Reading Conversations

My social studies/literacy block has migrated exclusively into literacy. I'm really excited about how things are going thus far. We're doing novel study, which is really another way of saying literacy circles, book clubs, or guided reading. The latter of those is the most tenuous, but still fits.

In reality my literacy block is a combination of many different practices. It uses a workshop model, pulling out lessons from the Units of Study for Reading. I have kids writing in journals with stop and jots, or making notes on sticky notes. I conference like I might in the workshop model, or with guided reading. I will take notes in OneNote, having kids give a retelling before some oral reading. I'll follow that up with positives or constructive pieces. I am also using the Guided Reading model of writing about reading, focusing on analyzing texts, making inferences and predictions. Finally it comes together with end of the week book club work where we are talking about books.

Compared to last year I am having kids write less. I used to give kids a Fact Question Response sheet, with another sheet for an element we were working on (setting, character map etc). But I found that to be a bit much. Some kids struggled with the amount of work, or just simply weren't detailed enough. Instead I've found the workshop model to be more successful, and to give me more time to work with kids on what they are reading.

The best part of it all was in my last group today. We were talking about characters and how we describe them. Kids had listed a variety of traits, internal and external. I did a short read aloud from Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, focusing in on how Lynne Jonell describes Emmy. At a stopping point I had kids turn and talk to describe Emmy thus far. The room erupted in conversation, and kids were excited to describe her, almost as though they couldn't wait to tell their shoulder partner. When we group shared the level of character traits were fantastic. Kids were making connections to characters in other books (unprompted) and able to explain why they thought Emmy embodied a particular trait ("she has a little bit of mischief in her, because you can see she kinda wants to do what the rat is telling her."). I couldn't have been happier.

Formulas in Writing

I just finished scoring 75 fall writing assessments. I was struck by the number of similar styles kids used in their writing. Transitions like "First, Second, Third" or "First, Next, and then" were prevalent. There were also a myriad of expansion sentences that didn't add as much as you would want. I learned quite a bit about my kids, but was also left with a variety of questions. Some sentences left me as a reader wanting to know more about a particular topic, but being left a bit on the empty side. My kids can write, that much is certain. When I say my kids, I mean ALL of my kids can write. Really. It's true. But at times I wonder whether the process or formula is getting in the way.

The question that I was left with was: would I rather have kids that can write by formula, or those that have voice but could struggle to get started? To me, I'd rather the former than the latter. I think it is easier to model clay than to make clay. If kids have a fall back, default to which they can utilize when they struggle, then I am all for it. Everyone needs a safe zone. While I am great a motivating, writing can be an intense struggle for kids. It is like any area where kids struggle (math, reading, anything): I'm not good at it so why try. The mountain at that point becomes Everest, not one of those small east coast mole hills (I can say that being an ex-east coaster).

We as teachers need to do a better job giving kids tools for their toolbox. I use Units of Study, which has more of a flowy, go through the writing process approach. Others tend to use Step Up to Writing... formula, transitions, IVF, here is how it is done. Both work. But kids need a little bit of both. My challenge is to ensure that their voices get louder as they use (or break free of) these transitions and formulas.

Managing Units of Study

I am a proponent of the Units of Study, and the workshop model. The idea is to give short mini-lessons on strategies and skills that kids can use in authentic settings. During the independent work time you confer with kids, and monitor how successful they are with what you are teaching. You then wrap up with a sharing session that highlights student work, and gives students the opportunity to see student work that is (or approximates) what the lesson intended. Where I have struggled is meshing that together. In a broad sense "Units of Study" is composed of 4-6 books with 16 lessons in each. I can't necessarily teach with "Units..." wholesale. We have other reading materials, and I am also responsible for Social Studies (a literacy rich content area for sure). How do you take a really good resource, and use it while still using the other materials you have? That is where I am trying to spend some energy during this break. A great example is in reading the Units of Study for Writing book entitled "Literary Essays". The idea is to get kids writing about books by analyzing characters, and the author's word choice, therefore living in the shoes of the characters being studied. As I have been reading through it I have seen glimpses of what I already do on a much smaller scale. In my novel study packet I have had kids comparing/contrasting themselves to a character. I've had them analyzing character traits, and explaining why. But what I see in "Units..." that I haven't done is having kids add more of their feeling into their writing. That is one thing "Units.." does exceptionally well. It gets kids to empathize with characters, and pour that onto the page. I haven't stressed that, but have simultaneously hoped for it. I feel silly now, but see it as an opportunity to grow. My wavering on whether to do a third novel study has grown into a resolve to give this a try. I'll likely simplify the process for responding so that they can focus on work on employing some of the new instruction. Definitely excited.

Too Much!

I ordered the Units of Study for Reading at the start of March. I've been looking for some other materials to help me get my head around how I organize my literacy time. I combined Social Studies with novel study and our Houghton Mifflin materials. But I have always felt that the time is disjointed. My concern is that using either of the above materials too much ends up tilting the needle too far away from something that needs to be incorporated (i.e. lots of social studies means no fiction; lots of Houghton Mifflin means less authentic reading time AND too little authentic non-fiction).

Well the Units of Study arrived. As excited as I was to receive it, I was also overwhelmed. I've already got my assessment book to read, not to mention the class I need to attend. But I'm also leading our tech training on Friday, which gives me a little pause- you want to do well, but nerves always set in to some degree. Lastly, I have a project I want to get off the ground on Monday, so my available time has diminished significantly. If only there were more time!

Appetizers... Starters

My afternoon is not setup ideally. In an ideal world I'd have 5 consecutive days where I have a 2:00-3:00 block of time, or something close to it. Instead I have 3 days/wk, with my Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays being my writing days. On Tuesday I have a specialist at 2:30, and on Wednesdays we have district-wide early dismissal at 1:30 for staff development. I love the latter, because it allows for collaboration and time to get things done (time as a whole!). The former is simply a necessity, as that is when we could fit it in.

What is the point of explaining that? Well, because I am pushing onward with a new unit of study in writing. We are going to work on crafting essays. Thus far it hasn't been the most successful endeavor. Much of this is related back to my instruction. I jumped too far ahead from the start, prompting them to use the small things they notice as essay starters. That is fine, but you need to give them a scaffold:
small things---> larger generalizations.

How am I changing? We are going to move forward, and eventually circle back to the small things. We'll use a prompt as a starter "I learn many new things are school." From there we'll be practicing using elaborating phrases like "for example; this connects with; In addition; this makes me realize...". After modelling, and guided practice, we'll move onward to taking some of our ideas further with these phrases. I'll also point out some of the different ideas that can be used, and those that are being used by our class.

Then later in the week we'll go back and look at some of our ideas to see if there bigger ideas inside. We'll also use some other strategies to generate essay ideas- conversational starters etc. The end going being that we'll start working on the structural elements (thesis, big ideas, examples/supporting details). The hope is that this allows them to extend thinking on ideas further, and construct arguments related to big concepts. Right now it is a work in progress.

Conferring With Authors

Writing conferences are a wonderful tool for writing instruction. I feel like they are the backbone of instruction, as they allow the teacher to see what lessons students are employing. From there you can provide feedback, learn more about the student as a writer and person, and you can make changes to your instruction. These conferences are where I find my instruction to be most meaningful, as you can move students along in a way that is individualized to where they are in the writing process.

What I've noticed is that I need to make some changes to my Writer's Workshop (my homeroom literacy time as a whole). My writing workshop has been on a 3 days on/off cycle, alternating with reading. But the cycle is too quick and momentum is lost too quickly. I feel like we are returning to "small moments" for the 8th time since September. It feels stagnate, and change needs to be made. So I'm hoping to put a substantial dent into my writing instruction by going for the next 2-3 weeks with writing, then going for the following 2-3 weeks with reading instruction. I'm less concerned about reading instruction, largely because they are receiving that instruction (from me) during our social studies time.

Ultimately I need to consider my end objective... I want my kids to develop a love of reading and writing. They won't love writing when it comes in 3 day bursts every 2 weeks. You love writing when you get to dive in deep and apply an assortment of strategies that lead you towards improvement. The only sad thing is that I won't be trying out any of the strategies from Strategies That Work 2 quite yet with my homeroom kids. The book is wonderful and worth picking up.

Can we add to it?

Many great things came about today. First and foremost was success with instruction as we practiced making predictions, and linking it to evidence of some sort (ie. a picture or a word/phrase might inform you about what comes next... so adding that at the end of your prediction). After that I received my set of 3rd-5th Writer's Workshop books from Heinneman. I've been borrowing some from a 4th grade teacher, and finally was able to return hers. I dog-ear, sticky note, and continually use my teacher books so they were a must have. Lastly I received my district laptop. It is a HP, and has been imaged by the district so that they can do any maintenance if needed.

Beyond those great things was this question: "So, umm, Mr Hanson will we be able to add information to this wiki while we are in here?" Oh yes! Yes you will. My first reaction, since I am considering how I want kids to be able to edit, was that they can bring the link and the description and I will add it. So I will be interested to see what they find, if anything. Ultimately, this wiki is what I'd like to have for the kids. Even more powerful is what the Crosby class was able to do in working on the "Reno Bike Project." As a whole though, take the small victories and be ready for more work tomorrow.