How we cite our quotes: (Section.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Well, this year Ms. Silver wants to do a show for the end of the year. But not a play like The Three Billy Goats Gruff or The Emperor's New Clothes, because she's done that before."
Papa nodded.
"She wants to do something original. With poetry." Billy didn't particularly like poetry, except funny poetry, but that wasn't the problem. "Everyone has to write a poem about someone in their family. Ms. Silver said the show would be called Family or Room 2 Families or something like that." (4.1.11-13)
When it comes to school, Ms. Silver knows how to get creative. She's always giving her students projects to do, like drawing pictures or making dioramas or writing poems. Can you think of other ways that Ms. S gets creative in the classroom?
Quote #8
Ms. Silver gave everyone in Room 2 a new notebook. "These are your poetry journals," she told them. "We'll use them to write our poems for our show. Then you can keep them to use over the summer. For writing or drawing or whatever you want. But, I hope you'll continue to think about poetry even when school is done for the year." (4.2.3)
Looks like Ms. Silver has a theory: Learning doesn't stop over the summer. Nope, this teacher wants her students' education to last all year long. And one way for that to happen is for them to use their poetry notebooks during their lazy days on vacation. So there's just one question left: Do you think Billy keeps using his over the summer?
Quote #9
"I have an idea," said Ms. Silver. "I think you should take your journal home tonight. You should ask your mom what she likes." […]
"Okay," said Billy. His eyes shifted down to his volcano drawings. He wasn't fond of homework in general, but it seemed even worse now that it was so close to the end of the school year. His mind was already focusing on summer vacation. (4.2.32-33)
So remember how Ms. S was really excited about the idea that her students would keep thinking about poetry during the summer? Well think again, Ms. S, because according to Billy, homework is just about the worst thing ever. And so close to summer it's the absolute pits. Billy's attitude is understandable (we've all had summer-itis before), but it also reminds us that teachers and students can have pretty different views about how and when learning goes down.