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.