Book Club Schedule

Ms. R holds herself and students to this book club schedule.

Shared Reading Schedule

I have always been skeptical about shared reading. Do kids really make meaning of the text when they are reading aloud with 25 other students? Do they really internalize the reading process through choral reading? This semester has sold me on the power of shared reading. Shared reading provides a safe learning environment for students to practice meaningful reading behaviors such as fluency and comprehension. Most importantly, shared reading builds confidence that builds better readers.

Below is the weekly schedule for shared reading. You should use the same text for an entire week so that students are able to dive deep into the text.

Monday: Introduce book and read for comprehension
Tuesday: Use meaning, syntax, and visuals to solve tricky words
Wednesday: Learn and solve new vocabulary words
Thursday: Practice fluency
Friday: Read for deeper comprehension

Nonfiction Jots

Mrs. C uses three ways to get your students jotting about nonfiction.
1. Connections
2. Questions
3. Changed thinking

To challenge your students to think deeper about the text, teach them to grow big ideas from their jots.

Engaging All Kids in Learning

“Poor students come to school with no literacy.” This was a comment from a psychology student in my reading intervention class in reference to why only 38% of students in the United States are reading at grade level according to the NAPE. In this moment, my blood pressure skyrocketed. Maybe this is because teachers aren’t delivering quality instruction. I digress…

All students come to school with funds of knowledge. The difference is that low-income students’ funds of knowledge are not always aligned to the prominent discourse in education. We cannot continue to play the blame game around race and class. Instead, educators must rise to the challenge to provide all students, rich and poor, with an excellent education.

I had the pleasure of attending Colleen Cruz's Learning From Teachers in High Needs Schools Calendar Day last week. According to Colleen, engagement is the number one factor in learning. She says engagement is crucial for students in high needs schools, but I believe it is crucial in order for all students to have meaningful learning experiences. If you spent two hours on a beautiful lesson plan but students are not engaged, you should have watched a Modern Family marathon instead. The first way to engage students is through materials. According to Richard Ellington, all texts are equal to your brain. That means reading To Kill a Mockingbird is not necessarily going to make you a better reader than The Watsons Go to Birmingham. The most important thing is that kids are reading and they are going to read more if texts that interest them are available. The most popular books are pop culture biographies, which Colleen calls gateway drugs because they link to other books. For example, a student could start with a biography on Beyoncé, and then he or she could read biographies on other singers or information books about Houston or becoming a singer. No wonder second graders reading at level F are bored; most level F books lack the engagement factor. Other materials that engage students are writing supplies such as post-it buffets, felt tip pens, revision toolkits, and paper choice, as well as technology. Materials such as these are engaging for all students, not just students in high needs schools.

Another way to engage students is through the curriculum. Colleen argues that teachers need to include meaningful topics and make connections to student interests. TCRWP units of study address the standards and provide helpful curriculum frameworks. However, teachers need to realize they have the autonomy to change out texts and topics to make them meaningful for students. For example, a fifth grade student who has experienced death and loss will probably find it more meaningful to write an argumentative essay about gun control rather than uniforms. Choosing significant topics and making relevant connections will catalyze students to engage deeper with content. Dare I say the percentage of students reading at grade level might increase if adapt the curriculum to meet their needs? 

My biggest takeaway from Colleen’s session is that learning is hard. Imagine immigrating to the United States in third grade and learning to read in a foreign language or learning to multiply two digit numbers for the first time. There is a disequilibrium that occurs when we learn something new that, as teachers, we often do no acknowledge in our classrooms. Colleen suggests that teachers learn something new annually to experience this disequilibrium so that we can better understand our students throughout the learning process. Your topic can be something fun such wine, opera, or art. The important thing is that teachers are also engaging in the learning process so that they can better understand students’ frustrations, difficulties, and excitement when learning something new. Teacher awareness and intentional action lead to higher student outcomes.

Revising for Kinder

Ms. M has her kinder students revise with large colorful shapes. Not only does it make revising fun for all, but it allows the teacher to see how students' writing evolved over time.

Information Writing Toolkit

You might remember this colorful booklet from my earlier post about student writing portfolios. I use the same booklet for my conferring toolkits. Some people prefer binders or sketchbooks, but the booklet has pockets that makes it beneficial for storing mentor texts. Toolkits can be very useful resources during reading and writing conferences with students. The information toolkit I created for second grade writing conferences has eight sections--student writing, teacher writing, mentor texts, resources, checklists, spelling, teacher tools, and student tools.

Student writing and teacher writing is marked with post-its to highlight specific writing moves.

Mentor texts are also marked with post-its to highlight specific writing moves.

Multiple copies of information writing checklists are included to give students. This way, they can evaluate their own writing. Spelling resources include strategies to spell words, an alphabet chart, and a blend/digraph chart.

The information rubric and tips for conferring are included in teacher tools. Student tools will include post-its, revising strips, and drafting paper.

How do you get kids to hear those short vowels?! This has been a challenge, especially for the English Language Learners in my class. 

Here are a couple tips from Ms. E: 

1. Try saying each short vowel sound to yourself.  Notice how little difference there is between short e and short I, for example, especially in how little your mouth/throat/tongue change.  It will seem challenging at first, but keep practicing and give it time.  

2. It also makes a huge difference to give a gesture and even a sample word for each one.

A – apple and pretend to bite an apple

E – Think of edge of table or desk. Ms. E loves this one because you can just point to it, rub your finger along the edge and not have to say a word when coaching.

I – itchy

O- Have students pretend like they are singing opera! Exaggerate it and show your mouth side open. 

U – up while pointing to sky