As much as you've heard me rave about Talking Walls this past week, it will probably not come as a shock to hear that I LOVE this book. There are many works of nonfiction that are dull and give WAY too many details. Talking Walls, on the other hand, presents true information in a simple and digestible, yet engaging story format. My own daughter is too young to understand this book, but my students (middle and high school) truly enjoyed the book and its follow up, Talking Walls: The Stories Continue.
If you are a parent and are looking for a way to introduce your children to different cultures, this book would do the trick without overwhelming them with too much information. If you're a teacher and are looking for ways to supplement social studies, geography, or history lessons, this book would be a great addition to your curriculum.
Showing posts with label talking walls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label talking walls. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Talking Walls, Life Lessons
While Talking Walls
teaches many lessons about different people and cultures, the biggest lesson it teaches is to respect and appreciate differences. Growing up in a small town, I witnessed a lot of intolerance for people of different races, religions, and cultures. I never witnessed any violence, but I did hear a lot of derogatory remarks, and even saw kids at school shunned because they were different. From a very young age, I saw this injustice and felt empathy for these kids and couldn’t understand WHY they were being treated this way. It wasn’t until later that I realized most of this behavior came from a lack of understanding about the cultures from which they came. And the others…well, all I can say is that unfortunately, there are some very despicable people in the world who get a kick out of bullying others who are more vulnerable.
For many years I’ve pondered how I was able to escape developing this mindset since I was surrounded by it, and one day I realized it was mainly because of books and my passion for reading. Growing up, my nose was always stuck in a book, and I learned about different cultures and became “friends” with the characters in the books I read. Yes, they may have looked different, eaten different food, and worshipped differently, but the one thing they had in common was their humanity. Under all these differences, they were human. I remember always having a thirst for learning about different people and places and religions and customs.
When I started teaching ESL, I witnessed the same prejudices I saw when I was growing up all over again, and it didn’t come just from the American kids. Some kids in my classroom were prejudiced against other kids in the classroom from certain cultures. Thus, I set about on my crusade to teach my students to respect and appreciate differences. I created a “culture” unit where the students had to talk about where they came from, the common foods they ate, favorite pastimes, etc. My students knew that my number one rule was to respect others even if you disagreed with what they had to say, and there were never any derogatory remarks in my classroom. But many kids were uncomfortable talking about themselves, and the audience wasn’t really engaged. I didn’t feel like I was really reaching them or helping change their mindset, and even though I had established a rule in my classroom, I saw and heard different things in the hallways. I knew this stemmed from a lack of understanding and the environment they grew up in, that just talking about it wouldn’t work.
During my second year of teaching, I discovered Talking Walls, and realized that this was exactly what I was looking for. I had to start on neutral ground, and Talking Walls was this neutral ground. Instead of singling out students to talk about their cultures, Talking Walls enabled me to teach about different cultures from an outside perspective. No one was put on the spot and had to talk about themselves (at least in the beginning). Through the book and the supplemental activities I developed, students really were able to begin developing an understanding and even appreciation of differences. At the end of the unit, I had the students complete a project where they had to talk about traditions in their individual cultures, and I was pleasantly surprised when even the shyest kid presented her information with pride and every single kid in the class paid close attention to every presentation and asked thoughtful and respectful questions at the end. Through their differences, they were somehow able to find common ground, and to me, that was a tremendous success.
teaches many lessons about different people and cultures, the biggest lesson it teaches is to respect and appreciate differences. Growing up in a small town, I witnessed a lot of intolerance for people of different races, religions, and cultures. I never witnessed any violence, but I did hear a lot of derogatory remarks, and even saw kids at school shunned because they were different. From a very young age, I saw this injustice and felt empathy for these kids and couldn’t understand WHY they were being treated this way. It wasn’t until later that I realized most of this behavior came from a lack of understanding about the cultures from which they came. And the others…well, all I can say is that unfortunately, there are some very despicable people in the world who get a kick out of bullying others who are more vulnerable. For many years I’ve pondered how I was able to escape developing this mindset since I was surrounded by it, and one day I realized it was mainly because of books and my passion for reading. Growing up, my nose was always stuck in a book, and I learned about different cultures and became “friends” with the characters in the books I read. Yes, they may have looked different, eaten different food, and worshipped differently, but the one thing they had in common was their humanity. Under all these differences, they were human. I remember always having a thirst for learning about different people and places and religions and customs.
When I started teaching ESL, I witnessed the same prejudices I saw when I was growing up all over again, and it didn’t come just from the American kids. Some kids in my classroom were prejudiced against other kids in the classroom from certain cultures. Thus, I set about on my crusade to teach my students to respect and appreciate differences. I created a “culture” unit where the students had to talk about where they came from, the common foods they ate, favorite pastimes, etc. My students knew that my number one rule was to respect others even if you disagreed with what they had to say, and there were never any derogatory remarks in my classroom. But many kids were uncomfortable talking about themselves, and the audience wasn’t really engaged. I didn’t feel like I was really reaching them or helping change their mindset, and even though I had established a rule in my classroom, I saw and heard different things in the hallways. I knew this stemmed from a lack of understanding and the environment they grew up in, that just talking about it wouldn’t work.
During my second year of teaching, I discovered Talking Walls
, and realized that this was exactly what I was looking for. I had to start on neutral ground, and Talking Walls was this neutral ground. Instead of singling out students to talk about their cultures, Talking Walls enabled me to teach about different cultures from an outside perspective. No one was put on the spot and had to talk about themselves (at least in the beginning). Through the book and the supplemental activities I developed, students really were able to begin developing an understanding and even appreciation of differences. At the end of the unit, I had the students complete a project where they had to talk about traditions in their individual cultures, and I was pleasantly surprised when even the shyest kid presented her information with pride and every single kid in the class paid close attention to every presentation and asked thoughtful and respectful questions at the end. Through their differences, they were somehow able to find common ground, and to me, that was a tremendous success.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Talking Walls, Learning Activities
Talking Walls has a wealth of learning opportunities. I was able to use this book and the follow up, Talking Walls: The Stories Continue
as a foundation for a 9-week unit of instruction when I was teaching middle school and high school ESL. While I can’t write about EVERY lesson I taught during the nine weeks, I can tell you how I structured each lesson. I spent approximately 1 ½ to 2 90-minute blocks of instruction on each wall. I’ll use the first wall, The Great Wall of China as an example.
Day 1:
Warm-Up: Where in the World is China? ( 5 min) (The class spent five minutes completing this activity while I took care of administrative stuff such as taking attendance.)
For each wall, I made a handout with a map of the continent in which the country was located and 10 corresponding geographical questions, such as “In which continent is China?,” “Which countries border China on the left?”, and “Which ocean borders China on the right?”. This introduced the country to the students and also helped build vocabulary and geographical knowledge.
Listen to the story on tape: (5 min) When I was teaching, Talking Walls came with an accompanying tape. I can’t seem to find a tape or CD now, but at the time, I would play the tape and students would read along so they could hear the pronunciations of the words along with some cultural music and sounds.
Vocabulary: (15 min) Students would get a list of five to ten new words to add to their “personal dictionaries.” At the beginning of the year, one of our first projects was to create a personal dictionary using a three-ring binder, three-hole punched paper, and tabbed dividers. Each letter would get a divider with a few blank pieces of paper following it. As students learned new vocabulary words, they would add it to their personal dictionaries, with at least two of the following: a definition, a picture, or a sentence using the word. So in this case, the vocabulary words were structure, magnificent, serpent, fortress, boulders, construct, and invader. They could also add any other words that were unfamiliar.
Re-read: (5 min) I would read the story again to the students to give them another opportunity to hear the correct pronunciation of words and to help them gain comprehension.
Discussion: (15 – 20 min) I would lead a discussion about the story, asking different types of comprehension questions. Sometimes students would be familiar with the wall, and I’d ask them to tell me what they knew. I’d then ask some more in-depth or what I called “thinking” questions. In the case of the Great Wall of China, I’d ask why they thought the wall was built, “to keep invaders out or to keep the Chinese at home,” and what the positives and negatives were of each.
Writing Exercise (30 minutes): My students always knew that they would speak, read AND write every day in class. The last part of the class would be dedicated to writing about what they just read and discussed. Sometimes I had specific questions. Other times I left it open-ended. My goal was to get them thinking about the story, the day’s discussion, and vocabulary. While 30 minutes seems like a long time to write, my students who were just learning English really needed this time to form their thoughts in their new language.
Wrap-Up (10 minutes): The last ten minutes of class would be a wrap-up of the day’s lesson. I’d ask them to tell me three things they learned, three things they liked about the story, etc.
Day 2:
Warm-Up: (5 minutes) For day two’s warm-up, I’d have a handout of the flag of the country being featured in the book and ask three to five questions about the flag, such as “What colors are on China’s flag?” and “How many stars are on the flag?”
Review the story: (10 minutes) I’d ask questions about the story to refresh students’ memories and go over the vocabulary words.
About the Culture: (50 minutes) The bulk of day two would be to talk about the culture of the country being featured. I would have handouts, videos when available, websites, etc. Luckily, I had a computer in my classroom that hooked up to the to the television, so I was able to create many different PowerPoint presentations with images, music, and videos I found on the web.
Writing Exercise: (15 minutes) This day’s writing exercise would be more focused. I’d ask them to write 10 things they learned about China that day.
Wrap-Up: (10 minutes) I’d go around the room and ask each student to name one thing they just wrote in their journal.
And that’s how it would mostly go. Sometimes I’d throw in a crossword or word find puzzle. Other times I’d invite a student from the class who was from the featured country to speak about his/her culture. Sometimes I would be able to get some time in the computer lab and have students do a web scavenger hunt and find answers to questions about specific countries and cultures. At the end of the unit, we’d have a final project where students would create a poster with highlights from their own culture and then have a culture day. It was a show and tell of sorts about their own country. Some would bring in a native food to try. Others would bring in jewelry or other cultural artifacts. And others would bring in pictures or tell a story.
There are so many different ways to use this book as a jumping off point to learn vocabulary, geography, history, and about many many different cultures. Let me know what you’ve tried!
has a wealth of learning opportunities. I was able to use this book and the follow up, Talking Walls: The Stories Continue as a foundation for a 9-week unit of instruction when I was teaching middle school and high school ESL. While I can’t write about EVERY lesson I taught during the nine weeks, I can tell you how I structured each lesson. I spent approximately 1 ½ to 2 90-minute blocks of instruction on each wall. I’ll use the first wall, The Great Wall of China as an example. Day 1:
Warm-Up: Where in the World is China? ( 5 min) (The class spent five minutes completing this activity while I took care of administrative stuff such as taking attendance.)
For each wall, I made a handout with a map of the continent in which the country was located and 10 corresponding geographical questions, such as “In which continent is China?,” “Which countries border China on the left?”, and “Which ocean borders China on the right?”. This introduced the country to the students and also helped build vocabulary and geographical knowledge.
Listen to the story on tape: (5 min) When I was teaching, Talking Walls came with an accompanying tape. I can’t seem to find a tape or CD now, but at the time, I would play the tape and students would read along so they could hear the pronunciations of the words along with some cultural music and sounds.
Vocabulary: (15 min) Students would get a list of five to ten new words to add to their “personal dictionaries.” At the beginning of the year, one of our first projects was to create a personal dictionary using a three-ring binder, three-hole punched paper, and tabbed dividers. Each letter would get a divider with a few blank pieces of paper following it. As students learned new vocabulary words, they would add it to their personal dictionaries, with at least two of the following: a definition, a picture, or a sentence using the word. So in this case, the vocabulary words were structure, magnificent, serpent, fortress, boulders, construct, and invader. They could also add any other words that were unfamiliar.
Re-read: (5 min) I would read the story again to the students to give them another opportunity to hear the correct pronunciation of words and to help them gain comprehension.
Discussion: (15 – 20 min) I would lead a discussion about the story, asking different types of comprehension questions. Sometimes students would be familiar with the wall, and I’d ask them to tell me what they knew. I’d then ask some more in-depth or what I called “thinking” questions. In the case of the Great Wall of China, I’d ask why they thought the wall was built, “to keep invaders out or to keep the Chinese at home,” and what the positives and negatives were of each.
Writing Exercise (30 minutes): My students always knew that they would speak, read AND write every day in class. The last part of the class would be dedicated to writing about what they just read and discussed. Sometimes I had specific questions. Other times I left it open-ended. My goal was to get them thinking about the story, the day’s discussion, and vocabulary. While 30 minutes seems like a long time to write, my students who were just learning English really needed this time to form their thoughts in their new language.
Wrap-Up (10 minutes): The last ten minutes of class would be a wrap-up of the day’s lesson. I’d ask them to tell me three things they learned, three things they liked about the story, etc.
Day 2:
Warm-Up: (5 minutes) For day two’s warm-up, I’d have a handout of the flag of the country being featured in the book and ask three to five questions about the flag, such as “What colors are on China’s flag?” and “How many stars are on the flag?”
Review the story: (10 minutes) I’d ask questions about the story to refresh students’ memories and go over the vocabulary words.
About the Culture: (50 minutes) The bulk of day two would be to talk about the culture of the country being featured. I would have handouts, videos when available, websites, etc. Luckily, I had a computer in my classroom that hooked up to the to the television, so I was able to create many different PowerPoint presentations with images, music, and videos I found on the web.
Writing Exercise: (15 minutes) This day’s writing exercise would be more focused. I’d ask them to write 10 things they learned about China that day.
Wrap-Up: (10 minutes) I’d go around the room and ask each student to name one thing they just wrote in their journal.
And that’s how it would mostly go. Sometimes I’d throw in a crossword or word find puzzle. Other times I’d invite a student from the class who was from the featured country to speak about his/her culture. Sometimes I would be able to get some time in the computer lab and have students do a web scavenger hunt and find answers to questions about specific countries and cultures. At the end of the unit, we’d have a final project where students would create a poster with highlights from their own culture and then have a culture day. It was a show and tell of sorts about their own country. Some would bring in a native food to try. Others would bring in jewelry or other cultural artifacts. And others would bring in pictures or tell a story.
There are so many different ways to use this book as a jumping off point to learn vocabulary, geography, history, and about many many different cultures. Let me know what you’ve tried!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Talking Walls, Overview
Talking Walls
Fast Facts:
Author: Margy Burns Knight
Illustrator: Anne Sibley O’Brien
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers (March 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0884481549
ISBN-13: 978-0884481546
Impressions:
“People all over the world have been using and building walls for thousands of years. These walls tell many fascinating stories.” Margy Burns Knight tells 14 of these fascinating stories in Talking Walls. Beginning with The Great Wall of China, Margy Burns Knight takes us all over the world and gives us insight into many different cultures. Each wall is featured in a two-page spread with beautiful illustrations by Anne Sibley O’Brien. The stories of the walls themselves never exceed three paragraphs, so you won’t get bored reading a lot of details and facts about the walls and different cultures. Instead, you’ll get just enough information to learn about the wall, the history behind it, and the people who built it. We also learn how walls can bring us together or keep us apart. Throw in a little folklore and you’ve got a fascinating book that is sure to spark a lot of conversation with your kids.
The back of the book includes additional information about each wall if you want to know more, and the end papers feature a graffiti wall with the word for wall written in 36 languages. The fourteen walls include some you are very familiar with and some you may have never heard of:
• The Great Wall of China
• Aborigine Wall Art (Australia)
• The Lascaux Cave (France)
• The Western Wall (Jerusalem)
• Mahabalipuram’s Animal Walls (India)
• Muslim Walls (Mecca)
• Great Zimbabwe
• Cuzco, Peru
• The Taos Peublo (United States)
• Mexican Murals
• The Canadian Museum of Civilization
• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (United States)
• Nelson Mandela’s Prison Walls (South Africa)
• The Berlin Wall (Germany)
I was delighted when I read this book for children and learned about new people and places. I taught English as a Second Language to middle and high school students and found this to be a refreshing way to teach vocabulary, history, geography, and also a great way to celebrate diversity. In addition, the reading level is right on target with intermediate English language learners and is appropriate for both middle school and high school. I developed a nine week unit of instruction based on this book, and it was a hit with both groups because of the straightforward subject matter. If you’re a teacher and are looking for ways to supplement your lessons or if you’re a parent who wants to introduce your child to different cultures, Talking Walls is the perfect choice.
Fast Facts:
Author: Margy Burns Knight
Illustrator: Anne Sibley O’Brien
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers (March 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0884481549
ISBN-13: 978-0884481546
Impressions:
“People all over the world have been using and building walls for thousands of years. These walls tell many fascinating stories.” Margy Burns Knight tells 14 of these fascinating stories in Talking Walls
. Beginning with The Great Wall of China, Margy Burns Knight takes us all over the world and gives us insight into many different cultures. Each wall is featured in a two-page spread with beautiful illustrations by Anne Sibley O’Brien. The stories of the walls themselves never exceed three paragraphs, so you won’t get bored reading a lot of details and facts about the walls and different cultures. Instead, you’ll get just enough information to learn about the wall, the history behind it, and the people who built it. We also learn how walls can bring us together or keep us apart. Throw in a little folklore and you’ve got a fascinating book that is sure to spark a lot of conversation with your kids. The back of the book includes additional information about each wall if you want to know more, and the end papers feature a graffiti wall with the word for wall written in 36 languages. The fourteen walls include some you are very familiar with and some you may have never heard of:
• The Great Wall of China
• Aborigine Wall Art (Australia)
• The Lascaux Cave (France)
• The Western Wall (Jerusalem)
• Mahabalipuram’s Animal Walls (India)
• Muslim Walls (Mecca)
• Great Zimbabwe
• Cuzco, Peru
• The Taos Peublo (United States)
• Mexican Murals
• The Canadian Museum of Civilization
• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (United States)
• Nelson Mandela’s Prison Walls (South Africa)
• The Berlin Wall (Germany)
I was delighted when I read this book for children and learned about new people and places. I taught English as a Second Language to middle and high school students and found this to be a refreshing way to teach vocabulary, history, geography, and also a great way to celebrate diversity. In addition, the reading level is right on target with intermediate English language learners and is appropriate for both middle school and high school. I developed a nine week unit of instruction based on this book, and it was a hit with both groups because of the straightforward subject matter. If you’re a teacher and are looking for ways to supplement your lessons or if you’re a parent who wants to introduce your child to different cultures, Talking Walls
is the perfect choice.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Next Week's Book, Talking Walls
Next week, I'm going to be featuring Talking Walls.
It's a little different than the books I've previously featured because it's nonfiction and features a brief history of famous walls all over the world from The Great Wall of China to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. It's a great way to introduce your child to many different cultures. The information is easily digestible and engaging. Margy Burns Knight tells a brief story about each wall, so it won't feel like kids are reading a boring history book.
I love this book so much that when I was a teacher, I developed a nine-week curriculum based on this book and the follow-up book, Talking Walls: The Stories Continue. So, on Tuesday be sure to finds lots and lots of ideas for learning activities and ways you can use the book as a jumping off point for teaching about different places, people, and cultures.
It's a little different than the books I've previously featured because it's nonfiction and features a brief history of famous walls all over the world from The Great Wall of China to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. It's a great way to introduce your child to many different cultures. The information is easily digestible and engaging. Margy Burns Knight tells a brief story about each wall, so it won't feel like kids are reading a boring history book.
I love this book so much that when I was a teacher, I developed a nine-week curriculum based on this book and the follow-up book, Talking Walls: The Stories Continue.
So, on Tuesday be sure to finds lots and lots of ideas for learning activities and ways you can use the book as a jumping off point for teaching about different places, people, and cultures.
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