Reading Engagement & Independence!

“Without Engagement, We’ve Got Nothing: Helping Children Want to Read” is the title of a chapter in the book, Teaching Reading in Small Groups by Jen Serravallo, a staff developer with TCRWP and stresses the importance of engagement for our readers. I used to call it getting the reader “hooked on books,” but I now know it is more than that. It means supporting, teaching, and setting students up to get lost in their books so they think deeply while reading with stamina (Reading over long stretches of time.) and volume (Reading lots and lots of books!).

How do you know when a reader is engaged?

I picture an engaged reader like this...he/she is leaning into a book with eyes fixed on the print, each page is turned carefully and deliberately, an occasional smile may slowly cross their face or an “Ah-Ha!” may suddenly erupt. This reader can talk easily about the many books that are read and loves to share new discoveries about the character or plot while reading. He/she is developing favorite authors or series and wants to read all the time.

How do we get all our readers engaged?

• Make sure readers are reading “just-right” books. The biggest barrier to engagement is reading books that are too hard.
• Get high-interest, popular books into readers’ hands (series, favorite author).
• Set a consistent time for uninterrupted reading every day.
• Teach strategies for increasing focus and attention. (see chart).
• Talk about books, authors, characters and your own reading life.
• Do book introductions and get student book recommendations.
• Set reading goals.
• Read Aloud and demonstrate excitement and discovery while reading.
  

Assessing Readers

This summer I attended a five-day institute at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. During one session by Jen Serravallo I learned that developing a goal and planning reading instruction for an individual student could be strengthened when looking at that student through five different lenses. The lenses are:

• Engagement
• Comprehension
• Fluency
• Print Work
• Conversation

Assessment comes in many forms and is more than standardized testing like NECAPS or a Universal Screening Running Record. Teachers can gather data using multiple tools (for example: Classroom Running Records, Logs, Notebook Jots, Writing, Post-it Notes, etc.) in order to get a broader picture about a student’s level of engagement, comprehension skills, fluency, ability to decode and solve words, and skills when talking about books with others. Student strengths and needs are both determined and targeted instruction can be planned.

During our weekly Professional Learning Group meetings (PLGs) teachers have been collaborating and doing this work. K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 grade level teams have been developing goals and instructional plans for their students. We are also developing our skills within each area so that instruction in engagement, comprehension, fluency, print work and conversation is more effective and explicit. (More posts to follow about each one.)

Invite Authors into Your Classrooms & Lives!

Read aloud and surround the readings with talk about…

• The people who make books
• Refer to authors and illustrators by name
• Show children pictures of authors and illustrators
• Read author blurbs and dedications
• Reread books over time
• Read multiple books by the same author
• What makes a picture book, a picture book
• It has both words and illustrations.
• The words and illustrations change from page to page while still about the same topic
• It is about something, and the writer decides what this will be
• They have crafted language in them
• Different kinds of books
• Some tell stories
• Some tell about something (list books)
• Different purposes for books
• Some books are fun
• Some books teach you things
• Some books do both
• The decision writers and illustrators make in books

(From: Already Ready Workshop by Katie Ray & Matt Glover)

Already Ready: Teaching Practices That Support Our Very Youngest Writers

Last Friday Amy Finnen, Linda Dutton and I went to Portland for a great workshop about writing and beginning writers.

The following is a brief profile of the main presenter, Katie Wood Ray:

“Between her passion for elementary writing instruction and a love of children’s literature, Katie Wood Ray found herself asking, “What if children were introduced to key qualities of good writing in the context of illustrations?” This question led to the research behind In Pictures and In Words. The answer was simple yet powerful: “The thinking students do while reading picture books can help them see the connection between what words and illustrations do to make meaning.” As an author of bestselling Heinemann books such as Already Ready, Study Driven, About the Authors, and What You Know By Heart and as a member of Heinemann Professional Development Services, Katie has always given teachers resources and PD that transform writing instruction and help children discover a lifelong love of writing.” www.heinemann.com/authors/1636.

Workshop Focus:

• Kids are Already Ready to write even when they don’t know all their letters and sounds.
• Understanding beginning development – Pre-K to 1^st Grade

The BIG ideas I took away that day…

1. Look at writing instruction through the lens of composition development and not conventions
1. Composition is defined: “Act of putting ideas together to make meaning”
2. Honor approximations on the page and have students “read” their illustrations to you
3. Build stamina through illustrations
4. Honor student ownership & refrain from transcribing words on the pages of the book
2. Beginning writers should be “making books.” (4-5 pieces of 8 ½ by 11 paper that is staple together like a book)
3. Study authors and their texts (mentor texts) to “nudge” writers to make decisions about craft
1. Read mentor texts and notice what the author is doing intentionally. What crafting decisions have been made in the text and illustrations or layout?

I will dig deeper into these topics in later posts so stay tuned...

Just Right Books!

Why a Just Right Book?

Teachers are working intensely on matching books with students during the first months of school. Lessons have focused on choosing Just Right books, shopping in classroom libraries for Just Right books, and building stamina while reading Just Right books. Why?

The easiest answer is that a Just Right book builds reading muscles and helps readers grow to read long and strong. But there is more to it…

Marie Clay says, “I define reading as a message-getting, problem-solving activity which increases in power and flexibility the more it is practiced. My definition states that within the directional constraints of the printer’s cue, language and visual perception responses are purposefully directed by the reader in some integrated way to the problem of extracting meaning from cues in a text, in sequence, so that the reader brings a maximum of understanding to the author’s message.” (Clay, 1991, p. 6)

So…what does that mean? It means that readers use 3 sources of information while reading. We integrate the meaning, language structures and visual/print cues of the text in order to process and understand the message of the text we are reading. Beginning or struggling readers are often unbalanced and over-rely on one source or ignore one altogether.

Reading requires practice in just-right books so that the reader can develop the process involved in integrating the 3 sources of information. This process can be observed when a reader reads smoothly and with expression. The voice is not robotic but combines words into phrases that sound like a talking voice. The reader should laugh at the funny parts and react when the story reveals a surprise. The reader may also quickly correct errors or reread to make it sound better.

Reading books that are too hard will force the student to stutter and stumble on unknown words, lose the meaning, and over-rely on sounding out the words, letter by letter. This interferes with the developing reading process and may actually break it down by creating bad habits that are difficult to correct.

Books that are not too easy and not too hard are Just Right. These books build strong reading habits that will lead to a life-long love of reading.

Books to Share

A new book from Patricia Polacco
that restates the power of individual potential.

During the last staff meeting, teachers shared some new books that were great mentor texts for reading and/or writing workshop and wonderful books to read aloud. The titles are...

• Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco

"When young Trisha finds out her class at the new school is known as “The Junkyard,” she is devastated. She moved from her old town so she wouldn’t be in a special class anymore! But then she meets her teacher, the quirky and invincible Mrs. Peterson, and her classmates, an oddly brilliant group of students each with his or her own unique talent. And it is here in The Junkyard that Trisha learns the true meaning of genius, and that this group of misfits are, in fact, wonders, all of them." Amazon.com

• Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O'Connor

“This well-crafted novel creates a charming mix of the commonplace and the extraordinary. . . . Appealing and authentic, this tale of summertime adventure will be a hit with readers year round.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review

• Author: A True Story by Helen Lester

"Lester's lighthearted look at how she came to write children's books will give aspiring authors of any age a lift and encouragement to persevere." Ages 4-8. (Aug.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

• Dex, The Heart of a Hero by Caralyn Buehner
  

"Dexter the dog is so little that Cleevis the tomcat bullies him. But little Dex has dreams—big dreams. He wants to be a superhero. So he reads all the comic books he can, builds his muscles, and even orders a hero suit. Suddenly, even Cleevis needs his help! Dexter has determination, spirit, and heart as he proves, above all, that no matter how little you are, you can still do very big things." Amazon.com

Two Librarians Share the Latest Nonfiction Titles

Go to the Nonfiction Detectives to read about new nonfiction titles. Two Maine librarians review new books that are sure to excite and inform all readers.

A New Year of Workshop Teaching

This year, evidence that workshop teaching makes a difference appeared on the first day of school. As I walked through the halls, I heard teachers excitedly remarking that their new students could “turn and talk” without being prompted, they understood that reading is about “comprehension and fluency,” and many were choosing books that were “just right.” I saw students sharing books with their friends before the first bell and students “lost in books” in their classrooms. Last week I spent time in 3^rd grade and was impressed with the hum in both classrooms as transitions during Reading Workshop were smooth, calm, and quick. Students clearly understood expectations that, “nothing matters more than time spent reading.”

Reading Comprehension

Here is my blurb for the April newsletter but I am posting it here because I wanted to share the bulleted list with everyone (See below). If all classrooms supported similar language around talking and thinking about reading, I think ALL students would benefit and we'd be developing deep comprehension. 

“Deep comprehension is the result of a well-orchestrated system of flexible decision-making strategies working together (most of the time, unconsciously) to construct meaning for the author’s message.” ~Dorn & Soffos

 

As a teacher of reading, my goal for every one of my students is comprehension or understanding of what they read. Reading without constructing meaning is word-calling and will certainly never hook a student to the joy of reading. Reading is thinking! Students need to think before, during, and after they read. They should infer and analyze the characters in a story, understand the story structure, and interact with their minds about the plot by making connections, asking questions, and visualizing.

 

Teachers prompt for this level of understanding during read aloud, shared reading, small group instruction, and reading conferences. Having conversations about stories develops the skills required for deep comprehension. However, students need to be taught the skills required for successful conversations so that they not become one-way streets in which the adult does all the talking. One way to support and practice those skills is to provide some possible language prompts that will scaffold dialogue such as:

 

• I agree…
• I disagree…
• I don’t understand…
• The evidence from the text is…
• I noticed…
• I wonder why…
• The author’s message is…
• I think the author meant…
• That made me think about…

 

If this language is modeled at school and at home while reading with or to your child, rich conversations and deeper comprehension is sure to follow. This will help build good reading habits and life-long readers.

Poetry Links

Here is a link to resources for poems and poetry ideas. And here is one of my favorite poems:

Dreams

by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

A Poem in Your Pocket!

April is Poetry Month and April 29 has been declared Poem in Your Pocket Day. Click on the link for more information and resources about the day when everyone at Williams-Cone can carry a poem in their pocket to share with whoever they happen to meet in the halls or classrooms in the school. What a great way to spread literacy learning and poetry throughout the building! I'll post some more links for additional resources. 

Maine Literacy Partnership

Marcia Nye Boody, Director of the Maine Literacy Partnership from the University of Maine at Orono, visited on Wednesday. She toured the school and met teachers, students, and Steve. Marcia brings knowledge and skills about best practices with literacy learning. She shared with Steve that MLP is a partner with the University of Arkansas where Dr. Linda Dorn conducts research in lab schools and writes about the results and conclusions in many resources for teachers such as Teaching for Deeper Comprehension that describes the Reader's Workshop and other components of Balanced Literacy.

As students left at the end of the day, Marcia stopped to talk about authors and books. She asked if the students would like to have her share one of her favorite books and she told them the author was from Maine. Well, that prompted many curious questions and name dropping. Who knew these first graders knew so much about Maine authors. It was impressive.

A casual tour of the school resulted in many introductions to the friendly staff at Williams-Cone. Marcia did share that it was obvious to her that this was a school that cared about children because all classrooms were filled with focused and engaged students. I'm sure Marcia left thinking that this is a very fine school for teaching and learning! If you didn't get a chance to meet her today, I'm sure she'll be back. :-)

Instructional Read Aloud & Lester Laminack

On Friday at the University of Maine, Lester Laminack presented a passionate workshop about reading aloud in the classroom. He was an amazing presenter and retold the story of the Wizard of Oz as an opener. I was taken away by his language, underlying messages, and showmanship. 

Lester L. has written picture books and teacher resources. I have many of his books and would be happy to share. If you haven't read Saturday and Teacakes or Snow Day!, please come and borrow them. His resources offer lists and summaries of books for read alouds that build community, teach craft, inspire with strong language, and motivate children to want to hear more.

Lester believes that reading aloud should happen at least six times every day and his answer to the comment that there just isn't time in the day is that you can't afford not to. Read alouds provide much needed background knowledge for all content areas and there is a very long list of other positives that I will share later. He also says that reading aloud should inspire, invest and be intentional (planned).

There was so much more to share about the power of an instructional read aloud, so stay tuned...

LUCY CALKINS WRITING

Here's a place to talk about writing. What works! What doesn't work and maybe some ideas and/or links to answer the questions that come up. I think we can talk K-5 because the workshop format, lesson organization, and philosophy are all the same across the grades. 

I am posting a picture of the Non-Negotiables of a Writing Workshop that are in the 3-5 Units of Study. Here they are: time to write, explicit instruction, ownership of topics, write for an audience, and "Teach the writer, not the piece." I think the last one is the biggest shift in thinking. I know it was for me. I had to change from creating the perfect product to developing the skills of the writer across pieces. I was able to focus my conferences better when I remembered my goal and let go of revising and editing everything, every time.