The Second 'R, Writing Across the Curriculum
A Handbook for Teachers
by
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I take from the shelf and hold in my hand The Rape of the Lock and An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope. The copyright date is 1898. On the flyleaf, in my grandfather’s handwriting I read: Thos.
I pick up its neighbor and with quiet elation I find Virgil’s Aeneid. Classic Interlinear Translation. Its copyright date is 1893. Its flyleaf, again in Grandpa’s hand reads T.A. Kent, Troy, Ala, Feby 10 1898.
In the next place I look, I find The Elementary Spelling Book, commonly called the Blue-back speller. The flyleaf inscription reads Jan. 17,1931, Alsa, Texas.
Many other late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century texts share display space on my shelf. These treasured books, faded and frayed, stained with chewing tobacco and snuff, make me realize that my interest in teaching was genetic. My love of reading was nurtured by my grandfather’s library in the farm home we shared with my grandparents for several years.
It started March 27, 1944, the day after my 6th birthday. I was allowed to attend the last two months of school in our rural community to prepare me for first grade the following fall. The grades one-through-three classroom fascinated me with the sights and smells of a wood-burning stove, chalk dust, and a gelatin duplicator which produced practice pages and coloring sheets.
It was nourished further by a third-grade teacher in the small nearby town when our country school became a part of the “town” school.
Special high school teachers and college professors fed my desire to teach. It escalated during student teaching in the spring of 1958.
With advice and financial aid from the family banker, and with an on-campus job the last semester, I received my diploma and teacher’s certificate from
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About the Book
...an informative and helpful handbook overflowing with creative ideas to inspire and encourage teachers and their students to love writing as much as the author doess.
Anonymous proofreader/critic
The Second ‘R hopefully will stir the imagination and encourage innovative teaching. It stresses the use of writing in all areas of the curriculum and suggests activities which will keep the children (and the teacher) writing.
Starting them off with writing connected with first day activities will make a painless introduction on the first day. Asking for the child’s opinion about something (character traits) )sparks more interest than “What I did this Summer.” However, that is also included in the graphing activity in Section 1.
Section 2 stresses bulletin boards which encourage, initiate and display student writing in all areas of the curriculum. The versatility allows for the personality of teacher and student to be expressed.
Section 3 uses traditional and non-traditional supplies and techniques to incorporate writing into all curriculum areas .Calculation, mental math and column addition become less boring when learned with dominoes. These game pieces also clarify the concept of related facts. The discovery lesson using measuring tools is an attention grabber with the younger children; with upper grades it can be iffy.
Lessons on following directions segue naturally into map studies. Children planning, requesting and organizing a field trip are pulled into all curricular areas and hone their social skills through letter writing, interviewing and telephoning,
The goal of the lessons discussed here ,simply put, is “Keep them writing!”
Section 4 offers tips for producing a class newspaper., from the simplest survey of playground favorites to submissions from parents. A word of caution: be sure that every child’s name is included in each edition of the newspaper at least once, whether as editor,, reporter, or subject of an item.
About the Author
The author received a Bachelor’s degree in Education from East Texas State Teacher’s College in 1958, sixty years after her grandfather attended and about 43 years before her brother received a degree in archeology, from the school now known as Texas A & M University, Commerce Campus.. Thus, her family was represented in that school in three centuries: 1800s, 1900s and 2000s. She earned a Master’s degree from the same school and mid-management certification from UTPB (