the reading program at our high school -- tips about how to MARK THE BOOK

The Reading Program at Our High School
An activity book to support your discovery
of “how to become a reading teacher”
Keo Kauhale (“Every teacher is a reading teacher”)
Contributors
K. Grayson (Publish on Kindle and Amazon)
Stefan Willems (the Library in the Classroom, Alex Haley story, The
Magic of Carl Sagan)
Jean Guillaume (The Millionaire Next Door and Financial Literacy)
D. Ecosse (Learning is fun at the Ron Clark Academy)
Abraham S. Fischler (his posters)
Even people who are not teachers can teach
teenagers how to read more easily and
remember what they have looked at.
TINYURL.com/HSEveryTeacher 1 TinyURL.com/ReadingTeacherVideo

ISBN: 9798644124329 Imprint: Independently published
Compiled in 2020 by Keo Kauhale
This activity book (it’s a PLAY book) is independently published through Kindle
KDP.Amazon.com
Dedicated to:
The students who need to know that “you are not
alone.” You have plenty of company with other teenagers
(and adults) who also have trouble with reading.
Tai Lopez for introducing us to the phrase “Look for the Gold Nuggets”
Cris Tovani for her remarkably simple approach to teaching teachers how to teach reading.
Here’s what caught my attention:
By ninth grade, many students have been defeated by
test scores, letter grades and special groups.
Struggling readers are embarrassed by their labels
and often think that reading is boring. They avoid
reading at all costs. Reading has no pleasure or
purpose (from page 9).
...so this is my request to ask you to visit Tovani’s website www.LiteracyLabs.org and her books.
Keo Kauhale for saying, “Every teacher is a reading teacher.” That sentence caused this book
of activities to bloom.
K. Grayson for her example as a writer and a published author. Yes, she has published novels
on Kindle and Amazon
Stefan Willems for recommending books. He created a library in his classroom. He also tells a
story about Alex Haley (how Haley almost ran over him www.TINYURL.com/HSBook3) and he
makes books by Carl Sagan come to life with short, focused tellings of what Sagan was trying to
communicate.
Jean Guillaume for telling us about The Millionaire Next Door and for telling stories about
his Financial Literacy and Investment Club, which led our high school to encourage students to
download a micro-investing app such as betterment.com, robinhood.com, stashinvest.com or
acorns.com

D. Ecosse for reminding us that “Learning is fun at the Ron Clark Academy” and for showing
us videos from Clark’s school. Go now to www.TINYURL.com/HSRonClark and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8EaEM7hVBc www.TINYURL.com/HSRonClarkVideo
Abraham S. Fischler for visiting our school in November 2014 and for taking time to talk
with teachers and students. His posters and his ebook provide some additional muscle for the
spine from Tovani’s book.
This is not a “workbook.”
This is a
playbook.
Football teams have playbooks.
Teachers can
have
playbooks, too.

Learning
should
be fun
for the
learner and
the teacher. Free ebook www.TINYURL.com/FischlerEbook Free Posters www.TINYURL.com/FischlerPosters

A letter of thanks to Keo Kauhale’s mentor
I found two books particularly helpful.
The Best Practices book and "I Read It
But I Don't Get it" by Cris Tovani.
Tovani writes using the words of
students to catch the teacher's attention.
The words are exactly what a student
said, so our students can certainly
relate to the ideas.
What if those words are
put on posters and we ask
students to tell us "What is
the idea of that poster?"
and then the poster does
the teaching, not the
teacher. Then the student who
reads the poster can reframe it in their
own words and get the class involved....
I am imagining what it would be like
for students to walk into a class and see
the enclosed posters .... one per day,
each giving a reading tip.
Would students realize that they have a
gift when they come to the school?
I can also imagine anyone who comes
INTO the school could walk away with
a free ebook or a link to an ebook.
What if this ebook were given to any
visitor? Cost... $3. The quicklink is
www.TINYURL.com/HSEveryTeacher.
Thank you for this challenge. I feel
more ready to share this info with any
teachers who want to get their reading
certificate.
I feel ready to assist you in offering a
course to the world in "How to pass
the Reading Subject Area test and
Prepare to Lead students to
Become Active Readers."
It's not about being "better" readers.
That word "better" is hard to define:
faster? with more comprehension?
Who uses the word "comprehension"
with their families?
What if we are just more ACTIVE?
Maybe that's enough to open the door to
"faster" and "with more
understanding..."
Thank you for this opportunity and for
introducing me to Cris Tovani's books
... all you said was "there are some
books about reading that I remember
studying when I was at university."
That's what got me going. Tovani’s
book sparked the idea that “we can
learn how to teach reading if we
listen to the students describe
their difficulties.”
To the future

Chapters
Quotes by students in the Tovani book
I Read It But I don’t Get It Start by visiting her website and her YouTube channel.
Read with a purpose
Keo Kauhale: Every teacher is a reading teacher
“Look in our library. There are some good books about how to improve reading in students”
The book: “I Read it but I don’t Get It.”
Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers
Translation: Tips for helping teenagers understand what they are reading
Purpose is Everything (p. 24)
The House (Thief or House Buyer?)
What is a good reader?
Someone who is satisfied with reading
Someone who likes reading
Someone who is happy when reading
What do good readers do
Reread
Skip words
Read slowly sometimes
What do some students do (“fake
reading”)
Fall asleep
Day dream
Forget what I read
Look at the words without knowing what
they mean
See the movie instead of reading the novel
Ask people what the book is about so I don’t
have to read it.
Look at cliff notes and spark notes and
Wikipedia
Read without paying attention
Read too fast
Start books and never finish them
Just look at the words
Lose my place while reading.
FIXED ATTITUDE: “Some kids are born
good readers and some kids aren’t. I’ve
always been a bad reader and I always will
be. It’s too late for me.”
GROWTH ATTITUDE: “Reading is a skill
like riding a bicycle, cooking a steak and
hitting a tennis ball or throwing a football.
With practice and a good coach, I can learn
to read.”
By ninth grade, many students have been defeated by
test scores, letter grades and special groups.
Struggling readers are embarrassed by their labels
and often think that reading is boring. They avoid
reading at all costs. Reading has no pleasure or
purpose (p. 9).

Abraham Fischler
The seven principles from “Building
More-Resilient Schools”
TINYURL.com/FischlerEbook
TinyURL.com/FischlerPosters
Putting the posters into practice:
Culture starts from the top
Learning should be fun for the learner
Apply this idea:
D. Ecosse (Learning is fun at the Ron Clark
Academy)
Time is a variable.
Start where the learner is at, not with the
textbook.
Reading posters
“All students can read any document if they
receive enough support.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
Mark the book for the next reader (and the
next reader might be you tomorrow).
Make learning visible: Put someone on the
paper so you can show yourself that you are
making progress
It takes seven times to transfer information
from the page into your brain and another
four times to store it permanently
What does it take to build a good
Reading Program at a school?
Show students how to relax (what can we
learn from Zebras? The story of the Deer
and the wolves)
Show students how to talk back to
Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs).
Give students the “ten fix up” strategies.
Ask students to “Mark the Book For the
Next Reader” and give some articles to
practice with
Encourage students to write -- writers might
read more. Students who write might read
what other students write. (create a business
card -- and other students are likely to look
at the card).
Encourage students to interview a relative
and record their stories. It might be a story
that the students will want to read and
re-read.
Copy Hal Urban and introduce positive
quotes into the classrooms.
We can reset
the mindset

“I read everything the
same way.
It doesn’t
matter if it
is my
science
book or
Sports Illustrated.
What’s the point?
Reading is reading.” Luke, grade 10 (page 23)

Quotes by struggling students in the Tovani book
After reading these quotes, imagine how the student would re-frame and restate and change the
words after becoming a successful, happy and confident reader.
“I read everything the same way. It doesn’t matter if it
is my science book or Sports Illustrated. What’s the
point? Reading is reading.” Luke, grade 10 (page 23)
“Change the words, and change the attitude”:
“When I get stuck, I quit reading.” Lucas, grade 9 (page 49)
“That’s it? That’s how the book ends? I don’t even
know what happened.” Kadee, grade 9 (page 97)

“Am I supposed to do these strategy things
consciously or unconsciously? Am I supposed to be
thinking and watching myself while I read? Because if
I’m supposed to do them without thinking, then I’m in
trouble.” Sarah, grade 12 (page 107)
“How is visualizing supposed to help me read a lease
or buy a car? How do I visualize the idea of 15
percent and words like whereby and therefore and
heretofore? Visualizing isn't going to help me create
meaning. I need to do something else to help me read
hard stuff.” Jeremy, grade 12 (page 107)

Before you look at this page, go back to the first of the quotes by “struggling readers” and write
in each box how to “change the words, and change the attitude”...
After reading these quotes, imagine how the student would re-frame and restate and change the
words after becoming a successful, happy and confident reader.
PLAY BOOK (this is how I replied in the boxes)
“I read everything the same way. It doesn’t matter if it is my science book or Sports Illustrated.
What’s the point? Reading is reading.” Luke, grade 10 (page 23)
“Change the words, and change the attitude”: I think that Luke will say, “I’m going
to change how I read -- it depends on what kind of information it is. If it’s
something new, then I need to get my pens and highlighter ready, because
i need to mark the book for the next reader, who is me.”
“When I get stuck, I quit reading.” Lucas, grade 9 (page 49)
“Change the words, and change the attitude”: I think that Lucas will say, “I used to
quit when I got stock. After reading the posters on the walls at my school,
I figured out that I can use at least three ways to get unstuck. I can
re-read, I can try to apply what I read to my life and I can mark the book
and really pay attention to where I’m confused...and then I can find
answers to the questions that are suddenly in my head.”

“That’s it? That’s how the book ends? I don’t even know what happened.” Kadee, grade 9
(page 97)
“Change the words, and change the attitude”: I think that Kadee will say, “I used to
not know what happened at the end of the story. Now I know what
happened because along the way I’m making notes and taking a moment
to make a summary about WHAT I REMEMBERED IN THAT CHAPTER.
Then I just have to re-read the summaries that I made. It helps to look at
a review of the book, too. I really like Wikipedia.”
“Am I supposed to do these strategy things consciously or unconsciously? Am I supposed to be
thinking and watching myself while I read? Because if I’m supposed to do them without thinking,
then I’m in trouble.” Sarah, grade 12 (page 107)
“Change the words, and change the attitude”: I think that Sarah will say, “Conscious
or unconscious? Thinking while I’m reading or without thinking? It really
doesn’t matter. It’s just what I do now. When I want to read something, I
get my pen and paper and ready to mark the book or make notes about
important info on paper. I want to make what happens in my head get
onto paper.”
“How is visualizing supposed to help me read a lease or buy a car? How do I visualize the idea of
15 percent and words like whereby and therefore and heretofore? Visualizing isn't going to help
me create meaning. I need to do something else to help me read hard stuff.” Jeremy, grade 12
(page 107)
“Change the words, and change the attitude”: I think that Jeremy will say, “I’m
really seeing something in my mind whenever I read. Now I get it. When I
see a car lease or 15 percent, I can see a car or I can see a pizza. I actually
see it in my mind. I have pictures in my head. I just didn’t know that I
could put the pictures there and just notice them. My mind is creating
pictures all the time and I just need to notice them.”

Here are some suggested changes
that the trained, happy and
satisfied reader can say:
I used
to say
that….
Now I believe
that….

POSITIVE ATTITUDES ABOUT READING
“My inner voice talks to me when I need help. It
guides me, telling me when I am confused. It forces
me to ask questions about the book and my life. My
inner voice helps me understand what I am reading.
T.J., grade 12 (page 35)
“When I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, I
made connections between my life and Malcolm’s life.
I wondered what I would do and how my family would
act in the same situation. I connect everything read to
my life. Thinking about my life helps me understand
what I read.” Becky, grade 12.
“Real-world questions are things you really wonder
about. They affect a lot of people. School questions
are easy to answer and just affect people who don’t
understand what’s going on. School questions are just
for teachers.” Amanda, grade 12 (page 79)
“Highlighting makes me pay attention. I had to decide
if I understood or if I was confused.”(page 41)
Tip: You can see an example of an adult answering the questions “After reading” at
www.TINYURL.com/MarkTheBookReading1 (a video on YouTube).

Add the word
“YET” the next
time you think
something
negative.
“I don’t know how to do this!”
“I don’t know how
to do this...YET.”

POSITIVE ATTITUDES ABOUT READING
“If I didn’t understand something, I went back and
reread. I thought about it and tried to make
connections because I wanted to highlight my text in
pink.” (page 41) The exercise was to highlight a sentence in pink “if I understand it”
and in yellow “if I’m confused.”
“While I was marking the article, my mind didn’t
wander. I had to really think about what I was reading.
When we discussed the article, I could return to the
question marks near the text and ask for help instead
of wasting time searching for something that I usually
can’t find.” (page 42)
“Underlining and circling words helped me stay
focused. Normally I just read quickly, and when I’m
done, I don’t understand what I’ve read. Marking the
book forces me to slow down and think about my
reading.” (page 42).
“Good readers know when they are confused and
they do something to help themselves get unstuck.”
(page 39)
“Go to the beginning of the article and mark the
sentence where you started to become confused. Put
a question mark.” (page 40)
TIP: You can see an example of a teacher guiding students at
www.TINYURL.com/TovaniVideo… and check out an adult answering the questions
“After reading” at www.TINYURL.com/MarkTheBookReading1
literacylabs.org/ Tovani Group Literacy Labs twitter.com/ctovani

“My inner voice talks
to me when I need
help. It guides me,
telling me when I am
confused. It forces me
to ask questions about
the book and my life.
My inner voice helps
me understand what I
am reading.”T.J., grade 12 (page 35)

TIPS on page 51 of the Cris Tovani Book
Make a connection between the text and your life
Connect the article to what you know about the
world.
Make a link to other books that you have seen.
Predict
Stop and think about what you have
already read.
Ask yourself a question and then answer
it with the new information that you got from
the article.
Think about what you read and write a
summary of the lessons that you learned.
Visualize. Close your eyes and see the
story in your mind.
Tell someone about what you read.
Read it again.
Look for patterns in the structure of the
book.
Slow down when you don’t understand.
Speed up when you see that “I already
know about this.

TIPS
Make a
connection
between the
text and your
life
Connect the article to what you
know about the world.
Make a link to other books that
you have seen.

Predict
Stop and
think about
what you have
already read.

Ask
yourself
a question
and then answer it
with the new information that you got
from the article.

Think about
what you
readand
write a
summary of
the lessons that
you learned.

Visualize. Close
your eyes
and see
the story
in your
mind.


Tell
someone
about what
you read.
Read it
again.
Illustraion by Zix Nano
Contact the illustrator at ja0062734@gmail.com

Look for
patterns
in the
structure
of the
book.

Slow down
when you don’t
understand.
Speed up
when you see that
“I already know
about this.”


Congratulations. You just went through the major points of a book by Cris Tovani.
“Every teacher
is a reading
teacher.” Keo Kauhale
The voyage and adventure in teaching the skills of reading started when Ms. Keo told a teacher,
“Look in our library. There are some good books about
how to improve reading in students.”
One of those books was by Cris Tovani.
The book: “I Read it but I don’t Get It.”
Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers
Translation: Tips for helping teenagers understand what they are reading

I Read It But I Don’t Get ItBy Cris Tovani
ACTIVITY: Start by visiting her website
and her YouTube channel.
http://literacylabs.org/ Tovani Group Literacy Labs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctovani
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvxpHeaseZg
www.TINYURL.com/TovaniVideo
www.tinyurl.com/readingteachervideo
https://tinyurl.com/readingteachervideo2 a one-minute video
Seriously. Put down this book and go to these links. Click. Share.
Leave a comment and subscribe.
At the end of this book, go to the website and click on some of the other books that
Cris Tovani has written.

Read with a purpose
Give students this story: One sheet of paper. It is the same story printed
on each side.
You could give half of the students side T: Thief and half of the
students side B: House buyer.
You could give the same double-sided sheet and explain, “I want you to
read side A like you are on a tour of a house and you are planning to rob
the place. Pretend that you are a thief, your family is starving and you know that the people will
be away for the weekend. How would that thief read this story? It’s a description of “how to get
in” and “what can I take?”
Mark the sentences or the details
that will attract a thief. What will a
thief remember about this story?
Then mark the sentences or the
details that will attract a person
who is going to buy a house. What
will a house buyer remember about
this story?

B: The House Your Names:_______________ _______________
How would a home buyer read the details? “What would I get in this house? I’m looking for a 3
bedroom house with two bathrooms and a garage. Does this house match what I’m looking for?
Are there problems with the house?”
Mark the sentences or the details that will attract the attention of a person who is looking to buy
a house. What will a buyer remember about this story?
The two boys ran until they came to the
driveway. “See, I told you today was
good for skipping school.” said Mark.
“Mom is never home on Thursday,” he
added. Tall hedges hid the house from
the road so the pair strolled across the
finely landscaped yard. “I never knew
that your place was so big, “ said Pete.
“Yeah, but it’s nicer now that it used to
be since Dad added the fireplace.”
There were front and back doors and a
side door which led to the garage, which
was empty except for the three parked
10-speed mountain bikes and two
motorcycles. They boys went in the side
door. “This is always open because my
sisters come home early and they don’t
have a key.”
Peter wanted to see the house so Mark
started with the living room. It was newly
painted. Mark turned on the TV and the
loud noise worried Pete. “Don’t worry,
the nearest house is a mile away from
here,” Mark shouted. Peter felt more
comfortable when he saw that no
houses could be seen in any direction
from the large windows of the living
room, kitchen and dining room.
The dining room was not a place to play
for boys, since china, silver and glass
dishes were displayed on shelves. The
boys moved into the kitchen where they
made sandwiches. Mark said they
wouldn’t go to the basement because it
had been flooded six months ago and it
still has a smell.
“This is where my Dad keeps his coin
collection,” Mark said as they looked
into his dad’s home office. Mark
bragged that he could get spending
money whenever he needed it since he
discovered that his Dad kept a lot of
change in a desk drawer.
There were three upstairs bedrooms.
Mark showed Peter his mother’s closet
which had furs and a locked box that
held her jewels. His sister’s room was
uninteresting except for the iPad, which
Mark carried to his room. Mark bragged
that the bathroom in the hall was his
since one had been added to his sister’s
room. The big highlight in his room,
thought, was a leak in the ceiling where
the old roof had finally rotted.
Work with your partner and circle the details that a home buyer will want to
remember.

Slow down
when you don’t
understand.
Speed up
when you see that
“I already know
about this.”

T: The House Your Names:_______________ _______________
How would a thief read the details in this story? “What is in this house? Is there something
valuable that I can sell? Will I get caught? How close are the neighbors? Can I get in and get out
and not be noticed?”
Mark the sentences or the details that will attract the attention of a person who wants to steal
things from a house. What will a thief remember about this story?
The two boys ran until they came to the
driveway. “See, I told you today was
good for skipping school.” said Mark.
“Mom is never home on Thursday,” he
added. Tall hedges hid the house from
the road so the pair strolled across the
finely landscaped yard. “I never knew
that your place was so big, “ said Pete.
“Yeah, but it’s nicer now that it used to
be since Dad added the fireplace.”
There were front and back doors and a
side door which led to the garage, which
was empty except for the three parked
10-speed mountain bikes and two
motorcycles. They boys went in the side
door. “This is always open because my
sisters come home early and they don’t
have a key.”
Peter wanted to see the house so Mark
started with the living room. It was newly
painted. Mark turned on the TV and the
loud noise worried Pete. “Don’t worry,
the nearest house is a mile away from
here,” Mark shouted. Peter felt more
comfortable when he saw that no
houses could be seen in any direction
from the large windows of the living
room, kitchen and dining room.
The dining room was not a place to play
for boys, since china, silver and glass
dishes were displayed on shelves. The
boys moved into the kitchen where they
made sandwiches. Mark said they
wouldn’t go to the basement because it
had been flooded six months ago and it
still has a smell.
“This is where my Dad keeps his coin
collection,” Mark said as they looked
into his dad’s home office. Mark
bragged that he could get spending
money whenever he needed it since he
discovered that his Dad kept a lot of
change in a desk drawer.
There were three upstairs bedrooms.
Mark showed Peter his mother’s closet
which had furs and a locked box that
held her jewels. His sister’s room was
uninteresting except for the iPad, which
Mark carried to his room. Mark bragged
that the bathroom in the hall was his
since one had been added to his sister’s
room. The big highlight in his room,
thought, was a leak in the ceiling where
the old roof had finally rotted.
Work with your partner and circle the details that a THIEF will want to remember.

Make a
connection
between the
text and your
life
Connect the article to what you
know about the world.
Make a link to other books that
you have seen.

Predict
Stop and
think about
what you have
already read.

Ask
yourself
a question
and then answer it
with the new information that you got
from the article.

Think about
what you
readand write a
summary of the
lessons that you
learned.

Visualize. Close
your eyes
and see
the story
in your
mind.


Tell
someone
about what you
read.
Read it
again.

Look for
patterns in
the structure of the
book.

Describe a good reader.
Someone who is satisfied with reading
Someone who likes reading
Someone who is happy when reading
What do good readers do?
Reread
Skip words
Read slowly sometimes
What do some students do? (“fake reading”)
Fall asleep
Day dream
Forget what I read
Look at the words without knowing what they mean
See the movie instead of reading the novel
Ask people what the book is about so I don’t have to read it.
Look at cliff notes and spark notes and Wikipedia
Read without paying attention
Read too fast
Start books and never finish them
Just look at the words
Lose my place while reading.

Are you FIXED or
Growing?
FIXED ATTITUDE
“Some kids are born good readers and some
kids aren’t. I’ve always been a bad reader
and I always will be. It’s too late for me.”
GROWTH ATTITUDE
“Reading is a skill like
riding a bicycle,
cooking a steak and
hitting a tennis ball or
throwing a football.
With practice and a
good coach, I can learn to read.”

By ninth grade, many students have
been defeated by test scores,
letter grades and special groups.
Struggling readers are
embarrassed by their labels and
often think that reading is
boring. They avoid reading at all
costs.
Reading
has no
pleasure
or purpose(p. 9).

Abraham Fischler
Dr. Fischler wrote a book with seven principles in his book called “Building More-Resilient
Schools” … You can download the free ebook at www.TINYURL.com/FischlerEbook
Get his posters at www.TinyURL.com/FischlerPosters
Putting the posters into practice:
Ms. Keo is the
principal and she
said, “Every
teacher is a
reading
teacher.” So
that’s how this
reading program
began at our
school.

Learning should be fun for the learner
Apply this idea:
D. Ecosse (Learning is fun at the Ron Clark Academy)
Visit Ron Clark’s academy using YouTube
www.TINYURL.com/HSRonClark
www.TINYURL.com/HSRonClarkvideo
Another way of saying this is “Give students time to finish a project.”
Students come into the school with different amounts of knowledge. Traditional schools have a
fixed amount of time for stuff to be learned. Dr.Fischler asked, “What if we make
the time a variable? What if we are flexible about the
amount of time that the student uses to complete a
task?”
In our reading program, we give time to allow students to decide what to read. We put shelves in
the hallways and place books and magazines for students to grab, open, take, and maybe return.
The focus is on giving flexibility.

Start where the learner is at, not with the textbook. What if each student had a
separate lesson plan?
What if we treat each student like a separate class?

Reading posters
“All students
can read any
document if
they receive
enough
support.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Mark the
book for the
next reader
(and the next
reader might
be you
tomorrow).
Make learning visible: Put something on the paper so you can show yourself that you are making
progress

It takes seven
times to transfer
information from
the page into
your brain and
another four
times to store it
permanently.

CULTURE STARTS WITH THE TEACHER
“If you permit it, you promote it.”
If you allow it, you ________”
(Go to www.TINYURL.com/HalUrbanVideo and get the rest of the phrase)
That’s why the discussion focuses on
“what do you want to hear in
the classroom?” and “What do
you NOT want to hear in the
classroom?”
The ebook with the free lessons is at www.TINYUYRL.com/7LessonsHalUrban

Building the positive culture
Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) is …
PBIS is an active approach
that schools use to improve
school safety and promote
positive behavior.
The focus is prevention,
not punishment.
PBIS recognizes that students can meet behavioral expectations when they know what the
expectations are. Everyone learns what’s considered to be appropriate behavior and uses a
common language to talk about it. Throughout the school day—in class, at lunch, and on the
bus—students understand what’s expected of them.
● Students can learn behavioral expectations for different situations.
● Students learn expected behaviors for each school setting through explicit instruction
and opportunities to practice and receive feedback.
● Stepping in early can prevent more serious behavior problems.
● Each student is different, so schools need to give many kinds of behavior support.
● How schools teach behavior should be based on research and science.
● Tracking a student’s behavioral progress is important.
● Schools gather and use data to make decisions about behavior interventions.
● School staff members are consistent in how they encourage expected behavior and
discourage infractions.
In many schools that use PBIS, students receive fewer detentions and suspensions, and earn
better grades. There’s also some evidence that PBIS may lead to less bullying.
https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/treatments-approaches/educational
-strategies/pbis-how-schools-support-positive-behavior

Hal Urban’s stories
The seven lessons: www.TINYURL.com/7LessonsHALUrban
This set of 7 Lessons is available as a separate ebook.
Use the posters to create an atmosphere in your classroom or in your home that is positive.
This free ebook was compiled to encourage you to learn more about Hal
Urban’s books. Please visit www.HALUrban.com
What are we
celebrating today?
The words on this page come from Positive Words, Powerful Results by Hal Urban. Learn more
at www.HALURBAN.com
“You are what you are
because of what goes
into your mind.”
Zig Ziglar

Screen Out
the Trash
Avoid people
who complain
Click carefully
Words, videos and images
affect the way we think and
the way we talk.
at www.HALURBAN.com

Free Lessons for the No Poison Pledge Ebook
The free ebook of posters is available at
www.TINYURL.com/NoPoison100 You can download and
print the ebook. This lesson plan is included at the back of
the book. See the website www.TINYURL.com/NoPoisonSite
Lesson Title Steps Check
1 Which do you prefer, A or
B?
You have choices
2 Which of these do you not
want?
Introducing The Dirty Thirty
3 Which of these do you
want?
Introducing The Thoughtful Thirty
4 Bruce Diaso Challenge Can you go 24 hours without saying
something negative or complaining?
5 Put 4 quotes around your
home
Cut out small quotes and cut out several
posters. Put the small quotes and posters
around your home (on mirrors, windows
and door frames)
6 Guardrails
And Gates
And Nets and baskets
a) What guardrails will you put up so
you will not receive negative information?
What will you choose to NOT do?
b) What gates will you open to allow
good things into your mind? What will you
put in front of your mind?
c) How will you collect good
information and quotes? How will you
filter the Internet and TV to collect
positive things for your basket?
7 Choose a poster, draw it,
take a photo and send the
photo to
ManyPosters@gmail.com
Share what you have learned. You have
inhaled a lot of positive quotes. Now
select a quote or find a new quote and
create a poster to share with others.
Exhale.

This set of lessons was created to support the work of Hal Urban. Dr. Urban provided the free
posters in his book. The posters in the ebook were created by volunteers.
a) We hope you will help in creating better posters
b) We hope you will share this lesson plan and the free ebook with neighbors and friends
c) We hope you will agree with Zig Ziglar that “You are what you are because of what goes
into your mind.”
d) We hope you will take steps to put up guardrails and make choices about what you will
allow into your mind.
The purpose of this set of 7 lessons is to encourage you to
look at Hal Urban’s book called Positive Words, Powerful
Results. You can learn more by visiting Hal’s website
www.HALUrban.com.
The wording in the posters are copyright by Hal Urban and are reprinted
here to encourage you to visit his website (to see his books) and learn
more from his YouTube videos at www.character.org.
See www.TINYURL.com/HalUrbanVideo as an example of his videos at the
Character.org YouTube channel.

Lesson 1
Students: Please read the following words in the box.
TYPE A: “You need to learn this!” with a lot of shouting
“If you don’t do this assignment, you will fail
this course and have to repeat it!”
OR
TYPE B: “Please tell me which of these
activities you want to work on today.”
Lesson Title Steps
1 Which do you prefer, A or B? You have choices
Which do you prefer, A (shouting, threats) or B (choices)?
Write your answer below (and explain how each type makes you feel):

Lesson 2
Lesson Title Steps
2 Which of these to do not
want?
Introducing The Dirty Thirty
Ask students, “How do you feel when you hear people saying negative things?”
Ask students, “How do you feel when you hear two people shouting at each other?”
Ask students, “How do you feel when someone shouts at you?”

Here are five types of behaviors:
Swearing
Complaining
Rude comments
Gossip
Put-downs
Do you like it when people... Yes No
Swear and say “bad words”?
Complain and focus on what’s wrong?
Make rude comments?
Gossip and spread rumors?
Put down other people?
After showing the students the list of 5 items, then show the list of the “Dirty
Thirty” and ask the students to circle each thing that they do NOT want to
hear.

Circle each thing that you do NOT want to hear.
The Dirty Thirty

1.Bragging
2.Swearing
3.Gossip
4.Angry words
5.Lies
6.Hurtful words
7.Judging others
8.Playing “poor me”
9.Making discouraging
remarks
10. Embarrassing
people
11. Excessive criticism
12. Complaining
13. Rude language
14. Teasing
15. Manipulation
16. Phony comments
17. Ethnic/racial slurs
18. Sexist comments
19. Age-related
put-downs
20. Pointing out what’s
wrong
21. Threats
22. Arguing
23. Interrupting
24. Always topping
someone else’s story
25. Being a know-it-all
26. False flattery
27. Yelling
28. Talking down to
people
29. Exaggerating
30. Blaming and
accusing others
at www.HALURBAN.com Get the free ebook of posters at www.TINYURL.com/NoPoison100

Lesson 3
Lesson Title Steps
3 Which of these do you want? Introducing The Thoughtful Thirty
Look at the Thoughtful Thirty list. Ask yourself, “Which of these actions do I want people
to use on me?”
Choose one of the actions and write about how you will put the idea into action. (By writing or
thinking about a positive action, you are generating positive chemicals in your brain).

The Thoughtful Thirty
1. Give encouragement.
2. Express thanks.
3. Acknowledge others.
4. Extend greetings.
5. Give a compliment.
6. Congratulate someone.
7. Teach, give instructions
in a gentle way.
8. Offer words of comfort.
9. Inspire others.
10. Celebrate and cheer.
11. Inquire, express
interest.
12. Mend relationships.
13. Make others laugh.
14. Show faith and trust.
15. Share good news.
16. Praise, honor, build
up.
17. Express caring.
18. Show understanding
and empathy.
19. Give approval.
20. Extend an invitation.
21. Show courtesy and
respect.
22. Give advice and
counsel.
23. Apologize.
24. Forgive.
25. Offer to help.
26. Tell the truth.
27. Point out the good.
28. Use terms of
affection.
29. Provide valuable
information.
30. Communicate love.

at www.HALURBAN.com

Lesson 4
Lesson Title Steps
4 Bruce Diaso Challenge Can you go 24 hours without saying
something negative or complaining?
Ask students to find three details in the story about Bruce Diaso.
When I was a student at the University of
San Francisco (USF), I met an 18-year-old
student who had a profound effect on my
life because he had the best attitude of
anyone I’ve ever known.
Bruce Diaso had been a high school football
player and was planning to attend the
University of Notre Dame on an athletic
scholarship. But in his senior year, he was
stricken with polio. He almost died, was in
the hospital for several weeks, and ended
up paralyzed. He could talk and move his
head, hands and fingers, but he couldn’t
move his legs and arms.
He earned an academic scholarship
to USF. His roommate and a few guys who
lived in dorm rooms nearby were his
caretakers. Bruce was the most admired
and loved student at the university in the
four years he was there. He had a big smile
and a good word for everyone. He wanted
to learn everything. One day, I got to eat
lunch with Bruce alone. I asked him if he
had been born with his incredible attitude.
He laughed and said, “No, I
promise you, I
wasn’t born with
this attitude. I
developed it. I
learned that it’s a
choice, and that
anyone can have
the same attitude
that I have.”
Bruce said that when he got polio
and learned that he would never walk or lift
his arms again, he sank into a deeply
negative funk. He said the two words best
described his attitude: anger and self-pity.
His doctor challenged him one day by
asking if the anger and self-pity were
making things better or making things
worse. He said, “Bruce, change your
attitude, change your life.” Bruce realized
that he was poisoning himself. And he
realized it was his choice to do so.
Bruce thought about it for a few days and
eventually chose two new words that would
define his attitude: “Thankful” and
“opportunity.” He became thankful for all
the things that he used to take for granted:
family, friends, teachers, his country, and
many opportunities.
I suddenly realized that I had all the
same things in my life (without the
handicap) that Bruce had and that I had
always taken them for granted. Bruce taught
me that “our attitude is our control center.”
He said:

"Whether you’re in perfect health or have a
handicap like mine, you can choose your
attitude any minute of the day. Do you
realize that being able to choose your own
attitude is the greatest power and the
greatest freedom you will ever have?”
My conversation with Bruce turned out to be
what I call a “defining moment." It changed
my attitude and it changed my life.
I told Bruce’s story to my high school
students after Bruce died in 1972. It was a
valuable lesson about the power and
freedom we have to choose our attitude no
matter what the circumstances.
I also gave them an assignment
called the “Bruce Diaso Memorial
Challenge”: To go 24 hours without
complaining about anything. It took 23
years before I found a student who could do
it. She said, “I just thought
of something that I
should be thankful
for every time I
started to complain.
We have a lot more
to be thankful for
than we do to
complain about.”
Ask students to take the Bruce Diaso Memorial Challenge. Ask students,
“Can you go 24 hours without complaining?”
What did you complain about?
What can you do so that you don’t complain about that situation again? What will change
in our mind so that the next time a chance comes to complain, you will decide to “be like Bruce
Diaso”? What do you need to tell yourself so that you choose a positive attitude instead of
complaining?

Lesson 5
Lesson Title Steps
5 Put 4 quotes around your
home
Cut out small quotes and cut out several
posters. Put the small quotes and posters
around your home (on mirrors, windows
and door frames)
The sheet of “mini-posters” or reminders or short quotes can be printed and cut into small
posters. You can use tape to put the posters around your home. Look at
www.TINYURL.com/RemindersOnTheMirror
After you put the mini-posters and reminders around your home, take a moment to read one of
the mini-posters.
1. What are you thinking about after you read the mini poster?
2. What feelings do you have?
3. What changes do you notice in your thoughts and feelings because you have seen
these mini-posters?
4. Is your speaking becoming calmer?
5. Do you use more positive words?

Lesson 6
Lesson Title Steps
6 Guardrails
And Gates
And Nets and baskets
a) What guardrails will you put up so you will
not receive negative information? What will you
choose to NOT do?
b) What gates will you open to allow good
things into your mind? What will you put in front
of your mind?
c) How will you collect good information and
quotes? How will you filter the Internet and TV
to collect positive things for your basket?
Ask students, “Look back at what you wrote in Lesson 2.
How do you feel when you hear a person using swear
words?”
What do we let into our minds?
Our attitude and our whole character are also influenced by what we let into our minds.
Every day of our lives, we receive thousands of messages from many sources.
What do I watch on TV?
What do I read?
Which video games do I play?
Would you let someone walk into your home with a bag of garbage and dump that garbage in
your living room? That’s what happens when we let “anything” come onto phone screens and
onto TV screens. What movies do you watch? What images are entering our minds?
a) What guardrails will you put up so you will not receive negative information? What will you
choose to NOT do?
b) What gates will you open to allow good things into your mind? What will you put in front of
your mind? What websites and YouTube channels do you trust for positive information?

c) How will you collect good information and quotes (what kind of NETS do you use)?
How will you filter the Internet and TV to collect positive things for your basket?
The purpose of this activity is to build your brain’s ability to concentrate.
Dr. Daniel Amen has pointed out that automatic negative thoughts generate negative chemicals.
When the brain has negative chemicals, we are under stress and we do not remember well. We
do not learn when we are agitated or in fear.
Dr. Amen points out that we learn better when we are calm and when we can choose when
and how we learn. We learn better when we are calm and when someone is not being
negative. www.TINYURL.com/SunANTS
“One look at an email can rob you of 15 minutes of
focus. One call on your phone, one tweet, one instant
message can destroy your schedule or blow off really
important things like love and friendship.”
Jacqueline Leo
What technology distracts your attention?
Item Many times a day It’s on vibrate It’s off
Phone
Email
Notifications for
Youtube and
messages

Lesson 7
Lesson Title Steps
7 Choose a poster, draw it, take
a photo and send the photo to
ManyPosters@gmail.com
Share what you have learned. You have
inhaled a lot of positive quotes. Now
select a quote or find a new quote and
create a poster to share with others.
Exhale.
Here is an example of a hand-drawn poster.
Steps for this lesson:
1. Select a quote.
2. Draw a poster.
3. Hang the poster in your home.
4. Take a photo and send the photo to ManyPosters@gmail.com
If your poster is positive in tone, we’ll add it to the collection.
www.TINYURL.com/100PostersCollection is the direct link.

Thank you for your help in reading this far.
Thank you (in advance) for taking time to send your suggestions to us.
Thank you for your positive thoughts.
How can we improve this set of lessons?
If you are a teacher, a parent or a person
who wants more positive thoughts, you
have permission to copy this set of lessons
and share it. You can improve these
lessons and posters and make your own
versions. Hal Urban wrote the book with the
hope that teachers and parents will use
these ideas. That means you can copy all of
this or part of this lesson plan and share it.
COPYLEFT 2020 (no copyright) YOU CAN
COPY THIS EBOOK AND SHARE IT.
Please take time to visit www.HALUrban.com
Click on www.TinyURL.com/HalUrbanVideo
Send suggestions to
ManyPosters@gmail.com and
LookAtThisPage@gmail.com. Or text your
suggestions and posters to (954) 693-6379
You can make the world a slightly better
place by improving these posters and by
providing options to the next reader. Give us
your permission to post your poster at
www.TINYURL.com/NoPoisonSite and
www.TINYURL.com/100PostersCollection
Creative Commons: No copyright on these
words. 200 years from now, who cares who
wrote this sentence? Let’s do what we can
to spread Hal Urban’s idea of “positive
words leading to powerful results.”
You have the ability to push this idea to
the next person. Your “click and share”
will spread this idea to people that I have
not reached. You have influence. Use
your influence to spread Hal Urban’s
book and these lessons.
Thank you.
PEOPLE WHO SPEAK ANOTHER
LANGUAGE
If you speak another language, how
about translating this list of free
lessons?

Six more posters and some “mini-reminders”
What kinds of
words are going
into our minds?
What kinds of
words are coming
out of our mouths?

“You are
what you are
because of
what goes
into your
mind.”Zig Ziglar

“One look at an email can
rob you of 15 minutes of
focus. One call on your
phone, one tweet, one
instant message can
destroy your schedule or
blow off really important
things like love and
friendship.” Jacqueline Leo
My ringtone is “silent.”
Click “no” to notifications.
No phones at mealtime or when
we are with family and friends.


Every word that
we speak is
a chance to change
what is bad
into
something good.
Walter Mosley


We can feed our minds
with something positive
each morning.
Let’s think about good
things: whatever is true,
honest, pure, lovely,
just, and honorable.
Focus on the good.


The greatest
weapon against
stress is our
ability to choose
one thought over
another. - William James

Success is in
the doing, not
in the getting –
in the trying, not in
the triumph.
Life is hard … and not
always fair. Hal Urban
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Expect trouble as an
inevitable part of life and
when it comes, hold
your head high, look
it squarely in the
eye and say, “I will
be bigger than you.
You cannot defeat
me.” Ann Landers
We live by choice,
not by chance
Hal Urban
We have choices about
how we will respond.
We have the power
to choose our
attitude.
We are what
we repeatedly
do. Excellence is
not an act, but a
habit. (Aristotle)
It’s not how
much we
have, but how
much we enjoy.
(Charles Spurgeon)
Our rewards in
life will equal
the amount of
care we show
toward others.
Earl Nightingale
Be true to
your own self.
Kind words
cost little, but
accomplish
much. Hal Urban
Real
motivation
comes from
within. Hal Urban
When you want
something, you
become
motivated to
get it. (Dennis Waitley)
Goals are
dreams
with
deadlines
Hal Urban
True happiness
comes from the
right amount
of work for
the day.
(Lin Yutang)
Decide what you want,
decide what you are
willing to exchange for
it, establish your
priorities, and
go to work!
(H. Lamar Hunt)

The ebook is called “the No Poison Pledge” ebook because Hal Urban created a pledge
for each student to take. Here is the pledge:
The “No Poison” Pledge
I’m aware that many words act like toxins.
They poison the atmosphere.
I’ll do my best to avoid using any of the
Dirty Thirty while in this class.
I’m aware that other words act like
nutrients.
Positive words nourish the atmosphere.
I’ll do my best to use words from the
Thoughtful Thirty while in this class.
Date _____ Signature _________________
The “No Poison” Pledge is on page 104 of LESSONS FROM THE CLASSROOM: 20 THINGS
GOOD TEACHERS DO. Learn more at www.HALURBAN.com
Teachers: You can use this poster as a handout to your students. Ask them to sign the pledge.

Thank you for reading this far.
Please visit www.HALUrban.com
Click on www.TinyURL.com/HalUrbanVideo
Home is where
we build each other.
This poster comes from a free ebook that includes quotes from Positive Words, Powerful
Results by Hal Urban. Learn more at www.HALURBAN.com

Stefan Willems (the Library in the Classroom, Alex Haley story, The Magic of Carl Sagan)
The Value of a Classroom Library
By Stefan Willems
I read about 50 books a year. Many of the books are online, but when I finish a printed
book, I bring it to school and leave it in my classroom. I've been in the same classroom
for five years and so four of the book shelves have become full.
There are at least three positive points about starting a lending library in the classroom.
Discussions with other teachers
Some teachers wander in my room and glance at the shelves. Teachers who don't read
much are perhaps "encouraged" to pick up a book. Each of us has some influence and
we can make the workplace more satisfying by stimulating each other to discuss and
think more deeply.
Discussions with students
Often when a student asks a question, I can say, "I read a book about that topic two
years ago. It's over here," and I can usually find the volume. This shows students that
it's valuable to keep books around and that adults carry topics in their heads. When a
student is looking for references to include in a paper or a project, a book from my
shelves can sometimes add another dimension to a student's work.
The Third Teacher
A website called www.TheThirdTeacherPLus.com claims that (1) the first teacher is the
family, (2) the second teacher is at school and (3) the third teacher is the walls of the
classroom. What can we put around us? How can we rearrange furniture to
encourage discussions and deeper learning? Books are quiet preachers. That's what I
give them a place in my classroom.
I haven't lost more than 5 or 6 books. Some disappear and then reappear six months or
more later. Since I often don't look at a book for one or two years, it is nice to have the
book circulating, either in the classroom or in the cars of
colleagues.
Teachers: I encourage you to bring some of your books
from home and start your own classroom library.
Students: I encourage you to pick up a book and open it,
even if it doesn’t look easy to read. The book’s owner
might have some tips for you.

Jean Guillaume (The Millionaire Next Door and Financial Literacy)
Go to www.TINYURL.com/StartOnThisPageSite and see if you agree that he selected an
excellent page in that book.
One of our security guards, Big Al, says,
“Encouragement
strengthens
labor.”

We are grateful to Tai Lopez for introducing us to the phrase “Look for the Gold Nuggets”
Tai Lopez on reading
Introduction: Tai Lopez is perhaps the most effective reading teacher of this century.
Nearly one million people follow his YouTube channel. He reads a book a day and he
gives free lessons in his videos showing us how to read quickly and remember
“nuggets.” This essay is adapted from Tai’s website. Why not compensate him by
clicking on TaiLopez.com and then visiting one of his videos on YouTube?
Books are incredible. There’s
simply no other way to learn and
retain information from a
compendium of specialized human
knowledge. Authors living or dead -
all of them have invaluable wisdom
to impart -- which is why I read a
book a day, and you should too.
“How do you manage to retain the
lessons it teaches you?” There are
more than 7 billion people on this
planet. In two books I read
recently, Riveted and Where Good
Ideas Come From, the complexity
of our world and the pace of
learning is growing so
exponentially that one of the
greatest skills you can have is to
get through new material quickly and remember it.
Use a Black Pen
Get a black pen for writing in the book. Circle, underline, star passages to your heart’s
content. This helps you retain concepts.

There are more items for families at www.TINYURL.com/FreeForFamily2020.

Get a Timer
You can use an old-fashioned Minute Minder for this or do what I do and set a timer on
your smartphone or device. Set it for whatever timeframe you want -- I like to keep mine
at 45 minutes, and then consider the end goal:
“What do I want to learn from this book?”
Do you want to come away with a better knowledge of how to take care of your body?
Do you want to better understand how to manage your company’s growth? Whatever it
is, you need to go into this book with a mindset of coming away as a healthier, better,
smarter person.
Read Smarter, Don’t Work Harder
You have to read the right books and read them again and again so that new nuggets of
information get implanted into your brain. I have 150 different books that I enjoy and
recommend -- you can use my list as a starting point if you want.
And it’s not about the volume of books you read -- it’s about the repetition and the
brain’s ability to retain that information. So don’t go into this process thinking you’ll
read a book, come away with some details and then put it back on the shelf.
Think of these books as your friends or allies -- you’ll come back to them again and
again and continue to learn from them long after the actual reading process has
finished.
How These Books Can Help You Actually DO Stuff
You’re going to read these books so that you can actually do stuff with them. The next
step is to have a routine in place so that you can continue to do this and make it a part
of an ongoing habit.
I divide my books into three sections:
1. How-to
2. Classics and
3. Biographies
Different speeds for different books. It’s easy to read
how-to books quickly, but much more time-consuming to
read and retain information from classic literature and
biographies - so those are the ones you read more
slowly.
How-to books contain only a few nuggets of relevant
information. Everything else is just filler -- stories and
anecdotes that back up the key points. So it’s easy to
read and retain the key points of how-to books.

...and the next reader might be you.

Biographies: Remember in the first step that I told you to read a book with an endgame
in mind? Your end-game shouldn’t be “I want to speed-read this book” -- that defeats
the overall purpose.
Set Realistic Goals for Your Reading
Our brains can only take so much - especially with complex concepts. The more you
read, the stronger these neural networks in your brains become. You have to learn to
crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run.
I don’t read a book cover to cover. I’ll start out by reading the table of contents and the
back and inner jacket of the book -- about the author. Then, I’ll read the introductory
chapter. This section contains some of the best and juiciest nuggets of information in it.
Then I skip to the last chapter! There’s a lot of great insights here as well. After doing
this, you’ve already got a good handle on whether or not this book should be considered
one of your key “allies” and worth reading in depth.
You’ll then go back and look at the sections you purposefully missed. Your brain is a
master of piecing things together. Although I normally read things in order, it’s still able
to piece together major concepts from reading them out of order.
Don’t get stressed out if you feel mentally exhausted. You will, at first. You can only take
in a certain amount of knowledge and remember it. Making several passes through the
book allows you to retain more and get an overview of a sense of the book and its
contents.
There’s no better time than now to get started.
--Tai Lopez TaiLopez.com/books
tailopez.com/blog/how-to-read-more-books
To make a great project, it helps if you look at a lot of materials: articles, websites, TED
talks, videos and … books. Bravo, Tai Lopez! Reading Teacher of the Year
www.TinyURL.com/TaiLopezReadingTeacher


“When I read The
Autobiography of Malcolm
X, I made connections
between my life and
Malcolm’s life. I wondered
what I would do and how
my family would act in the
same situation. I connect
everything read to my life.
Thinking about my life
helps me understand
what I read.” Becky, grade 12.

“Real-world questions
are things you really
wonder about. They
affect a lot of people.
School questions are
easy to answer and just
affect people who don’t
understand what’s going
on. School questions are
just for teachers.”Amanda, grade 12 (page 79)

“Highlighting
makes me pay
attention. I had
to decide if I
understood or
if I was
confused.”(page 41)

“If I didn’t understand
something, I went back
and reread.
I thought
about it
and tried
to make
connections
because I wanted to
highlight my text in
pink.”(page 41) The exercise was to highlight a sentence in pink “if I
understand it” and in yellow “if I’m confused.”

“While I was marking the
article, my mind didn’t
wander. I had to really
think about what I was
reading. When we
discussed the article, I
could return to the
question marks near the
text and ask for help
instead of wasting time
searching for something
that I usually can’t find.” (page 42)

“Underlining and circling
words helped me stay
focused. Normally I just
read quickly, and when I’m
done, I don’t understand
what I’ve read. Marking
the book forces me to
slow down and think
about my reading.” (page 42).
www.TINYURL.com/MarkTheBook10 for a free ebook

“Good readers
know when they
are confused
and they do
something to
help
themselves get
unstuck.” (page 39)

“Go to the
beginning of the
article and mark
the sentence where
you started to
become confused.
Put a question
mark.”(page 40)

The Value of Publishing on Createspace (KDP)
By Karimah Grayson
Here are some thoughts about why I post my writing on a website that prints the books
“on demand.”
Yes, it's nice to build another source of income and it's smart to develop another part of
the brain (writing takes persistence, diligence and grit). But the best part is to show
kids that we teachers are following the advice that we give to them.
1. Write daily
2. Write at least two paragraphs.
3. Store your work online (I like Google Drive)
4. Share your work with others. (In my class, I ask students to send me
their work and I encourage them to show their work to each other and to their parents).
Each of these points is something that I practice. By publishing books with Createspace,
I show students that I "practice what I preach."
Many teachers don't take projects
far enough. Pushing students to
a wider audience also raises the
question about "Is this my
best effort? Is this
report good enough
to publish?" If it's not
good enough to publish, then it's
not good enough to submit for a
grade. Go back and rewrite it, find
more sources, dig deeper and
improve the quality of your analysis.
When we encourage students to publish, either on blogs or
through publishing a print-on-demand book, we encourage them
to become their own best critics. We encourage them to demand
more of themselves. Upload to KDP.Amazon.com

The
man
with
two
business cardsI found a laptop available on Craigslist for $85. It had the Chromebook operating system
installed on an old IBM laptop. Cool. I had no idea that Chromebook OS could work on a
PC. Mr. Andolina
also has skills as a
home repair and
home
reconstruction
guy. So he has two
business cards.
What if students
could have two
cards? The first
card says, “I can
do this” and the
next card says, “I
can do that.”
One of my
students has a Car Detailing business, so his website and card tells us what he can do.
www.TINYURL.com/MandBCarDetail Go ahead and look at it.

www.TINYURL.com/MandBCarDetail
So when we say that we have an interesting reading program at our high school, that means
“we ask students to create business cards to describe
their skills.” We support those cards with free websites.
Guess what happens? Kids read more.
“Whoa! You can do that?”
“Hey, Jamar, look at what Holandey can do.”
http://tinyurl.com/holandeyanswers

The Reading Program at our high school
The Reading Program at our high school
is focused on a series of books called
EDGE, which is published by National
Geographic and has a range of articles,
poems and short stories.
Our school subscribes to Reading Plus,
which is a computer program that guides
and trains the user to look more quickly at
the lines of text.
For readers who struggle more than the rest
of the students, we offer training in “how to
recognize words” (it is a program called
“sight words”).
In addition to the “official” reading
program (using articles on computers), the
reading program has “free” parts. Free to
the students:
Mark the book for the next reader.
And you might be the next reader.
“Look at this page” -- This is a free
program for students. Other readers
have identified a book that is special to
them. These readers mark a page and
then point the camera at the page and
explain WHY that page is a good place to
start in the book. Adults carry a book
and say, “Look at this page.” Adults
show others where to find information
in a book. The enthusiasm is heard on
the video. You can see the channel at
www.TINYURL.com/sunLookAtThisPage.
Book summaries: These summaries
are printed in groups. The batches are
pulled from www.FourMinuteBooks,
www.TaiLopez.com/books , and other
sources. Please visit the websites that
are listed so that you can sign up for
their new summaries of books.
Make a business card: When a
student makes a business card (which
we photocopy onto cardstock in black
and white), that student says, “Hey,
this is what I can do.” Then other
students can look at the business card
and give feedback -- and everybody is
reading more.
Make a free website. When a student
makes a free website, that student says,
“Hey, this is what I can do.” Then
other students can look at the website
and give feedback -- and everybody is
reading more.
Share videos: When students share
videos with other students, a dialog
starts.
Read lyrics from rap songs: When
rapper MMK Baby Zoee posted his “No
Hook” video, several students told me, “I
like the words by Baby Zoee.” There is a
theory that students will often prefer to
read the work of other students instead
of reading words that adults have
recommended.
Write lyrics or essays: Students are
more likely to read the work of
musicians and artists than they are to
read works by Mark Twain. Or see the
lyrics of Jacoby Smith:
www.TinyURL.com/MMKBabyzoeSite
Collect photos and write about the
photos: This reading program depends
on students learning how to collect

photos on a Photos folder in Google
Photos, then link those photos to a
document in Google Docs, and then
uploading the document as a PDF to
Kindle Direct Publishing. Then the
PDF is printed and students have a
collection of their photos with
explanations and comments next to the
photos.
Build your DIGITAL library and
create a space where you say, "This
material might be useful someday and I
know where it is located." Where do you
get free ebooks? Sometimes teachers
send you PDFs that might be useful.
We give books to students. The City
of Fort Lauderdale hunts for at least
1000 books annually for each of its 68
“little free libraries.” A typical free
library goes through 20 books a week.
The city recently spent $400 for 20,000
books in just one month. Our school
competes with the city to get books into
the hands of our students and to any
visitors to our school. We also give away
a collection of “reminders” and this
Reading Program book ($3 on
KDP.Amazon.com) and a notepad with
positive quotes (cost: 30 cents).
We ask students to select a book.
We spend $9 per student for a typical
book on Amazon: $5 for the book and
$4 for postage. A school of 250 students
often spends nearly $1500 on training
teachers (3 hours x $20/hour x 15
teachers plus 15 books at $15 and lunch
at $10 each = $900 + 225+ 150). Why
not put that money into books that each
student asked for?

Invitation from a teacher to a student: “I'm sending
this document to students who have given me their
email addresses. I do not intend to "bomb" you with
materials. Remember that Gmail gives you a lifetime
of 15 Gigs free...so you can delete this document if
you want or you can save it to your Google Drive.
You can create a second Google Gmail and save
extra stuff on an additional 15 gigabytes.”
----------
Every teacher is a reading teacher
If you are a teacher at our high school, our
principal has asked you to become certified
in reading IN ADDITION to your subject
(math, history, science or whatever). This
focus on reading requires all teachers to
pass the READING subject area exam for
the State Of Florida. There are sample
questions available at
footballballonjupiter.blogspot.com. If you
need more sample questions to study, you
can get them at ftceprep.com.
The reading program is further supported
by training. Part of that training is studying
the books by Cris Tovani. This activity book
has focused on Tovani’s book called I Read
it, But I Don’t Get it: Comprehension
Strategies for Adolescent Readers.
That’s a complicated way of saying, “Here
are tips to help teenagers understand when
they read.”
Quotes from struggling students who used
to struggle with reading help to show
teachers (and students) that there is hope.
Much of the success of our reading program
at our high school rests on our principal,
who agrees with Cris Tovani: “All teachers
are reading teachers.” The Tovani book
is given to each teacher with markings (the
book was marked for the next reader). The
teachers at our high school have an
enormous weight -- not only are they asked
to guide students through a subject, but they
are also charged with helping students
improve their skills at reading. This activity
book is one way to support our teachers.

The format of this book has been laid out a bit
like the BRAIN SMART series, where there is a
POSTER and a single sentence in large letters on
the left (even) pages of the book and the text is
on the right (odd) pages of the book. You are
encouraged to flip through this book and look at
the posters. Cut out the posters. Go ahead.
See what can go on the walls of your classroom.

PARENTS AND STUDENTS: This activity book is
available free to you. Yes, it is extra reading, but you
get strategies that you can use at home to improve
and support the reading skills of teenagers.
A good science, math, or history teacher is also a good
teacher of reading skills. Cris Tovani asks all adults to
“model effective reading” to teenagers. Mark the book
or article for the next reader. Read with a pen or
pencil in your hand.

We ask
students to
select a book.
We spend $9 per student
for a typical book on
Amazon: $5 for the book
and $4 for postage.
Training: A school of 250
students often spends
nearly $1500 in a morning
on training teachers (3
hours x $20/hour x 15
teachers plus 15 books at
$15 and lunch at $10 each
= $900 + 225+ 150). It’s
called “professional
development.”
Why not put
that money
into books that
each student
asked for?

Thank you for giving attention to the work of Cris Tovani. Why not give another look at
the videos that we have already looked at together?
http://literacylabs.org/ Tovani Group Literacy Labs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctovani
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvxpHeaseZg
www.TINYURL.com/TovaniVideo
www.tinyurl.com/readingteachervideo
https://tinyurl.com/readingteachervideo2
Here are some book covers from the Tovani
website.

Make
learning
visible
Put something on the paper
so you can show yourself that
you are making progress
? = question Circling or highlighting of
key words or phrases
! = surprising Write page numbers at the
front of the book

If the pages of a book are
filled with your notes, you
know that you read actively.
But why is writing necessary? The physical act of writing, with your own hand,
brings words and sentences more sharply before your mind and preserves them better in your
memory. To set down your reaction to important words and sentences you have read, and the
questions they have raised in your mind, is to preserve those reactions and sharpen those
questions.
Even if you wrote on a scratch pad, and threw the paper away when you had finished writing,
your grasp of the book would be surer. But you don't have to throw the paper away. The margins
(top as bottom, and well as side), the end-papers, the very space between the lines, are all
available. They aren't sacred. And, best of all, your marks and notes become an integral part of
the book and stay there forever. You can pick up the book the
following week or year, and there are all your
points of agreement, disagreement and doubts.
It's like resuming an interrupted conversation with the advantage of being able to pick up where
you left off.
And that is exactly what reading a book should be: a conversation between you and the
author. Don't let anybody tell you that a reader is supposed to be solely on the receiving end.
Understanding is a two-way operation; learning doesn't consist in being an empty receptacle.
The learner has to question himself and question the teacher. He
even has to argue with the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying. And marking
a book is literally an expression of differences, or agreements of opinion, with the author.
● Underlining (or highlighting): of major points, of important or
forceful statements.
● Vertical lines at the margin: to emphasize a statement already
underlined.

● Star, asterisk, or other doo-dad at the margin: to be used
sparingly, to emphasize the ten or twenty most important statements in the book. (You
may want to fold the bottom comer of each page on which you use such marks. It won't
hurt the sturdy paper on which most modern books are printed, and you will be able take
the book off the shelf at any time and, by opening it at the folded-corner page, refresh
your recollection of the book.)
● Numbers in the margin: to indicate the sequence of points the author
makes in developing a single argument.
● Numbers of other pages in the margin: to indicate where else
in the book the author made points relevant to the point marked; to tie up the ideas in a
book, which, though they may be separated by many pages, belong together.
● Circling or highlighting of key words or phrases.
● Writing in the margin, or at the top or bottom of the
page, for the sake of: recording questions (and perhaps answers) which a passage
raised in your mind; reducing a complicated discussion to a simple statement; recording
the sequence of major points right through the books. I use the end-papers at the back of
the book to make a personal index of the author's points in the order of their appearance.
The front of the book is to me the most important. After I have finished reading the book and
making my personal index on the back end-papers, I turn to the front and try to outline the
book, not page by page or point by point (I've already done that at the back), but as an order of
parts. This outline is, to me, the measure of my understanding of the work.
Mortimer Adler “How to Mark a Book.” www.TINYURL.com/MortimerMarktheBook


It takes seven
times to
transfer
information
from the page
into your brain
and another four times
to store it permanently.

So, don’t assume that the fish is dead.
Suspend judgment.
Ask, “What could be behind this
situation?”

Dr. Fischler gave hours to people
like Jeff Hutt, educators who
wanted to hear what Abe thought
of an idea...
https://tinyurl.com/meetabefischler

Why make a project?
The Goal: Throw inspiring words into the path of people.
Words can be boring.
“We need to do
something about the
conditions of
homeless people in
the USA.”
Without some photos, this sentence does not move me. Does it touch you deeply?

Search “2pac rose in concrete lyrics”
Did you hear about the rose that grew from a
crack in the concrete?
Provin nature's laws wrong, it learned how to
walk without havin feet
Funny it seems but, by keepin its dreams
It learned to breathe fresh air
Tupac Shakur knew
how to throw words
in front of people.

“Hey, you need to get some sleep.”
My friend was worried
about me. I pushed
myself and sometimes
I fell asleep (for two or
three seconds) while I
was driving. She
thought, “What
words can I use to
catch his
attention…?” Here
are the four posters
that she created for
me.
Posters by Fernanda
Fortunato

Guess what…? I started going to bed by 9 p.m. If I woke up at 4 a.m., I
went back to sleep and slept through until 6 a.m. Her posters got to the
audience (me).

Some young people decided to start a company. Before
they figured out “what” to produce, they talked about
“why” they wanted to work together.
Look at the Holstee Manifesto on the video. Go ahead, you can take two
minutes away from this book and go to
TINYURL.com/SunHolsteeVideo

These people started with “why I want to work. Here’s
what our company should be about. Here’s what we
believe in.”
They put the words in an
attractive package (a
video).

These are frames from the video.
Did you put down the book
and spent two minutes of
your life looking at this
remarkable video?
Go ahead. Look at this link.
TinyURL.com/sunHolsteeVideo
“...they will be waiting for you when you start doing things that you love…”

Their poster got my attention. But then I saw the video. The video grabbed my heart.
Which do you like better?
The video or the poster?
It’s creative to fit all those ideas into one chart.
But it’s also clever to show one sentence at a time with a
video or with a situation.

Abel Thun wanted to work in the medical field. He
selected “occupational therapy.”
How could he stand out?
He could write an essay about “why I want to work in the
medical field.”
He could create a video.
Hmmmm.
Why not both?

Go to www.TINYURL.com/AbelSite. Look at his website. His YouTube video has 51
views. At least four of those views were by people who work in colleges.
Abel got offers from four colleges after the admissions
officers saw his video.
That’s the power of a project.
That’s what a project does. A poster or a
video or an essay stands up for you and
says, “Hey, look at this.”

If you are talking about “here’s how the digestive system works,” I’m ready to yawn.
BRING ME INTO THE STORY.
“Here’s what happens when my cousin eats candy. She
has diabetes. It’s not pretty.”

(The READER: Aha! I don’t know what happens, exactly,
inside a person who has diabetes. I’m ready to see what you
have learned.)
The story, created in “storybooth,” got my attention: Storybooth
collects real stories from kids in their own words and brings them to
life ... Let me know when a new video is posted. ... My Life with
Cerebral Palsy .... We look for stories that will make us all laugh, think,
and feel and can show us…

Watch videos from people just like you. Every
story is the actual voice of the storyteller, no
actors here. And we collaborate with your
favorite YouTube as well from time to time. So
if we choose your animated video, you become
a YouTube star yourself!

Want a chance to get YOUR story animated? Go
to www.storybooth.com or download our APP
to record and submit. Don't be shy and don't
hold back. We want to hear your story
because....everyone has a story.

https://storybooth.com/

“Give me an example of a project”
The final product:
- a poster
- words on the floor or on a
window
- in a stall in a public
restroom
- on a YouTube video
- on your Instagram account
- an essay
- a blogpost
- a website
Free: TinyURL.com/MattBlazek
You can get a list of
more ideas from
TINYURL.com/BlazekProjects. It’s a free ebook.

How? The stages of a project
Start work on a project by gathering information.
read articles
look at websites
look at instagram accounts of people who wrote those articles
get the main idea of a book by reading a book summary or book review
TaiLopez.com/books
watch a TED or TEDx talk
open books and use method to “look for golden nuggets” (described by Tai Lopez)
Select a piece of information
Something has grabbed your attention. Maybe it is a quote. That’s what I wanted to
show my nephew, a quote about mobile phones.
Ask, “how can I attract the attention of people to this
information?”
“What photo can I put with these words that will grab the reader?”
Ask “What colors will capture the attention of the reader?”
Explain some details.
Where did the info come from?
What might happen if more people knew this information?
Reveal yourself: “This is why I find this information important. I’m giving you an
example about how to apply this information.”
Make your words come alive
Perform the information on YouTube
Or ask a friend to read what you have written while you hold the camera, pointing the
view at images that connect to the information.
Example: Holstee Manifesto
It was a series of statements.
It was a poster.
Then it was a video (showing a series of sentences.)
Create a campaign to get hits.
Create a series of email messages.

The worksheet: Five questions
Think of a quote that you want to distribute.
What photo would you use to help people
focus on the quote?
Get two sheets of paper, pens and some colored markers.
Write these boxes on one sheet and create the poster on
the second sheet.
Go ahead: Visit www.TINYURL.com/StartOnThisPageSite

The “Quote and Photo Poster” Project Worksheet Name: __________
Select some information.
Find some images (or videos)
Create a poster (on a sheet of paper or Canva.com)
“Here’s where I found this information…”
“This information will be useful to my [friend, brother, teachers] because…”
Perform the information on YouTube

“Do you want to hardwire your
brain for sports and playing
music and walking and
swimming and dancing and
learning
languages, or
for sitting
on a couch
in front of
the TV?”
Jay Gould, National Institute for Health
“You’re a teenager. You should try a lot of
things.”

“Do you want to
hardwire your brain
for sports and
playing music and
walking and
swimming and
making videos...

or for
sitting on a
couch in
front of
the TV?”

How to get “Into the Flow”

If you try something difficult and you don’t have the skills, you get
anxious

If you try something very
easy (below your skills),
you get bored.

If your skills match the
type of work, you are in
the flow.
If your
skills
match the work, you are
in the flow.
That’s why we match a book to your current
vocabulary (and why we encourage you to learn
more words)
TINYURL.com/FilmAVideowithaPhone

My hope is that
children will
respond to the
still, small
voice in their
hearts.
Andrew Young? MLK?
Maynard Jackson?
Jesse Jackson?

Politics is not perfect
but it's the best
available nonviolent
means of changing how
we live. Andrew Young? MLK?
Maynard Jackson? Jesse Jackson?


Tears will get
you sympathy;
sweat will get
you change.
Andrew Young? MLK? Maynard
Jackson? Jesse Jackson?
Fannie Lou Hamer?


Focus on
Good Things
When I want to complain, moan,
groan, whine, swear, gossip or
put down someone,
I can REFRAME
the situation.
I can find the Good

Today's students can
put dope in their
veins or hope in
their brains. If they can
conceive it and believe it, they
can achieve it. They must know
that it is their attitude that will
determine their altitude.
Andrew Young? MLK?
Maynard Jackson? Malcolm X?


The sunny
hours
When I want to complain, moan,
groan, whine, swear, gossip or
put down someone,
I can REFRAME
the situation.
Focus on the Good

Our dreams must
be stronger than
our memories. We
must be pulled
by our dreams,
rather than pushed by
our memories.Andrew Young?
MLK? Maynard Jackson? Malcolm X?

Leave the past behind, don’t regret,
move on and try again.
When the doors of
opportunity swing
open, we must
make sure that we
are not too drunk or
too indifferent to
walk through.
Andrew Young? MLK?
Maynard Jackson? Malcolm X?

Stay away from liquor and pay
attention to history and current
events.
If my mind can
conceive it, and my
heart can believe it, then I know
that I can achieve it.
Andrew Young? MLK? Maynard Jackson?
Malcolm X?

The purpose of this book is to give parents collections of short articles to
read AND MARK WITH A PEN. These collections are also available in a
smaller size that can fit in a large purse or in a man’s jacket or in the side
pocket of a car. TinyURL.com/MarktheBookSmall. You are encouraged to
mark the book and then “think aloud” about the articles in front of
children.
The more that people read, the more they know (if they read actively). Your
child is more likely to become an active reader after your child sees you reading
ACTIVELY.
You can show that you are
an active reader by using
a pen to mark
books and by "thinking
aloud" about your reading.
This book has articles for
you to mark. The goal is
for you to mark at least
one interesting sentence
and to talk with another
person about that sentence.
← This image appears here to
remind you to use a pen or
pencil to “mark the book for
the next reader.”


Reminders: It’s 5 minutes before the end of
class -- there is enough time to do two more
questions in that quiz. Take home a book
and mark the book for the next reader.
My college was
books, a good
library...
I could spend
the rest of my
life reading,
just satisfying my
curiosity.
Andrew Young? MLK? Maynard
Jackson? Jesse Jackson?
Fannie Lou Hamer?

Power takes a
step back only
in the face of
more power.
Andrew Young? MLK? Maynard Jackson? Jesse
Jackson? Fannie Lou Hamer?


In all our deeds,
the proper
respect for time
determines
success or
failure.


Don’t kill time.
There are
inches all
around us in
every
minute.-- Al Pacino, Any Given Sunday

You're not
supposed to be so
blind with
patriotism that you
can't face reality.
Wrong is wrong, no
matter who says it.


I try to face facts,
and to accept the
reality of life as I
get new experience
and new
knowledge.I keep an open
mind with the intelligent search for
truth.


Sitting at the table
doesn't make you a
diner. You must be
eating some of what's
on that plate. Being here
in America doesn't make
you an American. Being
born here in America
doesn't make you an
American.

If you are in the
stock market and
the real estate
market,then you are eating
at the American table -- do you
have an account with a micro investing
app?

Acorns.com StashInvest.com

Betterment.com RobinHood.com

When we say Afro
American, we
include everyone in the
Western Hemisphere of
African descent. South
America is America. Central
America is America. South
America has many people in it of
African descent


The real names of our
people were destroyed
during slavery. The last
name of my forefathers was
taken from them when they were
brought to America and made
slaves, and then the name of the
slave master was given. We
reject that name today.

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