As we continue to work to think this through...I am wondering what you have tried with your students in terms of strategy instruction and conferring. What kinds of conversations or teachable moments have you discovered through this way of teaching? Think about a conversation you have had with a child or a small group of children and write about what you discovered that you did not know before. "Show" us that conversation in words here on this blog. Celebrate these moments by remembering each detail of what was said, the expression on the child's face and the interaction between the two of you. This does not have to be an interaction of great proportions or success, just an interaction you can recount, remember and really reflect upon.
Does this interaction demonstrate a "shift" in your thinking and or teaching?
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Just a quick "Blog"before bed... one sweet young boy in my class came up to me the morning after our last snow day off from school he said "Mrs. Russell I had the best day yesterday!" I asked him what he did on his day off, he said, "I stayed snuggled all morning in my bed reading my book, I loved it!" I was excited and thrilled and so it goes... they are developing a love of reading and it really made my day! More to follow... good night all! Nancy
My sense of recall is not always on par, but I am going to give this a whirl...today I was talking about the types of things to do when you come to new, more difficult text. We reviewed checking the picture, rereading the passage or looking for chunks in words. I was using a president book and came across what I considered a tricky word for the children. Not only tricky to read, but to understand. When I wrote handkerchief on the board, I asked if anyone knew something that could help with this new word. My Rodney, who reads at level 3-4, came and underlined the and in the word. I prompted for more and he said hand. I was thrilled with that contribution. Always hoping for schema connections or 'lightbulb' moments, my John (level 16+)said I know something and got up and underlined chief. Then he proceded to tell me that he knew that word because of the Kansas City Chiefs. Well, to say the least, I was floored. Happy with the realization that from opposite levels of ability came connections that could be helpful in reading/understanding new text. Both boys were extremely excited at what they shared and I was just thrilled with their excitement. When my children verbalize their thoughts, I come away from the experience a bit happier and more hopeful that this is working well.
Conferencing anchors the whole workshop experience.To make the time to sit with a student one on one informs my instruction but what I love is just connecting on a more personal way to each student. We are two people relating to each other vs. the typical teacher/ student stance. This new way of relating to kids empowers both of us and I think the kids can feel my investment. It always comes down to how much teachers really care and really want to connect. I don't want those sweet moments of engagement to end. I constantly weigh when to push, when to nugde or when to end our conference.Such is the trials of the teacher.
Hi there,
Today, the children completed a self-evaluation on inference, (that my fellow second grade and Title One teachers came up with last year during our MOT group)..one of the questions was asking if the reader tries to figure out new words or just goes on reading. Well, I got into an explanation about "just going on"..as opposed to using strategies such as picture, context clues.....it was interesting to me later when conferring with my top reader that "just going on" is precisely what she does.....because even if she does not understand that one word, she is still able to understand what she is reading about. Without realizing, she put me in my place ( I had been putting a negative spin on just going on)....it all goes back to that importance of choice---it's not just choice of what book to pick out, it's choice in what the reader does to get into that book....and although our job is to model strategies and teach skills, it is ultimately the responsibility and the privilege of the reader to go about the business of reading....for as my little reader said..."I get so excited about reading, I just flip the pages...fast and one at a time...and oh yeah, I like picture books, mysteries, but not nonfiction....and (she asked)...Have you ever read The Swans?"
I think some of the best conferences are what I originally would not have considered a conference at all. Over the last week, we have been looking at our "Reader's Diets." What types of genres have we been reading. As it turns out, fiction has been the majority (no surprise here). So, with some encouragement, some of my students have been "taste testing" some nonfiction. I had one girl tell me after reading a biography about Amelia Earhart, that she felt like she made a new friend. Another student came up to me and said that after reading just one biography she couldn't get enough. She has now read six more! these are both girls that receive Title I services. I love it, love it, love it!!
First I just want Heather to know I LOVE the concept of a "READER'S DIET!" I'll be using that - thanks!
I know this wasn't a conference but I just have to share what one student wrote in response to a writing prompt. Let me begin by saying that I had real concerns about this student at the beginning of the year. She lacked a shred of confidence in all areas and is a worrier. The (McGraw-Hill) prompt was: "Write about something that you know how to do."
I'll type it exactly as she wrote it.
I know how to read. I understand what I'm reading. I even read just right books for me. Sometimes I need help. But that is o.k.. I can read very good. I trust my self to read. I can do it. reading is so much fun. Do you read? I read to my mom at night then she reads to me. I like it. I also love dear time at school. I wish I could read evrey time of my life.
I had a post conference with Tony this afternoon and he asked me how the content literacy, LTT, book study group, etc. has impacted my teaching of literacy and any results I've seen in my class. I showed him Celia's writing sample. Need I say more??
Some of my 5th graders are studying colonial America. They were working in groups determining importance in reference to questions they had about what the first colonists ate. I noticed that even though some of them had underlined words they didn't know (schema about colonial America being sparse) no one had used a dictionary. I asked why they didn't place a sticky not on one of the side bars. They didn't think it was important. I asked if anyone knew what "cannibalism" meant. Not only did the kids start to look up all the words they didn't know,but they started to make connections with other things the colonists did because they were starving. They were so engaged!
I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts. I guess I am doing a "structured" Reader's Diet with the 4th grade RR students as I am deliberately having them choose books from a specific genre. We just finished biographies which they really enjoyed. Now, we are on to mysteries. Even though I am targeting certain skill areas when I speak confer with them, I really enjoy seeing what kind of schema they have for their reading, Recently, one of my 2nd graders read a book about horses. We were having a discussion about how to take care of it. Suddenly he had his A-ha moment. "It's kind of like taking care of my cat." He was very pleased with himself. Another second grader read a book about a boy with glasses. He shared that "the boy was called four-eyes because he had two eyes and his glasses were two more eyes to help him see better. The kids in the story called him that to be mean." With my 4th grade group, we read a book about Teddy Roosevelt as a child. They loved making he comparisons to their lives. They loved discussing how TR's father gave him cigar's and coffee thinking it would help his asthma. Chatting with them individually, they really had a lot to say about that! The run on president information was on and I was given many facts about presidents. Karen's point about connecting with students is so true. What a treat to have a real coversation with a child and get their point of view. The kids are sharing books. I hear a lot of "I read that. That was a good book!" These students who have not been so successful with their reading are becoming avid readers. I heard a parent of a 5th grader say this week that, "Mrs. Verry got my son addicted to reading." That statement said it all about our purpose for instruction-creating life-long readers. (One conference/discussion at a time.)
Conferring is going well. Good discussions are happening with many of the students. They are using the common language and it is being used quite naturally. It has already taken hold from one year to the next and can only continue to improve as time goes on. As I wrapped up our conferencing time today, one little girl voiced her chagrin that I was unable to get to her today. I promised she would be first for the next time, they really do enjoy talking about their thoughts and opinions about their books and love the one on one time!
I was going to blog about Anthony's snake inference ("There are mice in me."), but then I remembered that I gave that one away at class yesterday, so here's a conversation that occurred while I was conferring and typing those inference riddles with the kids today. As Brian and I sat at the computer, he read his inference riddle over again and said, "These hints are too easy". I asked how he could make it harder.He knew he wanted to change them around and save the easiest hints for the end, so he instructed me to change the order. After the 2nd line, he said, "That's better because here it could be a balloon, squash or banana. (We had only revealed 2 lines at a time when solving them) He was going through the same process I had modeled yesterday. Yea! After the 4th line, he said, "Now it could also be a flower". He finally beamed and left the rest as you'll see.
I am yellow.
I am curved.
You can cut me.
I have a stem.
You can eat me.
I am a fruit.
I am mushy. I am a _____.
Brian likes a challenge and wanted his riddle to reflect this.The thought of someone solving his riddle immediately, bothered him. Until we sat together, I hadn't realized how important it was to him, the amount of thought he had invested in this activity or the process he went through to get it the way he wanted it. It was time well spent. It gave me a little more insight about Brian and why he's quiet a lot of the time. There's a lot of thinking and reflecting going on in that brain!
I love the idea of a “Reader’s Diet” as well. I plan to try it out right after vacation along with this:
My favorite conversation was not one I had with a student but rather it was students in my class talking amongst themselves. They were discussing during snack time the books they have in their book bags and what they wanted to read next. One girl was reading Mouse Soup and was talking about how much she just loves it. She began to talk about how it reminded her of Owl House, the book that the other girl was reading because of the pictures and animals. Both the girls came to me and asked if they could get their book bags to look at their books while they ate snack, I said of course. During this time, another boy said, “wait a second, I think that both those stories were written by the same guy”…I let them discover this on their own, but he was indeed correct. This boy had just finished Frog and Toad so he wanted in on the fun. All three of them sat down at our round table and began talking about the similarities and differences between the three books. The boy mentioned that Arnold Lobel writes stories about animals a lot. He then started to discuss something from Six Traits we learned all year long, that an author could write about some idea or topic that they know lots about. The little boy said, “I bet he has tons of animals at home or toys that help him make up him stories.” I chuckled, but then realized I would love to do an author study when we get back from vacation…what better way to introduce it but taking what the students discovered and dig deeper into it.
I have been doing Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop full force for quite a while now. I truly do love it, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, my students get excited when I announce it is RW time. I have started Running Records, Conferring, and Guided Reading Groups. I think that overall, my conferring is going well, but I wish that I could check in with everyone. I have a schedule Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I plan to do 10 minute conferring with students and pull a guided reading group for the last 20 minutes. Tuesday and Thursday I have Title One push in during RW so I am able to do more conferring and the rest of my invite or guided reading groups.
Working through the reader's workshop model really allows much more conversation to be happening amongst the students about what reading is, what they like about reading and what is important to them as readers. The piece that I find so great about teaching reading through the reader's workshop model is that I, as a teacher, can use what the students are talking about, interested in and confused with to drive what I will be working on with them as a class. It allows the instruction to really be driven by the students’ needs and interests, while continuing to work on the valuable and important skills that need to be worked on and strengthened as readers. One recent conversation that actually came up during a small lunch bunch I think really demonstrates and shows this valuable aspect so clearly. During this lunch bunch the topic of our reader’s workshop came up and the students were discussing what they liked and didn’t like about it. After a lot of discussion regarding the idea that they liked being able to choose spots in the room and pick out different books on their own that were of interest to them, some discussion came up around one particular aspect that most of the students in the lunch bunch were having trouble with. The trouble spot seemed to be the fact that many of the chapter books that they chose to read because they liked the author or read the summary on the back (it was a great revisit of strategies to pick a just right book!) did not have many pictures…leading the books to be in their opinions less interesting. After having this discussion with the smaller group I decided to approach the whole class with this same topic, and it seemed to be a common theme among many of the readers.
Realizing that this was a trouble spot for a large majority of the class (more then a guided reading group would suffice) I decided to revisit and focus on the visualizing aspect of reading. Because of this conversation and the workshop model I was able to adapt our reader’s workshop focus lessons to teach to this particular skill that would not only improve their comprehension as readers, but also their interest and enjoyment…both pieces that are of equal importance and strongly connected. Because of the flexibility of the workshop model I was really able to assess where the students were struggling as readers (in this case it was the large majority) and use this to drive my focus lessons in reading…and the students have been showing strong improvement, even when reading at home with their parents! What a wonderful thing to hear :)
As I read through your posts I can see some very clear patterns of thought and excitement running throughout. The idea of individualizing instruction through conversations such as the one Karen had with Brian, is exactly what makes this model so engaging for everyone involved.
Then there is Amy who is adressing the needs of individuals as well as the needs of the entire class. Amy recognizes the flexibility she has within the workshop to address those concerns immediately AS NEEDED!!
Jackie talks about how her students work together to create meaning socially. She comments at how refreshing it is to hear the thinking of her students. All we need to do is to continue to provide that opportunity.
Faith talks about the idea of choice and how each individual "chooses" to navigate their way through any given text. Our job is to provide them with the tools they need so that they have a variety of strategies to choose from in order to make sense of text. I am reminded of Ellin Keene's idea in Mosaic about outfitting the traveller for their journey. We MUST outfit them for anything they might come across. In this excerpt Faith also talks about talking about "process" with this student. Not what the book is about but how this child went about navigating her way through this book and others. THIS is a major shift. It also alleviates the necessity of knowing the books because we are teaching the reader, not the books!!
The role of books in these kids lives has changed as Heather talks about her students "making new friends" through reading biographies, Nancy captures the love of reading her students take home with them and use on their days off. Karen V.talks about the "sweet moments of engagement" she discovers by sitting alongside her students and working with them.
I love how Kerrie takes Celie's writing to her conference to "show" the thinking that is happening and again, we see Celie talking about her "process" not the book itself!! And what a gift as she writes, "I wish I could read evrey time of my life."
Angela writes, "What a treat to have a real coversation with a child and get their point of view. The kids are sharing books. I hear a lot of "I read that. That was a good book!" And these are our struggling readers. Research tells us that we take our kids who are struggling and disjoint reading down to the most minute parts, never giving them the advantage of the "whole" because they cannot decode. We engage them in activities that are not "real" reading. Consequently they hate reading, see themselves as non-readers and this attitude prevails throughout their school careers. Here we see Angela connecting with the practices that are happening in the classroom and these kids are seeing themselves as readers and thinking and sharing like readers!!
Arlene writes about engagement and excitement as her students make connections to navigate their way through non-fiction.
Sheila writes about conversations happening outside of the workshop time. These kids see reading as part of their school lives, not just something to be done during reading time.
I can't help but chuckle with joy to hear of the great changes that are taking place. And I can see that for many these changes are internal. They are not just activities that you have tried with your students, but rather they are a shift in your thinking where you are seeing the whole picture and how that works for our kids and how it also takes the "art" of teaching to an entirely new level.
And so I say...Bravo to you all! I am thrilled to see such thinking happening throughout your classrooms. This is REAL change that is happening!!
See you soon!
Tomasen
One lesson I did on self monitoring was what do you do when you come to an unfamiliar word. I was amazed at how quickly and how many strategies the class came up with to figure out the word. They listed all of the ones we have been practicing but we had not really listed them before. I was impressed.
Now another lesson I did during social studies made me even more excited. This was in February and we were learning about the Lincoln and Washington. I had read a few books on both presidents. Now at 2:00 on the Friday before vacation I decided to do a venn diagram about the two presidents. We did it together and then they went off and completed one with a partner. I was amazed at the conversation that they had. Talking about who married a Sarah verses a sister named Sarah. What war were each one involved with. They even went and got the books to do some comparisons. The thinking and talking was something I hadn't seen before. I have to say I believe the thinking and conversing is due to Reader's Workshop.
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