Tonight I had the amazing privilege to present to the South Central Reading Council. What a great group of educators! Everyone came after long, hard day of school to talk, learn, and share. And the butternut squash soup was amazing.
An adapted version of the presentation is embedded below. Enjoy working with your students!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Stink Bugs
Stink bugs seem to be everywhere right now! In the news, on our window sills, and on my porch. The orchard growers in the area are very worried about the damage that stink bugs may cause.
Because stink bugs are so ubiquitous, kids find them very interesting. I decided to take advantage of their interest and write an article about them. The text is posted over at the Kids' Guide to Exploring Nature blog, as well as in printer-friendly format at TeachersPayTeachers.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Informational-Article-Stink-Bugs
As I write this, I am being watched by a stink bug. It is sitting on the window, looking in. Well, stink bug, you are not welcome in MY house!
Because stink bugs are so ubiquitous, kids find them very interesting. I decided to take advantage of their interest and write an article about them. The text is posted over at the Kids' Guide to Exploring Nature blog, as well as in printer-friendly format at TeachersPayTeachers.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Informational-Article-Stink-Bugs
As I write this, I am being watched by a stink bug. It is sitting on the window, looking in. Well, stink bug, you are not welcome in MY house!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Persuasive vs. Informational Text
Like many transitional readers, some of my fourth graders have trouble with the difference between persuasive text and informational text. We're making a crucial transition from text with a lot of graphics and features to texts with fewer helpful aids.
And, in a way, I can see their problems. Most informational text does have an element of persuasion--the author is saying, "Listen to me, believe me, I know what I'm talking about." By the same token, most persuasive text also does include some information. It's no wonder that kids are having problems!
And these problems lead to the kids being, well, easily led. Maybe they're not as impressionable as my five year old, who wants to purchase everything on every commercial. (I gave in and bought the Pillow Pet, but I refuse to get the toothpaste dispenser...despite his pleas!) But some students still have trouble recognizing when someone is trying to persuade them.
I decided that students needed to experience much more persuasive text...and learn how to be more skeptical. To direct their thinking, I shared 5 questions for them to ask of persuasive text.
Questions
1. What is this text trying to persuade me to do?
2. Who is the speaker? Is it different from the author?
3. Why is the speaker/author trying to persuade me? What's in it for them?
4. Does it feel like the speaker is using unfair tricks? (Putting other people down, making me feel bad about something, making me feel like this will make me popular)
5. Do I believe in what the speaker is trying to say?
We had fun taking apart an advertisement, an essay that I pulled from a writing book, and even Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late. They felt very grown-up and sophisticated as they used these questions...and were able to find a lot of unfair tricks.
Hopefully, this immersion in persuasive text will help students to be able to recognize it more easily--and resist it if necessary!
And, in a way, I can see their problems. Most informational text does have an element of persuasion--the author is saying, "Listen to me, believe me, I know what I'm talking about." By the same token, most persuasive text also does include some information. It's no wonder that kids are having problems!
And these problems lead to the kids being, well, easily led. Maybe they're not as impressionable as my five year old, who wants to purchase everything on every commercial. (I gave in and bought the Pillow Pet, but I refuse to get the toothpaste dispenser...despite his pleas!) But some students still have trouble recognizing when someone is trying to persuade them.
I decided that students needed to experience much more persuasive text...and learn how to be more skeptical. To direct their thinking, I shared 5 questions for them to ask of persuasive text.
Questions
1. What is this text trying to persuade me to do?
2. Who is the speaker? Is it different from the author?
3. Why is the speaker/author trying to persuade me? What's in it for them?
4. Does it feel like the speaker is using unfair tricks? (Putting other people down, making me feel bad about something, making me feel like this will make me popular)
5. Do I believe in what the speaker is trying to say?
We had fun taking apart an advertisement, an essay that I pulled from a writing book, and even Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late. They felt very grown-up and sophisticated as they used these questions...and were able to find a lot of unfair tricks.
Hopefully, this immersion in persuasive text will help students to be able to recognize it more easily--and resist it if necessary!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Narrative and Expository Text
Today, we talked about the differences between narrative and expository text. This is tough for fourth graders! When we look at books, they are pretty good at figuring out the difference between the narrative and the informational, the fiction and the nonfiction. However, with shorter pieces, they are struggling.
My fourth grade colleague (thanks, Colleen!) suggested that we look at variations of nursery rhymes, and try to figure out what kind of text they are.
Text 1
THE HILL-Two children were injured today in an apparent fall down a hillside.
The children, named Jack and Jill, were going up the hill to get a pail of water. At some point in their climb, Jack fell down. Jill soon followed. Witnesses say that she "tumbled" down the hill.
"All I wanted was a glass of water," Jill said. "But I didn't get it."
The children received minor injuries, but are reported to be doing well.
Text 2
I have never realized what a dangerous game tag could be. When my brother suggested that we go and get water, I said, "Sure!" I like going up the hill. Jack and I decided to play tag as we went up the hill.
But this wasn't a good idea. Because Jack was running, he didn't see the big rock on the hill. He tripped, and then I fell too. It was so embarrassing! I couldn't stop myself and just kept crashing and turning. It was also painful.
When I got down to the bottom, I looked at Jack. He had a cut on his head! (He was also crying.) I ran home to get our parents. I've learned an important lesson--never play tag on a hill.
What did students think? Well, as I predicted, they found these two texts to be challenging. Part of the problem is that both texts have quotations. Both also, in a sense, tell a story. Another problem is that the big feature of a newspaper article, the dateline, was of no significance for students.
The big difference between the narrative and the informational piece, as I told students, is in how they relate the events. A narrative, at its heart, reflects on events. A narrative doesn't just tell what has happened. Instead, it examines and considers the events, reshaping them and showing their significance. The fact that Jill ends the narrative by reflecting on a lesson learned shows this (in a very rudimentary form, of course!)
My fourth grade colleague (thanks, Colleen!) suggested that we look at variations of nursery rhymes, and try to figure out what kind of text they are.
Text 1
THE HILL-Two children were injured today in an apparent fall down a hillside.
The children, named Jack and Jill, were going up the hill to get a pail of water. At some point in their climb, Jack fell down. Jill soon followed. Witnesses say that she "tumbled" down the hill.
"All I wanted was a glass of water," Jill said. "But I didn't get it."
The children received minor injuries, but are reported to be doing well.
Text 2
I have never realized what a dangerous game tag could be. When my brother suggested that we go and get water, I said, "Sure!" I like going up the hill. Jack and I decided to play tag as we went up the hill.
But this wasn't a good idea. Because Jack was running, he didn't see the big rock on the hill. He tripped, and then I fell too. It was so embarrassing! I couldn't stop myself and just kept crashing and turning. It was also painful.
When I got down to the bottom, I looked at Jack. He had a cut on his head! (He was also crying.) I ran home to get our parents. I've learned an important lesson--never play tag on a hill.
What did students think? Well, as I predicted, they found these two texts to be challenging. Part of the problem is that both texts have quotations. Both also, in a sense, tell a story. Another problem is that the big feature of a newspaper article, the dateline, was of no significance for students.
The big difference between the narrative and the informational piece, as I told students, is in how they relate the events. A narrative, at its heart, reflects on events. A narrative doesn't just tell what has happened. Instead, it examines and considers the events, reshaping them and showing their significance. The fact that Jill ends the narrative by reflecting on a lesson learned shows this (in a very rudimentary form, of course!)
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Comparing Texts: Narrative and Blog
Over the summer, my two sons and I loved finding out about mole crabs. When I went looking for information about them, I found that some of the main hits from the search engine turned out to be blogs.
Which got me to thinking--kids are going to be reading blogs much more often in the years to come. (Until blogs are replaced by something else, that is!) What do kids need to know to read a blog? What features should they look for?
I decided that it would be fun to write a story that connects to a blog. You can download the story and the instructional materials from Teachers Pay Teachers:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comparing-Texts-Fictional-Narrative-and-Blog-Post
The blog post, of course, is over on the Kids Guide to Exploring Nature blog. I know that this is not a totally authentic blog. I'm going to avoid linking to other websites too much, because I want to have a very safe place with as little outward traffic as possible. But I'm hoping that it will at least get kids started with looking at some of the basic features of blogs--the posts, the reverse-time order, and the archives.
Which got me to thinking--kids are going to be reading blogs much more often in the years to come. (Until blogs are replaced by something else, that is!) What do kids need to know to read a blog? What features should they look for?
I decided that it would be fun to write a story that connects to a blog. You can download the story and the instructional materials from Teachers Pay Teachers:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comparing-Texts-Fictional-Narrative-and-Blog-Post
The blog post, of course, is over on the Kids Guide to Exploring Nature blog. I know that this is not a totally authentic blog. I'm going to avoid linking to other websites too much, because I want to have a very safe place with as little outward traffic as possible. But I'm hoping that it will at least get kids started with looking at some of the basic features of blogs--the posts, the reverse-time order, and the archives.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Unusual Text Structures: Geographical Order
If you're working with text structure, you may have noticed that there are some books and texts that just can't be placed in the typical categories of chronological order, compare and contrast, problem/solution, cause and effect, and description.
It can be fun to take a closer look at books that show unusual text structures. Often, these different organizational patterns are very obvious and easy for students to notice. Two of my favorite examples are by Marilyn Singer. I'd call the organization of these books geographical order, as the author moves systematically around the world to explain her ideas.
Nine o' Clock Lullaby: What's happening at 9:00? In this book, the author shows people around the world at the same moment in time.
On the Same Day in March: Written by the same author, this book goes around the world and looks at weather on the same March day.
While geographical order is not one of the official text structures, it's still interesting to think about how different authors choose to organize their ideas. These kinds of discussions can become a building block to more complex conversations about text structure.
It can be fun to take a closer look at books that show unusual text structures. Often, these different organizational patterns are very obvious and easy for students to notice. Two of my favorite examples are by Marilyn Singer. I'd call the organization of these books geographical order, as the author moves systematically around the world to explain her ideas.
Nine o' Clock Lullaby: What's happening at 9:00? In this book, the author shows people around the world at the same moment in time.
On the Same Day in March: Written by the same author, this book goes around the world and looks at weather on the same March day.
While geographical order is not one of the official text structures, it's still interesting to think about how different authors choose to organize their ideas. These kinds of discussions can become a building block to more complex conversations about text structure.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Writing Process and Academic Vocabulary
Every fall, I spend time teaching my writers about the writing process. They've experienced it before, of course, but I like for all students to experience the process and learn how it can help them to create stronger pieces of writing.
But the word process is an important academic vocabulary word for students to learn. It's not only important for them in writing class. The word process is also important in science, as students learn about natural processes. Students also need to use this word in math, to explain how to solve problems. Process is an important word!
This year, I started out with "process charades". Students completed a vocabulary word map with the definition of process, examples, non-examples, and a picture. We used the definition that a process is a set of steps. Then, we took turns acting out processes that we know how to do. I illustrated our processes (pretty poorly!) by putting pictures of the steps on the board. Kids were pretty ingenious with the processes that they chose.
Once students had a good handle on the process charades, I gave them a set of notecards. They could think of any process that they knew how to do, from brushing their teeth to mowing the lawn. They illustrated the cards with one step on each card. (Little note: I've taken a cue from the kindergarten teacher and started giving students thin black markers and colored pencils for these sorts of activities. The quality of their work really improves.)
Finally we were ready to move into the writing process! I had already made a simple checklist of steps in the writing process, along with a short writing prompt guiding students to write a paragraph about a process that they know how to do. Now, students saw the writing process, and they were pretty excited that they got to check off a step right away. (They had already done the planning step of making their notecards.)
Yes, following a process to write about a process...it's tough to say, and gets the kids giggling, but they are learning the word.
But the word process is an important academic vocabulary word for students to learn. It's not only important for them in writing class. The word process is also important in science, as students learn about natural processes. Students also need to use this word in math, to explain how to solve problems. Process is an important word!
This year, I started out with "process charades". Students completed a vocabulary word map with the definition of process, examples, non-examples, and a picture. We used the definition that a process is a set of steps. Then, we took turns acting out processes that we know how to do. I illustrated our processes (pretty poorly!) by putting pictures of the steps on the board. Kids were pretty ingenious with the processes that they chose.
Once students had a good handle on the process charades, I gave them a set of notecards. They could think of any process that they knew how to do, from brushing their teeth to mowing the lawn. They illustrated the cards with one step on each card. (Little note: I've taken a cue from the kindergarten teacher and started giving students thin black markers and colored pencils for these sorts of activities. The quality of their work really improves.)
Finally we were ready to move into the writing process! I had already made a simple checklist of steps in the writing process, along with a short writing prompt guiding students to write a paragraph about a process that they know how to do. Now, students saw the writing process, and they were pretty excited that they got to check off a step right away. (They had already done the planning step of making their notecards.)
Yes, following a process to write about a process...it's tough to say, and gets the kids giggling, but they are learning the word.
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