When we opened our first Ramona book, not in any particular order, I read my daughter one chapter and stopped for bedtime. My little girl was incensed that I would stop “so soon”. She insisted, “This is the most exciting book ever!” Ramona Quimby is one of my favorite characters, and I find the Ramona books to include fantastic reminders of Responsive Classroom practices and why we need them. Ramona is such a true character! With each book we watch her childish wisdom grow, her thoughts and actions true to her own person always. Her stories are filled with insights into classroom and life that every teacher should remember. That is why I believe every elementary teacher should revisite at least one Ramona book (bet you can’t stop at one!) by Beverly Cleary, before the start of school.
We all are
familiar with the four main Responsive Classroom practices,
- · Engaging Academics
- · Positive Community
- · Effective Management
- · Developmental Awareness
Ramona and
her family teach us a lot about what is engaging and that engagement is highly
connected to happiness. After being harangued
by family members for coming home late and soaked. . .
She simply stood there, cold,
dripping and feeling good. She felt good
from making a lot of noise, she felt good from the hard work of walking so far
on her tin-can stilts, she felt good from calling a grown-up pieface and from
the triumph of singing backwards from ninety-nine to one. She felt good being out after dark with rain
on her face and the street lights shining down on her. (Ramona and Her Father, p134)
. . .and
while playing ‘Brick Factory’ with Howie for hours and the importance of
physical effort. . .
Each grasped a rock in both hands and
with it pounded a brick into pieces and the pieces into smithereens. The pounding was hard, tiring work. Pow! Pow!
Pow!
Then they were reduced to smithereens to dust. (Ramona the Brave, p47)
. . . and
Ramona teaches us what happens when academics are not engaging. . .
“Ramona” Said Mrs. Griggs in a voice
that hinted she had caught Ramona napping.
“Five” answered Ramona. She was bored, not napping she had learned to
think about schoolwork, and at the same time think about other things in a
private corner of her mind. ‘Mrs.
Griggs, when do we get to make paper bag owls?’” (Ramona the Brave, p79)
Ramona and
Beezus Quimby teach us the importance of a positive learning community. Sometimes good isn’t always good enough. . .
“There wasn’t anything really wrong
with her, I guess,” answered Beezus. (Regarding
Ramona’s teacher) “She just wasn’t very exciting is all. . .”
“Was she unfair?” asked Mrs.
Quimby.
Beezus considered the question, “No.
But I was the kind of child she liked.”
(Ramona the Brave, p158)
Ramona’s
feelings on public apologies. . .
Ramona was horrified. Now?
In front of the whole class?
(Ramona the Brave p113)
. . .and
that the effect a teacher can have on a child, both bad. . .
Ramona dreaded school because she
felt Mrs. Griggs did not like her, and she did not enjoy spending the whole day
in a room with someone who did not like her, especially when that person was in
charge. (Ramona the Brave p122)
. . .and great!
(Ramona sitting in the hall avoiding
going to class was approached by her sister’s teacher.)
“I know you! . . .You are Ramona
Quimby. Also known as Ramona Q.” Ramona
was astonished she had expected him to tell her, if he knew who she was at all,
that she was Beatrice’s little sister. . . (watching him leave up the stairs).
. . She suddenly felt more cheerful, cheerful enough to face Room one once
more.
Ramona
reminds us praise is not always an effective management technique and must be
used cautiously. ..
(When her teacher makes an announcement and Ramona discovers
Susan copied her owl.)
Mrs. Griggs paused between Ramona’s
and Susan’s desks. Ramona bent over her
owl because she wanted to surprise Mrs. Griggs when it was finished, “What a
wise old owl Susan has made!” Mrs.
Griggs held up Susan’s owl for the class to see, while Susan tried to look
modest and pleased at the same time.
Ramona was furious. . . copycat!
(Ramona the Brave, p83-85)
Lucky for
Ramona, her family exhibits some effective management techniques. . .
Beezus: “Maybe if we feed them right away they’ll
think the party is over and go home.”
(Beezus and Ramona p121)
Aunt Beatrice: “Lots of times little children are naughty
because they want to attract attention.
I have an idea that saying nothing about her naughtiness will worry
Ramona more than a scolding.” (Beezus and
Ramona, p98)
And not so
effective. . .
Mother, who had bought The
Littlest Steam Shovel at the Supermarket to keep Ramona quiet while she
shopped one afternoon, was so tired of Scoopy that she always managed to be too
busy to read to Ramona. (Beezus and Ramona, p15)
One aspect that
Beverly Cleary brings to each and every book is a sense of where Ramona and
Beezus are in their development from the preschool Ramona, breathing in and out
of a harmonica, while riding in circles on her trike in the livingroom, to
Beezus blushing in preteen emotions as being cast as Mary opposite her school
crush, cast as Joseph in the school play.
The adults in the book occasionally tune into the girls developmental
stages.
(When Ramona signed her mother up to
sew her a sheep costume)
“I know,”. . . “But she is little and
these things are so important to her. I’ll
manage somehow.” (Ramona and her Father,
p150)
And sometimes
they underestimate the depth of her thinking. . .
Didn’t grown-ups think children
worried about anything but jack-o-lanterns?
Didn’t they know children worried about grown-ups? (Ramona and Her Father, p85)
These are
just a few of the many reasons I recommend reading at least one Ramona book
before school begins. Ramona will remind
you of the innocence of the children we will be working with, the joy, the
frustrations, and that it is all a part of life as a little human and the
people responsible for raising them. Ramona
will remind you why we embrace Responsive Classroom practices for creating safe
communities with engaging academics, and why we strive to use effective
management techniques and knowledge of developmental stages while we
teach.
Feel funny reading
to yourself? Find someone to read to
they will appreciate Ramona too!
