My school has many wonderful qualities. Situated high on a hill, it offers beautiful views of orchards and wooded hillsides. The simple three-hallway layout makes for easy navigation. Our faculty is small enough that a 13 X 9 pan can feed everyone.
Our lack of air conditioning is only an issue for a few days out of the year.
But on those days, it's really hot! Last week, while I was teaching about reading to perform a task, I thought I'd have kids practice by making plastic bag ice cream. (There are lots of recipes and activities online for this...just search and you'll get a long list.) Why ice cream? I knew that it involved playing around with ice, and I hoped it would make us all cooler! I tweaked a recipe, formatting it for easy reading, and scraped together the supplies.
What an adventure! It was memorable, from leaking bags to ice that melted too quickly. I learned several things:
1. You will always need more ice, especially on a 90 degree day.
2. The value of a "stunt classroom" is unparalleled. (For this year, we have a vacant classroom on our hallway...it's wonderful to have a place to do messy things, and then leave the clean-up for the end of the day.)
3. More on the philosophical side: Most kids, and most adults too, would rather see a demonstration than just read directions. I struggled with this as we were making ice cream. On the one hand, I wanted them to practice reading the recipe. However, they knew that I knew more about the technique than was written on the paper. I couldn't blame them for pumping me for more information! (They asked questions like, "Why do we need the rock salt?" and "Why do we put the small bag inside the large bag?")
4. Some fourth graders find "What do you do before..." and "Which step follows..." questions to be quite difficult. Even carrying out the steps doesn't completely fix this problem for them. I'm wondering why this might be so. Does this carry over to other kinds of reading and thinking also? Is it a developmental issue that will resolve itself, or do these students need some targeted help?
5. Playing around with the ice really did help us all to feel cooler.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Text Structure for Young Readers
The Powerpoint that I made over the summer is now up at Slideshare. You can download it here. (It is a large file!)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Diary of a...
This year, I started off journal writing time by reading Diary of a Worm. This funny book is useful for so many lessons. I used it to show students all of the different things that they can write about in their journals--lists of things they like and dislike, stories about their day, stories of how they have gotten in trouble, and so forth.
About five students in each class took the lesson one step further and started to write their own funny diaries. How fun! Since I'm still observing the students carefully to find out what they are like, I was excited to see them taking off with such a creative kind of writing.
And they had different methods. One student took the picture book and went through it page by page. At first, I was worried that he was copying. Then I saw that he was writing the Diary of a Dragon by looking at what Doreen Cronin wrote in Diary of a Worm, and then trying to think of a similar situation for his dragon. What an interesting writing process!
On the other side of the room, a different student was trying to write the Diary of a Banana. But I could see that he was having some trouble. Instead of using first person point of view, he was writing in third person, and seemed to be struggling to find ideas. This shows me that he's working on using different points of view in writing, but isn't quite sure of how to do it. Perfect for an early teaching point.
Yet another student had started writing Diary of a Bee. She'd filled up half a page, but then seemed stuck. I showed her how to use a field guide to insects to find out more facts about honeybees, facts that she might be able to use to write her funny diary.
I've never had so many fiction pieces so early in the year. Usually, the writing is all personal narratives for the first few weeks as students work through topics related to sports, their summer vacations, and their families. I'm intrigued and excited to see how these students develop!
About five students in each class took the lesson one step further and started to write their own funny diaries. How fun! Since I'm still observing the students carefully to find out what they are like, I was excited to see them taking off with such a creative kind of writing.
And they had different methods. One student took the picture book and went through it page by page. At first, I was worried that he was copying. Then I saw that he was writing the Diary of a Dragon by looking at what Doreen Cronin wrote in Diary of a Worm, and then trying to think of a similar situation for his dragon. What an interesting writing process!
On the other side of the room, a different student was trying to write the Diary of a Banana. But I could see that he was having some trouble. Instead of using first person point of view, he was writing in third person, and seemed to be struggling to find ideas. This shows me that he's working on using different points of view in writing, but isn't quite sure of how to do it. Perfect for an early teaching point.
Yet another student had started writing Diary of a Bee. She'd filled up half a page, but then seemed stuck. I showed her how to use a field guide to insects to find out more facts about honeybees, facts that she might be able to use to write her funny diary.
I've never had so many fiction pieces so early in the year. Usually, the writing is all personal narratives for the first few weeks as students work through topics related to sports, their summer vacations, and their families. I'm intrigued and excited to see how these students develop!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Reading Folders
Today was the fifth day of school! For the first few days, I worked with the students to find "just-right" books. Now that they have settled into their books, the next challenge is to get them thinking about what they read.
Yesterday, we made a chart to show all of the different kinds of thinking that readers can do as they read. (This is based on the "Reading Is Thinking" chart in Guiding Readers and Writers by Fountas and Pinnell.) Each student received a sticky note, and wrote one kind of thinking that they do while they read. Some students had some great ideas, like "making pictures in my mind", while others drew a blank. Still others knew important words, like "schema", but weren't sure of how to put this as a kind of thinking. Students shared their sticky notes and grouped similar ones together.
After we talked about all of the different kinds of thinking that they can do while they read, I introduced the simple chart we'll use to keep track of our thinking. Then, I showed them how they can do this. Finally, they returned to their own books to try writing down at least one example of how they think while they read.
In past years, I've been very encouraging on the first day, accepting almost every approximation. Today, though, I was a little choosier. One student wrote, "I am wondering what will happen next."
Ah, the stand-by reading response! This fuzzy response plagues me every year. Not today, I decided! But it takes some work to help a reader figure out how to make this more specific.
I said, "Let's try to make this a little more specific. Why are you wondering what happens next?"
The student rattled off a pretty detailed explanation of the events of the page, so I knew he was following the story. (He was reading the second book of The Sisters Grimm--his third grade teacher had read the first book the previous year.) I said, "You just told me that Jack and Sabrina are fighting. Can you put that into a specific question about what will happen next?"
He thought for a few moments, then said, "Well, Sabrina has a sword, and I wonder if she's going to use it in the fight."
Much more specific thinking! I said, "Think about how much more detail you added! This really shows your thinking as a reader."
As I start routines, I am always thinking, "What will this look like months down the road?" It's important to make sure that students aim for specific thinking, each and every day.
Of course, today wasn't all about the winning. As the temperature climbed, I asked one reader to tell me what he was thinking. He looked at me, sighed, and said, "I was thinking about if you would let me go stand in front of the fan."
Teaching reading in August is always an adventure!
Yesterday, we made a chart to show all of the different kinds of thinking that readers can do as they read. (This is based on the "Reading Is Thinking" chart in Guiding Readers and Writers by Fountas and Pinnell.) Each student received a sticky note, and wrote one kind of thinking that they do while they read. Some students had some great ideas, like "making pictures in my mind", while others drew a blank. Still others knew important words, like "schema", but weren't sure of how to put this as a kind of thinking. Students shared their sticky notes and grouped similar ones together.
After we talked about all of the different kinds of thinking that they can do while they read, I introduced the simple chart we'll use to keep track of our thinking. Then, I showed them how they can do this. Finally, they returned to their own books to try writing down at least one example of how they think while they read.
In past years, I've been very encouraging on the first day, accepting almost every approximation. Today, though, I was a little choosier. One student wrote, "I am wondering what will happen next."
Ah, the stand-by reading response! This fuzzy response plagues me every year. Not today, I decided! But it takes some work to help a reader figure out how to make this more specific.
I said, "Let's try to make this a little more specific. Why are you wondering what happens next?"
The student rattled off a pretty detailed explanation of the events of the page, so I knew he was following the story. (He was reading the second book of The Sisters Grimm--his third grade teacher had read the first book the previous year.) I said, "You just told me that Jack and Sabrina are fighting. Can you put that into a specific question about what will happen next?"
He thought for a few moments, then said, "Well, Sabrina has a sword, and I wonder if she's going to use it in the fight."
Much more specific thinking! I said, "Think about how much more detail you added! This really shows your thinking as a reader."
As I start routines, I am always thinking, "What will this look like months down the road?" It's important to make sure that students aim for specific thinking, each and every day.
Of course, today wasn't all about the winning. As the temperature climbed, I asked one reader to tell me what he was thinking. He looked at me, sighed, and said, "I was thinking about if you would let me go stand in front of the fan."
Teaching reading in August is always an adventure!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Organizing the Library
Here's a quick tip for organizing a classroom library--something that I just learned by trial and error.
One thing that is always a problem early in the school year is that fourth graders often pick out the second, third, or fourth book in a series, instead of the first.
In series for young readers, this isn't such a problem. I know this from vast experience of reading the Magic Treehouse books aloud to my youngest son! But books meant for older readers are often more complex, with each book building on the last. A reader who jumps into a series with the third book will get confused. (This isn't to say that it's impossible--I've done it, and I know lots of other readers who have. But it requires a different kind of reading, a knowledge of the genre and how series books work that's often beyond the scope of fourth grader.)
When students pick a book that is later in the series, I often have to tell them that this isn't such a great idea, and we go to find the first book. Invariably we find that the first book in the series is already in someone else's hands, which leads to disappointment. Take the Dragon Slippers series by Jessica Day George. The second book, Dragon Flight, looks beautiful and inviting. But it will be hard to understand without reading Dragon Slippers. And the kind of reader who doesn't know enough about series books to realize that it's best to start with the first is the kind of reader who just can't jump into the middle of a series.
I've solved this problem by pulling the later books of some more sophisticated series and keeping them on a special shelf behind my desk. Kids have to ask for these books. When I see that a student has been carrying around Dragon Slippers, for example, I know that she is going to be ready for Dragon Flight soon. My library shelves are less cluttered, and I don't have the problem of readers trying to read books that just aren't quite right for them.
In short: Put out the first books in the series, but keep the later ones out of general circulation. They'll be easy to find when you see that a reader is ready for them, and kids won't pick them up by accident.
One thing that is always a problem early in the school year is that fourth graders often pick out the second, third, or fourth book in a series, instead of the first.
In series for young readers, this isn't such a problem. I know this from vast experience of reading the Magic Treehouse books aloud to my youngest son! But books meant for older readers are often more complex, with each book building on the last. A reader who jumps into a series with the third book will get confused. (This isn't to say that it's impossible--I've done it, and I know lots of other readers who have. But it requires a different kind of reading, a knowledge of the genre and how series books work that's often beyond the scope of fourth grader.)
When students pick a book that is later in the series, I often have to tell them that this isn't such a great idea, and we go to find the first book. Invariably we find that the first book in the series is already in someone else's hands, which leads to disappointment. Take the Dragon Slippers series by Jessica Day George. The second book, Dragon Flight, looks beautiful and inviting. But it will be hard to understand without reading Dragon Slippers. And the kind of reader who doesn't know enough about series books to realize that it's best to start with the first is the kind of reader who just can't jump into the middle of a series.
I've solved this problem by pulling the later books of some more sophisticated series and keeping them on a special shelf behind my desk. Kids have to ask for these books. When I see that a student has been carrying around Dragon Slippers, for example, I know that she is going to be ready for Dragon Flight soon. My library shelves are less cluttered, and I don't have the problem of readers trying to read books that just aren't quite right for them.
In short: Put out the first books in the series, but keep the later ones out of general circulation. They'll be easy to find when you see that a reader is ready for them, and kids won't pick them up by accident.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The First Day!
Three more days...and then the students will arrive. While I'm sad to see the end of summer, I am starting to feel a little bit of excitement for the new school year. (Thank heavens!) I can't help but think about what I'm going to do the first day, scribbling down notes on whatever paper I can find.
My focus for the first few days of school will be to help students realize how they can be great learners. Most of my fourth graders are a little anxious about the challenges of the new grade. I want them to get learning and feel successful right from the start.
I've already planned to do the What's Missing game from the Think-ets set, probably during my first few science sessions. While my first day's schedule is not entirely finished, here are two things that I know I'll be doing.
Distraction (from The Forest and the Trees): Too often, students don't realize that they have control over their attention. They allow themselves to be distracted by all of the little things going on in the room. I have to get students to realize their role in paying attention right from the start. After all, in my room, we can have two fans blowing, classes walking by in the hallway, birds chirping outdoors, and even the town's volunteer fire siren going off right down the hill. If students allow each little noise to be a distraction, they will have a very fractured learning experience.
The game of Distraction is simple. A student reads aloud from an informational book. During the reading, I zoom around the room, trying to be as distracting as possible. The kids think that this is really funny! After the reading is over, I ask students five simple questions based on the reading. Their success depends on how well they were able to tune out the distractions and focus on the reading. Then we talk about how they were successful or not. Invariably, some students are good at this, and can explain their strategies to others. We try it a few more times so that students can try out the strategies and see success.
Schema Maps: One of the tasks for the first day of school is a school tour. My fourth graders are new to the school, so a tour is definitely needed. This year, I'm going to combine the tour with a discussion of schema.
Early in the morning, I'm going to ask students to try to create a map of our school, labeling as many features as they know. They will probably find this challenging! Then, we'll walk around the school with our original maps on clipboards. Students will be able to make changes as we go. When we return to the room, we'll make new maps to show what we have learned. This will be an introduction to schema. Students will have a concrete example of how they can add to and change their schema. And our school tour--one of my least favorite first day chores--will have an added dimension of learning.
My focus for the first few days of school will be to help students realize how they can be great learners. Most of my fourth graders are a little anxious about the challenges of the new grade. I want them to get learning and feel successful right from the start.
I've already planned to do the What's Missing game from the Think-ets set, probably during my first few science sessions. While my first day's schedule is not entirely finished, here are two things that I know I'll be doing.
Distraction (from The Forest and the Trees): Too often, students don't realize that they have control over their attention. They allow themselves to be distracted by all of the little things going on in the room. I have to get students to realize their role in paying attention right from the start. After all, in my room, we can have two fans blowing, classes walking by in the hallway, birds chirping outdoors, and even the town's volunteer fire siren going off right down the hill. If students allow each little noise to be a distraction, they will have a very fractured learning experience.
The game of Distraction is simple. A student reads aloud from an informational book. During the reading, I zoom around the room, trying to be as distracting as possible. The kids think that this is really funny! After the reading is over, I ask students five simple questions based on the reading. Their success depends on how well they were able to tune out the distractions and focus on the reading. Then we talk about how they were successful or not. Invariably, some students are good at this, and can explain their strategies to others. We try it a few more times so that students can try out the strategies and see success.
Schema Maps: One of the tasks for the first day of school is a school tour. My fourth graders are new to the school, so a tour is definitely needed. This year, I'm going to combine the tour with a discussion of schema.
Early in the morning, I'm going to ask students to try to create a map of our school, labeling as many features as they know. They will probably find this challenging! Then, we'll walk around the school with our original maps on clipboards. Students will be able to make changes as we go. When we return to the room, we'll make new maps to show what we have learned. This will be an introduction to schema. Students will have a concrete example of how they can add to and change their schema. And our school tour--one of my least favorite first day chores--will have an added dimension of learning.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Text Structure for Younger Readers
Well, it's taken most of the summer, but I finally finished a primary grade text structure Powerpoint. No more fighting about Powerpoints across the grade levels!
Because it has so many pictures, I had to upload it to TeachersPayTeachers in two parts. Here are the links:
Text Structure for Younger Readers, Part 1
Text Structure for Younger Readers, Part 2
This presentation focuses on five text structures: description, sequence, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and solution. It includes quite a few example paragraphs and LOTS of pictures.
The paragraphs are about a wide range of topics, mostly going along with whatever interesting pictures that I had. You'll find that some paragraphs are easier than others, but all of the topics are clear and concrete.
Because it has so many pictures, I had to upload it to TeachersPayTeachers in two parts. Here are the links:
Text Structure for Younger Readers, Part 1
Text Structure for Younger Readers, Part 2
This presentation focuses on five text structures: description, sequence, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and solution. It includes quite a few example paragraphs and LOTS of pictures.
The paragraphs are about a wide range of topics, mostly going along with whatever interesting pictures that I had. You'll find that some paragraphs are easier than others, but all of the topics are clear and concrete.
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