empowerment through literacy || in defense of "crabby" teachers

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In Defense of "Crabby" Teachers Author(s): Deborah Dockweiler Source: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 42, No. 8, Empowerment through Literacy (Apr., 1989), p. 656 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20200265 . Accessed: 28/06/2014 10:58 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Wiley and International Reading Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Reading Teacher. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 141.101.201.31 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:58:46 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Empowerment through Literacy || In Defense of "Crabby" Teachers

In Defense of "Crabby" TeachersAuthor(s): Deborah DockweilerSource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 42, No. 8, Empowerment through Literacy (Apr., 1989), p.656Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20200265 .

Accessed: 28/06/2014 10:58

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Wiley and International Reading Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Reading Teacher.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 141.101.201.31 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:58:46 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Empowerment through Literacy || In Defense of "Crabby" Teachers

In defense of "crabby" teachers Deborah Dockweiler

What can one possibly say in defense of a crabby teacher? There's a lot to be said if that teacher is a hermit crab!

My learning disabled students would have preferred to do anything on earth rather than write. I used the excitement of the new year and a new classroom

pet, a hermit crab, to get them in volved.

Several days prior to the arrival of our pet, I set up an aquarium with the

necessary crab environment and then

taped the question "What is this?" on

the glass. This immediately sparked interest on the part of my 3rd to 5th

grade boys. They had many questions. Once the visitor arrived, I read Bill

Peet's Kermit, the Hermit to the class.

They decided that our new arrival was

indeed a hermit crab. We charted all their questions about the crab for later

use.

On another day we observed the her mit crab on a long table with no one

moving or talking for an eternity of 15 minutes. We then listed everything that we noticed about the crab. Any word or idea was included on the list.

Through this relatively harmless activ

ity, my students and I had embarked

upon our careers as writers.

On subsequent days, we took our

lists and grouped ideas that went to

gether. Students worked in pairs to try to answer some of the questions about our guest. This involved using the li

brary to gain information about some

thing that interested them. There were no complaints, other than mine: "Don't run to the library!"

It was a gratifying sight: groups of students all working to discover some

thing new. For several more days, each

group gathered information about her mit crabs.

^^^^r???????^BfWff^n^ift&ih\ ^^^w**"1 " "~--.

Finally we wrote interesting facts that were contributed by each of the

groups. These sentences were written

on the board and later on strips of pa per. As a group, we then took the

strips and arranged them into catego ries like habitat, food, description, etc.

This categorizing activity led to a

group report on hermit crabs. After I modeled this process, the students wrote their first research reports of the

year.

Although this activity took several

days, the students never seemed to lose interest. You can be sure that that crab

was observed very carefully every day by 11 pairs of eyes. Hardly a student entered the LD classroom without

picking up the crab or at least remark

ing that "He's out!" Still not "crabbed out," my students

and I used the crab as a catalyst for po etry writing. We again consulted our

lists for "crabby" words and produced a group diamante poem. Then they worked independently to write and il

lustrate a crab poem of their own. The results were wonderful for first time efforts.

In four short weeks of school my learning disabled students had done

more writing than they ever dreamed

they could do. The most important outcome was that my students were

writing because they had some interest in what they were trying to say. They owned these writing experiences.

Finally, we had to share all this ex citement about learning with the rest of the school. What better time than at our Open House? Our group and indi vidual reports, questions, lists, and

poetry were displayed in the hall by our room, along with our very special "crabby" teacher. We wanted everyone to know that the kids in Room 23 were

writers.

Dockweiler is a learning disabilities

teacher at Amberly Elementary School in

Portage, Michigan.

656 The Reading Teacher April 1989

This content downloaded from 141.101.201.31 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:58:46 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions