Where do you go? What do you do for fun? Retirement~Joyful? (conversation, friend)
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This activity may seem to contradict my intellectual interests (see previous post) because, after all, how intellectual can one get with fifth graders? However, there is a connection. Let me explain.
When I started I vowed to myself that I was only going to read stuff with some real "meat", some kind of literary merit. So it became a challenge to find books which had that sort of merit which were also simple enough for 10 and 11 year-olds. (The last thing I wanted to do was bore them by going too far over their heads). So I have read (or re-read from my own childhood) many books during my search, and that has been fun too. For example, I re-read The Black Stallion. It's a great adventure story which I think kids would love, but I rejected it for my reading aloud because it has almost nothing about values or human conflict. In other words, not much to provide meaningful discussion.
I started with Call of the Wild by Jack London, which I had loved when I was a 7th or 8th grader. (When reading aloud, the books can be slightly above the level of what they can read on their own). The positive reaction of the students and their teacher encouraged me greatly. Call of the Wild had the right combination of vocabulary and concepts that I needed to stop and explain with enough accessibility that I didn't have to stop too often (which would disrupt the flow of the narrative and become pedantic).
Twice (two different school years) I read excerpts from Dance on the Volcano by Renata Zerner about her true-life experiences as a teenage girl in Nazi Germany. Then I invited the author, now 86 years old, to come to the schools and speak to the students and answer their questions. This was very exciting to all of us, and Ms. Zerner herself enjoyed it tremendously. She wants to do it again. My knowledge of World War II came in real handy in making her book comprehensible to the students.
So I view my activity as jump-starting the intellectual understanding of these young students, but in a way which is enjoyable for them. It certainly has been enjoyable for me - beyond enjoyable. Richly rewarding. In their thank-you notes at the end of the year, some of the students went beyond pro-forma thank-you's to demonstrate that the reading was meaningful for them. At one of the promotion ceremonies a month or so ago, one mother made her way from her seat in the crowded auditorium during a brief lull in the acitivities to where I was near the front to tell me that I had made a "real impact". Several other parents had similar things to say. No amount of money can buy that sort of deep pleasure that I received from these unsolicited comments.
I also played chess at lunch time with a few of the students who were interested, and I found that was a way to get to know some of them on a personal level.
I count myself very fortunate indeed that I ended up volunteering in schools in this way. And it happened more or less by accident! I did not seek it out, but was recruited (asked to do it). With some hesitation, I agreed to try it. I am the luckiest person on the planet.
ER, I would love to see your short list of preferred books, by school grade. Now that I have grandchildren, I'm interested once again in youth literature and want to start re-collecting books (yes I'm downsizing but not for grandkid stuff). Hopefully, there will still be real books by the time they are in second grade.
I do not elevate my intellectual interests (as much as I value them) to the level of superiority over others. Partly this may be because I knew too many people in graduate school who were real scholars and intellectuals but who were also real jerks (failures as human beings).
Having intellectual pursuits is, for me personally, a way to share with others, not to hoard unto myself for no humanistic purpose. It sounds like you are using at least some of your intellectual passions (literature) and "giving back" in sharing with so many youngsters. I find that kind of volunteer-sharing really rare with retirees, whose worlds can easily become self-centered and self-serving.
Being more reserved in real life (writers/ artists tend to be loners), I have to overcome a lot of this self-serving stuff to interact and share with others. I am lucky to have regained enough mobility to do my adult ed courses, but after reading your experiences with volunteering in the schools, it is making me want to overcome my doubts about putting myself in front of a bunch of kids and maybe do a little of what you do. I have had my own kids, whose schools I went into to volunteer with writing and art, and I have (until 5 years ago) led summer writing camps for kids, so I'm no stranger to doing this kind of thing.
You are right, the greatest joy can come from giving of ourselves, not just hoarding our experiences and passions for ourselves. When we stop to think about the possibilities in retirement to do this kind of thing, they are endless.
ER, I've read about your volunteer experience in other forums and I am always impressed. An appreciation of reading is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give, something that will stay with the recipient for a lifetime.
What a treat it must be for those kids to listen to you read out loud to them. I remember from being read to in school, how we could hardly stand the suspense of waiting to hear the next chapter and how we hated when the time was up. Being read to is valuable on so many levels. (I think you already mentioned Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook elsewhere.)
Having the rapt attention of a class full of kids and imparting a love of something as important as reading must be truly rewarding. I almost feel like I should thank you for doing this, that's how important it is to me.
Also, there is nothing un-intellectual about reading to kids as they get older. So much intellectual work goes into just the selection of the appropriate materials. If someone hasn't done it, they might not understand, but it's not just a matter of grabbing a book and reading. You are learning right along with them throughout the book selection, reading, and discussion process.
ER, I would love to see your short list of preferred books, by school grade. Now that I have grandchildren, I'm interested once again in youth literature and want to start re-collecting books (yes I'm downsizing but not for grandkid stuff). Hopefully, there will still be real books by the time they are in second grade.
I'll work on a short list, but it will be for fifth grade only, as that has been the sole focus of my searching. Suggestion: When the time comes, go have a talk with the designated children's librarian at your local library. I did that and came away with some good ideas.
Last edited by Escort Rider; 07-12-2013 at 07:57 AM..
.... but it's not just a matter of grabbing a book and reading. You are learning right along with them throughout the book selection, reading, and discussion process.
What a great retirement activity!
Thanks for your kind words. Yes, the selection of books is tricky. Every time I read something "new" to a class, it is really an experiment. At the end of each school year I have them fill out a questionnaire anonomously in which they rate the two or three books which we have read and where they have the opportunity to write their own comments. Of course I have already pretty much sensed their reaction, but I like the chance to tally it up collectively.
The selection of books must take into account more than just the fact of the grade level (fifth, in my case). It must also take into account the academic level of that particular school (neighborhood) and class, which can vary a lot. Some of us who were precocious readers as children may tend to generalize our own ability at a given age onto the present-day chldren as a group, but that is not necessarily accurate.
For example, the two schools at which I currently read are only about a mile and a half from each other, but there is a difference between them. One is an "average" school socio-economically and academically and the other is upper middle class. At the latter school one big problem is selecting books that they haven't already read, as they seem to have read everything.
Another thing I have to keep in mind is how many sessions it will take to read a given book. It wouldn't do to finish a school year in the middle of a book! Finishing early is no problem because I can fill in with one or two short stories. Therefore, I have started recording the number of sessions it took me to read each book, which is useful for any subsequent reading of that book.
Now that does sound interesting. What do you do with cottonwood bark? I do hope that you get it from dead trees and limbs. There are piles of it by the river a few minutes from my place.
Here are the cottonwood carvings I promised...Summering....
Just a few of the wall carvings here. Its a great wood to carve in. And guess what? As you know Wyoming, we have absolutely none in our SC or even in our NE locations. You are lucky.
Here are the cottonwood carvings I promised...Summering....
Just a few of the wall carvings here. Its a great wood to carve in. And guess what? As you know Wyoming, we have absolutely none in our SC or even in our NE locations. You are lucky.
The Knome homes...
Do you do these? Wonderful! Maybe Wyoming would like to send you some??????? I've had Old English gardens, Oriental gardens, plain American gardens but I want my next gardens to be a "funky" gardens - complete with these kinds of cute (not tacky, tasteless) garden art. Ex: Signs like "Gnome Ave" ~ "Lady Bug Lane" ~ cute bird houses, etc...
Very talented
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Book selection
What do you do with cottonwood bark? I do hope that you get it from dead trees and limbs. There are piles of it by the river a few minutes from my place.
