Summary for pg 38-44

Back in Ms. Paley's classroom, Nelson and Angelo commiserate (this means sharing sad feelings together) about being excluded. Two other boys (usually the 'bosses') say that Nelson must be 'bad guy' to play with them. Nelson doesn't want to do this and is excluded from the game. The boys say that there can't be a third good guy, but later let a different child be the third 'good guy'. 

But Ms. Paley realizes that the question of rejection is not an easy one. Even Clara, who is often excluded by Lisa, becomes a 'boss' and rejects Cynthia. She is embarrassed when Ms. Paley asks her, but doesn't want to give up her position. 

Ms. Paley discusses what the First Graders said with her class. The children are amazed that older children would also think about this rule and would have so much to say.

Story - Annabella meets the tiny people and finds out that they live inside the orange cactus flowers. The orange people are surprised by the eagle's attack. The eagle took the Prince Orange Flower. Magpie and Annabella promise to go to where the eagle lives and get Prince Orange Flower back. They tell the tiny orange people that eagles usually don't attack people.
Magpie will go to the eagle's nest by himself - it's too dark for Annabella to climb - and he tells Annabella to go back to her father.

Discussion Questions for 33-38

- What can children learn from exclusion?

- Where do we encourage cooperation? Where do we allow exclusion?

- What do you think will happen next in the Magpie story?

Summary for pg. 33-38

Ms. Paley begins visiting the elementary school to ask the children about the new rule "You Can't Say You Can't Play" 
She is surprise by how well they remember every time they were excluded in kindergarten (and after). She asks them the two main questions: "Is it fair? Will it work?"
The children share their experiences. They talk about 'bosses' and unspoken rules about who can play and when. The children all feel very strongly about the questions, but their thinking is not the same.
Ms. Paley shares a story about her friends' building that shares a playground with two other buildings. There is a rule there that "Everyone can play." She says none of the children have a problem with this rule there. She asks can it be possible in the classroom. The children still don't seem sure.

Story - The prince and Magpie comfort Annabella about her trouble with the flowers. The group finds a cave to rest for the night. While they are getting ready, they see an eagle swoop down and pick a small flower and fly away. The other flowers fall down the mountain. Annabella and Magpie go to see what happened.
They discover that the "flowers" are actually tiny people wearing flower costumes. They go to see if they can help.

Discussion Questions for pg. 23-27

- What do children get from play and make-believe?

- What can children figure out for themselves? What must they be shown?

- What information or ideas can we share with children? What information or ideas should we not share?

Summary for pg 22 - 27

Story - Magpie will tell the story about how a witch named Beatrix saved his life. His story begins as he is hatching out of his egg. Above him are two girls arguing. They are sisters, Beatrix and Sylvia, and they are both witches. Sylvia wants to step on Magpie, but Beatrix tells her no. Beatrix tells Sylvia that magpies are special birds. Finally Beatrix won and helped make a nest for Magpie. She protected him from her other sisters, also witches. 

Prince Kareem begins drawing a picture of Magpie. He asks Magpie if the Kingdom of Tall Pines would be a good place to live. Annabella gets excited because she wants to move away from where they live now. Magpie tells them about the 14 other children who live there and go to school together. He also talks about all the many different kinds of birds. The Prince decides they will go.

In Ms. Paley's classroom, the children are fighting at the sand table. After leaving the play, Angelo asks if he can tell a story. He tells a story about some hunters in a forest. At the top of a hill they find a baby fox who is trapped. The hunters take the baby fox back to his mommy. 
Clara also tells a story about a kitty named Clara and a girl, Lisa, who takes care of her. Remember, Clara is usually excluded from play by Lisa. 

The children are curious about Ms. Paley's trip to Arizona and her talk with the teachers there. They say it is best to let the children figure out their own problems. Ms. Paley's class discusses things they figure out by themselves, like what to play and draw and what stories to tell. The children discuss the difference between rules and free expression.

Writing topics for this week

Please pick ONE topic and write about it. Write as much as you can.

Writing topics:

-         How do you build and keep your relationships with your                      friends?

-         

          Have you ever noticed any exclusion happening in your                       classroom?

-         

           How are you different as a teacher now than you were when               you first started teaching?

Discussion questions for pg 18-22

- What would happen if Ms. Paley just forces the rule on the children, without so much discussion?

- Which child is sadder, the child who is excluded or the child who is forced to play with someone she doesn't want to play with?

- Many of the children are very anxious about holding onto their friends. Why is this feeling so strong? How does this feeling continue on into adulthood?

- Why is equal participation enforced for class activities but not for free play time?

Summary for pg 18 - 22

Ms. Paley records a conversation she has with her students about the new rule, "You can't say you can't play."
They discuss whether or not the teacher should make the children play together. They also discuss when different people should have a chance to play. There is a lot of discussion between Angelo (one of the children often excluded) and Lisa (one of the 'bosses') about the possibility of playing alone.
When Ms. Paley talks with older children, they agree with the idea but they still exclude others when they play. A habit is made about who is the boss and who is excluded. She also thinks about the relationship between play and friendship. Is the purpose of playing to build or hold onto a friendship? Being in kindergarten is the first time children enter the larger world (outside of their family). It is the first time they must share both things and people.
An older boy tell Ms Paley that being excluded in the classroom prepares them for real life, but she still worries that the same children are always being rejected.

Discussion Questions for 13-18

On pg 15, Lisa - one of the 'bosses' - gets very upset when the teacher tells her she can't say "You can't play!" to the other children. Why do you think Lisa - and many children like her - would get upset?

Cynthia, Lisa's friend, also rejected Clara, but she blames Lisa. Why didn't Cynthia speak up for Clara and let her play? Why did she go along with Lisa?

The Magpie story is dealing more and more with the loss of Annabella's mother. How do children deal with a loss in the family? How can a teacher help?

Summary for pg 13-18

- Ms. Paley is losing her voice, something that is very common among teachers. The doctor told her to talk less, but she has trouble doing that. She begins to discuss something that happened while the students were playing. A student, Clara, was excluded from playing with a group of other girls.She didn't have the kind of toy they were playing with, so the girls told her they were not friends and couldn't play together. When this happens, Clara usually sits at her desk and cries. One of the girls who told Clara 'no' is Cynthia, who blames the other girl, Lisa, the boss. Lisa gets upset and says that if she must say yes to everyone, she doesn't want to play any more. Ms. Paley says the classroom belongs to all of us, and asks if it is fair to exclude others.

- Story: Magpie meets Prince Kareem, who likes birds very much. The Prince, Annabella, and Magpie talk about the differences between stories and real life. Magpie tells Annabella that stories are as real as the things in Prince Kareem's books. Magpie asks Prince Kareem why they live in a place with no birds, even though they both love birds very much. The Prince tells him that all the birds flew away when his wife, Annabella's mother, died.

Discussion questions for pg. 6-13

- How do children cope (對付/應付) with being excluded? 

- How do children cope with loneliness?

- Can you remember a time when you were excluded as a child?

- Can you remember a time when you were lonely as a child?

- Can you remember any stories that older people told you during childhood?

Summary for pages 6-13

- Story: Magpie is flying and doesn't hear any other birds. She sees a sad girl in a castle playing with a doll. She is talking to the doll and crying. Magpie asks the girl if he can help her. The girl tells Magpie that her mother is dead and she and her father (an African king) live alone in the castle. Magpie tells her about another girl in another place, named Alexandra.

- Ms. Paley and a young student talk about their dreams and how they are the same. During story time, Ms. Paley thinks about her own time in school and how she had to make the "bosses" happy. She also felt bad for those kids that were excluded. Ms. Paley talks about how she was not comfortable at school and didn't "belong" to the group.

- Story: Annabella asks Magpie about the other princess, Alexandra. Then Magpie tells her a story. The story is about a lonely girl who wishes to be a bird so she can fly and play with other birds. The story makes Annabella laugh.

Discussion Questions for "You Can't Say You Can't Play"

Here are some discussion questions for the first part of the book. Please think about these questions and be ready to discuss them in class.

- Why does the exclusion bother Ms. Paley?

- What are some reasons kids might exclude certain classmates?

- What do you think about Ms. Paley's experimental solution to this problem?

- What might be some other ways to deal with this problem?

- Is this human nature or a learned behavior?

- How does this kind of exclusion relate to older kids (junior high / high school)?

Reading assignment - "You Can't Say You Can't Play"

Read to page 9 (until the little picture of the boat)

Some key themes to look for
Inclusion / Exclusion
Acceptance / Rejection

Discussion questions will be posted soon
Enjoy reading!!

Today's Questions

What did you do during your (short) Lunar New Year break?

What do you enjoy about the cold weather?

What is better to do in cold weather?

Where is the coldest place you’ve ever been?

Conversation Topics for 1/8

Hello Everyone!

On Wednesday we will have our final class of this semester!

We will have a rotating discussion with various topics. Here is a list of some of the topics we may discuss. If you have any other topics you want to discuss, please email Peter at pichanpete@yahoo.com

Possible Topics:
Midlife Crisis
Studying Languages
Pollution
Weather
Parenting
Art and Popular Culture
Local and World Travel
Modern Technology
Student Behavior
Friends and Free Time

Please be ready to discuss these and other topics on Wednesday!