Diane is honored and excited to present for the second year at The Literacy Nest Conference. Her topic this year will be Systematizing Word Study into your Orton Gillingham Sequence.
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The Shallows
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Recently, I reread the Shallows, by Nicholas Carr, which I first read when it came out in 2010. Ironically, this time I listened to it on audiobook – in just minutes, I was able to find it at my local library, download it onto my phone, and plug it into my car stereo to listen to on my commute. There are portions that are dated, of course, and ever newer social media platforms exist now, but the basic premise held up well.
When I read it the first time, I was militantly resisting ebooks for myself. When my son graduated from college, he bought me a Kindle PaperWhite for Mother’s Day, telling me if I hated it, he’d resell it. Today, I wouldn’t easily give up my Kindle. I love the instant gratification of being able to buy or check out a book, making fonts a comfortable size and being able to read anywhere without regard for good lighting. I like the portability of having a whole library in my purse, and I like that I can highlight passages and instantly share them on Goodreads, and that Goodreads automatically updates my progress on the book.
There are some downsides, of course: I don’t like not knowing physically where I am in a book. (Many books don’t have the progress percentage and even when they do, the type is so tiny that I have a hard time easily reading it.) I miss being able to easily close the book and stare at the cover art or reread the synopsis—and it’s harder to go back to reread a portion to remind myself of what happened. I tend to read a lot of sweeping historical novels that have maps and genealogical flowcharts, and miss being able to flip to them to refresh my memory.
For novels, a digital copy works fine. Yet I still read journal articles and informational texts on paper whenever possible, going to the trouble of printing whole textbooks when taking a course that only has an ebook. I need to physically make notes in the margins and highlight and flip back and forth. For comprehension, paper works best for me, and Carr cites the brain research that tells us why this is so.
Recently, I was working with a middle school student who struggles with comprehension. Reading one of his texts online—as almost all his schoolwork is assigned—he had a question about what something was, and before I could explain and get back to the text, he had a Google window open. Along with definitions, it included images that included barely on topic anime characters and he was laughing and changing his screen image to one of them. No wonder he struggles with comprehension!
As a Literacy Specialist, I still have many of the same reservations as Carr did then. I worry about comprehension and attention when students read online. I worry that they are being distracted by hyperlinks and the ability to follow those impulses. I worry that students are missing the tactile experience of a book, which I know is particularly important for kids with dyslexia and other learning differences. I worry that the information on the web is difficult to sort through for accuracy and relevance.
Yet, the move toward ebooks for education has many benefits both for the school and for kids. The costs for schools are lower, and updated information is as easy as an update to the webpage. The kids don’t have backbreaking backpacks. For kids with learning differences, in particular, textbooks can be read aloud, an important accommodation. The use of Google Read and Write allows students to simplify webpages, taking out videos and advertisements, so they can make notes and highlight online. Used thoughtfully, these tools are beneficial.
Technology isn’t going anywhere and we and our kids will have to adapt. Nicholas Carr gives some good insight and suggestions for how to navigate the good parts of the internet, and also keep the focus and depth we need to understand our world. For online work, I took Carr’s words to heart and try to keep distractions to a minimum when I need focus. I don’t allow pop-ups. I shut down social media and move my phone away from me.
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Business Profile in Local Magazine!
Spiral Skills Tutoring was honored to be featured in a local news magazine. Check it out! http://voyagedenver.com/interview/life-work-diane-talbot/
A Short History of English Language Spelling
Diane presented a webinar for Ladder Learning Services Tutors last week. Here is a link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pMno7xpzfY&feature=youtu.be
If you’d like the slides, you can find them here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/252i5ajz81ckmmc/History%20of%20English%20Spelling%20Presentation.pptx?dl=0
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
By Diane Talbot
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A student of mine could not stop talking about how much she loved this book, so I decided I needed to read it to see if it was as good as she thought. I am so glad I did. This book won the Newberry Award in 2017 and it is well-deserved. It is a lovely fairy tale with compelling characters. The use of language is just delicious; my student and I used words from the book for a series of word investigations. For older children and young adults–and adults– who love a well-told tale of magic and adventure, this is a wonderful choice. I loved it!
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The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
By Diane Talbot
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I liked this book a lot. I read the first one (The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making) last year. I loved it, but by the time I was finished, I was not chomping to move on to the next book in the series, as I often am when I find a series that I like.
Last week I needed a sure-thing, a happy read, and picked up the second book in the series. The whimsy and imaginative use of language and characters did not disappoint. I love the escaped shadows who are enjoying their freedom from their corporeal people and creatures. I loved that September is growing up, learning to stand up for herself and understand the gray scales in life. The text is packed with delightful details. I love how clothing is sentient and adjusts to the wearer’s needs. Every sentence is beautiful and skimming is not an option.
If you love Lewis Carroll, you will love these modern twists on the fantastic fairytale.
That said, I have to admit that the next book will be sitting on my shelf waiting for a while until I need a sure-thing read. These books, for me, need to be savored and I seem to have a limit for how much I can enjoy, kind of like eating a pile of candy. At the moment, I am ready to brush my teeth and dig into something different.
It is good to know there are a few more books on my shelf ready for when I need a deep-dive into imagination.
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Harvest Time
By Diane Talbot
This year, my garden has produced a good number of herbs and vegetables for my family, but even more for the squirrels! The word Harvest comes from an Old English word, hærvest, meaning “autumn.” The Proto-Indo-European root the word derives from is *kerp– “to gather, to pluck.”
Here is a collection of my fruit and vegetable etymology memes. Enjoy!
Resources Used:
Etymonline.com
Word Origins, by John Ayto
The Diner’s Dictionary, by John Ayto
Hidden Figures
By Diane Talbot
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The stories of these intelligent and brave women who were instrumental in making history fascinated me. I am so glad that Ms. Shetterly brought these stories to our attention. I enjoyed not only their stories but the background of how NASA and the space race inspired a generation.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in the space program, women’s and civil rights, science or mathematics. And if you are not interested in any of the above, pick it up and see how interesting these subjects can be when framed through the lives of women who changed the course of history.
Listening on audiobook made it a bit hard to keep characters straight, but also helped me get through the more technical explanations. I think audiobook, plus a paper copy for reference would have been ideal for my reading of this book.
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Growing Young Readers
Diane collaborated on a blog post with Ann Mitchell of Castle Rock Online Reading Tutor. You can find our post here,
Magicking Words
By Diane Talbot
My 8th grade student “Luna”* is obsessed with all things fantasy and so when I asked her what words she would like to investigate, the word magic was on the list.
We discussed what magic was and looked it up in the dictionary. We discovered that the word can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adjective. Luna worked to make a sentence of each type.
We brainstormed similar words and decided the base was probably <mage>. We began mapping out our thinking on the table top whiteboard in my office.
We used Word Searcher to find words that contained the same base, and ruled out words that, although seemed possibly promising, turned out to not be etymologically related. These words were image, imagination, and magistrate– along with their derivatives.
As you can see, the final, single, silent, non-syllabic <e> is replaced by a vowel suffix. This is shown with the red slash on the final <e>. In order to keep the /k/ sound when a vowel suffix is added, a <k> is added sometimes. We learned that at one time, long ago, the -<ic> ending was spelled <ick> and sometimes when someone wants the word magic to look more–well, magickal–it might be spelled with the old spelling.
Next we used the Mini-matrix Maker to make a matrix.
We explored the etymology of the word magic.
We also considered the pronunciation of the words and how unexpected changes happen in different related words.
mage /māj/
- Long <a> because of single, silent, non-syllabic <e>
- Soft g because it is followed by an <e>
magic /măj’-ĭk/
- Soft <g> because it is followed by an <e>
- Hard c because it has no vowel after and <-ic> at the end of a word is poronounced /ĭk/
magician /mə-jĭ’-shən/
- First and third vowel sounds are schwas and middle syllable has stress.
- Soft <g> because it is followed by an <e>
- <c> has /sh/ sound when followed by <ian>
magicians /mə’-jĭ-shənz/
- First and third vowel sounds are schwas and middle syllable has stress.
- Soft <g> because it is followed by an <e>
- <c> has /sh/ sound when followed by <ian>
- Final <s> represents a /z/ sound.
Luna made the observation that in the Harry Potter universe “nomag” is American slang for non-magical people, the equivalent to “muggle” in the U.K. A fitting observation for this exploration.
Further discussion and investigation into the grammar of the words gave us this information. Luna made sentences to help her remember.
- mage: noun “someone who performs magic”
- magic: noun, verb, or adjective
- magics: plural noun or third person inflectional ending (“She magics the moonbeans.”)
- magical: adjective
- magician: “Someone who performs magic”
- magicked: past tense verb or adjective (“The magicked beans grew a bean-stock.”)
- magically: adverb
- magicians: plural of magician
- magicking: present verb (“He is magicking the stones to turn them into bread.”) or noun (“She is an expert at magicking.”)
- magic wand: a stick used to perform magic
While looking at the dictionary, we also noticed the link to the thesaurus and explored synonyms and antonyms.
Luna and I both agreed that being bewitching and charming was much more fun than being normal and unremarkable. Next up, Luna wants to investigate sorceress.
*Student names and details have been changed.
Reader, Come Home
By Diane Talbot
Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have been reading other reviews and people seem to either love or hate this book. It isn’t an easy read and it took me over eight months to finish it, which is highly unusual for me and my reading style.
I gave it a mid-range rating. I liked it. I picked it up here and there and read a chapter at a time. I enjoyed Proust and the Squid more and felt this book was overly pedantic and repetitive, but I did appreciate much of what Maryanne said.
I too worry about what the digital world is doing to ours and our kid’s brains with regard to reading and critical thinking. I also agree with her that the digital world is here to stay and our kids need to become bi-literate in a healthier way than they are currently. I do worry about how much of our textbook reading has moved to digital formats–especially for struggling readers. On the other hand, the ability to have audio readily available has been an advantage for many of my students.
I read this book with a real-live paper book, which is my preferred medium for informational books that I am learning from and that I will reference as a literacy specialist. I’ve been known to print out whole e-textbooks. However, in the time since I have read this book, I’ve read 48 other books, both fiction and nonfiction, the majority of which I read either on Kindle or by listening to audiobooks on my commute.
I don’t think there are easy answers to how to take advantage of and lessen the negative impacts of the digital world, but I appreciated Maryanne’s views and ideas on how to best introduce digital media to kids. In the meantime, I’ll continue to enjoy books in many forms and encourage my students to do the same.
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If you have a Garden and a Library, you have Everything you Need.
Two of my favorite things are teaching literacy and gardening and I get super excited when I can combine the two. I began making flower etymology memes just for fun when I ran onto a fun meaning in the course of researching for one of my tutoring sessions in response to a student question. The memes were a hit with my friends and colleagues, and I was having so much fun making them, that I took requests and continued creating them.
I love that pansy means “thought, remembrance” and that lilaceous is a real word. Here is part two of the results of my research. Enjoy!
The Plastic Magician
By Diane Talbot
The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am enjoying the world the author has created with these books–a world where magic is like a science to be learned and discovered. Those who are “magically inclined” are apprenticed to magicians who train them to take the exam that makes them a magician in their own right. Magic can be done on only man-made materials and this book focusses on Alvie, a young American woman who likes to wear pants and take apart cars, in the early 1900s. Alvie travels by mirror to Europe and London where she learns the art of polymaking–or magic with plastics.
The book chronicles Alvie’s apprenticeship and growing romance with a fellow apprentice in the art of paper magic.
There is not a lot of action during the first part, but then it picks up when Alvie is kidnapped and has to use her wits and magic to escape. The book has a sweetness and innocence that is rare nowadays. The Kiss didn’t happen until the 75% mark.
I can’t say this book was un-put-down-able, but it was a lot of fun to read.
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The Sun is also a Star
By Diane Talbot
The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this YA novel. It is a romance with two smart and likable characters. The book is timely for its discussion on immigration, deportation, and racism. I enjoyed and learned from the sidebar chapters explaining the scientifically and culturally relevant information.
The story takes place in New York City over the course of one day. Natasha is a science-minded girl who spends the day trying to keep her family from being deported and worries about losing her friends, her dreams and her future. Daniel is a romantic poet who spends his day trying to get Natasha to fall in love with him by exploiting her love of science.
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Sharp as a Knife
By Diane Talbot
During a math lesson on angles with my verbally-gifted fifth-grade student, Brandan*, I drew a picture of an acute angle and an obtuse angle and labeled them. He immediately said, in a high voice, “Ooooh it is such a cute angle.” I told him that was exactly how I always remembered it, but that wasn’t really what it meant. Of course, he wanted to know what it really meant, and I already had my fingers on the keyboard to look it up on etymonline.com.
We found that acute is an adjective and came from the Proto-Indo European (PIE) root *ak, which means to “be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce.” The meaning was originally used for illness and fevers in the late 1400s. The meaning “ending in a sharp point” and “sharp or penetrating intellect” both came about around the late 1500s. As a descriptive term for intense or sharp pain it was used beginning in the early 1700s.
We talked about how the word could be used literally– like it is used in geometry or more figuratively such as when we talk of disease or pain.
And as it turned out—the adjective cute is related!
In 1731 it is attested as cute, meaning “clever, sharp, smart,” shortening of acute; informal sense of “pretty” is by 1834, It is American English colloquial and student slang.
Later, I followed up with a more indepth study of the word. In John Ayto’s Word I learned that it is related to the English word ague, which is an older word for flu. The Latin verb, acuere, was probably formed from Latin word for needle, acus. Other words that stem from the PIE root *ak are acid, acrid, acetic, oxygen and edge.
With the information I had previously gathered, I used Wordsearcher.com to compile a list of possible related words.
I looked up, and ruled out, the unrelated words, persecute, prosecute, execute and their derivitives because they have a different base. I noticed that cutey and cuteys was an unconventional spelling, so I looked up both cutie and cutey and found that they are alternate spellings with the same meaning.
Next, I created a matrix in Mini Matrix Maker.
These are the word sums possible with this matrix:
cute (free base)
a + cute à acute
cute/ + er à cuter
cute/ +ey à cutey
cute + ly à cutely
cute/ + est à cutest
cute + sy à cutesy
cute/ + ey + s à cuteys
a + cute + ly à acutely
cute + ness à cuteness
a + cute + ness à acuteness
cute/ + ie à cutie
cute/ + ie + s à cuties
(The slash mark indicates that the letter is replaced by the vowel suffix which follows.)
As Brandan and I were talking, I looked up obtuse in Etymonline.com. I found that obtuse is from the early fifteenth century and means “dull, blunted, not sharp” It comes from the Latin obtusus, which had the same meaning as well as a more figurative meaning “to beat against, make dull” The morphemes are ob- (“in front of, against”) + tundere “to beat” from PIE root*(s)tud-e- “to beat strike, thrust from PIE root *(s)teu- “to push, stick, knock, beat. The sense of “stupid, not senstetive or perceptive is from the 1500s. In geometry, it became the name of an angle greater than a right angle in the 1560s.
I tried to elicit its meaning from Brandan, I asked “What is the opposite of sharp?” He had a puzzled look on his face and answered with “fluffy?” I laughed at the image already in my head and tried again, “I can have a sharp knife or a…” I waited for him to come up with a response. And I waited a second longer. Then he cocked his head and slowly said “fluffy knife?”
I laughed and drew a cloud-like blade and handle on the whiteboard table in front of him. We both burst out laughing.
I explained the meaning “dull, blunted, not sharp” to him and his eyes got big with understanding and discovery. I then explained that the word could be used to describe someone who is being stupid, or just clueless. He rubbed his hands together in glee, planning already to use the insult on his little sister.
We went back to our math problems with a game we call “splatball” (an impromptu game we made up, basically throwing Crayola Globbles at a target drawn on the whiteboard.) Every few minutes, Brandan said, “fluffy knife” and we burst out laughing again.
Tutoring bright funny kids makes my job the best!
I continued the research the word obtuse later and found related words and made a matrix. From John Ayto’s Word Origins, I found that the word is related to contusion and toil. I searched words in Wordsearcher.com using the search <tuse>
Again, I ruled out any words that were not related, and then I did an additional search for <tus> which yielded the related words: contused, contuses, contusing, contusion, and contusive.
ob + tuse à obtuse
ob + tuse + ly à obtusely
ob + tuse + ness à obtuseness
con + tuse/ + ion à contusion
con + tuse/ + ive à contusive
con + tuse/ + ed à contused
con + tuse/ + es à contused
con + tuse/ + ing à contusing
obtund (does not fit in matrix but is related.)
*names and details changed but be sure to look up the meaning of the name “Brandan.”
Resources used:
etymonline.com
Word Origins, second ed. John ayto
Minimatrix Maker http://www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/matrix/temp/index.html
Wordsearcher http://www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/searcher/
Flour Power
By Diane Talbot
As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been spending a lot of time in my garden this year. I’ve also been spending a lot of time researching the etymology of flower names. This question is the one that started my explorations.
I often ask students to think about words that they find confusing or hard to spell to base our lessons on. A few weeks ago, Flora* asked me why flower and flour sounded the same but had different spellings. Our investigation led to many exciting discoveries.
Homophones often have different spellings because it helps us to differentiate the meaning of the word when we are reading. I teach this as a feature of the English language and not as a flaw. A bit of searching on etymonline.com showed us that the words flower and flour are related and in fact come from the exact same word.
Both words appear to come from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root, *bhel meaning “to thrive, bloom, which is possibly a variant of PIE root *bhel meaning “to blow, swell.”
The word came into English around 1200 CE by way of the Latin word florem (nominative flos) which became the Old French word flor. The English word came into use circa 1200. Alternately spelled as flur, flor, floer, floyer, and flowre.
The word meaning “finer portion of ground grain” was also spelled as flower, until circa 1830, when flour became the accepted spelling in order to end confusion. Perhaps it referred to the “finest of fairest part of the plant”
The words flower and flour can both be used as a noun or as a verb.
The flowers (n.) in the field will flower (v.) all summer long.
She will flour (v.) the surface of the table with the flour (n.).
The word flower can also carry the meaning of “time of blossoming” and “innocence”or “virginity.”
The word flourish with the sense of “thrive” is from mid-14th century English and the verb meaning to brandish a weapon is from the late 14th century.
The related base <flor> which has the sense of “having to do with flowers” gives us words such as floral, florist, and florid.
I noted with amusement that cornflower and cornflour are both compound words.
The related words:
gave me difficulty; is the base <fol> or <foli>? I looked for evidence to support my hypothesis that the base is <fol> as in <fol + i + age>. I still felt unsure, so went to my word study group for opinions. My friend Mary Beth Stevens wrote this reply to my query:
“In the OED, I found an obsolete spelling of this base as <foil>. That made me think that the <i> was part of the base. But then I also found a number if words using this base, such as foliose, foliature, foliar, and folic. It is <folic> that made me pause! Like all the others it came from Latin “folium” with a denotation of “leaf.” We can question whether or not the <i> is a connecting vowel in <foliage> and the first three I mentioned, but in <folic> it becomes pretty clear that we have an <ic> suffix. That means that the base is <fol> by itself. According to Etymonline, the word <folic> (as in folic acid) was coined in 1941 because of its abundance in green leaves. It’s a very modern coining, so if anyone has evidence that this was borrowed incorrectly, I would be interested in hearing it. Until then, the evidence points to <fole + I + age>”
Another poster wondered about whether there was a single, silent, non-syllabic <e> on the base since otherwise, the l would double.
Then Erin Pizzo weighed in with this post:
“Taken from etymonline:
Foliage (n.)
mi-15c., “representation of leaves or branches” (as an ornamental design), from Middle French feullage from French feuille “leaf, foliage” from PIE root *bhel- (3) “to thrive, to bloom”) The form has altered 17 c. by the influence of Latin folium or its derivatives in English.
This is the evolution I was talking about. Not every word in English is a clear derivative of Latin and there are times when there are “alterations.” Also not looking at having a double <ii> in this sort as well? Folio + ic is perhaps an incorrect word sum because folio and folio are different declensions of the same stem. Looking at Etymonline, I would follow the ablative form, which is folium. Which may be why D. Harper of Etymonline gives the hyperlink for folio in the folic entry.”
I really enjoyed this exchange, and after sitting on this post, feeling like I didn’t have enough understanding to continue, I decided to leave this investigation for another day. I tend toward perfectionism and knew that if I waited to be sure of my thinking, this post would never be made. I clearly need to recidivize Michel Rameau Spellinar Latin I for Orthographers, which is always a pleasure to do. As Michel often quotes:
“You can never step in the same river twice.” (Heraclitus)
In my own poking around for understanding, I came upon this in the pronunciation guide in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
“Oddly enough, foliage traces back to Middle French foille (“leaf”), which is also the source of the English word foil (as in “aluminum foil”). When adopted by Middle English speakers, foil originally meant “leaf.” “
This gives me another list of related words:
Student (and teacher) questions lead to more and more questions. I hope you have enjoyed my dive down the rabbit hole of word investigation!
*student names and details have been changed.
Resources used:
Wordsearcher http://www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/searcher/
Etymonline Dictionary https://www.etymonline.com
Merriam-Webster Dictionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foliage
Matrices made with http://www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/matrix/temp/index.html
A Rose by any other Name
By Diane Talbot
I moved last year and this is the first year for a really good garden, so I have had flowers on my brain. I started playing around in canva.com and started creating flower etymology memes and sharing them. They are a bit addicting and others tell me they look forward to them each day. So here is my collection so far. Lily has two versions, because I just couldn’t choose my favorite! Enjoy them and the beauty of summer.
Refractionary–An Investigation into a Character Name
By Diane Talbot
One of my reluctant reader teen students, Rory*, needs to read three books over the summer. The first book he chose was Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. Rory listened to the audiobook quickly—and immediately started the next—high praise indeed! He dubbed it a “page turner” which we thought funny since he is listening to it. I read my copy on my Kindle and I liked the option of highlighting and returning to ideas for exploration with Rory. I like reading along with my students so we can discuss the books and I often use words or themes for further study.
One of the things I like about using this book as a launching pad to our tutoring sessions is how the names of many of the Epics (superhumans who take over and rule the earth) have names that were morphological treasure troves. The first name we explored was Refractionary, an Epic who is a “Class A Illusionist with invisibility capabilities.” She is a lesser Epic and has difficulty maintaining her illusions. There is always a tell-tale shimmer as if light is reflecting on her.
We began this investigation by finding the base of the word. Rory is an experienced word investigator with gifted level verbal abilities and was able to analyze the word into a word sum <re + fract + ion + ary> or maybe <re + fract + ion +ar(e) + y>. In any case he teased out the <fract> as the probable base and we went to Etymonline to search out the meaning of the base. We did not find <fract> but our search showed us <fracture>. Was there a possible relationship? I suggested he try adding back on the prefix <re-> and we found our trail.
We found that refract is a verb meaning “to bend” and is a back formation from refraction, from Late Latin (1560s.) Refraction is a noun of action, <re> “back” + fract “to break up, possibly with a sense of undoing” + ion (a noun making suffix). The Latin word it is derived from is the combining form franger “to break” which in turn appears to come from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root *bhreg- “to break”
Following the PIE Root led us to find connections that did not fit in our matrix to other familiar words such as brake, fragile, frail, and fragment.
We agreed that <fract> must be a bound base because it shared the same meaning in the word fracture. We agreed that this was a fitting name for our Epic, because she shimmers as she refracts the light.
Next, we went to Wordsearcher and found words that we thought would be related and began to construct a matrix. We decided to leave any exploration of <ary> versus <ar(e) + y> for another day and use <ary> in our matrix.
As we put each word into the matrix, Rory defined words, used them in sentences, and explained how they had a sense of “breaking.” Words we were unsure of, we looked up in a dictionary to get a better understanding.
To finish off our session, we played one Jenga block after writing out a word sum This is Rory’s favorite part of the lesson and we get very competitive. We keep playing until we run out of words to build or our tower falls down.
*Names and details changed
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
By Diane Talbot
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English by John McWhorter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book and thought the author had a good argument for his ideas regarding how Celtic languages have influenced English grammar. It made sense to me. However, I do not know enough about the arguments on the other side. McWhorter is arguing against what he seems to think is the prevailing view that the Celtic languages had little impact on English. I would love any references to that point of view if anyone knows of a good resource.
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Turtles all the way Down by John Green
By Diane Talbot
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
John Green has been one of my favorite YA authors since before he was cool. This book takes you inside the head of a girl with anxiety and OCD. I enjoyed the book and the glimpse of understanding of what it might feel like to deal with those types of challenges. In the Q&A with the author, I found that Green also has anxiety and OCD, though he states that his challenges manifest differently. It is nice to see Green’s honesty and I hope his words help promote normalization of getting the help needed for mental health issues.
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Seven Characteristics that Make the Orton Gillingham Approach Work for Your Kid
The Orton Gillingham (OG) approach is considered to be the Gold Standard for teaching students with dyslexia. What is it about the approach that makes it effective and unique? OG principles include being language-based, explicit, systematic, yet flexible, simultaneously multisensory, diagnostic and prescriptive, brain-based, and emotionally sound.
1. Language-Based
Our language and alphabet are phonetically structured by sound/symbol correspondences that must be learned because no one can memorize all the words they will ever encounter. Teaching is based on understanding and exploring how language works and how we learn to communicate.
2. Explicit
Everything we expect a student to know must have been previously taught, or assessed to be known. Even if a student can read and spell a word it is often useful to make sure they know the underlying rules behind what they know so they can then apply it to unknown words.
We don’t expect kids to know what they don’t know or expect them to have learned somehow by osmosis. We don’t expect kids to read words they don’t know how to read and we discourage guessing at words by looking at a picture or first letter or figuring out what word it might be by context.
3. Systematic, Yet Flexible
In math, we generally teach addition and subtraction before multiplication and division. In the same way, we should not toss in advanced words like through and balloon to an early reader. We teach line upon line, using our scope and sequence and checklists to make sure students understand all previous concepts. We also systematically review material so that students don’t forget concepts and have continued practice with all learned material.
Skipping around is hard for students who already have a large cognitive load just trying to keep up. It is empowering and encouraging for students to be able to see where they have been and where they are heading to. This record is useful to the tutor as well as parents and future teachers. But it is especially important for the student to see progress and be celebrated for each step forward.
Yet, remaining flexible is also important, if a student is getting so frustrated they can’t effectively learn. When this happens, we can switch gears and play a game, get up and move, or just stop for a chat. Then we can get back to work.
4. Simultaneously Multisensory
This feature is often misunderstood. It doesn’t just mean we have the students do hands-on things like write in sand (By the way, sand is not mandatory to OG. I rarely use it. SO. MUCH. MESS.)
We want students to use as many senses (and thus brain regions associated with those senses) as possible AT THE SAME TIME. Thus the student writes a letter or word (kinesthetic and tactile) while saying the letter and sound and possibly keyword as needed, or spelling or sounding out the word (mouth muscles activated, so kinesthetic) while hearing their own voice, (hearing, obviously) while looking at the letters (visual) while also keeping in mind all the steps (executive functioning/frontal lobe) This is often referred to as VAKT (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile) and the theory behind it is that the more brain regions that are activated at the same time, the more brain connections the student will form and the better the student will remember.
This is the least studied aspect of OG and there is not a lot of research on the efficacy of this method, but I can tell you from experience that it keeps attention and provides concentration and repetition that works well for most students. Using a variety of surfaces is fun and engaging for students who need a lot of practice. I like to use textured mats, carpet samples, a variety of writing surfaces like a personal whiteboard or chalkboard, and yes, for younger students who really need it, I do pull out the shaving cream and sand.
5. Diagnostic and Prescriptive
An OG practitioner will be constantly jotting notes on observations, errors, and hesitations. The attention to detail is used later to plan the next lesson with the needed review, reteaching, or just practice. This ensures that the student is reviewing what that particular student needs at that particular moment. A practitioner is often thinking about our students and what they need in order to progress throughout the day. I can’t tell you how many times I lie awake at night thinking about what is happening in tutoring sessions and how I can make adjustments to my lesson plans.
6. Brain-Based
OG is based on our best and current understanding of how the brain works and learns. Brain Imaging has clarified and strengthened OG teaching. Required, ongoing, continuing education from conferences and publications keeps practitioners up to date on the latest research.
7. Emotionally Sound
Let’s face it, our students who have dyslexia have beaten themselves up enough. When we teach them, our continued repetition and review ensure that students have a high level of success. We go as fast as we can and as slow as we must. A practitioner who is able to be empathetic, flexible, and encouraging is going to have more success with fragile students who work SO HARD every single day. We work hard in our sessions, but we always keep in mind the student’s emotional well-being is the most important aspect of tutoring.
A tutor who uses these seven characteristics will have greater success with teaching your kid and catching them up to their peers. Be sure to ask your tutor and teachers if they have training in OG. It will make the difference!
Amazing Teachers: Anne Sullivan
Thank you @amightygirl for sharing this post about Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller. This reminded me to share the little known fact that I wrote in my Boston College admission’s essay on Anne Sullivan. The tutors at Spiral Skills Tutoring @SpiralSkillsTutoring have been preparing to teach your students for more than 30 years!
“Anne Sullivan — Helen Keller’s teacher and close companion for 49 years, was born on this day in 1866. The child of poor Irish immigrants, Sullivan herself went blind as a child due to untreated trachoma and was sent to the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. Though her vision was partially restored after surgery, she remained visually impaired throughout her life.
After Sullivan graduated as class valedictorian, the school director recommended the 20 year old for a position teaching 6-year-old Helen Keller in the small town of Tuscumbia, Alabama. Keller, who had been left blind and deaf due to disease as a toddler, had very limited means of communication but her young teacher soon helped her break out of, as Keller later described, the “silence and darkness that surrounded me.” Keller’s famous breakthrough in understanding that every object had a unique sign identifying it came when Sullivan ran cool water over her student’s hand while signing the word “water” with the other. After this realization, Keller became a vigorous learner, eager to learn the signs for all of the other objects in the world around her.
Sullivan stayed by her side for 49 years, helping Keller on her journey to become the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and to later become world famous as a writer and advocate on behalf of women’s suffrage, labor rights, and disability rights. Together, they traveled to over 40 countries as Keller became the world’s most prominent voice speaking on behalf of the rights of people with disabilities. In describing the transformative impact Anne Sullivan had on her life, Keller once stated, “Once I knew only darkness and stillness… my life was without past or future… but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.”
For children’s books about the special bond between Anne and Helen, we highly recommend the picture book “I Am Helen Keller” for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/i-am-helen-keller), the graphic novel “Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller” for 9 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/trials-of-helen-keller), and the historical fiction novel “Miss Spitfire” for ages 10 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/miss-spitfire)
For more books to introduce Helen Keller to kids, we recommend the chapter book “Helen Keller: The World At Her Fingertips” for ages 4 to 7 (https://www.amightygirl.com/helen-keller-fingertips), the picture book “Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller” for ages 6 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/helen-s-world), the classic children’s biography for ages 7 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/helen-keller), and the new graphic novel “Helen Keller: Inspiration to Everyone!” for ages 8 to 13 (https://www.amightygirl.com/keller-inspiration-to-everyone)
Helen Keller is also one of the role models featured in the Inspiring Women Doll series at https://www.amightygirl.com/helen-keller-doll
For adults, we recommend the fascinating biography “Beyond the Miracle Worker: The Remarkable Life of Anne Sullivan Macy and Her Extraordinary Friendship with Helen Keller” at https://www.amightygirl.com/beyond-the-miracle-worker
The Oscar-winning film “The Miracle Worker” also tells the story of Anne and Helen’s lifelong friendship, for ages 8 and up, at https://www.amightygirl.com/the-miracle-worker — or you can stream it online at http://amzn.to/1Vr11Qu
And for a variety of children’s books featuring Mighty Girls with disabilities, visit our blog post “Many Ways To Be Mighty: 35 Books Starring Mighty Girls with Disabilities” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12992″
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Online Tutoring
Diane wrote a guest blog post for Word List Builder showing other tutors how I use it to make games for my online tutoring clients. Take a look at my Post to see some of the fun games we play!
All the Bright Places
By Diane Talbot
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book, though, as a mom and teacher, watching Finch spin out of control with no adult stepping in, made me sad and anxious. I also worried about Violet, dealing with Finch’s emotional roller coaster alone. It was not an easy read. Mental illness and suicide ideation is not something that can be taken lightly and this book did a good job of addressing this issue.
As a side-note, I really want to do my own “wandering” project now. It is an amazing concept to discover all the bright places in your own area.
View all my reviews
Spiral Skills Tutoring and Academic Coaching 