[New Rooster] crowed just as he had every morning back home…
OCK CAY AWAY! OODLE Day OODAY.
and waited for the day to begin.
But it didn’t.
He took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs.
OCK CAY AWAY! OODLE Day OODAY.
                  .    .    .
And so, even after he learned how to say COCK A DOODLE DOO!
and KIKERIKI, WŌ WŌ WŌ, QUI QUI RIQUI, and KO KE KO KOO,
the rooster started every day with breakfast.
It was something everybody understood.
                                          from The New Rooster
                        written and illustrated by Rilla Alexander
          Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022

    Most of my grandparents and their friends learned English as a second language. They spoke with Russian and Eastern European accents. Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, and other Slovic languages were the languages they learned at their parents’ knees.
    When considering language, an accent refers to a person’s particular pronunciation. It does not include grammar, word order, or vocabulary. One interesting phenomenon is the cot/caught dichotomy. When my family and I moved from Cleveland to Youngstown, I was much slower to lose my Cleveland twang than my daughters were. 
    We’d sing rhyming songs on the way back and forth to visit their grandparents, and when my daughter rhymed “ball” with “doll,” I knew her language had transitioned to match Youngstown’s. My pronunciation of “doll” has no equivalent sound in the Youngstown area. And it does not rhyme with ball. Hot, father, box all have that same sound. Indeed, many people around here do not even hear the difference. 
    But dialects are a whole different ball game. Dialects are variations of a language. Although some expressions, word patterns, and even the tone or rhythm differ, people speaking a dialect of the same language can generally understand each other. American English and British English are dialects of English. African American Vernacular English
(AAVE) is its own dialect. So is ValSpeak. 
    Dialects serve a purpose. Since they are usually associated with a particular region of the country, “fitting in” can be important when a person relocates. The opposite is also true. Holding on to one’s identity by holding on to one’s own dialect makes a statement of its own.
    My mom used to tell us that what you say is not as important as how you say it. She was onto something. Language is full of nonverbal cues, including facial expressions, volume, pacing, and inflection. 
    Katherine Kinzler, a researcher and psychology professor at the University of Chicago, agrees with my mom. She goes further, though, to describe how that works. Before we can speak, we listen. Even very young babies can distinguish between their native language and foreign languages. They prefer what they know, at least in the “language department” of their developing brains.
    It’s human nature to want to be around people who are like us. And because children absorb so much information from their environment, it’s easy for them to learn assumptions from those around them. They can learn that some styles of talk are “better” than other styles. Then they might move to the next assumption, identifying “others” as less than. Less intelligent, less informed, less capable, less successful… 
    Dr. Kinzler studied children in the North (her own Chicago) and children living in the South. She and her team played voices from both regions and discovered (after factoring in TV’s and social media’s influence) that the kids preferred voices that were familiar to them. Kindergartners made no judgment distinction, but by fourth grade, both groups of children (Northern and Southern) said speakers from the North sounded smarter and those from the South sounded nicer. 
    Dialects can define a culture and reinforce stereotypes. ValSpeak (Vally Girls and Guys) users are usually young, white, and upper-middle-class. Their sentences tend to end with an uptick, so it sounds like they’re always asking a question. ValSpeak implies a ditzy consumerism.
    The very definitions that intended to explain the origination of AAVE (African American Vernacular English) unintentionally reinforced a negative stereotype. AAVE is a recognized dialect of English with its own grammar rules, vocabulary, and distinct pronunciations. Because its speakers are descendants of Africans kidnapped to serve the slave trade, a racial element became part of the definition. In the 1960s, Dr. Robert Williams, a Black social psychologist, combined “ebony” with “phonics” to coin the term Ebonics. Because its speakers were all Black, racial stereotypes overlaid the spoken language. Speakers of Ebonics, later named AAVE, were imagined to be less intelligent, lazy, sloppy…
    On the other hand, people whose dialect is Standard American English are presumed to be intelligent, thoughtful, altruistic…
    Language is not only about communication. It’s about social connection. The term code-switching refers to a person changing language or dialect within a single conversation. People use it to “fit in” with the dominant social group. Or hope to rise in social status. Immigrants, especially those who are new to a language, might speak Standard English when in public, but switch to their native language within their own speech community. Here's an article from NPR that discusses several reasons code-switching is used.
    Lots of the time it’s unconscious. When I return from a trip to Cleveland, it takes a little while to drop my twang. 
    When Michelle Obama said, at the beginning of her speech last week, “You know what I’m talkin’ about,” with a casual inflection, she reached her audience of young and not-so-young people of every color and every background. Her speech was a perfect blend of eloquence, sophistication, and “down-home.”
    Language is alive. It is always changing, sometimes quickly and sometimes not so quick. New dialects are being created or merged or redefined as our diverse population physically moves from place to place, participates in social media, and meets face-to-face in schools, at the gym, and at work.

​On a recommendation, I just started reading The Sewing Girl’s Tale by John Wood Sweet (Henry Holt and Co., 2022). From the publisher, it’s “a riveting Revolutionary Era drama of the first published rape trial in American history and its long, shattering aftermath, revealing how much has changed over two centuries—and how much has not.” Sweet’s meticulous research and engaging writing style have won him multiple awards and prizes for this piece of nonfiction.
  
                               Be curious! (and speak your mind) 

My block looks like the hip the hop
the birthplace of aerosol masterpieces
lyrical wordplay and
cardboard dance floors.
Our art soars across the world.
                                     from My Block Looks Like
                                     written by Janelle Harper
                                     illustrated by Frank Morrison
                                     Viking, 2024

    My oldest grandchild moved into his dorm this past weekend to begin his college career. He’s passionate about music and chose a conservatory to continue his education. His classes will include science, math, English, and the social sciences, but the heaviest concentration will be on music education. He elected to focus on instrumental music, but has a wonderful singing voice, too.
    His real music education began before he was born when my daughter sang nursery rhymes and her favorite songs to him. He was only days old when my husband and I visited. The baby was “fussy” and my daughter (and son-in-law) were exhausted, of course.
    “I’ll rock him for a little while,” I offered. Sitting next to a sunny window in a comfortable rocking chair, I started to sing “Hush, Little Baby.” Needless to say, given the materialism that’s flaunted in the lyrics and the assumption that it’s Papa who’s gonna buy all this stuff, I wouldn’t necessarily make that song my first choice anymore, but that was then…
    And, he quieted right down. When my daughter came back into the living room, she asked me how I did it. I told her which song I sang. Here’s her answer. “Huh, that’s what I sang to him before he was born.”
    Nursery rhymes, Laurie Berkner, Raffi, and my favorite polka music were followed by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and other classic rock and contemporary music. Theirs was a house alive with song. Do all 18-year-olds go to the symphony with a couple of friends for fun?
    Piano lessons began soon after his sixth birthday. All the boys play exceedingly well and now my daughter is taking lessons in her oldest son’s empty time slot. 
    Their public school system provides challenging and engaging coursework and has a diverse and dynamic music program. 
    Current information from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), ArtsWorks states “arts education in schools is truly an investment in the artistic future of the nation.” But courses in the four major arts disciplines: visual art; dance; theater; and music are not universally available. ArtWorks estimates that only 82/% of all high schools in the nation offer at least one course in one or more disciplines.
    And while most states require schools to offer arts instruction in grades k-12, only 20 states accept arts courses as an option to fulfill graduation requirements. Only 16 states require testing students’ learning in the arts.
    Why is all this so important?
    Here are several reasons stated on the webpage for Americans for the Arts:

• Students who study arts and music all four years of high school score an average of over 150 points higher on the SAT than students who take only one-half year or less

 

• Low-income students who are highly engaged in the arts are twice as likely to graduate college (NOT a typo) as their peers with no arts education.

 

• More superintendents used the Title IV well-rounded education provision of the Every Child Succeeds Act (ESSA) to fund music and the arts than the percentages who used Title IV to fund physical education, foreign language, and civics combined.

 

• 91 percent of Americans believe that the arts are vital to providing a well-rounded education.

    And here’s a quote from Kenneth Clark, psychologist, researcher, and civil rights activist:
“To understand a work of art, we must understand the society that created it.” In other words, Art is a connection to and reflection of the society that created it.
    Practice makes perfect is especially true in the four major arts disciplines. Practicing a musical instrument, a dance routine, or literary technique enhances both physical and intellectual dexterity.
    Playing music together, dancing together, singing together, designing everything from fashion to sets for the spring play together encourages collaboration. 
    Children learn that there are many ways to solve a problem. 
    Creativity is probably the most important outcome of teaching and studying “the arts.” Where else can a child feel validated for exploring patterns, shapes, and color? Does completing a LEGO set by following detailed instructions qualify as art? Does engineering a bridge “from scratch?” Is studying Fibinocci patterns less artistic than examining a sunflower? And what about beauty? Sure it’s in the “eye of the beholder” but interesting visual art can be as beautiful as the simplicity of a chemical formula or a mathematical puzzle or a mental image produced by a poem.
    Skills that help develop creativity include both listening to each other to foster collaboration and communicating ideas clearly. Finding different ways to solve problems leads to resourcefulness, ingenuity, and imagination.
    In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis cut $32 billion from the 2024/2025 State Budget for culture and museum grants. While no set dollar amount is ever guaranteed to grantees, this highly unusual move has sent arts organizations all over the state wondering how to survive. 
    It is ironic that this link advertises the University of Florida’s Master’s Program in Art Education. The posting date is November 30, 2023. At least someone in Florida thinks art is important enough to teach to our next generation. At least for now.
    My older daughter asked if the title of this week’s blog post could be “Earth without Art is EH”. Turns out that’s a real thing! Mugs and t-shirts are abundant on the Internet.
    
I finished reading James by Percival Everett (Doubleday, 2024). On the surface, it is a re-telling of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s, rather James’s, point of view. On a closer look, readers “hear” James’s wisdom throughout the novel and discover the importance of James's and Huck's surprising relationship not only to each other but to the people around them, Black and white, and society’s expectations in mid-19th Century US. Thoughtful and thought-provoking. Recommended.

Good morning,
As summer winds down, I decided to take a week off. See you same time, same place next week.

…they finally found it. 
…the perfect amount of GO! and STOP! to get things done.
“GO!” shouted Little Green, and the cars raced across the bridge.
Then Little Yellow slid into town. He had something to say. 
    “Slow down.”
They were the perfect words for a busy bridge.
                                          from GO! GO! GO! STOP!
             written and illustrated by Charise Mericle Harper
                                             Alfred A. Knopf, 2014

    My 16th birthday flew past me without a driver’s license. I didn’t really need one. I rode the bus to school and walked to my after-school job at a department store. When I had a babysitting job, the parents would pick me up and take me home. The few dates I had worked the same way.
    A year or so went by. I studied traffic laws. My dad was the perfect coach for parallel parking. I practiced right-hand turns, left-hand turns, and coming to a full stop at stop signs and traffic signals. Soon after, I got my license and only needed one try to pass both parts of the test.
    Fast forward. I was driving home in my brand-new 2013 Prius when, in my rear-view mirror, I saw the dreaded cherry atop a police cruiser begin to rotate. Of course I pulled over and reached for my driver’s license. By that time, the officer was standing outside my open window.
    “Do you know you drove right through a stop sign?” he asked.
    I was aghast. I did not know.
    “I could have killed someone!” I answered. No cars were in sight. No pedestrians, no dogs, not even a scampering squirrel was in view, but no matter.
    “I just got this car and my husband called. I was talking to him on my new Bluetooth.” My explanation sounded desperate, even to me.   
    The officer must have seen how upset I was. He reminded me (as if I didn’t already know) that the phone is not connected to the brake pedal. Sheepishly, I answered, “I know.”
    I was lucky. The officer believed me, but who wouldn’t? I got a warning to always pay attention to my surroundings and always drive my car when I’m behind the wheel. 
    I thanked the officer and went on my way, wiser and thankful that no one was hurt.
    Now flashback to the early 1900s when street traffic was a jumble of pedestrians, bicycles, horse-drawn carriages and delivery vehicles, and new-fangled motor carriages. 
    The first automobiles were built by hand by The Winton Motor Carriage Company in Cleveland, Ohio. Alexander Winton transitioned from making bicycles to designing and building motor-powered vehicles in 1897. That year, he produced two fully operational prototypes. He began selling automobiles the next year for about $1,000.00 each. 
    In 1898, Cleveland, Ohio, was the automobile capital of the United States and Henry Ford was still working on his second Quadricycle in Detroit.
    Winton catered to an elite market, producing custom-made cars to order, one at a time. By 1922, his company could not keep up with the demand. He closed his factory in February of that year. 
    Meanwhile, we all know what Henry Ford was doing with his assembly line and mass-produced products. By the end of its first year (1903) the Ford Motor Company had turned out about 1,000 cars. 
    More and more cars meant more and more traffic. By 1910, over 130,000 cars, 35,000 trucks, and 150 motorcycles clogged US roads and byways.    
    Around this same time, in 1891, when he was just 14 years old, Garrett Morgan, son of two formerly enslaved people, moved from Kentucky to Ohio to look for work. By 1907, he had learned enough about sewing machines that he opened up his own repair shop. In Cleveland. 
    But he discovered a problem. Sewing machine needles moved through fabric so quickly that it was not unusual for a hot needle to scorch the fabric. Morgan looked to chemistry to solve this problem. He used a chemical solution to reduce the friction and discovered that it straightened the material’s fibers. He tried it on his neighbor’s dog. Straight hair. He tried it on his own kinky hair. Straight again! 
    The G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company sold so much of his hair cream to his Black customers that Morgan achieved the financial security to follow his interests, wherever they led. 
    In his heart, Garrett Morgan was an inventor.
    In 1914, he patented a breathing device, the precursor to the gas mask used in WWI and later used by firefighters and rescue workers. He also invented belt fasteners and car parts.
    In Garrett Morgan’s day, traffic signals had just two lights, stop and go. Some lights were still operated manually and none had a warning interval to allow drivers to consider oncoming traffic: foot; bicycle; or automobile. 
    After witnessing a particularly horrible carriage accident at a busy intersection in Cleveland, Morgan realized drivers needed a warning to avoid a collision. He put his creative juices to work and invented his most widely used device: a three-position traffic signal. Run on batteries, it included an all-directional stop position. All vehicles (and people) in an intersection had the chance they needed to “take a breath” and wait for their turn.
    Morgan was granted his patent in November 1923. Later, it was also patented in Great Britain and Canada.
    While I’d love to say Morgan’s traffic light eliminated all vehicle crashes and fatalities, we all know that is not true. What is, though, according to the National Safety Council, in the hundred years since Morgan’s signal was first used, fatalities per 10,000 motor vehicles decreased significantly: from 12.8 in 1923 to 1.5 in 2022. 
    That’s quite a legacy!

I’m reading Jennifer Donnelly’s Beastly Beauty (Scholastic Press, 2024). If a girl is beastly because she is ambitious, proud, and loud, her “rescuer” must be a most handsome and gentle boy. When Arabella’s desperate attempt to suppress her emotions backfires into a curse that traps her in a castle, it takes Beau, who sees her for who she is and loves her despite her “faults,” to break the curse. Love wins in this gender-swapped re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. Recommended!  

                            Be curious! (and know when to stop)