I LOVE the idea of the book exchange the first day of school. As I am thinking of what the first day in third grade will look like, I envision this awesome experience.
Types of readers:
Developing Readers- readers that are usually labeled struggling readers. Usually for a number of reasons... why do they continue to struggle even with interventions??? usually the lack of reading these students actually do.
Richard Allington found that students in Title 1 & SPED programs read 75% LESS than their peers. It doesn't matter how much vocabulary work, comprehension strategies and fluency we teach, if the students are not applying what they have learned in the context of real reading experiences, they will fail to improve as much as they could. I like the thought about reading... the rich keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer. Readers must read in order to get any better (yes, they must learn strategies, vocabulary, and fluency too).
Dormant Readers - those kids who pass state assessments but who are unmotivated and uninterested in reading. Just doing what they have to in order to get by. I am reminded of my husband, Troy. He is so not interested in reading any type of book or even instruction manual for that matter!!! He did as little as he had to in order to graduate and that was it. The only book that he has actually read since high school 10 years ago was a memoir his grandfather wrote. He flips through his Guns and Ammo catalog and reads the articles that interest him and he also surfs the internet but that is about as far as reading goes. He thinks I am crazy for reading books, especially during the summer. He just does not understand how reading has changed my life in the past 6 years!
"How can they shape a self-identity as a reader if they never get the chance to find out what they like?" Quote on ensuring kids are the ones choosing their books and not the teacher.
"The man who does not read great books is no better than the man who can't." - Mark Twain
These students need to read widely until they have found what truly interests them and becomes the magical hook!!
Underground Readers - gifted readers that find reading that is done in school completely disconnected from the reading they prefer to do on their own. How are we supporting them??? What am I going to do to support the student coming to me in thrid grade who is gifted? How will I meet his needs as a reader?
Conditions for Learning by Cambourne:
Immersion - students are surrounded by books of all kinds ang given the opportunity to read them every day!!! Have converstaions about reading.
Demonstration - students require abundant demonstration on the structure and features of texts, how to use text for different learning goals, and how to access the information in them.
Expectations - Students will rise to the teacher's expectations.
Responsibility - Students need to make at least some of their own choices when pursuing learning goals. "Learners who lose the ability to make choices become disempowered." - Cambourne.
Employment - Students need time to practice what they are learning in the context of realistic situations. Must go back to their own reading, not reading that is assigned by the teacher.
Approximations - Receive encouragement for skills and knowledge they do have to be allowed to make mistakes as they work toward mastery.
Response - Need non-threatening and immediate feedback on their progress. Teachers hold frequent conferences, require written responses about their books, and discuss reading daily.
Engagement - Most important condition for learning and must exist in a successful classroom. Reading must be an endeavor that: Has personal value to students (they must see a reason to read outside of the classroom). Students see themselves as capable of doing (do they see themselves as readers or nonreaders). Is free from anxiety (is the reading weighted down with so many requirements for performace that reading is connected to students' minds with an obstacle course of work and stress). Is modeled by someone they like, respect, trust, and wat to emulate (teacher models reading habits in her own life).
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Key Components of A Reading Workshop
Time:
Students need substantial time to read and look through books.
Choice:
Students need the opportunity to choose reading material for themselves.
Response:
Students should respond in natural ways to the books they are reading through conferences, written entries, classroom discussions, and projects.
Community:
Students are part of a classroom reading community in which all members can make meaningful contributions to the learning of the group.
Structure:
The workshop rests on a structure of routines and procedures that supports students and teachers.
Students need substantial time to read and look through books.
Choice:
Students need the opportunity to choose reading material for themselves.
Response:
Students should respond in natural ways to the books they are reading through conferences, written entries, classroom discussions, and projects.
Community:
Students are part of a classroom reading community in which all members can make meaningful contributions to the learning of the group.
Structure:
The workshop rests on a structure of routines and procedures that supports students and teachers.
The Book Whisperer Chapter 1 Thoughts
Reading Donalyn's experiences with books I think back to my own childhood. I remember walking to the library from my grandparents house where I stayed every summer. I would browse through all of the books looking at the pictures, checking to see just how many pages each book had, and if I thought I could really read it. Finally, after all the work I had put into browsing I would settle on checking out a movie. I loved The Babysitter Club movies, I liked the books about the younger sister because they were so much easier to read.
My reading experiences as a child are few. I struggled as a reader, not only did I not know the words, I didn't know any strategies to learn to read the word. When I had finally decoded the word, I had no idea what I had already read. The vicious cycle repeated itself. Finally in third grade I went to special reading class, Title 1 reading, there I learned a few "tricks" to read a little. By 6th grade we were each required to read a different Don Coldsmith book and write vocabulary words we didn't know and define them and also write a summary for each chapter. I didn't finish mine, I can still remember the grade I received, 54% F. I hated reading, I hated my teacher, and most of all I hated myself. Reading was hard but I was smart enough to get through middle school, high school, and college with A's and B's.
It wasn't until I actually started teaching that I started to understand the rules to reading and how having strategies could help me understand what the author was really trying to say. Graduate school taught me so much about being a reader and how readers learn to read and understand. I had a wonderful professor that helped me not only as a teacher but as a reader. She actually lent me this book to read! It has become my mission to learn as much about teaching young children to read and LOVE to read that it is what I work on all school year and summer long.
I love the credo by Susie in the book, "If you ever think you have all the answers, it's time to retire." I totally could see that, the fixed mindset of some that just won't budge or even think something else my be better or work more effectively. I feel like I am Donalyn when she was looking for and reading every resource that should to fix how she taught reading. I find myself doing the same thing but not just in reading but also in writing. How can I connect the two to make it true, good readers are usually good writers and good writers are good readers.
Note to self, read:
In the Middle by Nancie Atwell
Mosaic of Thought by: Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman
Students should spend MOST of their time reading and writing independently! I have the same feelings Donalyn has had when she is falling short of obtaining the perfect classroom with kids fully engaged. It is so hard to follow the "perscription" from a book. This is something I see now, that I need to follow my students needs and not try to stick to the books example.
My reading experiences as a child are few. I struggled as a reader, not only did I not know the words, I didn't know any strategies to learn to read the word. When I had finally decoded the word, I had no idea what I had already read. The vicious cycle repeated itself. Finally in third grade I went to special reading class, Title 1 reading, there I learned a few "tricks" to read a little. By 6th grade we were each required to read a different Don Coldsmith book and write vocabulary words we didn't know and define them and also write a summary for each chapter. I didn't finish mine, I can still remember the grade I received, 54% F. I hated reading, I hated my teacher, and most of all I hated myself. Reading was hard but I was smart enough to get through middle school, high school, and college with A's and B's.
It wasn't until I actually started teaching that I started to understand the rules to reading and how having strategies could help me understand what the author was really trying to say. Graduate school taught me so much about being a reader and how readers learn to read and understand. I had a wonderful professor that helped me not only as a teacher but as a reader. She actually lent me this book to read! It has become my mission to learn as much about teaching young children to read and LOVE to read that it is what I work on all school year and summer long.
I love the credo by Susie in the book, "If you ever think you have all the answers, it's time to retire." I totally could see that, the fixed mindset of some that just won't budge or even think something else my be better or work more effectively. I feel like I am Donalyn when she was looking for and reading every resource that should to fix how she taught reading. I find myself doing the same thing but not just in reading but also in writing. How can I connect the two to make it true, good readers are usually good writers and good writers are good readers.
Note to self, read:
In the Middle by Nancie Atwell
Mosaic of Thought by: Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman
Students should spend MOST of their time reading and writing independently! I have the same feelings Donalyn has had when she is falling short of obtaining the perfect classroom with kids fully engaged. It is so hard to follow the "perscription" from a book. This is something I see now, that I need to follow my students needs and not try to stick to the books example.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Chapter 12 Thoughts
"Make Every Minute Count" is something that should be instilled in every part of someone's life. With family, when teaching kids, with friends, etc. In the sense of teaching, every minute does count, we only see the kids for so many hours each day and then they are gone. Making sure to give our best to the students each day and expect the same from them, their education will excell. There were some specific ideas and tips that Routman wrote that I also took notes on:
There are some really great teachers that teach at my school but I think they spend way to long at school everyday. I stay for a little while but I know that there is a little boy and a great husband waiting at home and I really don't want to miss a minute that I can spend with each of them, especially together!
Schedule writing every day or at least on consecutive days
2. Limit the use of prompts that have no real audience (such as, "Write a letter to the author telling him one thing you would change about the story").
3. Provide more choice of writing topics. Students write more easily about something they are interested in.
4. Integrate test preparation.
5. Teach basic skills in context.
6. Teach students to revise and edit as they go; this saves time later on.
7. Expect high-frequency words to be correctly spelled. This saves correction time and aids speeding of writing.
8. Expect legible handwriting. This saves time for your students and for you.
9. Encourage invented spellings within reasonable, agreed-on-guidelines. This speeds up writing and encourages broader use of words.
10. Use parents as final editors in the classroom.
11. Tell students why - make writing purpose understood. Students will invest more in their writing.
There are some really great teachers that teach at my school but I think they spend way to long at school everyday. I stay for a little while but I know that there is a little boy and a great husband waiting at home and I really don't want to miss a minute that I can spend with each of them, especially together!
Chapter 11 Thoughts
I liked the quote Routman said, "The best teachers are not followers and have an independent spirit." I have learned only being in the teaching field for 5 years that you cannot just jump on the band wagon and expect great results. It takes a lot of time and lots of reading and your own research of trial and error to make something work. I love being able to talk with my colleagues and get great ideas or go and watch excellent teachers but I have to use their ideas and what I know and have learned to help the students in my classroom excell. I have a really great relationship with our coach and she has given me some very good advice and help when I have asked her. She has even come in and modeled for me but I am sad to see that there are A LOT of teachers in my building that do not utilize her as a resource in their classroom and building of their own knowledge. I get the feeling that they think she is evaluating them in some way and making judgements, therefore, they will not go to her for help or advice. Sad but true. According to Routman, in order to become successful ongoing professional conversations and study groups must be happening!!! Also, something I feel that our school needs to have in place is common goals for writing, I know that we have them for reading but we are leaving out writing.
To end, I like what she says, "Only a highly knowledgeable teacher, not a program, can teach writing well."
To end, I like what she says, "Only a highly knowledgeable teacher, not a program, can teach writing well."
Chapter 10 Thoughts
State Assessment writing in 5th grade = :(
Testing kids on one paper that was probably timed to be written in 30 minutes or less is absolutely not a good way to evaluate anyone's writing. I give the KELPA to all English as a Second Language students and there is a writing part. The students are only given 20 minutes to write either about a picture or a prompt. I couldn't imagine being those kids having to come up with an idea and then actually try to write something that makes sense and is considered adequate. Together all ELA teachers meet on one given day after the window for the test has ended and we score the tests on vocabulary, sentence fluency, grammar, mechanics, organization and development. Some of the stories are actually surprising and very good and then more often than not there are the ones that are absolutely terrible! What can we expect when we only give the kids that much time and we are only looking at one sample from them? I like the idea of using rubrics when the kids are writing something required but don't want to overuse the rubrics and give the students more choice but also have a guiding criteria.
I thought that it was important to remember this and so I typed it into my notes:
Testing kids on one paper that was probably timed to be written in 30 minutes or less is absolutely not a good way to evaluate anyone's writing. I give the KELPA to all English as a Second Language students and there is a writing part. The students are only given 20 minutes to write either about a picture or a prompt. I couldn't imagine being those kids having to come up with an idea and then actually try to write something that makes sense and is considered adequate. Together all ELA teachers meet on one given day after the window for the test has ended and we score the tests on vocabulary, sentence fluency, grammar, mechanics, organization and development. Some of the stories are actually surprising and very good and then more often than not there are the ones that are absolutely terrible! What can we expect when we only give the kids that much time and we are only looking at one sample from them? I like the idea of using rubrics when the kids are writing something required but don't want to overuse the rubrics and give the students more choice but also have a guiding criteria.
I thought that it was important to remember this and so I typed it into my notes:
1. Schedule writing every day. Try for 20-30 minutes of silent sustained writing.
2. Time your minilessons. Limit yourself to between 5-15 minutes and teaching that take place improve the quality of students' writing.
3. Don't shortchange the time for whole-class share. The celebration and teaching that take place improve the quality of students' writing.
4. Announce the time frame at the start. You will have twenty minutes to complete this piece.
5. Announce when students only have a few minutes left to write. You have five more minutes. Finish up where you are and reread.
6. Make sure the topics students are writing about are relevant to their lives and interests.
7. Do a great job of demonstrating and frontloading. The more prepared students are to write, the more easily they write.
8. Use quickwrites (pg. 179), also called freewrites, regularly.
Schedule writing every day or at least on consecutive days
2. Limit the use of prompts that have no real audience (such as, "Write a letter to the author telling him one thing you would change about the story").
3. Provide more choice of writing topics. Students write more easily about something they are interested in.
4. Integrate test preparation.
5. Teach basic skills in context.
6. Teach students to revise and edit as they go; this saves time later on.
7. Expect high-frequency words to be correctly spelled. This saves correction time and aids speeding of writing.
8. Expect legible handwriting. This saves time for your students and for you.
9. Encourage invented spellings within reasonable, agreed-on-guidelines. This speeds up writing and encourages broader use of words.
10. Use parents as final editors in the classroom.
11. Tell students why - make writing purpose understood. Students will invest more in their writing.
Chapter 9 Thoughts
Conferencing with students is something that I feel very insecure about. I am not really sure what to actually ask them and guide them. I really like the roving conferences idea that it only takes no more than 5 minutes and involves:
Editing conferences must come after the content conferences. I now realize this. I was trying to do way to much all at once and when I was helping with the editing mistakes, I wasn't really helping at all with the ideas. I am actually excited to incorporate conferences with students. I think that if I was to first feel comfortable with whole class conferences that one-on-one's will be much more useful to the students.
Note who needs help getting started
- Affirm students' efforts
- Encourage students to continue writing, reread, check spelling
- Teach on the spot
- Assess
- Offer specific guidance
- Take brief notes
The idea of whole class conferences is exciting to me, what a great way to involve all students and do on the spot teaching. Each child can learn and benefit from whole class confences. Whole class conferencing would be very easy for me to incorporate into my lessons and the kids would feel valued that we want to hear their stories and give them feedback. Currently my students will listen to each others work and say that it is great, nothing needs to be changed. Yikes, don't take a look at it because most of the time it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.Editing conferences must come after the content conferences. I now realize this. I was trying to do way to much all at once and when I was helping with the editing mistakes, I wasn't really helping at all with the ideas. I am actually excited to incorporate conferences with students. I think that if I was to first feel comfortable with whole class conferences that one-on-one's will be much more useful to the students.
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