Date: Fri 26-Jan-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

schools-reading-Barry-Lane

Full Text:

With photo: Creating Excitement About Reading

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Barry Lane, known nationally for his ability to motivate both students and

teachers to succeed in education, spent three days in Sandy Hook inviting

youngsters to get excited about writing.

"We feel very fortunate to get him. Barry is a very well-known motivational

speaker," explained Katherine Isles of the PTA's cultural arts committee.

The Sandy Hook PTA worked hard to bring Mr Lane to the school after hearing

good things about his visit to Middle Gate School two years ago, Mrs Isles

said.

Each year, the PTA tries to introduce a new academic area to work on with the

school. Last year was science and dance. This year, according to the PTA's

Eileen Greytak, teachers asked for someone to help with students' writing, an

area held in high regard on the Connecticut State Mastery Tests.

Barry Lane was a logical choice.

Using a sense of humor and a language that students seemed to easily relate

to, Mr Lane taught students in Christine Austin's fourth grade class Tuesday

morning how to "explode a moment" when writing. Knowing that some students

have a fear of writing, he stimulated and encouraged them to recall a moment

in their life and recreate it using pen and paper.

Mr Lane, who stands but five feet, four inches tall, is also known for his

humorous stories and clever recreation of fairy tale songs.

Singing a song about the Big Bad Wolf from the "Three Little Pigs" story, Mr

Lane illustrated how a story has many different angles to it and changes

depending on who the source of the story is.

"If you got in an argument with you brother and sister and your mother asked

them what happened, do you think your mom would get the whole story," he

asked.

"No," replied the class.

"What if your mom had only asked you? Would she then get the whole story," Mr

lane inquired.

"Yes," the students answered in jest.

"I figured you would say that," Mr Lane laughed.

With just 45 minutes to spend with each class, Mr Lane gets quickly to the

point.

"I still remember a magician that came to my class when I was a kid so I try

to do things that will help me be remembered," he said while eating his lunch

moments after finishing a class.

Mr Lane is a longtime writer who resides in Vermont, but travels across the

country. He said he hopes teachers will be able to refer to his visit months

down the road when doing writing lessons with students.

"The impression I'm getting is that the kids really enjoy it," said Mrs

Greytak. "They all seem to be able relate well to him."