A Crossover Show with the Just One More Book Podcast on “Elbert’s Bad Word and the Social Construction of Text”

On this show
Elbert’s Bad Word as a focus for CLIP and Just One More Book (JOMB), JOMB promo.

Click here to pop over to Andrea and Mark’s Just One More Book discussion regarding Elbert’s Bad Word, and then share your thoughts on the subject by posting comments on either of our sites.

Thank you to:
Dorothy Menosky., Kathleen Fay and Kevan Miller for commenting on the show. Thank you also to the Indykids group for linking to the CLIP Podcast on their site. Speaking of being linked on other sites, CLIP is also now listed on the Women in Podcasting Directory . Thank you to Judy Colvard for making that happen.

Finally, thank you to Adam and Andy of the Andycast for the station ID and a special thank you to Andrea and Mark of Just One More Book Podcast for their ongoing support of the show and also for working with me on this Crossover Show. What we have done is deliberately choose the same text, Elbert’s Bad Word , a picture book by Audrey Wood, from which to build our episodes for today’s show which we have released as simultaneously as possible. I think we’re on to something new and exciting as we take advantage of podcasting as a tool for transcending space and bringing to you complimentary perspectives and discussions , from two different shows, on the same text! You can access Just One More Book at www.justonemorebook.com where you will hear Andrea and Mark talk about Elbert’s Bad Word, which as mentioned earlier I will also be talking about today.

Books Mentioned:
Elbert’s Bad Word by Audrey Wood
Choice Words by Peter Johnston
Oliver Button is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola
The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein and Henry Cole

Authors Mentioned:
Hilary Janks
James Paul Gee
Peter Johnston

Podcasts and Websites Mentioned:
Just One More Book
AndyCast
Indykids

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Produced by:
Andy Bilodeau

To read a transcript of the show click on ‘more’ below.

Show #12 Transcript

A Crossover Show with the Just One More Book Podcast
on “Elbert’s Bad Word and the Social Construction of Text”

Intro

Hi, how are things going? I have something different for you today, on show #12 of the CLIP Podcast, that I really enjoyed doing, and that I hope you’ll enjoy listening to, but first thank you to Dorothy Menosky, Kathleen Fay, and Kevan Miller for commenting on the show. Thank you also to the Indykids group for linking to the CLIP Podcast on their site, www.indykids.net. Speaking of being linked on other sites, CLIP is also now listed on the Women in Podcasting Directory. Thank you to Judy Colvard for making that happen.

Finally, thank you to Adam and Andy of the AndyCast for the station ID and a special thank you to Andrea and Mark of Just One More Book Podcast for their ongoing support of the show, and also for working with me on a Crossover Show. Yup , you heard right. In this show, show #12, together with Andrea and Mark, we have created and are broadcasting a crossover episode! What we have done is deliberately choose the same text, Elbert’s Bad Word, a picture book by Audrey Wood, from which to build an episode on a show we have both released today! I think we’re on to something new and exciting as we take advantage of podcasting as a tool for transcending space and bringing to you complimentary perspectives and discussions, from two different shows, on the same text! You can access Just One More Book at www.justonemorebook.com where you will hear Andrea and Mark talk about Elbert’s Bad Word, which as mentioned earlier I will also be talking about today. I’ve included a link to the show in the shownotes as well. Rather than introducing Andrea and Mark’s show myself, I’ll let their brand new promo do the job but I will say this; what is most enjoyable about Just One More Book is the pleasure that clearly comes through both their voices as they share their impressions about each of the children’s books they review over their morning coffee, and as they talk about their experience in sharing the books with their daughters Bayla and Lucy.

Just One More Book Promo

Sticks and Stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. Does that saying bring back memories? I recall saying these words on occasion, as a child in the Philippines where I was born, and also in Canada, where I grew up. In his book Choice Words, Peter Johnston notes that language is not merely representational (although it is that), but that is also creates realities and identities. So, language therefore works in powerful ways to position people in relation to one another. This idea, although a very important one, is probably one that is difficult to take up with children. How do we talk about not just what words mean but how words mean things and how words used in particular ways can be very powerful, for instance in hurting, convincing or marginalizing others. One text that could create space for this conversation is Elbert’s Bad Word by Audrey Wood. My friends at Just One More Book do a very good job of detailing the book so go to www.justonemorebook.com for that review.

In a nutshell, the book is about a young boy who while at a dinner party hears a bad word he has never heard before.

“The word floated by like a small storm cloud. It was ugly and covered with dark, bristly hairs. With a swift flick of his wrist, Elbert snatched the word from the air and stuffed it into his back pocket.”

Then after a turn of events that results in a mallet landing on Elbert’s toe,

“The bad word sprang out of his mouth bigger and uglier than before.”

After having his mouth washed out with soap by his mother, the story continues with Elbert and the dinner party until the trouble began anew. As you might predict in the end Elbert finds new alternative ways of expressing his emotions and the big ugly word is replace with,

“My stars! Thunder and lighting, rats and blue blazes, suffering cats, blistering hop toads, zounds and gadzooks”.

So it’s a good book for thinking about alternate ways of expressing negative emotions. It’s also a good book for thinking and talking about the power of words and therefore the relationship between language and power. Some ideas to think about include,

What makes a word a bad word?

Who decides what words are bad?

Who is hurt or harmed by such words and in what ways?

Who is advantaged by such words?

How do such words work to position people in particular ways, for intance to reject some while accepting others?

Elbert’s Bad Word can create space for thinking about discourse and discursive practices (ways of talking, doing and being) and the social construction of language as well as how language can be re-constructed. Google James Paul Gee and/or Hilary Janks for more on this. There’s a part in the book that goes,

“Everyone at the party was shocked. They couldn’t believe their ears.”

This was regarding Elbert blurting out a bad word almost pointing a finger of blame of some sort on Elbert as if he discovered this bad word on his own, and as if it came from nowhere, and as though children should be held differently responsible for what comes out of their mouths, as though the adults in Elbert’s life played no part in making available such ‘bad words’. Children after all are primarily able to speak using the discursive practices for which they have access.

Tanya Korostil a Canadian colleage, uses art cards (postcard size copies of paintings and other works of art to help her primary aged students represent their thinking and what’s on their minds. I’m thinking that these art cards would work nicely with Elbert’s Bad Word as a tool for representing and subsequently coming up with alternate ways of talking about different emotions or experiences.

There are also many other books that can be paired with Elbert to talk about how words are constructed and the effects of words on others. These include The Sissy Duckling and Oliver Button is a Sissy. Random bullies after all usually start their assaults with mean words so working with children to understand how words are constructive and constructed is important.

Indykids & indykids.net is another terrific text to combine with Elbert. This newspaper which I focus on in show #10 offers a wonderful demonstration of kids and adults together using words in powerful ways to talk about issues of social justice and equity. For instance, in one issue they include an article on a different life for girls in a school in India. In another issue they write about the ongoing argument over teaching the theory of evolution versus intelligent design. I’ve also read a piece on knowing your human rights.

These kids are learning in a very purposeful, intentional way to do life work and in some cases to effect change towards more equitable ways of being through the craft of writing and deliberately choosing particular words to make a case for their arguments and positions.

I have linked all of the authors, book titles, publications and websites mentioned in the show notes so make sure to check that out at www.clippodcast.com

Thank you for listening I hope that our crossover show has left you with food for thought until next time…

Adam and Andy Station ID

Outro

Tags : age equity, audio, bad words, childrens books, classroom, education, elementary, podcast, school