I have started reading The Evolution of Calpernia Tate to my class.  I actually downloaded (uploaded - I can never get that right) it to my Kindle over the summer and loved it.  I decided then that I would have to read it to students.

The book tells the story of a girl at the turn of the last century, who discovers that she can learn things about her world by observing them carefully and recording what she sees.  She asks questions and by observing the world around her, sometimes very small, ordinary things, finds the answers.  She is guided in this by her grandfather and the works of Charles Darwin.  

Calpernia is a rebel.  She likes to read and cuts her hair an inch at a time so her mother won't notice.  Granted, she didn't have the electronic and gadget distractions of a child her age at the turn of this century, but I still think she is a good role model for kids today. 

In class, we read literature books.  We probably get through 5 books a year.  This is beyond our reading curriculum.  Some of the books we read, some we listen to on audio CD while we read, and some I read to them.  I have some we do every year, including Harry Potter (we listen to this one, as Jim Dale is so much fun to listen to).   I don't give tests or assignments for these books.  Sometimes we do fun things related to the books, but they are just to help us make connections, and not for a grade or a score.  These books are all about connecting the students in my class to literature and getting them excited about books and the places they take us. 

The books we read are generally considered classics of children's literature, aimed at children in the 9 to 12 year old range.  There are books that have been approved by the district, on an official 'Literature List' distributed by the district librarians, but this list has not been updated since the 1980's.  We use some books on this list, but have added newer selections.   For this year, we have read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (always a good book to kick off our year at Hogwarts, er.. I mean school), and will read Bud, Not Buddy,  The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson,  The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and Ella Enchanted.  And I am currently reading Evolution of Calpernia Tate to the class.

One difference with Calpernia Tate is that we will be doing work while we read this book.  We will become naturalists as well.  On Friday, I handed out composition books that the students labeled  "Naturalist Notebook".    Next Friday, as we will every Friday for as long as I can, we will go outside, sit on the concrete path that leads to the driveway and bus turnaround, and look around.  We will sketch and label what we see.  We will make observations about the natural world around us.  Maybe someone will focus on the redwood trees that grow in the front of the school.  Maybe someone else will focus on the crooked boxwood that has been growing next to the school building for the 50 years of its existence.  Someone else may notice something in the grass, while another student may observe deer or cows or wild turkeys in the rolling hills just behind the houses across the street.  

I am hoping that Calpernia inspires some of us.  If one of us sees themselves as naturalists and goes on to make a contribution to what we know about our world, it will be a fantastic success.  I hope that all of us, myself included, learn something about what we see every day, by observing and watching for change and growth.  The goal is to learn by slowing down long enough to spend the time to look at what is around us.