Remembering Bill Martin Jr.

Teaching Pre K-8, Jan 2005 by Manning, Maryann

* Read his books in different ways. Try choral reading either in unison or by assigning parts.

* Echo reading, with the teacher or someone else reading aloud a line or passage and the audience echoing back the words, is an effective method as well. Or, simply ask pairs of students to read Bill's books aloud to each other.

* Devote a bulletin board in the classroom or hallway to statements written by students about their favorite Bill Martin Jr. book.

* Ask small groups of children to select a favorite book scene to pantomime.

* Read Knots on a Counting Rope (Holt, 1997, reissue, ISBN: 0-805-054790) and ask students to interview family members about their history using questions similar to the following: Where was I born? Who was there when I was born? Why was I given my name? Was I named after a relative? Then ask children to write their own birth story.

* Read/Pledge A llegiance (Candlewick, 2002, ISBN:0-763-61648-6) and discuss the meanings of the phrases. Ask your students to write examples of each phrase from their own lives.

* Go to the library for copies of Bill's early "Sounds of Language" series to read aloud to students. Do older students remember hearing these pieces when they were little?

* In writing workshops, share Bill's quotes, "I don't write books. I talk them," and "I talk to a melody." Ask students what these statements mean and if they are true in their own writing.

Perpetuating a legacy

The next time I am near Commerce, TX, I want to visit the Bill Martin Jr. Library where the drafts, manuscripts and memorabilia from his life and work are exhibited. I hope the drafts from my favorite book, Knots on a Counting Rope, are on display.

By spending a good amount of time on Bill's books and life with your students, you will be helping to perpetuate an incredible legacy that we don't want to ever forget - that of using poetry and song in the classroom and learning to enjoy and appreciate language when reading.

Maryann Manning is on the faculty of the School of Education, the University of Alabama at Birmingham. E-mail: mmanning@uab.edu