Dr. S.'s Literacy Read Aloud & Literacy Podcast

Literacy is Part of What We Do With Our Students or Children Every Day

At one time, literacy development was seen as belonging to the subject domain of Language Arts or English. We now know based upon our understanding of the new kinds of literacy, that developing literacy means partly enhancing ability if the four domains of communication - Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening. As a result, it is imperative to understand that literacy underlies everything we do in and out of the classroom every day and so we must be aware of the need to address the four modalities throughout the school day and at home as well.

Problem-Based Learning and Assessment - We Assess for Growth

There was a time when assessment meant giving a single letter grade or a percentage to some piece of work or project based upon the finished product or end result. We now know that while that sort of summative assessment has its place, most often we ought to be assessing for growth, or conducting formative assessment, based upon the work in progress and assessing for growth over time.

When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 44, 45, & 46

The family members are at Halmoni's bedside as she passes away. When they return home, there is a flood in the basement which they have to clean up and then Lily remembers that there is a special fund-raiser at the library the next day and the three of them agree to make rice cakes to sell. The mother realizes she never really asked about how to make rice cakes which she regrets but they make the rice cakes. The next day, they are a success and everyone talks about how sad they are that Halmoni is no longer with them.

When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 41, 42, & 43

Lily and Sam Rush into the hospital and a kind nurse takes them to Halmoni's room. Needless to say, Halmoni is dying, and first she wants to talk to Sam. Lily goes out where she sees the tiger and the tiger talks to her about ends and beginnings and making one's own stories and that the power is Lily's, not hers. Lily goes back up to the room and it is Lily's turn but instead of talking to Halmoni alone, Lily makes up a story like the one that the tiger told her about the two sisters and the escape to the heavens. It is really about what will happen to Halmoni when she passes away and what will happen to her family after she is gone. Lily finds inner strength she never thought she had.

When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 39 & 40

Sam is afraid to drive the car because she thinks about the accident that took away her father's life. She. has been carrying around guilt because she didn't tell Lily all the stories about their father and now she is wavering over believing in the Korean magic of Halmoni. Lily knows she has to get help so she rushes to the library and breaks in because she believes the tiger will be there. He is and he agrees to help Lily. So Lily returns to the car and Sam starts to drive with the tiger, who Sam CANNOT see, leading the way.

When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 37 & 38

Because Lily is making so much noice smashing the star jars, their mom comes in to the room and then Halmoni enters but immediately collapses. Sam dials 911 and an ambulance comes to take Halmoni and their mother to the hospital. After the ambulance leaves, the girls decide they have to go too. Sam says she is calling Jensen to pick them up but Jensen is not answering and Sam admits she is probably out driving around scattering rice to ward off evil spirits.

When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 35 & 36

Lily wakes up in the middle of the night again hoping to find the tiger, but it is not there. Instead she hears her Halmoni in the bathroom and Lily expresses her frustration to Halmoni who confesses her own frustration with life and holds Lily telling her she knows it is her time to go. Lily refuses to listen and goes up to her room to find Sam climbing in. Again Sam tries to apologize but Lily expresses her anger again. Sam just doesn't seem to care.

When You Trap a Tiger - Chapters 33 & 34

Lily creeps into her room and finds Sam there. Lily gets into bed or tries to and Sam first tries to apologize but Lily ignores her and then Sam pesters Lily about the cold shoulder. Eventually both fall asleep without Sam being able to say what she wants to say. In the morning, Lily and her mom drive over to Ricky's house so Lily can apologize. Lily and Ricky are left alone and end up becoming even better friends by talking about what happened and talking about the problems they have with life in general. Ricky confesses he feels very badly that his mother just went away and indicates that he feels it. was partially his fault. At the end though, the two youngsters are excited about trying to find. a way to trap the tiger.

When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 31 & 32

Lily wants to get back at Connor and Ricky for insulting Halmoni, so she takes a pudding container and replaces some of the pudding with mud. Then she goes back into the library and gives Ricky the pudding container and he proceeds to eat it and notices it is off. Connor also tries it and agrees. Then Lily tells them she put mud in it and runs off, shame and anger in her tears. At home, Halmoni is not doing very well but Sam tells their mother what happened and Lily feels betrayed. She gets really angry and Sam is sent to check on Haloni while Lily sits with her mother and they talk about what was done that was so bad and how she too feels badly about how she has treated Halmoni.

When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 29 & 30

The next morning, Lily heads into the kitchen where there has been a flurry of activity. Halmoni has cooked up a storm of Korean food and everyone is excitedly interacting. But Halmoni suddenly looses awareness of where she is and who Lily is and this upsets Lily. Lily also ponders the significance of the pendant and realizes the maybe Halmoni is the character in the story the tiger has been telling her. Halmoni's sudden memory loss upsets Sam and Lily and they go to the library where everyone is preparing for the fundraiser. Everyone is chatting and then someone refers to Halmoni as a witch and a crazy lady. Instead of ignoring this, Lily decides to take action.