Talking Points, Vol. 12, No. 2, May 2001

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: Making Good Things Happen

• What's Going on with . . . Kittye Copeland

  Dorothy F. King and Shirley R. Crenshaw

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  Abstract: The editors use this column to interview individuals who are active and well known in WLU. Kittye Copeland is a specialist with the public schools, working with Title I projects and other literacy services. She is the past president of WLU, and we caught up with her in Nashville at the 2000 conference.

  Keywords: Language, Elementary

• When "Holiday Magic" Hurts

  Karen Goldstein

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  Abstract: Claims that religious messages in public school are not acceptable and are hurtful to kids who do not subscribe to the beliefs expressed in those messages. Describes the author's personal experience in witnessing the marginalizing effect of a public school holiday pageant on some of the students.

  Keywords: Diversity, Literacy, Elementary

• Using Portfolios as Manipulatives to Encourage Deeper Thinking

  Jerry Bartow

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  Abstract: I was taking a chance. Not with my drawings, but with encouraging students to think deeply about their portfolios. I was hoping that by showing students the growth in my drawings, I could help them see the growth in their writing.

  Keywords: Assessment, Literacy, Elementary

• Whole Language in Israel

  Kenneth S. Goodman

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  Abstract: Suggests that whole language is alive and well in Israel, and that like many countries trying to educate multiethnic, multilingual populations, there is a strong interest in whole language as a democratic, innovative pedagogy built on scientific foundations. Notes the Ministry of Education encourages whole language approaches, but the teachers' union and some academics have attacked whole language.

  Keywords: Language, Literacy, Elementary, School-Community Relation

• What I Learned at the WLU Conference

  Nancy Creech

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  Abstract: Describes things the author learned from presentations at the 2001 Whole Language Umbrella conference, including: not many classroom teachers attended the conference; classroom teachers and professors need each other; people take pride in the whole language name; the most powerful force in a classroom is an expert teacher; and building a community is always a work in progress.

  Keywords: Literacy, Elementary, Professional Development

• "We Won't Back Down!" Political Action in Ontario

  Rich Coles

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  Abstract: Discusses educators' responses to the attempts to take over the educational system by the government of Ontario, Canada. Discusses the background to the crisis, the "Final Straw" (Bill 160), public relations and the largest work stoppage by educators in North America (October, 1997), and lessons learned from the political protests.

  Keywords: Literacy, Standards, Elementary, School-Community Relation, Secondary

• Grocery Lists, Shopping, and a Child's Writing and Spelling Development

  Gerald Oglan

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  Abstract: Discusses the case of a parent who enrolled her daughter in an after-school literacy program after being told she was not succeeding in school. Notes the teacher was by turns suspicious of and uninterested in the techniques used in the program. Examines the girl's development as a learner as she worked with her mother on developing weekly grocery lists.

  Keywords: Literacy, Writing, Reading, Elementary

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