Book Club Discussion #3

Book Discussion #3

Krista Milen, Tina Hatcher, Crystal Lawrence

The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy Calkins

     Our group read pp. 285-517 from Lucy Calkins’ book this week. Chapter 18 dealt with editing and the best way to approach it during writer’s workshop.  She discussed how many kids come to us thinking writing is a display of spelling, penmanship, and punctuation and they will focus more on that than the content.  We all three have seen this happen in our classrooms.  Students will just freeze up on spelling a word or where to put punctuation and then forget what they are even writing about.  Calkins stresses in this chapter that we need to help them write freely and unselfconsciously.  No one learns well while feeling afraid and ashamed.  We need to let students realize it’s ok to make editorial errors as they write; all of us do, and then we correct them as we edit.  She states that the best thing we can for their syntax, spelling, penmanship, and use of mechanics is to help them write more often and with confidence.  When she launches writer’s workshop, she tells them their notebooks aren’t meant to be displays of perfect spelling and handwriting.  It’s a place for deep thoughtful ideas and careful observation.  Our group agrees that young students need to focus, above all, on what they are saying and let spellings come out naturally. We liked her quote, “This is a rough draft. It is meant to be rough.  There will be a time for making it beautiful.”  Some other ideas/comments we liked when writing rough drafts:

-Let them use a pen or pencil

-If too much time being spent making letters perfect, she might say,” No erasing allowed- Just cross out and keep going.”

-She might show students one of her first drafts

-When children keep asking how to spell a word, they keep asking because you keep giving them the answer.  They need strategies for spelling words.  Say the word.  How many parts in the word? Now listen for the sounds in the words.

    It was also interesting the research she did among two third-grade classrooms comparing how they were taught writing.  Ms. West taught mechanics through daily drills and workbook exercises.  She started at the very beginning, teaching simple sentences, periods, capitals.  She did pretests and post-tests, but the children rarely wrote.  In Ms. Howard’s class, the children wrote every day and chattered as writers do, about conventions of written language.  When Calkins met with the “writers” who had not had formal instruction in punctuation, they could explain an average of 8.66 kinds of punctuation, whereas writers who had studied punctuation every day through classwork and drills could only explain 3.85 kinds of punctuation.  Even more important, children in the writing classroom liked punctuation.  Calkins stresses that when children view themselves as writers, like students in Ms. Howard’s class, they see punctuation everywhere.  They start noticing it and becoming familiar with it.  The nonwriters described punctuation by trying to remember the rules they’d been taught. How many of us do this?  We get bogged down writing as adults because we can’t remember the rules or how to spell a word.  Many of us were not taught to write “freely” and our first draft was our final draft.  We wanted it perfect the first time. 

    She discussed one way to help students edit is by giving them a checklist to go over before they turn their work in. The one she gave was very simple and we can see ourselves using it with our students. When conferencing with students, notice the things a student can do and only pick out one or 2 things for the student to work on as a writer.  We liked the idea of having a sheet of paper in their writing folder and jotting down what you notice and the one thing that student is working on.  Calkins also stresses that kids need to know that when authors finish their writing, they move on to another piece. 

    

     We discussed that poetry is a powerful genre because of its condensed nature. Every child in the classroom can be a poet, because poems can be very short. We liked how she allowed the children to use pieces from their notebooks to turn those in to poems.

     We all loved the section on Making Memoirs Out of the Pieces of Our Lives. Virginia Wolfe said, “A memoir is not what happens, but the person to whom things happen.” We all agreed that Memoirs will be a great way to really get to know our students, because we will learn their feelings, ideas, and insights rather than just reading about an event. The stage of writing memoirs is described by Randy Bomer as the stage of “shoving kids out of the nests.” He says this because they are forced out of their notebooks into a draft. They suggest that the easiest way to do this is by setting a deadline for a draft.

    In chapter 25, Calkins discussed how we used to do research from an encyclopedia, but today research starts out with what we experience and what we know instead.  She said we should tell our students to seek out new life experiences and relationships, which will help them to learn more, and to find more to write about.  We enjoyed the quote from Jean Fritz in this chapter, “As human beings, we thrive on astonishment.  Whatever is unknown quickens us, delivers us from ourselves, impels us to investigate, inspires us to imagine.”  We should watch out for surprise and mystery, these things will make for good nonfiction stories. 

    She discussed how we should create conditions in our classrooms to help the ‘learning’ happen.  We can’t ‘make’ students learn, but we can encourage them to ask questions, to notice and wonder, and to inquire about the world around them.  Writing is a way to do these things.  Writing throughout the day can be used to develop meaning and compose ideas about different topics.  Some ways to use writing that interested us were:

·      Writing to learn journals – add short journal writing activities into the classroom throughout the day to help them develop their thoughts and ideas

·      Take a few minutes to write down what we are thinking about a topic – this helps reel them back in if they have tuned out of a whole-class discussion

·      Have them summarize the ‘essence of the issue’ – use these summaries to get them actively participating in the class discussion

·      Write down what we know or wonder about a topic before you start discussing a new one

·      They can use writing as a tool for thought

·      “The main thing we’re talking about is…” – is helpful to stimulate a whole-class discussion

·      “The main thing I’m talking about is…” - is used for individual self-motivation

·      Writing can encourage students to ask questions and problem-solve in any content area

·      Write to support their reflections on their guesses and predictions during lessons

    Calkins describes ways to make our students into active learners through their writing in this book.  She talks about how much our teaching matters, and what a big responsibility it is to teach our students wisely.  We discussed how important our teaching is, and how we want to use more of the writing techniques from this book to grow as teachers.  We are teachers because we love our students.  How better to show them our love for them, than by expressing our love of learning through writing?  

Theoretical Discussion #3

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Comprehension Blog

            This week’s topic of discussion was comprehension.  Comprehension is something that many children struggle with.  As teachers, comprehension is always something we focus on with our students.  It is a very difficult skill to teach, as well as for children to learn.  We were excited to learn about new ways to help us teach this tricky skill, and even more ways to help our students understand it. 

            The first article we discussed was by Laura S. Pardo.  It was called “What every teacher needs to know about comprehension”.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out she was right on the mark.  We discussed some important areas to work with and focus on to help our kids stay on track with their comprehension skills from this article.  Here is a list of some of the important areas discussed:

·      She gave a common definition for teachers, “comprehension is a process in which readers construct meaning by interacting with text through the combination of prior knowledge and previous experience, information in the text, and the stance the reader takes in relationship to the text.” (Pardo, page 272)

·      She called the time when the comprehension should be happening “the literary event”.  (I liked that!)

·      The most important of the characteristics of good readers is the reader’s world knowledge.  Background knowledge helps them make sense of what they are reading.

·      Things that we, as teachers, can do to help are:  teach decoding skills, build fluency, help build and then activate background knowledge, teach vocabulary words, motivate them, and engage them in personal response to texts.   

·      Structures of text are important. Be sure to teach text structures, model appropriate text selections for them, and give them time to read independently to practice what you have taught them. 

·      Support the ‘transaction’ by providing explicit instruction of useful comprehension strategies (multiple strategy approaches), teach them to monitor their reading and ‘repair’ by applying appropriate strategies they have learned, use a scaffolding approach to gradually release responsibility to them, and help them see the connection between reading and writing. Good writers can become good readers.

          The next article we discussed was the one by Paul Neufeld.  The similarities between this article and Pardo’s article were amazing.  One point that really stood out to us was his comment about how limited background knowledge is a major problem in comprehension.  This was a major point in the Pardo article as well. 

          Neufeld’s article focused on comprehension strategies.  He shared some research based strategies that he says are worth teaching to students.  He broke these strategies up into 2 groups:  the getting ready to read strategies and during and after reading strategies.  We enjoyed the prompts he provided in this article.  A few we found most helpful were:

·      Why am I reading this text?

·      How is this text organized?

·      Do I sere any keywords associated with specific text structures?

·      Is what I just read clear to me?

·      What strategies could I use to help me better understand what I am reading?

We discussed how theses prompts and others would help guide our instruction with our students. 

          The purpose of last article was to review and discuss research on comprehension strategies for children in grades K-2.  She also made some recommendations for teachers on which ones can be trusted and which ones teachers need to be cautious about because they have not been researched enough.  Stahl states that, “ children who actively engage in particular cognitive strategies are likely to understand and recall more of what they read.”  (Stahl, page 598)  The key to children acquiring these strategies is the instructional techniques that the teacher uses.  We discussed several of these strategies within our group and how they would be useful in our classrooms.  I will list a few of them here: 

·      One effective strategy was gradually releasing responsibility to the students over time.

·      Use of story grammars/story maps/literature webbing (useful with folk tales or other narrative text structures)

·      5 finger retell

·      Question answering and question-answering instruction is important to prompt thinking at all levels.

·      Reciprocal teaching helps gain more meaning from text and helps with student self-monitoring

·      Literature webbing is proven effective with first graders using predictable, narrative texts

·      Text talk

·      Use of video to help with limited background knowledge (Which was a major point in both of the other articles!)

A couple strategies that are widely used, but not proven by research are the use of picture walks and the K-W-L strategy.  Stahl says more research needs to be done on the use of these common procedures. 

          There were a lot of new and interesting strategies presented in these articles.  Some of which we already use in our classrooms, and others we will try in the future.

Book Club Discussion #2

Our book club this week read pages 59-287 from Lucy Calkins

Krista Milen, Tina Hatcher, Crystal Lawrence

The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy Calkins

         Our book club this week read pages 59-287 from Lucy Calkins. The first part dealt with the foundations of literacy (writing in the home, nursery school and kindergarten). She emphasized that oral language “takes place on a non-sequence, whole-task basis.” We wouldn’t dissect oral language into component parts and we shouldn’t drill young children on all the sounds of the alphabet before inviting them to write. We should treat early writing with respect just like we would a baby’s first words. She says when launching a writing workshop in the primary-level, classroom teachers need to accept whatever they may put down. Children don’t need to be afraid they will “fail”, but need to be accepted and praised for what they can do. Tina, Krista, and I liked how she addressed the students as “writers” Calkins also stresses that children’s drawing is rehearsal for them. It plays an important role in that it provides a supportive scaffolding within which can help children write. They can return to their drawing and the picture carries most of the child’s meaning. Calkins later discourages drawing, as a way of rehearsing for writing because she says that no solution works for every child and no solution should work forever. She says we should watch for signs indicating that a child no longer needs to weave drawing and writing together. She states that drawing is a predominant form of rehearsal for many 1^st graders, but talking is the most effective form of rehearsal for 2^nd grade. We all three liked the idea of notebooks in primary grades. They have it with them throughout the day and go home with them at night. It is a place for gathering bits and pieces of their lives. She also states that peer conferences may not get better writing, but longer texts.

          Calkins went on to discuss Writer’s Workshop in the upper elementary grades. We discussed how a lot of students are no longer comfortable to really get in to their writing due to peer pressure and bullying. We all agreed that students at this age need us to care about them and what is going on in their lives outside of the classroom. Building a community is especially important at this level of Writer’s Workshop. When building the community we must demonstrate our love for reading and writing. This is the age to make the reading/ writing connection. Students at this age still apply some of our values to their lives. We agreed with Calkins when she said that launching Writer’s Workshop with students in secondary grades is difficult. The teacher in Secondary Writing Workshops must build one on one relationships, seize the moment, teach on your toes, encourage students to voice themselves through writing, and see the energy in the classroom and go with it.

          Tina, Krista and I agreed that in order for Writer’s Workshop to work it must be predictable. Teachers must be organized, and set-aside particular times every day. “It is almost impossible to have a successful writing workshop if students write only one or two times per week. We like the components of Writer’s Workshop. We discussed the mini lesson, work time, conferencing, share sessions and publication. The mini lesson is just what it says. This is the time that is set aside to “teach” all the students something. We shouldn’t expect for every student, however, to use what was taught in his or her papers. There is not a set curriculum on what to teach in the mini lessons. Teachers must decide what to teach based on the needs of the students that she is teaching. A problem that teachers face with mini lessons is that teachers often struggle with reverting to the “old” way of teaching at this time. We all agreed that we must remember who ever is doing the most talking is doing the most learning.

         Tina, Krista, and I had a lot of favorite things about the book to discuss when we met.  One of the sections we all agreed upon was the section on mini-lessons of revisions.  I told the girls that I especially enjoyed the phrase by William Faulkner, “Writing a first draft is like trying to build a house in a strong wind” (Calkins, page 209).  The sense of urgency he discusses is what it is like when students are writing their first draft.  They need to get the ideas all down on paper quickly before they forget what their ideas were in the first place.  I will list a few of the recommended strategies for topics of mini-lessons here:

·      Write about a subject in a different genre

·      Rework a confused section- the ending, the title, etc

·      Take a long draft and make it shorter

·      Take a short entry of a draft and expand it

·      Imagine a purpose and an audience for it

·      Reread the draft evaluating what works and what does not

·      Read the entries/draft and think, ”Where’s the mystery here?”

·      Put the draft aside and return to it another day

·      Take a jumbled piece and rewrite it in sections or chapters

These are just a few of the strategies that we found would be most helpful to our age group of students.  (Calkins, pages 209-210)

         In the chapters on ‘conferring’, one phrase stood out to me that I shared with my group.  “Creation and criticism- these are central to our work with clay and blocks, and they are also central to our work with words.” (Calkins, page 222)  In these chapters of the book, Calkins was discussing how important it is to question themselves about their writing.  As readers, we should ask a question or two about our drafts. No matter the age, questions like these can be used over and over.

·      What have I said so far?

·      How do I like it? What is not so good that I can fix?

·      How does it sound? How does it look?

·      How else could I have done this?

·      What am I going to do next?

These are some questions that can be discussed during teacher-student or peer conferences to get a student to learn to interact with their own writing.  The goal for the teacher, over time, is to be unnecessary or unneeded. We want students to be successful at self-questioning.

         I enjoyed the different stories and anecdotes in this book.  There was a particular story about a little boy named Noah on pages 262-263 that was meaningful to me so I shared it with my book club group.  The story was in the chapter on publications.  Calkins was sharing how the 5 year old had written a 10-page book, with words and a picture on each page.  After reading his book to the class, his teacher asked him what he had written on the back of the book.  He told her that it was “nuthin”, just “sumfin” for the library.  He had put symbols for the section of the library that it would go into for the librarian.  This is humorous, yet significant, because he already sees himself as an author.  As Calkins says, “His teacher has not only helped him develop skills, she has also helped him develop a self-concept as an author.” (Calkins, page 263)  We want our students to not only act as writers, but to become one.  To see him/herself as an author causes the children to make connections with the books they read.  When they make connections, they are learning.

Theoretical Discussion #2

Valencia and Buly Article

         My group met to discuss the 2 articles for this week.  The article by Valencia and Buly sparked our interest by just reading the title.  Some of our good classroom students are not proficient on the standardized tests at times.  It is so frustrating to believe that they know the material, they have mastered the skills needed, and then when push comes to shove, they miss the mark.  We have all been very disappointed at times when it happens to another talented student. 

         We all related to the article when it said that teachers spend an enormous amount of time preparing kids for the standardized tests, even though preparation for the one test doesn’t translate into real learning (Valencia and Buly, page 520).  We completely agreed with this, but what else do you do?  This one test goes on the student’s report card.  This one test goes against us on our evaluations!  If we, teachers, do not teach to the test and students do not pass it, then we look like failures in the eyes of the state and local government officials.  It is a win or lose situation.  That is why this article about the results of a study of students who failed a typical test intrigued us. The authors described a pattern of performance, and suggestions for teachers to use to help these students be successful.   

         It was of great use to us that all the students tested were found in the regular classroom.  There were no ESL or special education students used for this study.  These were the kids who the regular classroom teacher was solely responsible for.  This was especially helpful to us regular education teachers.  We are held responsible for their success and no one else.  So we were glad this study included only those kids.  They found that all students fell into 3 categories: word identification, meaning, and fluency.  Not only did they fall into these distinct categories, but they were also found to be below grade level in all 3 areas.  We all have had students in our classrooms that have struggled in those areas.  So we were not surprised by this information.  As we discussed the rest of the findings, we agreed with the authors when they said, “one-size instruction will not fit all children” (Valencia and Buly, page 528).  There are many missing skills that different children have, and many need individualized instruction with these skills.  No two kids are alike, so individualized intensive instruction is the key to helping those kids.  We feel that our school is on the right track to helping our struggling readers succeed.  We focus on individualized study with-in our flexible, small-group instruction during our guided reading program.  We concentrate on what each child needs to focus their attentions on and build on those areas daily.  Time, money, materials, and training will help us move farther along in this process.  Our hope is to be the most effective classroom teachers we can be. 

Allington Article

         The article “What I’ve Learned About Effective Reading Instruction:  From a Decade of Studying Exemplary Elementary Classroom Teachers” went right along with the Valencia and Buly article.  We discussed how many similarities there were between them.  We talked about Dr. Allington’s 6 T’s of effective elementary literacy instruction: 

·      Time

·      Texts

·      Teaching

·      Talk

·      Tasks

·      Testing

We thought it fascinating that there was almost no test-preparation activity in the classrooms of the highly effective teachers.  The teachers that were studied believed that their good instruction would lead to outstanding test performance.  The less effective teachers, on the other hand, made use of packaged test prep programs.  The used the programs to make up for their lack of instruction in the classroom. (Allington, pages 740-747)

         This article, like the first, highlights how important teacher effectiveness is in student success.  Students need direct on-level instruction.  They need to be taught strategic reading strategies and have access to books that are on their reading level.  The teacher is in charge of making sure that students are getting what they need as learners on a daily basis. Teaching cannot be packaged, but needs to be done in an exemplary manner.  We need to constantly work on ourselves to become expert teachers.

Theoretical Discussion Blog Post #1

Fitzgerald Article

         The Fitzgerald article was very interesting.  I found the discussions on the balanced approach to teaching reading very informative.  I paid special attention to the program details of Cunningham & Hall’s four blocks instruction. The four blocks instruction included: guided reading, self-selected reading, writer’s workshop, and working with words.  It struck a cord with me because it describes the type of reading instruction we have been using in my elementary school.  We implemented the guided reading method of reading instruction this past year.  It has been a big undertaking for my colleagues and I, but we have all learned so much.  The information in this article on balance describes many of the teaching methods we have been using already.  The 2^nd program discussed by Baumann included:  creating meanings and responding to good literature, skills and strategy instruction, and a balance between teacher directed versus responsive instruction. 

         The three common characteristics Fitzgerald discussed between the 2 reading techniques were 1) a focus on equal weighting of some key aspects of a program, 2) focus on the method of doing the classroom program, and 3) an inferable shared perspective on what aspects of the reading process are most important.  (Fitzgerald, page 101)  The last component was the most critical one according to this author.  She stated that the authors in this study of balanced approaches, all think that certain abilities in reading are equally important.

         I found the sets of questions that can be used to help teachers find a good starting place when reflecting on reading instruction very useful.  Some of these questions are:  ‘What knowledge about reading do I believe is most important for children?’ Or ‘What are the main goals of my classroom reading instruction?’  Thinking about these types of questions is a wonderful way to get started when deciding on which programs to implement into your classroom.  

 This article was fascinating to me.  Different authors in a study of a balanced reading program can have such differing approaches to teaching reading effectively. In my opinion, this means that there is no “one right way” to teaching reading. 

         My group discussed the different definitions of balanced reading instruction.   We reviewed the questions that the author gave us to consider when deciding which instruction best fit the needs of our students.  We discussed the two approaches and how similar the four blocks instruction is to our guided reading approach.

Duffy and Hoffman Article

                  The members of my group and I have decided that we enjoyed the Duffy and Hoffman article the most.  It was wonderful to us that someone could put the thoughts and feelings we have about education and write them in an article!  It takes a combination of methods and practices together to help a child learn to read.  No two students will learn to read in the same way.  So I agree with the opinion of these authors that we must combine techniques and programs, and adapt parts of each to meet the needs of particular students. 

        

         We found it amusing that so little publicity is given to our successes as teachers, but if the public hears of ONE student who graduated high school without knowing how to read, THAT will make it into the news!  It is sad that so much emphasis is placed on the downfalls that happen in our world and not near as much time on our successes. It is upsetting that some children are “falling into the cracks” in education, but not all teachers should be blamed for those instances.

         We found the idea of ALL educators using a single instructional method to be problematic!  It is unbelievable that after all of our years of education and training in reading instruction that we can’t be trusted enough to make good instructional decisions on our own. The section of the article that discusses the ‘silver bullet’ (the perfect method for reading instruction) made me laugh out loud.  Our group agrees with Duffy and Hoffman “there is no perfect method.” (page 10)  Trying to push one single instructional method on all children would be ineffective and thoughtless.  It would be detrimental to reading instruction, not the key to improving it.  It frustrates me how legislators ignore the evidence. They don’t encourage us to use a variety of teaching methods that fit with the needs of our students.  Instead they pass laws and mandates that fit in with their mold of the ‘perfect method’.  I liked how the authors say that teachers describe the silver bullet as, “one size does not fit all”  (page 12).  Not every method will work for every child every time.  We need to assess the child and find out what works for him. 

         The author gives us 3 ideas that are important:

1) Teacher education is ongoing, not short-term.

2) There is a need to think differently about what teachers must learn.

3) There is a need for teacher educators to talk differently with teachers about our own favored programs and methods.

By using these ideas, it will shift the thinking of teachers, policymakers, researchers, and educators and encourage them to make thoughtful decisions.  Not just be a follower and jump on a ‘program’ bandwagon.

The Art of Teaching Writing

Book Club Meeting

Chapter 1

         My group found the fact that she compares writing to artistry in the first chapter of this book interesting.  We know there is a lot that goes into writing, and being a good writer, but we had not thought to compare it to a piece of art.  To the person writing, you must put many thoughts, feelings, and strategies into your work.  Comparing it to artwork makes sense. 

         Calkins discusses 3 essentials to children’s writing:  (page 3)

1) Children are deeply involved in writing.

2) They share their texts with others.

3) They perceive themselves as authors.

She feels these are interconnected and that children will gain a sense of authorship through their writing.  She also tells us that us that writing doesn’t begin by sitting at a desk and brainstorming ideas, but with living your life as an observer.  Noticing things in the world around you, wondering about things going on, remembering important things that have happened in your life, and a yearning to write is what makes a writer. 

         We loved reading the writing samples she provides in this chapter. Comparing the writing of a 7 year old to that of a 15 year old was enlightening.  Children grow so much and can accomplish so much as writers if we expect it of them and guide them to think like an author. 

         I liked how the author said, “significance cannot be found, it must be grown.” (Calkins, page 7) Growing as a writer can happen by finding something significant in our life experience.  Revisit an experience, find something beautiful in it, and simply write.  I am going to try and put this into practice with my third graders this year.  I want them to blossom them into artists.

What makes YOU a reader?

What makes ME a reader?

I read romance novels most often.  I guess I am a hopeless romantic at heart! It is what I enjoy reading the most.  My husband laughs at me during the summer.  No matter where we are going, I have a sappy love story in my hand.  Even on a 5-minute drive to Wal-Mart, I can squeeze in a few pages!  Summertime is when I get to read the most.  Nicholas Sparks books, and there is a serious of books called LOVE INSPIRED ROMANCE novels that I read for fun most of the time.  They are only about 250 pages or so and I can read one in a day if I want.

I hate to read political or financial magazines.  My husband always tells me that I need to read them to keep up with what is going on in the world.  I just say, “You will fill me in if there is something I need to know.”

I love to read outdoors.  I have a porch swing that sits on my back patio that I spend a lot of time reading on in the summer.  Many cool autumn evenings is also spent with me rocking and reading a sappy romance novel.  When my husband goes fishing, I tag along, not to fish, but to sit nearby him in the quiet with a book in my hand.  It is very enjoyable for both of us.  During the Christmas holidays, I try to read at least one book.  I love to read in the evening by the lights on the Christmas tree!

I am so busy during the school year that there isn’t enough time to pleasure-read.  I am usually reading something school related during those months.  Summertime is my ‘me-time’.  I pick out several books at the beginning of vacation that I want to read and dive in!  I also like to read late at night, snuggled under my blanket, with a booklight.  If I start reading before bed, I am usually up late because once I get started, I hate to put the book down!

I usually read alone, unless I am reading in bed and my husband is also reading some John Maxwell book next to me.  We don’t have any kids yet to read to, but I love to read with my nephew when he visits.  Reading children’s books out loud to my students at school is usually the highlight of my day.

I didn’t have a regular Kindergarten teacher.  The school wasn’t requiring it back then (yes, I’m that old).  A group of mothers (mine included) took turns coming to the school to teach it a few days per week.  I remember how much I loved having my mom at school with me, and I was getting to learn things, too.  It is a happy memory.  I don’t remember much about learning to read, just that it came pretty easily for me.  I remember going shopping with my mom when I was just getting good at it.  I would read ALL the signs in the store to her as we shopped.  She didn’t mind at first, but when I started reading the signs for ‘personal’ items and those types of things too loudly, well, she told me to be quiet.  :-)