Start with Joy: Designing Literacy Learning for Student Happiness / Edition 1

by Katie Cunningham

Overview

In Start with Joy: Designing Literacy Learning for Student Happiness, author Katie Cunningham links what we know from the science of happiness with what we know about effective literacy instruction. When given a choice about what to write, children express hopes, fears, and reactions to life's experiences. Literacy learning is full of opportunities for students to learn tools to live a happy life. Inside, you'll find:

• Seven Pillars: Cunningham discusses the seven pillars that guide her classrooms and are involved in each literacy lesson'sConnection, Choice, Challenge, Play, Story, Discovery, and Movement.
• Ten Invitations: Designed for teachers to improvise and make their own, these ten lessons may be presented at any time of year in the context of any unit and include children's literature suggestions as well as recommended teacher talk to meet children's specific needs.
• Teaching Tools: Tools and resources that will help students tell their stories and make literacy learning something all students celebrate and cherish.

This book honors the adventure that learning is meant to be and aims to make happiness more tangible in the classroom. By infusing school days with happiness, teachers can support children as they become stronger readers, writers, and thinkers, while also helping them learn that strength comes from challenge, and joy comes from leading a purposeful life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625312839
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/26/2019
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	373,124
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	5 - 13 Years

About the Author

Katie Egan Cunningham believes in the power of stories. First as a classroom teacher, and now as a professor and consultant, Katie strives to let her students know their lives are full of stories. She lives with her husband and two sons where hilarious, heartfelt stories happen each day.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction vxi

How to Use This Book xix

Chapter 1 Why Happiness? Why Now? 1

What Do You Really Want for Your Students? 3

Looking and Listening for Happiness 5

Some Burning Questions 6

If Not Now, When? 7

Happiness in Your Own Heart 8

What We Know About Happiness and Learning 10

Self-Literacy as a Fundamental Goal of Literacy Learning 14

Happiness and Becoming a Reader and Writer 21

Design for It! 23

Part 1 Happiness Pillars

Chapter 2 Connection 28

Classroom Story: Reading with Owen 29

Research Says: Our Biggest Potential 30

Read-Aloud as the Daily Spark 33

Empathy Building Through Literature 35

Stories with Characters We Care About 37

Stories with Characters We Don't Immediately Root For 37

Stories About People from Other Places 38

Stories That Represent Diverse Society 39

Perspective-Taking or "People Sense" 40

Deepening Conversation 43

From Partnerships to Clubs 46

Daily Gratitude and Affirmation 48

May the Force of Others Be with You 50

Design for Connection 50

Chapter 3 Choice 53

Classroom Story: A Classroom Library for Self-Driven Children 54

Research Says: Why Choice Drives Agency 55

Book Choice 58

Book Talks 58

Book Clubs and Book Tasting 59

Classroom Library Curation 60

Reader Response Choice 62

Writing Choice 63

Word Choice 65

Genre/Topic Choice 66

Illustration Choice 68

5 Ws and 1 H as a Guideline to Let Go 70

Design for Choice 71

Chapter 4 Challenge 72

Classroom Story: Choice Words 73

Research Says: Attention and Motivation Go Hand in Hand 75

Learning Is an Adventure 78

Start with Strengths 80

Try Something New 82

Create a Culture of "Go First" 84

Design for Challenge 85

Chapter 5 Play 87

Classroom Story: Play Is All Around Us 88

Research Says: Learning from Lego About Flow 90

Play Leads to Practice, Mastery, and Recognition 92

Playing with Ideas 94

Playing with Materials 96

Letting Students Grow 98

Design for Play 99

Chapter 6 Story 101

Classroom Story: Storytellers Inside Us 102

Research Says: Hardwired for Stories 103

The Secrets of Great Stories 105

Stories Are Everywhere 107

What's the Story Here? Image Reading 108

Developing a Storyteller's Voice with Wordless Picture Books 109

Life Stories That invite Hopeful Possibilities 111

Story Sharing as a Happiness Routine 113

A Note on Personal and Fictional Narratives 114

Design for Story 116

Chapter 7 Discovery 117

Classroom Story: Exploring Books 118

Research Says: Seeing the World with Wonder and Awe 120

Self-Discovery: What Feels Good? What Feels Hard? 121

Choose, Act, Reflect 122

What's Worth Asking? 124

Characters Model Questioning 127

The Natural World 128

The Gift of Time 130

Design for Discovery 134

Chapter 8 Movement 135

Classroom Story: Becoming the Characters 136

Research Says: Leveraging the Body-Mind Connection 138

Daily Whole-Class Routines 142

Small-Group Movement to Strengthen Comprehension 143

Core Muscles Help Core Skills 144

Leadership Jobs That Invite Kids to Move 145

Design for Movement 146

Chapter 9 Becoming A Designer 147

Getting Started 148

Small Things Often 148

Making Connections 149

Maximizing the First Five Minutes 150

Making Time for the Last Five Minutes 150

How to Keep Going 151

Giving Students a Say 152

Kidwatching 153

Prioritizing Your Own Happiness Routines 154

Ask Yourself: "What Will Students Really Remember?" 155

Part 2 Invitations 157

1 The Best Part of Me (Literature Spotlight: The Best Part of Me: Children Talk About Their Bodies in Words and Pictures by Wendy Ewald) 161

2 What Do I Notice and Wonder (About Me?) (Literature Spotlight: What Do You Do with an Idea?; What Do You Do with a Problem?, and What Do You Do with a Chance? by Kobi Yamada) 165

1 What Makes Me Feel Strong? (Literature Spotlight: After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat) 168

4 Power Poses (Literature Spotlight: The Word Collector by Peter Reynolds) 171

5 Closely Reading Characters to Closely Read Me and You (Literature Spotlight: Why Am I Me? by Paige Britt) 173

6 I Am, I Can, I Did (Literature Spotlight: Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers) 175

7 Hmm … Yes, And; Yes, But; No, Because (Literature Spotlight: Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell) 177

8 Three Good Things (Literature Spotlight: Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett) 179

9 Asking Questions Gets Us to Better Questions (Literature Spotlight: The Antlered Ship by Dashka Slater) 181

10 Listening with Love (Literature Spotlight: The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld) 184

Part 3 Appendices 187

A Conversation Prompts to Get to Know Students and What Makes Them Happy 188

B Lesson-Planning Tool to Design for Happiness 192

C Lesson-Planning Template to Design for Happiness 193

D Story Frames to Launch a Year of Happiness 194

E Five-Minute Journaling Prompt Ideas 201

F Designing Physical Spaces to Foster Happiness 202

Space for Movement 202

Space for Connection 203

Space for Growing Independence 203

G Media Recommendations 205

References 207

Children's Literature 207

Professional Works 213

Index 220

Editorial Reviews

“An insightful guide full of stories and research to promote the contentment of children in the classroom. Cunningham’s book about happiness and advocacy for a mind-body connection is more relevant now than ever before!” —Michael J. Hynes, Superintendent of Schools, Patchogue-Medford School District

"In Start with Joy, Katie Cunningham shows readers how you can nourish happiness while still maintaining high literacy standards and getting the results you want—happy students who are readers, writers, and effective communicators. It's a win-win for all." —Jennifer Allen, author of Becoming a Literacy Leader, Second Edition

“This book is beautifully written to help teachers visualize what true student happiness looks, sounds, and feels like. After reading Katie’s suggestions, teachers will have a clear pathway for what they can try tomorrow to increase happiness levels. What I love most is that this is not one more thing to fit into the day—it is framed as ways of being with children that can be incorporated into what all teachers are already doing. My hope is that every single student has a teacher who designs with happiness as the main objective and I am grateful that there is now a place to turn to for ideas and support.” —Gravity Goldberg, author of Teach Like Yourself: How Authentic Teaching Transforms Our Students and Ourselves
  “This is the book I have been waiting for. Teaching is more than a profession; it is a way of life. Teachers and students alike need to live and learn with greater happiness and joy. With some ‘self-literacy’ strategies as a key goal in every lesson, Katie shows us how to make connections with our learning and with others in more meaningful ways. I believe that connection is at the heart of happiness, and I believe this book is an invaluable tool to help us achieve it.” —Paula Bourque, author of Spark: Quick Writes to Kindle Hearts and Minds in Elementary Classrooms
  “If anyone knows how to cultivate a ‘culture of happiness’ in the classroom, it’s Katie. In Start with Joy, she challenges educators to ‘prioritize happiness’ by embracing the seven main pillars she’s developed through her extensive research that, used alongside culturally sustaining practices and attention to students’ hearts, minds, and bodies, will ultimately lead to more joyful, playful, and purposeful classroom experiences for all.” —Shawna Coppola, author of Renew: Become a Better and More Authentic Writing Teacher
 
  “Katie Cunningham proposes in her new book, Start with Joy, that by teaching in ways that value the heart of our humanity—connection, choice, challenge, play, story, discovery, and movement—we pave the pathway to help students become stronger readers and writers. Katie’s book offers readers inspired ideas, compelling research, and a treasure trove of rich, carefully selected children’s literature recommendations to give us a sensible, refreshing road map for breathing life back into our literacy classrooms.” —Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris, authors of Who’s Doing the Work? How to Say Less So Readers Can Do More
  “In Start With Joy, Katie Cunningham draws on a robust body of research to prove that happiness should be cultivated, observed, and reinforced. By reflecting on the stories, accomplishments, and relationships that bring them joy, students can rely on their own resources rather than outside factors in order to feel happy. Finding boundless happiness in her work with children and teachers, she offers a road map for inviting joy into all literacy learning. When building a collection of teacher resources, start with Cunningham!” —Suzanne Farrell Smith, author of The Writing Shop: Putting 'Shop' Back in Writing Workshop
  "A while ago, a few friends and I discussed what we hoped for in life. After much discussion, we all came to the conclusion that we hope for happiness for ourselves, our loved ones, our students, and each other. So, when I sat down to read Start with Joy! I was thrilled! In our increasingly standards-based, testing-focused, stress-inducing school system, happiness is typically neither prioritized nor valued. Enter Katie's beautiful call to action. Katie’s Seven Pillars will benefit all teachers and students in all classrooms by bringing the focus back to happiness without sacrificing literacy learning. In fact, her practical suggestions and invitations will enhance literacy learning in classrooms- I know it will in mine! I look forward to turning to this text again and again in my work with both students and teachers."  —Christina Nosek, co-author of To Know and Nurture a Reader: Conferring with Confidence and Joy”
 

From the Publisher