Start with Joy: Designing Literacy Learning for Student Happiness

by Katie Egan Cunningham

In Start with Joy: Designing Literacy Learning for Student Happiness , author Katie Cunningham links what we know from the science of happiness with what we know about effective literacy instruction. When given a choice about what to write, children express hopes, fears, and reactions to life’s experiences. Literacy learning is full of opportunities for students to learn tools to live a happy life. 

Inside, you’ll find:



Seven Pillars: Cunningham discusses the seven pillars that guide her classrooms and are involved in each literacy lesson—Connection, Choice, Challenge, Play, Story, Discovery, and Movement.

Ten Invitations: Designed for teachers to improvise and make their own, these ten lessons may be presented at any time of year in the context of any unit and include children’s literature suggestions as well as recommended teacher talk to meet children’s specific needs.

Teaching Tools: Tools and resources that will help students tell their stories and make literacy learning something all students celebrate and cherish.

This book honors the adventure that learning is meant to be and aims to make happiness more tangible in the classroom. By infusing school days with happiness, teachers can support children as they become stronger readers, writers, and thinkers, while also helping them learn that strength comes from challenge, and joy comes from leading a purposeful life.

 

Genres: Teaching, School, Education

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2019

Reviews

[Alecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as I was beginning to think about classroom fanfiction, and this book is a little outside of my wheelhouse since it's more directed at elementary teaching contexts. I enjoyed it nonetheless! It includes many great ideas for incorporating joy and playfulness into classroom reading and writing, as well as citations and connections to associated research (e.g. in motivation, self-efficacy) that show why these ideas are so important. Students don't need to see challenging schoolwork as drudgery and work, they can thrive on it when they feel the joy.

[Ellen Riggenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous resource and such a joyful book to read. This book made me so happy to be a literacy teacher and I can’t wait to meet new students and make joy the priority. Katie’s book provides an endless supply of text ideas for the classroom, lesson ideas, and intertwines inspiring and delightful stories from the classroom. I love that at the heart of this work is the work I have learned to integrate into my own life to create more happiness. Of course this can be at the heart of our classrooms!

[Amy Bourgea · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book for teachers just starting out but most of theideas are not new.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for this book stressing the need to reclaim joy in literacy instruction

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this! I purchased a copy for everyone I supervise and am planning to structure next year's professional development around the seven pillars that Cunningham outlines.

[Susanne Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bring joy back to reading. Let's do it!

[Jamie K. Corbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My literacy instruction NEEDED this encouragement and inspiration. This is a worthy PLC-wide read!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book speaks to me because it embraces everything I firmly believe and love. Blending literacy with happiness (social-emotional well-being) is at the heart of I what I live and breathe. Katie Cunningham shares 7 Pillars of Happiness (Connection, Choice, Challenge, Play, Story, Discovery, and Movement) as a foundation for creating a literate and joyful learning environment for students and teachers. Her book is filled with suggested book titles and resources as well as a section called INVITATIONS in which she shares 10 lessons that build upon those pillars. I was able to read this book in one day because it had me captivated and inspired (and it was an unexpected snow day). I plan to go back and revisit sections and curate a collection of resources to help foster more JOY in the classrooms in which I work-many that complement ideas in my own book SPARK!: Quick Writes to Kindle Hearts and Minds in Elementary Classrooms Kudos, Katie for a brilliant and timely resource.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, LOVE this book! It scientifically proves why we need to teach with a focus on happiness. Wow! What a concept!!! There are so many good things about this book, I don’t know where to start. But if you are a teacher who is passionate about their students, who seeks to make real connections with your students and who wants to improve their practice, this book is for you. There are so many inspiring things in here. It is an easy read that not only affirms what you’re probably already doing in your class but it also loads you up with so many other ideas, lessons and concepts. You will want to start trying new things the very next day. This book is not to be missed!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked the first parts so pretty much a 4 there.
Ending wasn’t quite as fascinating but a solid 3.
It’s frustrating with ebooks to get to 74% and the rest of the book be source citations.