Choose a line from one of the last three articles we have read. Write the line in quotes at the top of your page and then write to it. What does it make you think about? Wonder about? How is this a part of your teaching? Your learning? Does it make sense or not? If you think there is a good idea, are you trying it in your classroom? If not, then why? If so, then how did it go? Here is my model:
"Linda Reif echoes those sentiments when she advises teachers to be what they teach. To teach writing, she states, one must be a writer. Students must be able to understand the complexity of the processes, we must show them what we value, provide models of adults of lifelong learners, and 'empower ourselves personally and professionally'"
"Be what you teach." I love this idea and it is one that I come back to over and over again. If we aren't able to know what we are asking our students to do then how can we help them? Write with our students. I know this sounds so strange, and yet it is one of the most powerful things we can do as teachers. In setting up the conditions for a workshop, having a real live model, which is the teacher, changes everything in the classroom. This modeling allows students to see that it is not just the product that matters, but also that the process is engaging, important and even fun! Sure enough you will have students gathering around you asking, wondering what you are writing. When it is time to share this also gives you an authentic opportunity to share something more personal about yourself and your writing. Someone once said that all we have to be able to do is just write a little bit better than them!! And once you start and you see the results you will only be motivated to try to do it even more. Of course, it is always about balance and figuring out just what your students need, but if you write alongside them, model on the white board for them, allow them to see your process...it will change your classroom forever. I have seen it so many times. Something comes over the class and then the kids can't wait to share and it is all about building a safe community of learners where everyone has a place to discover, think and reflect through their own writing! Happy writing!
ASCD Making Reading Meaningful p. 65
ReplyDelete"They empathized with different characters, made inferences, found many text-to-self connections, and changed their thinking..."
This recalls a read aloud we have done for the past two falls in Room 6...Stone Fox. When the class is introduced to the man by the same name, they consider him mean. When they realize why he needs the money, they respect the reason and many root for him. When he allows Willie to win, though with a threat of violence that was part of the culture of the time, they find him "noble." The class is always a little surprised at how their own opinions change.
I think this book teaches bravery, but also
tolerance and compassion.
Other:
The "Say Something" strategy article
We tried this during "puffin week" in Harcourt,using the green BFAL titled Fire and Ice. Eight average to high average readers read this non-fiction piece about the history of Iceland. The first few readers labored over their paragraphs, and the subsequent readers benefitted from their opportunity to listen.
The next day, they paraphrased the entire book for the class, in the same order of delivery.
The second time seemed more awkward, although the audience said they learned a lot. The presenters said the experience made them want to read more carefully. We'll try it again this week, when the BFALs are again non fiction and really draw kids in with their themes of animal rescue.
I had wanted to write something positive, but my recent DIBELS ORF progress monitoring has brought me back to the article by Barclay T. Marcell. It is entitled, "Put the Brakes on NASCAR Reading."
ReplyDelete"The less savvy students pause to reread a section that didn't make sense-a strategic blunder in the DIBELS world. Thoughtful Eric, who may actually learn something about eagles, loses 10 words per minute."
I have been administering DIBELS to students since sometime around 2006. I always thought it must be "research based." Therefore, it must be a "valid" assessment. These days, the more I administer the progress monitoring passages, the more I want to bang my head against the wall.
I wish I could say that my time spent progress monitoring was worth it. I also wish I could say that the results will inform my teaching. When I progress monitored in November, many of the "at risk" children had gained fifteen or more words per minute since September. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Well, I progress monitored those same students yesterday, and some of them dropped ten or more words. I looked at the passage and realized that some of the long vowel and multisyllabic words stumped them. I attempted the next passage with the same students today, and many of their scores jumped up again. One child read 20 words yesterday and 42 today. Another read nearly 40 yesterday and 62 today. What does this tell us? I realize that no one reads the same everyday and every reader brings different background knowledge and word experience to each piece of text they read. But, it is too much of a coincidence that several children bombed one passage and then did much better on another one. This makes me believe that the test is not reliable. The passages are all supposed to be at grade level. For my students, it really depends on the difficulty of the first sixty words or so.
It is devastating to watch the scores plummet when the teachers and students have worked and worked during amped-up literacy blocks. We noticed the rise and fall of the scores during progress monitoring last year as well. If the scores dropped in December, we had to cross our fingers before benchmark time in January. Is this rational?
I have heard different people complain about DIBELS for years now. I just gave the test as I was told. I am finally joining the criticism wagon because it really doesn't feel like it is the best for our children. DIBELS tells us nothing about reading comprehension. This can give us a false feeling of success for the "quick readers." They may not be understanding what they are reading at all. I realize that all of our classrooms aren't using guided reading and the Fountas and Pinnell book levels, but I think we are familiar with both. I would love to see our district adopt an assessment similar to DRA. We can document reading behaviors, accuracy percentage, observation of fluency, and the comprehension that a child shows after reading a particular level. Once we find an accurate independent reading level, we can help our children choose books more easily. We can also focus our instruction more explicitly by knowing where the instructional levels of the students are. We are hard workers and we may know our students' weaknesses really well, but this would help us find the right books for our children much faster. The process wouldn't feel like hit or miss.
I do realize that this is difficult with the basal. Our other option would be to use the Harcourt fluency passages and then the end of selection tests to show reading comprehension. The problem with this is that many of the students cannot independently read the story. So, it would be more a test of listening comprehension instead of reading comprehension.
From: Ted
ReplyDeleteI chose the most recent article "Becoming a Classroom of Readers" to relflect on. The quote is "Of course hours and hours spent reading and the freedom to choose their own books also leads many children to discover a love of books and reading---a path to enjoyment and learnig that lasts long after schooling ends.
I choose this because throughout the article the author Donalyn Miller makes statements about reading practices/ classroom management strategies such as morning seat work. Over the years I have meet many consultants, and experts that give a laundry list of ideas of how to improve a students reading. I have been trained to give the dibels, do bri's, running records to use a 4 Blocks system to instruct my students with 4 mini lessons a day.
After 20 years I still don't know what are the best practices. My instinct tells me it is students reading books like this author states. My students are currently reading books at their own level. My instinct tells me to not be so rigid about book levels. I others telling me to be rigid. I someone leveling books using two different systems. I am overwhelmed.
I chose a quote from the article “Becoming a Classroom of Readers” as I related to it immediately.
ReplyDelete“Although providing my students with more time to read dramatically increases the amount of reading they do, no single practice inspires my students to read as much as the opportunity to choose their own books.”
I never cease to have a feeling of pleasure when I observe students delighting in finding that special book they’ve been waiting to check out, or discovering a new favorite series.
I consider myself to be very fortunate to be in a position to be able to respond to the desire of students to choose their own books. Most of the students know that they can request books they’d like to have in the library. I have found that students can begin the school year with a very negative attitude about books and the library in general. Then they discover there are books about skateboarding or football or some other topic THEY are interested in, and they come to the library more eagerly, even asking where the books on their favorite topics are located.
That being said, school libraries do have limitations related to appropriateness because of age and other factors. This is where the school Book Fairs and student book swaps can fulfill that need, and desire, for students to choose their own books.
I have to say one of the best lines I have heard and have used successfully is, "I know you don't know, but if you did, what would it be?" This comes from Ellin Oliver Keene and I know she states it somewhat differently in her article "New Horizons in Comprehension". I must say that it's amazing how it generates a response. There have been a number of times that students have struggled to respond and it's easy to automatically say, "I don't know." It takes the pressure of to say, "but if you did know, what would it be?" I have timid students who become more confident. They come up with amazing answers.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I agree with everything you say about the dibels! We are stressing our children out! They are used to reading a certain way with us. They are able to take picture walks, talk about the book, use decoding strategies and context. Suddenly we put them into a room and say "Go!" They need to read as fast as they can. What have we done? This goes against how we teach. I don't have an alternative so I continue to use dibels and I continue to complain about it. I remember doing the SRA's in fifth grade. Reading wasn't enjoyable. It was a race to the finish. It was a race to see who was on the highest color. Reading was stressful and NOT ENJOYABLE! Come into my room during the true RtI time (reading to instrumental music) or during centers when children are enjoying their browsing boxes. This is what reading should look like. Children are engaged and they are enjoying books and reading at their comfortable pace.
The challenge for many teachers lies in motivating and inspiring students to pick up a book in the first place. Developing or struggling readers often lack the experience and confidence to choose books for themselves, read for extended periods of time, or consistently apply reading strategies across text. Dormant readers, who possess the reading skills needed for academic tasks, see reading as a school job – not as an activity in which they would willingly engage in outside of school… (Miller 2010)
ReplyDeleteFirst, I love that this author refers to reluctant readers as dormant. Not low or below grade level. Dormant. As in, soon, with some nurture, warmth, care, and a bit of coaxing they will blossom in time, with the right book, at just the right moment.
ReplyDeleteMotivating beginning readers to become independent, engaged readers is my biggest challenge. Perhaps it is no coincidence then, that by late fall, just as our old maple reaches its bare, twisted branches, imploringly against the slate December sky, I begin to notice a few “dormant” readers in my classroom. Those already seeing silent reading as a chore and seeking ways to avoid it. They disappear into the bathroom, or jack in the box out of their seats to get a tissue or a drink. I have the fiddlers and fidgeters peeling crayons or reading the same simple “here comes the…” book over and over. Or my little gadflies, annoying their tablemates, constantly getting tattled upon, often voted off the island, torches extinguished, off to the “quiet, by yourself table…so they can pretend to concentrate on great works such as The Fat Cat on the Mat.
So it is up to me to motivate and entice these ornery six year old skeptics. These are usually the kiddos who are not naturally the go-getter type. They do, however, enjoy attention. They need extra teacher face time and they need to know I care about them. Usually, they are the ones I most often target during sustained silent reading. Sometimes, I will just do a quiet read aloud with two or three of the more antsy students. Or allow them to partner read with a more enthusiastic reader that they admire.
However, my favorite strategy with reluctant readers is using what I call “magical books”. These magical books are not the classical, beautifully written, read aloud books that I typically use for teaching comprehension strategies. These books are qualitatively different. These books usually have subtle humor and sly, flawed, but interesting characters. Often, they are well illustrated. These texts present ingeniously simple prose that is at the same time absorbing and accessible to early readers. There is usually more dialogue than description, the characters are faced with problems or a conflict, and there is a lot of action. Some examples of “magical books” are
The Piggy and Elephant Series by Mo Willems, The Hungry Giant by Joy Cowley, Pirate Boris by Mem Fox and Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman.
These magical books have a strange appeal in my classroom in that they are attractive to virtually all my first grade readers, whether they are proficient or not. Another example of a “magical book” is The Spooky Old Tree from the Berenstain Bear series. The combination of repetition, rhyming, and a suspenseful story engages even my most reticent reader. (It also makes a great Halloween school play.)
All my magical books have what I call activity “elasticity”. They are adaptable to reader’s theater, writing activities and projects. Many of these books are so popular that they are fought over, read to shreds, or mysteriously disappear. I am constantly searching book warehouses
and library sales for replacement copies. I wept when my husband informed me That’s Not Santa, a holiday magical book, was out of print, as was April Rabbits by Dave Cleveland. I won’t tell you what I paid for two worn, yellowed copies of the former on Amazon.
I always try to have at least six copies of any magical book. This is so children can share reading these books with each other. This also marginally prevents students pilfering from each other’s book bins.
Magical books are wonderful because they act as catalysts for dormant readers. Magical books are all about the right book, given to a dormant reader at the right time, and allowing the bloom to begin.
I chose the quote..."Life long readers possess certain habits that we can explicitly model and teach our students. By redesigning our classroom to support young readers as they practice and internalize the behaviors of avid readers we can increase our student's engagement....
ReplyDeleteOver the course of the last six years I have gone back and forth about the benefits of using centers in my classroom. There were many times where I made an attempt to use them, but didn't feel the benefit. After many conversations with Jen and Kate, I made the decision to take centers head on this year. I am slowly embracing and transforming my classroom to meet the needs of my students in a way that engages them in their own work. For example, today during centers I had students working on diagramming. I could have given them a diagram and asked them simply to label the parts, but instead to be sure that they fully understood the meaning of a diagram, I asked them to draw a picture. They could choose anything they wanted to draw and boy did they! I have diagrams of cars, a porcupine, faces, a lollipop and so many other things. This center gave students the chance to engage in an activity, think critically about a process and then be creative. It was fun and enjoyable and yet, it covered all of the skills they needed. At yet another center today, my students were working on Now I know, Now I wonder. In this activity, students critically read non-fiction with the intent of recognizing when the learned something new and then thinking about what else it is they are curious about. Using our basal story as a model, we were able to do a whole class chart in little time and when they got to centers they were excited and eager to try it on their own. This activity is a perfect example of how I have worked so very hard this year to engage my students in their learning and take the boring out of literacy!
oops! That last post is really from Jodie
ReplyDelete