life – in this case the topic being theoverall writing process, and the recursiveness of thewriting process.

Voice is the individual style used that giveswriting personality. It is not what is said but how itis said. Voice establishes the tone and sets it apartfrom other writing. A strong voice is engaging. It isfull of emotions and personality and causes a readerto connect to the character. Weak writing can soundmonotonous or distant, and only a vague sense ofthe character’s personality shines through. Asteachers, we want to guide our students to create abackground personality for their characters andidentify personality traits and qualities that can beseen through writing.

In Chester’s Masterpiece, one stand-out trait isthe use of voice. Both Chester, the main character,and Mélanie, the author/illustrator and additionalmain character, have very strong and distinctpersonalities that come through in the text. What isunique about this book is that the reader witnessesthe interplay between Chester and his author, givinga rarely-seen glimpse into the writing process. It isthe strong personalities and voices between thesetwo characters that move this story along. So whoare these two characters and what is it about theirpersonalities that makes them so distinct andstrong?

Creating Character with the Voice Trait

In these activities, students will identifyelements of voice and character development withinChester’s Masterpiece and apply these elementsinto first a modeled writing activity and then a pieceof their own writing. Students will identify Chesterand Mélanie’s background characteristics and notetheir personality traits that stand

Elements of note in Chester’s Masterpiece:

• The overall idea that Chester is taking overthe book from his author.

• The commitment to this concept, with Chester taking over and manipulating all ofthe typical book components such as the dust jacket, flap copy, versa page, and author/illustrator biography.

• The use of different writing media Including sticky notes, paper notes, lined notebook paper and photos, overlapping depending on the order of what was written. For example, perhaps Chester wrote a page of his story and Mélanie Watt had a comment. Mélanie’s sticky note would overlap and cover some of Chester’s words or art, the piece that she was commenting upon.

• The interplay between Chester and Mélanie,where Mélanie guides Chester to more carefully consider his writing choices throughout the story.

• The idea of writer’s block and how to breakit.

• The choices a writer makes when writing a story. What is the setting? The plot? What type of story are you writing?

• The ingredients of a good story: knowing genre and type of story (humor, action, suspense, horror, drama, science fiction, romance); setting; hero (characters,

protagonists, antagonists); humor; plot; endings (happy?); artistic expression; ownership of writing; artistic medium.

Middle School Reading Spring 2012out in creating their voices. Next, a modeled writingminilesson is shared to show students how to createand revise character development and voice inwriting. Then they will develop their own charactersand, in pairs, work together to write a story in whichboth characters’ voices and pointsof view shinethrough.

After reading-aloud Chester’s Masterpiece, askstudents to describe Chester and Mélanie byidentifying adjectives and descriptive phrases thatdepict their personalities. Write their responses onchart paper. Discuss how Watt has developed thecharacters’ background stories. Ask students toidentify or describe their relationship. Do the twocharacters always bicker with each other? Is Chesterbossy? Who else might he boss around? DoesMélanie get frustrated with anyone else? How istheir language different? Do they use differenttones? As an alternative or extension, you mighthave students complete a Venn diagram on Chesterand Mélanie’s similarities and differences. Askstudents to list statements or phrases from the bookthat really stand out as examples of how the twocharacters’ personalities are different. Ask studentswhat Watt does to create the various tones, and howthe use of different tones contributes to the piece’soverall voice. Display students’ responses in acommon place in the classroom for students toconsult when they need ideas or strategies forwriting.

Next, model creating another character/authorduo and begin to create a class story in which you,as the teacher, start writing a story from the point ofview of one character, and have the class interruptyou and comment on your writing choices from thecollective point of view of another character. Afterthe story is written, this is an opportunity to go backthrough the story and identify whether or not thecharacters’ voices and personalities shine through.First, brainstorm with students different types ofcharacters and authors that might have clashingpersonalities. Chester was a bossy, self-centered bigorange cat. Mélanie had a short fuse with Chesterand was determined to get the final word. As a class,

choose two characters (one taking the role of authorand one of story character) and come up withdescriptive phrases describing their personalities.Choose one character as your author character andbrainstorm aloud what types of words and phrasesyou might include that will depict the personality ofyour character. Have the students then beginthinking about the personality of a second characterand identifying words and phrases this charactermight say. List their ideas on chart paper so they canrefer back to them during the activity. Tell studentsyou are going to write a story from your authorcharacter’s perspective and ask them to raise theirhands and interrupt you as you write when theyhave a suggestion to improve your writing. Remindthem that they will be interrupting you withsuggestions from their character’s point of view andusing words their character might use. Then beginwriting a story using the document camera or anoverhead projector. Chester began by copying thefirst lines to Twas the Night Before Christmas. Youmight wish to begin using the lines of a novelyou’ve recently read as a class or by using thephrase Once upon a time… We recommend youhave the beginnings of a story already written or anidea in your head to get you started. You may wishto include some of the writing elements related tocharacter voice used in Chester’s Masterpiece, suchas having Mélanie getting more and moreexasperated with Chester, to encourage students topush you to add more detail. This provides anopportunity to write flat character prose and discusswith your students how to differentiate betweencharacters. When a student interrupts you, havethem write their comments on a sticky note and postthem up on the white board or screen. Once a shellof a story is written as a class, revisit the story andsee if the two characters’ distinct personalities arevisible. Go back through and strengthen the voicesto fit the original list of brainstormed personalitytraits and descriptive phrases.

Next, students will have the opportunity towrite their own author/character stories. In thisactivity, students will work in pairs to write about aduo of 13

Middle School Reading Spring 2012characters that would interact with each other fromdifferent points of view. In addition to author versuscharacter, have students consider duos such as busdriver versus student on a school bus, superheroversus villain, coach versus player, doctor versuspatient, etc. Once they’ve identified their duo, haveeach student pick a character and a background forthe character. Where did the character grow up?What is the character’s favorite food? Who is thecharacter’s best friend? Then identify a scenario ofwhen the two characters might interact. When dothe two characters meet? Do they like each other?What tones of voice might they use with each other?What common phrases or attitudes does theircharacter have? Ask students to create acatchphrase for their characters that represents theircharacter’s personality and that can be used to helpset their character’s tone. Students can createcharacter webs or draw pictures of their charactersto really get a sense of who they are.

As an extension activity during independentwriting, challenge students by asking partners tobegin writing a story from the point of view of onecharacter, and have the other character jump in totell their point of view or comment on what theother character is writing. Remind students toconsider the different ways Watt builds characterdevelopment through voice and tone. Have themuse their character’s catchphrase to help developand show their character’s personality. As inChester’s Masterpiece, sticky notes are a good formof commenting as they provide constructivefeedback on a piece of writing without actuallymarking-up that writing, or have each student use adifferent color ink. This will allow students to goback and see if their two characters’ voices aredistinct.

Conclusion

In “Writing with Voice”, Tom Romano definesvoice as "the writer's presence on the page. It is thesense we have while reading that someone occupiesthe middle of our mind, the sense we have whilewriting that something or someone is whispering in

our ear." (2003, p. 50). The trait of voice is oftenviewed as the most challenging to write and toteach, as it requires more than just a story idea butthe development of strong characters and learningto depict those characters through words, but it isalso one of the most important traits of writing. AsGraves (1983) explains, “To ignore voice is topresent the [writing] process as alifeless,mechanical act. Divorcing voice from process islike omitting salt from stew, love from sex, or sunfrom gardening (p. 227). Mentor texts such asChester’s Masterpiece and suggested activities inthis article give teachers ways to help middle schoolstudents create strong voice in their writing. Byusing a picture book as a model of quality writing,and giving students the opportunity to unpack theclear depictions of voice and character as describedboth through pictures and words, students can beginto compare and contrast different characters andidentify how different tones and word choices cantruly depict those characters. By challengingstudents to then create their own characters andwrite using their voices, first through a modeledwriting activity and then through a writing with apartner experience, students can begin toexperiment with voice in their own writing in ascaffolded manner. Chester’s Masterpiece, with itstwo strong personalities, leads us through thewriting and story-creating process and acts as aperfect bridge between mentor text and studentwriting. By using the activities described above, ourmiddle school students will be able to createconnections, of sorts, between writer and reader,just as Mélanie Watt has done with us.

Other Chester books by Mélanie Watt:Chester (2008)Chester’s Back (2009)

References

Culham, R. (2003). 6+1 traits of writing: The complete guide (grades 3 and up). New York: Scholastic.

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Middle School Reading Spring 2012Goodman, K., & Goodman, Y. (1983). Reading

and writing relationships: Pragmatic functions. Language Arts, 69, 590-599.

Harwayne, S. (1992). Lasting impression: Weavingliterature into the writing workshop.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Harwayne, S. (2005). Novel perspectives: Writing minilessons inspired by the children in adult fiction. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.Lynch-Brown, C., & Tomlinson, C. M.(2005). Essentials of children's literature (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Neal, J. C., & Moore, K. (1992). The Very Hungry Caterpillar meets Beowulf in secondary classrooms. Journal of Reading, 35, 290-296.

Ray, K.W. (1999). Wondrous words: Writers and writing in the classroom. Urbana, IL: NCTE.

Romano, T. (2003). Writing with voice. Voices from the Middle 11(2), 50-55.

Spandel, V. (2009). Creating writers through 6-trait writing assessment and Instruction (5th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Vacca, R. T., & Vacca, J. L. (2005). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum. Boston: Pearson Education.

Watt, M. (2010). Chester’s Masterpiece. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press Ltd.

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Picture books are a great tool to use in middleschool classrooms as mentor texts as their conciseformat and use of illustrations and careful wordchoice make them easy to break apart and study forspecific writing traits. We suggest a few qualitypicture book titles we feel are exemplar texts forteaching the writing process, the craft of descriptivewriting, and the traits of word choice andconventions.

Writing ProcessThe Best Story by Eileen Spinelli. 2008. Dial.(978-0803730557).A young writer hears about the Red Brick Library’s“write the best story” contest and learns she canmeet her favorite author and go on the best rollercoaster ever. She’s determined to write the beststory ever! There was only one problem; she didn’tknow how to start. So she asks her family memberswhat is needed in a good story. Her brother saysaction, her dad, humor, her cousin, romance. Finallyher mom tells her to just write from the heart, andshe does! This is an excellent choice for introducingthe writing process and brainstorming differentideas to form the best story. The only question is,does she win the contest?

Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk. 2007. Harry N.Abrams. (978-0810993464).Mouse Sam lives in the reference section of thelibrary – the perfect place for a mouse who loves toread. He scampers about the library choosing adifferent section each night. He loves mysteries,poetry, ghost stories, biographies, children’s books,and best of all, reference books. He loves stories somuch he decides to write his own, and slips hiscreations right onto the library shelves. The

books are a hit! But then the patrons want to meetthis amazing author, but he’s a mouse. What isloveable about this story as it shows the joys of notonly writing but sharing what one writes. Otherbooks in the series include: Library Mouse: AWorld to Explore; Library Mouse: A MuseumAdventure; Library Mouse: A Friend’s Tale.

The Plot Chickens by Mary Jane Auch. 2009.Holiday House. (978-0823423071).Henrietta, the star of Souperchicken, is back,bringing along the puns and word play for whichAuch is so noted. In this story, Henrietta loves toread so she decides to become a writer, since"writing books must be eggshilarating." With thehelp of a writing manual and, annoyingly, the otherchickens around her, she creates her ownmasterpiece. Of course she wants it published, butit is, as many stories are, rejected by the publisher.This doesn’t stop Henrietta, who decides to self-publish with the help of her favorite librarian. Stillno luck, it is rejected again. But the librarian sharesthe book with the children, who love it and wanther to read it aloud. However, chickens, no matterhow much expression and voice they use, onlysound like bok bok bok. The pictures showdifferent word choice ideas, plot ideas, and otherrejected scenes, sharing a wide swatch of thewriting, revising, and publishing process.

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Picture Books as Mentor Texts for the Middle School Grades: A Bibliography

by Melanie D. Koss & Donna Werderich

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Middle School Reading Spring 2012Craft: Descriptive WritingShow; Don’t Tell! The Secrets of Writing byJosephine Nobisso. 2004. Gingerbread House.(978-0940112131).In a non-didactic manner, Nobisso tells the story ofa lion who loves to write and shares his knowledgeof the writing craft with the other animals aroundhim. He teaches the animals, who all want to be likethe lion and become writers themselves, how to usedescriptive words, nouns, adjectives, and voice, andmost importantly, how to “show; don’t tell.”Minilessons are embedded into the story subtlely,so middle school students can be challenged to pickthem out for further study. Unique about this bookare added elements including a scratch-and-sniffspot, a sound chip, and textured pages, encouragingstudents to incorporate elements of the five sensesinto their own writing, of course as a way to show,not tell.

Trait: Word ChoiceMax’s Words by Kate Banks. 2006. Farrar,Straus and Giroux. (978-0374399498).Max’s brother Benjamin collects stamps. Hisbrother Karl collects coins. But Max has nothing tocollect. He decides he needs his own collection andchooses to collect words. He starts small, andbegins cutting words out of magazines andnewspapers, but his words begin to take over thehouse! His brothers tease him and tell him howmany more coins and stamps they have than Max’swords, but Max decides that words are betterbecause they can be used to tell stories. Adding tothe story are clever and fun word choices that add alayer to the story. Middle schoolers can pick out theunique words and first see how the story would bedifferent without the clever words, and then trysubstituting different words of their own. A secondbook in the Max series is Max’s Castle.

The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter.2006. Schwartz & Wade. (978-0375836015).Selig collects words and he cherishes them, writingthem down on scraps and stuffing them in hispockets and sleeves. He loves their sounds, theirtaste, the way they look, and the way they touchhim deep in his heart. He focuses his life around hiswords, which worries his parents and makes hisclassmates tease him by giving him words likeoddball. Turning to a Yiddish genie for advice,Selig sets out to find his purpose and realizes heneeds to share his words. He ties them to thebranches of tree and sets them free. As they floatfrom the tree, a few especially descriptive wordsfind their way to a poet who was struggling to findjust the right words for his latest poetic creation.Selig realizes he can use his words to help others,and goes around sharing his words with others, forexample, he stops an argument with the wordharmony. He has found a way to use his words forgood, and in the process he even finds love.Students can search through and “collect” all ofSelig’s words and begin to make word collectionsof their own.

Trait: ConventionsPunctuation Takes a Vacation by Robin Pulver.2004. Holiday House. (978-0823418206). When the weather turns hot and unbearable, Mr.Wright decides to give the punctuation in hisclassroom a vacation. The punctuation marks aremiffed, after all, they put up with a lot at the handsof Mr. Wright. They are corrected, erased, ignored,and now sent away? So away they go. They sendpostcards from Take-a-Break Lake, but the studentscan’t write back since nothing they write madesense without punctuation! The cards make nosense, so the punctuation marks decide to takematters into their own hands. They send riddlepostcards filled with wordplay that the studentsmust decipher and, in turn, learn about the differentpunctuation marks. Eventually the punctuationmarks return to the classroom, and the studentshave a newfound appreciation for their importance.At the end, a list of punctuation rules is includedproviding answers to all of the postcard questions.

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Documents

Middle School Reading Spring 2012 Reading in the Middle...Middle School Reading Spring 2012 If you can find the heart of middle school readers, they are yours. As a young reader, I