December post

Blog Post for December

            Text: Plan for and Monitor Independent Reading/Make Assessment Instruction’s Working Partner

            As a teacher who has taught in a variety of grade levels and schools, I have seen many forms of reading instruction come and go. One of the greatest misunderstandings that has cost students and teachers dearly, is confusing silent, sustained reading (SSR) with independent reading. I have taught at several middle schools that implemented a school-wide SSR program where students “read” for 10-15 minutes at the end of the day. Bluntly put, SSR does not work for struggling readers; it forces them to fake read or wait out that 15 minute time slot until they can be dismissed or move on to more pleasurable activities. One of the best points that Chapter Six makes is distinguishing between SSR and independent reading.

            The second point that is helpful is the repeated emphasis on modelling desired skills for students of all ages. Reading is not just a collection of decoding strategies, word calling, or even comprehension, in my opinion. It involves behaviors such as learning to work with a partner or a small group, learning to engage in reciprocal conversations, and being able to stay on task. As teachers, we are skilled in reteaching and reinforcing academic concepts but we often assume that prosocial and academic behaviors can be learned by osmosis. Routman emphasizes that children have to be taught the skills needed to become successful independent readers; those skills have to be modeled (repeatedly) in order for them to become successful. It is critical to have time during the school day to model those skills. Her suggested schedule (in terms of both components and timing) make it easier for new teachers to incorporate independent reading in their classroom.

            The following chapter links assessment to instruction. In today’s frenzy of standardized testing, formative assessments seem to take a backseat. More and more teachers seem to resort to quick forms and quick assessments to gather data, for the sake of data collection. This is frustrating because it does not help inform and improve instructional practices. Consequently, teachers feel that they are testing their students to death with little usable information. Even though this chapter outlined some common best practices to help conduct effective assessments while students are reading independently, this learner was able to benefit from the guiding questions that can be used to inform instructional practices. It was also helpful to understand that the same form of assessment can be differentiated to meet the needs of both struggling readers and those who are more proficient. Lastly, this provides a template that emphasizes teacher observation in a naturalistic setting.

Corrie Waddell December Blog: #5 You Only Have So Much Time

This chapter begins by acknowledging the fact that teachers work too hard! I second that opinion!  Our time is valuable and we should make the most of it. Even though being a teacher is an important job, we are more than teachers. The author lets us know that we should live interesting lives outside of our jobs as teachers. For the sake of our sanity, we should get out and do things that make us happy.

I love that the author says that she spends a lot of time thinking about what she is going to plan or teach. I really believe that thinking is a big part of strategic planning. We have to think about what we want to teach, and when we want to teach it. We also have to think of creative ways to present content to our students to keep them engaged. As a teacher you should make every minute count. This is why as teachers we should plan for transitional times. We can use our creativity to find things that work for our students. My students love singing poems and chants during this time. They think that they are just playing, but they are gaining phonemic awareness and rhyme.

The author also says to keep work simple and meaningful. To me this means plan lessons that engage our students in ways that they can make real world connections.  This also includes asking open ended questions. We must also keep their work authentic. In Pre-k this means let students write in journals and giving them the freedom to come up with their own topics and illustrations. For me,  keeping it simple means giving students work that is developmentally appropriate for their age group. We cannot expect our 4 year-olds to do work that they are not ready for. You will just have a room full of frustrated students and teachers.

When it comes to evaluating my students I try to keep it simple as well. With my age group, I like to do on-the-spot evaluations. Look at your students and decide if they are engaged. I love to ask my students questions throughout my lessons to see if they are actually understanding the concepts I am presenting. If there are words in a story that I am reading that my students don't understand, I try to stop and give them relatable definitions of the words.

In conclusion I really think that the purpose of this chapter is for us to evaluate our planning and teaching strategies to ensure that they are working for us as teachers and for our students. We should aim to maximize student learning while maximizing our time as teachers.

My favorite quote from the chapter:
"Teaching that keeps kids engaged saves us time and energy."
This is so true! When my students are doing hands on lessons where they are up and moving around, I rarely have behavioral issues.

December Blog- Emphasize Shared Reading

My students enjoy our shared reading time. We gather around on the carpet and I choose a story or they vote on a book they would like for me to read. Sometimes I read a book off getepic.com and they really enjoy seeing the pages on the Promethean board. They enjoy chiming in and the relaxed environment. The article mentions how shared reading takes aways the fears and pressure of failure. I find this to be true because in my class our shared reading time has helped build their confidence as readers. Everyone is participating and wants a a chance to show what they know. Even when they don't know they are still willing to answer out because they know they have the help and support of one another. Like the articles states shared reading is a bonding experience and they've learned that we are a team.
In the article, it says that share reading is a purposeful teaching and discussing activity and I couldn't agree more.They are normally so engaged in the story that they don't notice the amount of learning that is taken place. I am able to teach so many reading strategies and comprehension skills. 
One major take away after reading this article is that I would like to maximize my shared reading time. I plan on doing more shared reading at the beginning of the day. I would love to do morning messages and read a chapter books. Right now, I have my read aloud at the end of the day. However, knowing how important shared reading time is and the benefits of it has me reevaluating my schedule so that I can allow more time for shared reading. 

Jessica Barwick: December Blog

Routman Ch. 4 - Teach with a Sense of Urgency

One of the best points made in this chapter is contained in the first sentence!  Routman urges us to
"[make] every moment in the classroom count" (p. 41).  To me, this one thought sums up what I try to do in my classroom every day, even if I'm not always successful.  I love going home exhausted but knowing that I was 100% engaged with my students the entire day and made every moment that I had with them count.  Yes, there are days when I might need to respond to an email for a few minutes while my students are working on an activity, or when I extend recess a few minutes longer on Friday in order to get my Friday Folders done.  There are so many things to think about/do on a daily basis that it's hard sometimes for teachers to focus only on the kids.  But I think it's a great goal to have, and it makes me feel like a successful teacher on the days that I reach it!

I appreciated the four phases in Routman's optimal learning model, and the insistence that "we think about teaching in terms of our students' needs and interests.....we no longer jump right in to provide the expected word or response but now give children an opportunity to problem solve on their own" (p. 47).  It's hard not to immediately help a student when they are struggling, but using this model of gradually releasing responsibility, students should feel more successful independently and know that it's okay to struggle and get frustrated.  They should have the tools to know what to do independently when this happens.  One thing I found interesting in this chapter is that Routman mentions several times the importance of mutual respect between teacher and student, and how having a good, trusting relationship is key to student learning.  I have personally witnessed how important this relationship-building is, and I spend lots of time with my students in and out of the classroom getting to know them and establishing trust so that they will trust me with their education.

Another take-away from this chapter is that it's important that we make learning meaningful, and don't just teach skills in isolation, but apply them to other contexts.  In fact, Routman discourages pull-out programs that will take students away from reading and writing immersion in the classroom.  Sometimes, it's hard to move away from the "check off" system of skills.  We want to make sure that we're "covering" all of our standards (in every subject - not just ELA), and sometimes in looking over the standards as I'm planning, I realize that I haven't explicitly taught how to find the main idea and supporting details, for example.  So I will plan lessons for a couple of weeks that will focus on that skill using short reading passages (since they will see these on standardized tests).  I don't necessarily see anything wrong with this method, but I am also reiterating it while my students are doing research for our animal writing unit.  It is probably more meaningful to them to summarize the main idea of an article for the purpose of writing their animal papers than it is to find the main idea of an unrelated reading passage.

Finally, I loved the section on interactive read-alouds.  Reading aloud to my fifth graders is one of my favorite things I do as a teacher.  I related to Routman when she said that she sometimes didn't want to interrupt the flow of a story by stopping to ask questions.  I hate doing this, too, but there are so many great things to discuss in the context of a read-aloud!  I tell my students all the time, "Sorry, I can't help it - I'm a teacher" when I feel like I'm stopping too much during a story.  But maybe I can just read all the way through sometimes for the effect of the story, then re-read another time for the teaching points.

Amanda Justice Blog Post 5

Routman, Chapter 8:  Teach Comprehension

“Student’s don’t automatically comprehend just because they can read the words.”  This statement is so true.  I have struggled with comprehension my entire life.  While I was taught to read the words on the page, comprehension was something I missed along the way. 

As I reflect on the information presented in this chapter, I am taken back to my elementary school days as a first grade student.  I have so many memories from my first grade classroom, but the thing that sticks out the most is being a struggling reader.  I remember being in the lowest reading group.  Although my teacher never labeled us as “low,” we knew we were different from the other students in the class.  I can remember the embarrassment of being called on to read a passage in front of the class and struggling to do so.  As I continued through first grade my mom hired a tutor to help me learn to read.  In our sessions we focused on word calling and used flash cards often.  I learned to read that year with the help of many people and even advanced reading groups.  What I didn’t learn were comprehension skills.

 

As a struggling reader, I believe the focus for me and those helping me became learning to read the words on the page.  Everyone was focused on whether or not I could identify and recall words, that no one questioned whether I was making sense of the text.  As teachers, I believe it is so easy to overlook comprehension of struggling readers.  It is so easy to focus on helping struggling readers learn to recite and recall words that we often neglect to realize whether these students are making meaning of the text.  During my first few years of teaching I can remember working with struggling readers and getting so excited when it seemed like things started to “click.”  We celebrated the student being able to read.  I focused so much attention on what I thought was most important that I neglected comprehension.  Even as a student who grew up struggling with comprehension, I never thought about how I could help my own students with this skill.

      

I love the part of the chapter that discusses how students who spell all of the words correctly on spelling tests often misspell the same words during writing.  While they know the strategy for spelling the words, they do not apply these strategies when writing.  As teachers we must keep this in mind.  Just because a student is able to complete strategy exercises, does not mean that they know how to apply them.  We must allow time for students to practice using the strategies we teach in meaningful ways.  Independent reading is a perfect example of providing students with time to practice comprehension strategies along with other strategies students are learning.

   

Through planning great read alouds for my students, I hope to be able to help improve and enhance comprehension skills.   Carefully planned read alouds will provide me the opportunity to really model my own comprehension strategies for my students.  Then as students move to independent reading they will have the chance to practice these strategies individually as well as with their friends.      

Erin Lee Blog 5 Teach Comprehension

This chapter focused teaching students how understand more of what the read instead of just word calling.  It gives teachers a break down of various strategies that can be used when helping students become stronger readers that comprehend on a deeper level.  Teachers need to look at the texts students are reading and make sure students are reading books that are interesting and challenging to them in order to increase their reading ability as well as helping them to understand and comprehend what it is they are reading.  Some of the basic comprehension strategies we know about are highlighted and discussed within this chapter as a way of helping our students become readers that know what they are reading and understand it as well.
As a 2nd grade teacher, I have often felt that I have struggled to get students to understand that there is more to reading then just knowing the words.  A lot of students have come to me through the years thinking that just because they know how to read the words in a book that makes them a good reader. They don't understand that they have to be able to comprehend what they are reading in order to show good reading ability.  This chapter helped me to see how I can take the reading comprehension strategies that I have always taught and use them in a new way to build upon what my students do when they are reading.  I found new ways to apply teaching the strategies in small groups but during shared reading as well.

Ashley Smith December Blog Post Teach Comprehension

The chapter, Teach Comprehension discusses the need for teaching students how to go further in their reading  by discussing bigger ideas. The authors lets us know that we need to start building comprehension when students first enter school. We need to start teaching comprehension using the texts our students are reading and what we want them to be able to read and write. Next, we need to be careful about how we teach comprehension. Then, we need to be sure to balance it with explicit instruction with lots of time for our students to be able to practice and apply it. Other things we as teachers can do is:

• teach and apply our own comprehension processes make our reading/thinking processes more visible
• teach reading as the single most useful strategy
• use writing to help recall key points 
• teach students to survey texts before they begin to read  
• make  connections teach self monitoring
• have our students interact with peers to increase comprehension  
• use text that are easy enough and meaningful enough to support comprehension, keep fluency in perspective 
• teach students how to ask significant questions 
• use caution and common sense when teaching strategies.

Our students need to be able to do more than just read words on a page. They need to know how to break a text apart to understand the meaning of it. They need to not only understand the 'big  idea,' but also be able to delve deeper by analyzing characters and their motivations, the purpose of specific types of texts, as well as understanding themselves as proficient readers with the capability of understanding complex ideas. I find it so powerful that the author states that we need to introduce our students to challenging, interesting texts if we want them to become critical thinkers, inquirers, and problem solvers. Isn't this the reason we teach?  So often we read books without researching their content or reading them for ourselves before we introduce them to our students. I have so many books in my classroom that I bought just because they were cheap and I needed books to line my shelves. I have taken to looking through them and reading some and found that many of them have very little or no value to the reader at all. I asked myself if the book would be something my kids would find value in and the answer was no. I said all this to say that if their is not value to be had in a book then how can our students learn from it? How can they deepen their understanding to build comprehension skills if their are none to be had? By looking at the ways we teach comprehension we can challenge our students to become not only better, but more proficient readers and learners.

December Blog Post - Inquiry Unit

For the inquiry unit, I decided to pull a subject matter in which students have natural and innate interests: butterflies and caterpillars. This topic came to mind because the leveled readers I am using in the small group I pull were about caterpillars and focused on the life cycle and metamorphosis of caterpillars to butterflies. The students were already showing interest and asking questions about what the caterpillars ate, how they laid their eggs, and how the caterpillars transformed. Knowing that we have a well-stocked selection on this topic in the Literacy Closet, I picked my topic. The topic lends itself well to inquiry. The students can easily begin to generate their own questions and do small investigations in books and on websites to find their own answers to these questions. I envision begin able to construct a symabloo containing great websites on the topic without too much struggle as well. The students first lesson on inquiry focused on teacher modeling. I modeled generating questions that would have factual versus opinionated answers. "What is the best butterfly" would be an example of an opinion question while "How many different types of butterflies are there?" would yield a more factual answer. As a whole group, we reread our inspiring leveled texts. I then modeled my wonderings, and gave each student an I Wonder notebook to record their own questions for inquiry. Then I introduced them to the large collection of books that focus on the topic. I modeled rereading the questions for inquiry I had generated and looking through the books to find some answers for those questions. I also modeled how I would record any answers I found below the question recorded in the I Wonder notebook. The students' next lessons will focus on surveying the books for themselves and recording I Wonder questions on Post It notes on the pages. They will then transfer these post it notes into their I Wonder notebooks. In later lessons, they will focus their investigations on their top 3-5 questions that they've generated. These will be the topic for their in-depth investigations and reports. To find the answers to their top questions, they will be reading the collection of books about butterflies and caterpillars and using online resources in the symbaloo I have made. As a whole group, they will make a presentation that showcases their learning on this topic. We will choose either Padlet, ActivStudio or another creative outlet (Smore?) for the students to make a visual for their presentation. I am very excited about the guided reading practice and the focus on inquiry that this unit provides. I hope the students enjoy it as much as I am enjoying it.

December Blog Post: Chaper 10-Examine Guided Reading

I took many thoughts and ideas away from Chapter 10: Examining Guided Reading.  I have always wanted to implement Guided Reading into my ELA block, but because of time, schedules, required ELA materials, and other reasons I haven't been able to fully having a Guided Reading time until THIS YEAR! 
Some of the most important items I want to remember from the chapter are:

• Your guided reading lesson will only be as good as good as the text you use.
• Be cautious how you group students.  (In younger grade levels, grouping students by level is ok.  But when students are reading independently, it is ok to divide groups in other ways besides levels.)
• Make independent reading a priority over your guided reading time.
• Lower grade levels should meet with lower level groups at least 4 times a week.  (This is very hard for me.  Right now I meet with every group twice a week.  After reading this chapter, I think I may rework my schedule so I can work with my lower level students more.)
• The texts I choose should challenge students to do most of the reading and problem solve by integrating the strategies that are being taught.
• Guided reading should be guiding students through the reading process.
• Instead of asking what words students did not know or understand, my first statement when I meet with a group should be, "Tell me about what you read."  (This will show reading is not just about getting words right.  It is important to understand what we read-meangingful.)
• Where I sit is important.  I shouldn't be sitting in the center of the kidney shaped table.  I should be off to the side.  This shows students that this is more of a group reading time and not just a teaching time.  

The things I took away from this chapter will help guide my lesson planning and my future Guided Reading lessons.  The word meaningful comes to mind after reading this chapter and looking at my Guided Reading time.  If I do not make the time meaningful to the students, they will not see the importance and I am hurting their success as an independent learner and reader! 

KidWatching

Interpreting data is a task that is almost like putting together a puzzle. As I have watched my students both in observation and in data, I have pieced together things that they have learned as well as found missing pieces of their learning puzzle. It is amazing the growth that some of my students have shown from the beginning of the year. I do not feel like it is all a credit to my abilities as a teacher (and mainly because I was not here), but I feel that some of the growth in reading has come from them being at school and surrounded by words and text. Our students do not see many words or books over the summer months and can sometimes regress instead of progress during that time. I feel that the December STAR data depicts a better image of what their reading levels really are at the time of the test. This is a good thing because a lot of growth has taken place for most students. I noticed in my classroom that there were few students that did not show growth. These students either stayed at the same levels or they went down. I was able to pull data on them through Renaissance Place and target specific skills that they may be missing or need work in.

The Kidwatching study has helped me as a teacher be more aware of all the different ways that data can be used. It has helped me to target specific students. As a grade level this study has helped us to determine how to meet some of our students needs through an extra intervention time, using our current resources and ideas. Students will be leveled and our Urgent Intervention and Intervention students will get targeted instruction that meets their needs. The On Watch and At or Above Grade Level students will be working on targeted instruction that will meet their needs as well. In working on this data puzzel it is as if we have sat down and completed the edges and now it is time to fill it in.

During the month of January our application we are working on learning about Socio Cultural Learning theories and strategies that help support student talk.   In our required reading this month Richard Allington identifies student talk as one of the essential components that characterize the most effective teachers’ classrooms. 

In January’s blendspace you will find a variety of resources we’ve included for you including the four theories that we are sharing with you such as Owocki and Goodman’s kidwatching excerpts that focus on sociocultural learning and talk and Chorzerpa’s suggestions for utilizing Socratic Seminar to promote active student engagement in learning.  You will also find in our blendspace an example of an award-winning podcast in the link to NPR’s “This I Believe” podcast series as well as a link to try out a very user friendly podcasting tool for students called vocaroo (vocaroo.com) 

This month for my blog post, I have chosen to read chapter 3 “Share Your Reading Life” from Routman’s Reading Essentials for many reasons.  First of all, I believe that this directs to the importance of talk in our classroom.  How many of us love to read and love to talk about what we are reading?  I know that many times I have read a book that has deeply affected me as a reader and I have immediately wanted to share that experience with another human. 

When I was in the second grade and read, Charlotte’s Web I remember sitting beside my best friend at the time, Amanda Ravan just a crying over the loss of Charlotte and the heart warming knowledge that I at 8 had experienced the joy of friendship.  When I was in the fifth grade and read Where the Red Fern Grows I remember vividly having to re-read it at night to my twin brother because I wanted someone else to know those two coon dogs, Little Ann and Ole’ Dan that had stolen my heart and made me love the outdoors all over again.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit to you that in college when Greg and I first met I read Nicolas Spark’s The Notebook and was so smitten by the idea of a love like that I asked him would he please read because I hoped that the new love we had found might grow into a lasting life time love like the two characters based on the author’s grandparents had found.  I know cheesy right! 

As readers we connect to what we read and we are compelled to share our thoughts with others.  When Lily Grace figured out what Severus Snape’s heart was really about in Harry Potter she had to run downstairs and tell me that he wasn’t all bad and she couldn’t believe I had let her peg him wrong all this time when I knew he actually helped save Harry in the end!  I told her that I was waiting to see her reaction and I didn’t want to spoil the discovery of loyalty in his character for her.  We then both concurred that J.K. Rowling had magical writing abilities to draw out his character development.

Our students need time to talk about what they’ve read, to transact with others who may affirm their thoughts and more importantly, who may challenge them and open them up to a new way of thinking.  In my first summer of the Spartanburg Writing Project, my book club that read and wrote under the influence of Barbara Kingsolver’s work that summer challenged my thinking and my writing in ways that grew me. 

In this month’s article, Allington states,  "..if we want to increase substantially the amount of reading that children do (and would I argue that this is one absolutely crucial step toward enhancing reading proficiency), it is important to give children books they can read and choices regarding which books they will read. Likewise, crafting a supportive conversational environment in which students talk to their teachers and to their peers about the books they are reading is an important component for sustaining increased reading. And active teaching of useful reading strategies expands the array of books that children are able to read. Finally, shifting evaluation to focus on effort and improvement enhances students' motivation for reading."  (Allington, 2002 pg. 8)

One of the strategies that Routman made in this chapter is to share your now and your next book and to have a record of your reading.  In my writer’s notebook I have a running list of books I’ve read so I can remember them for mentor texts and for the memories.

Each month I visit Mr. K’s Used Book store in Greenville (in Verdae Shopping Center off the Motor Mile) and buy my stack for the month.  Below is my picture of my Now Book stack.  Every single book in this stack was recommended to me by a friend.  Keri Lyles from Arcadia recommended Outlander (she was right, it is full of adventure, history, suspense, and a little romance too!).  A friend of mine I met in Kentucky when Tasha Thomas and I presented at a Writing Conference there recommended The Goldfinch to me on facebook and The Martian was highly recommended to me by my parents. 

Here is a picture of my Next Book Stack and both books on this list made the list through talking with others.  The Rick Bragg book is on my next stack because he is an all-time favorite of mine and two friends, Susan Cox and Pam Ray recommended this one to me recently.  The ESV Bible was given to me for Christmas by my husband Greg because two friends of mine recommended this translation to me. 

Other take aways for me from this chapter include:

*Favorite Author Area – page 30

*Baskets of Recommended books – page 30

*Keeping a Simple Reading Record – page 35

*Demonstrating How You Read and Your Love For Reading – page 36

Routman says on page 24 that it is important that we share our love of reading with our students.  “I want students to know I am compelled to read.  It is almost impossible for me not to read.  It’s much more than enjoying a well-told story, increasing my knowledge about the world, following directions, or say, understanding philosophy.  Reading pervades my life and sustains me the same way friendship and love do.  Reading gives me joy, comfort, perspective, new ideas, questions to ponder, and connections to other lives.  I want nothing less for my students.” (Routman, page 24)

I agree whole-heartedly.  #readersareleaders

Sincerely,

Dawn

Caleb Thrower: December Blog

For December, I read Chapter 9 in Read Essentials which talks about the importance of shared reading. When I have done some shared reading in the past I have found it to be beneficial and enjoyable but the difficulty lies in finding the time and resources to do shared reading properly. I quite enjoyed this chapter because it opened my eyes to some improvements that I can make in future shared reading experiences.

Time and time again in the chapter the author emphasizes the importance of total class participation when doing shared reading. I have found this difficult due to the fact that it can be difficult to find a copy of shared reading books for each student. In recent memory I have had to resort to having two or three students sharing a copy of the book. While this has worked okay in the past, going forward I am going to be diligent in selecting books where there are enough copies for each student in our book closet or by possibly using copies from other schools.

I also loved the check list presented in the chapter on the roles of each party during shared reading. As I look over the check list, I am pleased to reflect on some things I have done right in shared reading such as using appropriate unfamiliar books and having students turn and talk about passages. I also noticed that there are some things that I can start doing to make shared reading a more successful and engaging experience for the students. In the future, I plan to have students participate in more reflecting on the text through oral and written explanations. This also promotes the practice of good habits by students they have seen the teacher demonstrate during the read aloud.

Shared reading is a great time to expose students to new genres and books they may have never heard of or thought of reading in a safe environment. It gives students a chance to see the teacher demonstrate good reading habits and allows them to test drive those habits along with peers throughout the course of the book. After reading this chapter, I am further convinced that if shared reading is done frequently and properly it has a place in an everyday classroom schedule.