Literacy Learning

As an elementary-age teacher, I prioritized corresponding with my students through their journals. Sometimes a student would check in with something that had happened in their life - a new baby, a new friend, a fun family activity, but sometimes there would be something more personal or a reaction to a book they had discovered. It was important to me to write in return, sometimes with a question to consider. Nothing complicated; just a connection to the power of writing and words and expression.

Now that I no longer actively teach, I have been missing those kid connections, at least I did until my granddaughter, Zoe, mentioned that she wished she got “letters” in the mail like her Mama and Daddy. Now at the time of this exchange, she was about 3, so I’m not sure what - or how much snail mail she had been exposed to, but she noticed mail was important. And she wanted some too.

And so, since that day, I’ve been writing and snail-mailing a weekly note. This has turned into one of my favorite weekly activities as it has also inspired me to create the card as well as the text. Neither the art nor the message are complicated; my watercolors are pretty basic as one might expect.

Until recent times, the writing has been one-way. But as Zoe, an early childhood learner, discovers letters and sounds and how those things work together to form words, her literate life has expanded. She is beginning to use expressive language herself.

While visiting us on a mid-winter break stay-cation, without prompting, Zoe sat down at my desk with some paper and a pen to write me the note at the top of this post. As she was quiet and focused for quite a bit of time, I wasn't sure what she was concocting, but I stayed out of her space, and I'm so grateful that I did. Zoe's note to me is something I will truly treasure as a grandmother, and as an observer of the power of children learning.

While to this point in time I’ve always been “Nana” with one “n”; I’m adopting the new spelling of my name, “Nanna”. When I asked her about it, Zoe told me she spelled it as it sounds, nan-na. I can’t argue with that.

And I can hardly wait until she writes to me again.

An Old Educator's Thoughts on Reading Instruction

After teaching nearly 30 years, I must admit I am totally confused by the debate over reading instruction. Maybe I am missing something? Balanced Literacy vs. Scientific Methods?

Over the last 10 years of my long career, I observed that whenever the a specific reading program was dictated, success, often defined by scores on standardized tests, was fleeting. When I worked in a school where the school leaders had worked in classrooms, and as admins continued to spend extended times actually doing the work of teaching, I thought I had achieved nirvana. The training and discussions were rich and deep. I felt supported to try new approaches when they made sense for my students.

We taught reading under the umbrella of using a balanced literacy approach.

BALANCED literacy includes effective instruction in five essential components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. If reading instruction is effective, an essential descriptor for successful reading instruction, all of these five elements must be included in instruction. Those same elements are part of a scientifically based reading program, but the difference, I believe is that the scientifically based programs include ongoing research and are spelled out more sequentially. An example would be Orton Gillingham.

For those outside of education, to insinuate that phonics is not a part of a balanced reading program is a misconception. And the implication that schools should offer explicit phonics instruction as the only decoding strategy is likewise unrealistically narrow.

I’ve recently read disparaging comments that students are taught “decoding strategies” in place of phonics - which is in my experience, untrue - and uninformed. As an elementary teacher I found explicitly teaching students to use decoding strategies, including, but not limited to phonics, was a pedagogical decision that I continue to feel made sense. Teaching a variety of strategies to decode texts is essential to becoming a fluent reader with good comprehension skills. When I reflect on my own practice as an adult reader, considering what my brain does when I encounter an “unknown”, I use one or more of these skills regularly. For example, when reading a text and encountering a word or term from another language, I often skip and return or use context clues.

Why wouldn’t I teach students that these strategies are what accomplished readers use, too?

When a program is determined to be Scientifically based, there is on-going research that provides an analysis of effective pedagogy. The same five components of reading are included with the emphasis on continued research and evaluation how effective these strategies are. Scientifically based reading is NOT a specific program, although I’m sure there are textbook publishers that would like one to believe otherwise. As educators and educational researchers learn more about how to effectively teach reading, it will continue to change. Educators adapt reading instruction to reflect new understandings, and most importantly to address the needs of the students they work with.

And this is why, for me, teaching reading has always been somewhat of an art as well as a science. No matter what it is called, reading instruction needs to be effective and to include the essential aspects of learning to be literate

Discomfort of Opinion

The only way to make sense out of change 
is to plunge into it, 
move with it, 
and join the dance. 
ALAN WATTS

Alan Watts Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alan_watts_386511

This quotation has a particular resonating truth for me.

No longer able to make sense of the changes in our world politics, a place where right is wrong, care and empathy toward others is oftentimes missing, where there feels as if there is more emphasis on the outrageous, unkind, and vindictive, I’ve often felt as if it would be better for my mental health to just say “The hell with it. Leave me alone.” Even though politically left-leaning, I’ve avoided offending by writing. I’ve self-edited and silenced myself.

Avoiding changes, leaning away from one’s truth made me feel like an imposter.

Is avoidance the best response to changes, even if that response comes from one tiny voice in a great big world? By shutting down my true response to uncomfortable changes in our world, my silence may have allowed me to avoid conflict with those who disagree. Doing so, I have not joined the dance. I’ve sat on the sidelines.

Like a wallflower.

Lately, with some much overdue perspective from a professional, I’ve been challenged to deal with my discomfort with change and my reluctance to join the dance. And so, this is the first step. I am plunging into changes, moving with it, no longer hiding for fear of committing an offense. Apologies in advance, but then again, I am not sorry.

I’ve been a listener. Now I need to join the dance.

——————————————

Recently, local news media was all ablaze with the proclamation that third grade students taking MCAS tests last spring were still “underperforming” in reading and math.(see end notes) So last year’s 2023 third grade students, were second graders in 2022, first graders in 2021 and kindergarteners in 2020. What else was going on in their world in 2020 that may have been distracting them from early literacy skills in particular and language acquisition? Oh right, a global pandemic. You know the one where schools were business-as-usual on an early March Thursday and shut down the next day? Teachers and students learned through virtual education for the remainder of the school year. And many classrooms were fully virtual or hybrid for good portions of the following year as well.

My educational colleagues (I retired in 2015), were inventing how to engage children, very young children, with developing attention spans, sometimes wonky access to technology, and adapting materials on the fly. Not just for a few days, or weeks or a partial year, but for a good number of important learning months. In my view, that circumstance alone is enough reason to question expectations of children whose early literacy experience was so different from “normal”. It is incredibly naive to think there was no negative impact.

And then let’s talk about how worries about a child’s housing or food security just might have been a distraction. Yup, kids pick up on family dynamics.

So when I hear people ready to disparage all of education based on a set of test scores from a set of students whose learning was affected by extraordinary circumstances, I wonder what the real issue might be. Certainly journalists, public policy makers, and edu-crats understand that a global pandemic’s effects might have a basis in what happened in the period or years before a high-stakes test. And that the recovery may take multiple years.

How incredibly discouraging it must be to have come through all of the wild adaptations of 2020, 2021, and have a single assessment deem one “under performing”! Yes, there needs to be a deep dive into what education – including all of the stakeholders – needs to change in order to close the gaps in learning caused by losses incurred during the Covid years.

That small- and large-scale changes are needed to remediate those learning losses is crystal clear. In 30 years in the classroom, I never met one educator satisfied with the status quo, myself included. There is always a yearning to do better, to ensure that each student’s learning potential is attained, no matter what the subject area.

Instead of yapping headlines and finger pointing about incompetence, there should always be room for looking at the antecedent – the events that came before – and considering their impact.

End Notes:

“These 275 Massachusetts schools were identified as needing state assistance or intervention” (Sep 21, 2023)

“MCAS scores are still well below pre-pandemic levels” (Sep 21, 2023)

Here we go... again

It's budget time once again in Lowell and if you thought last year's budget was a squeaker, wait until you see this year's edition.I do not envy the Superintendents across Massachusetts. This is a pretty ugly time to try to keep programming viable when Foundation Budget calculations are 25 years out of date and when cities and towns have little appetite for raising tax revenues.If Lowell's budget proposal is any indication, most of the options for cutting without affecting direct services to students have been exercised. Now it is going to hurt. And one of those areas of pain seems to be library services.Like last year, the proposal is that the entirety of school libraries - with the exception of the High School - will be dismantled. I believe the only reason that the certified Library Media Specialist at the High School is retained only because, without this position, the High School could lose certification. Not a good thing.Historically, all of our schools had library-media specialists (click the link to see those requirements) AND library aides. Why? Because it was unthinkable that a school would not have a library where students learn literacy and research skills that they not only use later in life, but where students could go to be exposed to all manner of materials - video, audio, web-based, and of course print - that enhanced their love of literacy and literacy learning.When all but a few library media specialists were cut from a very lean budget, the library aides were there to pick up maintaining a welcoming school library. The aides became the last line of defense for school libraries, and a threatened one at that.Last year, there was a proposal to eliminate library aides, and the school libraries. The positions and the library programs were retained however because of some strong advocacy to increase the City's contribution to the school budget. And here we stand, a year later, with the same threat to eliminate all library aides across the District and push the school library collections into classrooms. As Yogi Berra once said, it's like deja vu all over again.I recently heard an educator equate a classroom library to a school library. That was a shock to me as a classroom library and a school library are two very different entities.Here is why I think such a statement is impossibly misinformed.  My own classroom library (documented on this very blog) was curated by me, the books in the collection were not only purchased by me - all 2,000 of them. That's an important point. I am good at a lot of things, but I am not an expert at building a library collection. My book collections had biases - for example, I'm not a fan of science fiction, so I didn't buy a lot of that genre. If one of my students loved science fiction, those books could be checked out of the school library, a more eclectic and thoroughly curated collection of books.Last year, this is what I wrote about the value of our school libraries and the wonderful library aides that staff them:

... As a former educator, now retired, I am concerned with the short-sightedness of this action [eliminating library aides]. Library Aides not only check out materials for staff and for students, they maintain the school libraries as a welcoming environment in which to pursue literacy. Books that are in need of repair, are fixed and reshelved. New and replacement materials are added to school libraries. Weekly book exchanges are a time when students can explore new reading genres. The Library Aides also assist students using electronic card catalogues, a research skill that will be necessary as a student moves from grade to grade.  Without the assistance provided by Library Aides will these valuable literacy and library skills still exist in the coming years? I do not think they will and I wonder if in a few years, the School Committee will be decrying the loss of library skills. 

As Paul Begala once said, "a budget is a profoundly moral document" in that we fund what we value.If we value literacy, if we value fostering our students' love of literacy, we must also ensure that our school libraries remain and that our Library Aides continue in each and every school. We need to insist that our City funds our schools so that our students are not short-changed.And if you also think it is incomprehensible that an entire school district would shutter all but the High School's libraries, please let your elected officials, city council and school committee, know your thinking. Otherwise, what we value might be lost. Forever. 

When we push children to learn before they are ready...

There is a cost for pushing readers! We don’t just TEACH readers – we help them to BECOME readers.

Dr. Mary Howard

As an educator, I find more often than not that I have conflicting emotions about the current state of curricula. The narrative, at least from much of the press and definitely from state and federal education agencies, is that our schools are failing. And while I think that education can always find ways to improve instruction and to reach all learners, I do not believe our schools are dismally inept at education.Consider the current climate in reading instruction for example. There is almost an atmosphere of panic in making sure students are reading with rigor. Kindergarten children are expected to leave that grade level as five- and six-year old readers on F&P Level D. Did you leave Kindergarten reading?What exactly does that designation "Level D" mean? Let me quote the introduction to Readers at Level D from Fountas & Pinnell's Continuum (2016, p 428):

At Level D, readers process and understand simple fiction and fantasy stories and easy informational texts. They can track print with their eyes over two to six lines per page without pointing, and they can process texts with more varied and more complex language patterns. They notice and use a range of punctuation and read dialogue, reflecting the meaning through phrasing, intonation, and appropriate word stress. Readers can solve many easy, regular two-syllable words - usually words with inflectional endings such as ing and simple compound words. Pointing may occasionally be used at difficulty, but readers drop the finger when they are confident and are reading easily. The core of know high-frequency words is expanding. Readers consistently monitor their reading, cross-check one source of information with another, and often use multiple sources of information. Readers use text and pictures to construct the meaning of stores and nonfiction texts. They infer meaning from pictures and connect the meaning of texts to their own experiences. At level D, readers process and understand simple and some split dialogue.

Yes, these are the expectations for ALL KINDERGARTENERS as they leave to transition to Grade 1. In the beginning days of my teaching career, many of these characteristics were quite normally found in typical mid-first and early-second grade students.So I ask again, were you reading in Kindergarten? I was not.  I don't think I fell behind in my education because I wasn't reading in Kindergarten. I do know that I have cultivated a love of print that has lasted a lifetime. I believe I was fortunate that when I was learning to read, my teachers worked not only on how to read, but also on development of a love of reading.Because I was taught the skill of reading when I was developmentally ready to not only word-solve (decode), but also to comprehend, I learned to become a reader - exactly what Mary Howard speaks about in the quotation above.The demands being placed on our youngest learners are unrealistic and oftentimes unattainable. My opinion? Children who are in Kindergarten need to learn to love learning: they need to practice social skills through play. They need to get used to school and learning.Squeezing all children, ready or not into the same curriculum funnel makes me think that education policy makers need to realign their focus. When the goal of reading instruction is so skewed toward the mechanics of reading at a developmentally inappropriate age, is the opportunity to help a child become a reader sacrificed?

"Doing" Justice: More than just forms

Donalyn Miller recently tweeted about a recording sheet she uses for the 40 Book Challenge she not only "invented" but practices with her students in her classroom.  As I've recently added her book "The Book Whisperer" to the book study portion of a course I've developed, Donalyn's tweet caught my attention:

My curiosity over why Donalyn Miller would feel compelled to tweet an endorsement of  Debbie Ohi's collection of forms led me to read this post from August 2014:  The 40 book Challenge Revisited.Her point this:

... the original thinking behind an instructional idea becomes lost when it’s passed along like a game of Telephone. You heard about it from a 60-minute conference session. Your teammate attended a book study and she gave you the highlight reel. The teacher down the hall is doing something innovative. You should try it. We’ve all seen the quick adoption of shiny, new ideas without a full picture of how these concepts fit into best practices (or don’t).

I've frequently heard fellow educators reference that they are "doing" the Daily Five or the Daily CAFE. However, digging in a little deeper, misinformed yet well-intentioned educator's idea of the "doing" is more likely to be incorporating some of the "centers" (sorry Gail and Joan, I know that's not what you intended) or using some printable for students downloaded from one of the educator enterprise sites.The Daily Five practice is based on developing a trusting relationship between learners and teacher. The development of this trusting relationship is every bit as important as the student activities.  A gradual release of responsibility leads to developing students independence and accountability.  Joan and Gail's commitment to research and development of their own practice is the powerful glue that, in my opinion, holds the Daily Five and CAFE together. This becomes the basis for educator changes that lead to best practice.Shiny new ideas are terrific, of course. That is the basis of being "green and growing", as one of my former administrators used to say.  However, without fully understanding a method for management of teacher, the practice become so simplified that it often becomes just another tedious fill-in-the-blank task to keep students occupied. And that, is not a best practice of any kind. 

Are we over-coaching developing readers?

One of the texts I've reviewed for a course I'm leading this summer is Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris' Who's doing the work: How to say less so readers can do more. What do you, as teacher, do when a student is stuck in their reading? Do you go into wait-time mode or try to move things along with hints or suggestions of strategies? And if you do either of these, what is the student's response or reaction?Sometimes when we think we are moving responsibility for learning to our students, the shift is not as significant as we think. Case in point: when a student successfully uses a decoding strategy to uncover a challenging word, does the student look to you, the teacher, for affirmation.  Surely that's something I was guilty of doing.However, when students come to rely on that affirmation and teacher praise as an indication of whether or not the word was called correctly, that is scaffolding that has over-served its usefulness in steering students toward a gradual release of responsibility.  We set the students up for dependency, not independency.In real reading - the kind that students engage in on their own either in school or later in life as adult readers - what happens when a decoding challenge the meaning of the print breaks down? Will a teacher always be there to nod a yes or to give hints?The end game for reading instruction is to enable a reader to develop so that he or she knows that to do when confronted with reading challenges.  Instead of leading a student through the use of a specific strategy (get your mouth ready, think about what makes sense), what if the prompts from a teacher were more open-ended:

What do you notice?

What can you try?

There are undoubtedly times when explicitly teaching strategies for decoding and comprehension are not only appropriate, they are essential. How else would a reader learn about them? But once the strategy has been introduced, practiced and become part of a reader's repertoire, shouldn't we, as coaches, allow the reader to decide what to do?Over coaching developing readers is something I became aware of as an active and as a retired teacher.  More open-ended questions and less controlled coaching not applies to reading. Think of the implications for problem-solving in math.So I ask: are we empowering our students to truly be independent? Or, as Yaris and Burkins point out, are we creating learners who are dependent upon our affirmation and approval? Are we allowing students to be independent learners?

First Book/AFT Kicks Off Lowell's Books on Wheels

I'm really excited about this project!When the American Federation of Teachers-Massachusetts (AFT-MA), our local union's state affiliate, approached our local union a year ago about hosting a First Book/AFT Books on Wheels event, we were intrigued, but the timing was just not right. We may have had to put the project on a back burner, but it was never forgotten. And here we are at the start of a new school year, ready to launch for an event to take place in less than 8 weeks.  Things just got real!The premise is really simple.  First Book is a national non-profit with a mission to provide new books to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. Through a unique partnership with American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the national affiliate of our local United Teachers of Lowell, we are planning to bring a semi-tractor trailer of new books (ages 0-18) - that's 40,000 to 44,000 books - to distribute absolutely free to our teachers, schools, programs, and families right here in Lowell.What is needed in return are 2,000 email addresses of programs and educators working with those children and families in need. By registering an email address, the owner can then access First Book's Marketplace where brand new books are available for 50-90% off list prices. I personally used First Book's Marketplace when I was in the classroom to round out my classroom library purchases (yes, teachers do indeed buy many materials) or to create a study set of a book a group of children were reading.Our efforts toward earning the Books on Wheels Truck of 40,000+ free books kicked off last Friday with the newest faculty members at Lowell Teacher Academy orientation.  We will begin recruiting all returning staff - teachers, administrators, coaches, paraprofessionals, custodians, cafeteria workers, therapists, librarians, school clerks, and tutors - beginning on Monday morning.We know this is a unique opportunity to increase access to literature for our families. While a truck loaded with 40,000 plus new books is a.w.e.s.o.m.e. by itself, we are hoping to make this event even better.  We've also established a gofundme effort to raise $5,000 which will allow Lowell's English Language Learner expert teachers/coaches to select literature from First Book's Marketplace of Books.  Click this LINK to access our gofundme page and please, feel free to share with friends and neighbors.

8/28: (Calling out our First Book Lowell crowd funding link here: www.gofundme.com/firstbooklowell)

We will use any funds raised through gofundme to purchase books that are reflective of the cultural and language diversity in our community.  If 500 people donate just $10, we will meet our goal, and if we exceed our goal we'll be able to purchase even greater numbers of culturally appropriate books for our families and readers.Our goal is to have everything in place for a Book Distribution on Saturday, October 22 at the Rogers STEM Academy. We are appreciative of Superintendent Khelfaoui's support of this effort and especially grateful to Principal Jason McCrevan and his team at the Rogers STEM Academy for offering to host this event. More information on the Book Distribution and how you can help will be coming in a future post.It takes a village, or in Lowell's case, a city to make this endeavor a success. We are counting on everyone to help our village bring books to our children that will embrace the diversity of cultures and languages of our community.

Editing & Revising with Peers

As a writer and, as a teacher, I value collaboration with peers. I know that my writing is made more clear, more interesting, and more precise when I rely on a trusted "critical friend" to offer constructive feedback. And so, when the Commonwealth's writing standards included peer revising as well as adult conferring, the inclusion of critical friends in the Writing Process made sense. Beginning in Grade 2, Writing Standard 5 includes this important progression of peer revision and peer editing. [Refer to the Writing Standards ("Code W") by grade level beginning on page 26 of the 2011 Frameworks.]From my experience, elementary students must be taught explicitly how to do this. They need good models of what peer conferring looks like. As a proponent of the Daily Five, I found the 10 Steps to Independence model to be an ideal teaching method for introducing peer editing and revising to my students.Students at the elementary level need some structure for learning how to be a helpful peer editor or revisor; and to this end, I was fortunate to get an offer for some coaching from our former Literacy Coach, Patricia Sweeney.  Pat provided a structure for the students: 2 compliments and a suggestion. Here were the guidelines:

• The author reads the piece from beginning to end without interruption
• The revisor/editor offers 2 compliments. Personal references ("I like...") were excluded; more constructive/objective language included ("When you wrote..., your writing was... (very clear, powerful, descriptive, etc.").
• No "buts" - one of my 3rd and 4th graders favorites, because what 9-year old can resist telling another to get their "but" out of writing. (When you wrote ...., your description was very clear, BUT...)
• The revisor/editor can offer 1 suggestion (so not to overwhelm the author all at once), jotting on a stick-on note. (You might want to .... or Your writing might be more powerful if ...). The author can agree or disagree with the suggestion, but listens and takes it "under advisement".

This structure provided the students with two things: a language framework for offering constructive feedback and an opportunity to apply grade-level writing skills as the "student" become the "teacher".These peer-led conferences always took place prior to conferring with an adult and prior to producing a final version of the writing.  Peers did not assess another student's writing, but offered constructive criticism for the purpose of helping the author improve upon the writing.Exactly what my adult peer editor and revisor does for me.  

Reading Licenses

When I first began teaching elementary school, the only "independent" books kids had were the books they checked out of the library. And maybe a borrowed read-aloud left of the chalk (!) ledge. Can you imagine how boring that must have been?Morphing to Reading Workshops and Daily Five gave our students opportunities to self-select books for reading independently. And of course, that was a lot more engaging for students. Kids being kids though, were they always doing the right thing at self-selection time?We teach kids explicitly how to find "just right" books that are neither frustrating nor so easy that kids don't grow as readers. In my classroom, students received a readers' license to help them remember where their proximal reading level was. (For information on how my classroom library was leveled, see The Leveled Library Project above.)The license included a digitized photo of the student created on one of the first days of school, the student's name, and a color code sticker as a reminder of what just-right-level should be the current target. Students were encouraged to choose 1 book from a level down and 1 book from a level up (the challenge) as well as 2 just-right books. I usually printed all this on a 4x6 plain index card or some heavy card stock paper.At conferencing time, the student arrived with book box and license and we'd always spend a minute or two making sure selections were a match. New color code stickers were added throughout the year as the student progressed; we'd talk about a goal or next step to work on, record that idea in the student's reading notebook and move on.Did I have students who tried to fake their way into a level because a friend was there? Some did from time to time. But I also had students who wanted to prove that they could read more challenging books. How I loved when a student was so bent on proving that higher challenging level was really "just right" that the student doubled down on effort to move forward!A "license" to read... just another way to track whether book choices match independent reading levels.

Whose Property Is It?

There's a thought-provoking article in EdSurge this morning. Just who owns a teacher's intellectual property? My husband, a former software engineer for several large tech companies, always had to sign over his rights to any ideas that he created as part of the hiring process. But educators do no such thing - at least until now.Advancing technology is going to make this an essential question for every school district to grapple with. Our lesson plans, reviewed regularly, are shared electronically not only with administrators but with colleagues. Documents and resources geared toward teaching, in fact, the teaching guides themselves, are often created by groups of teachers. It may be just a matter of time before enterprising schools, looking for new sources of revenue, want to monetize lesson plans or other teaching ideas developed by teaching staff.An example of this is sharing classroom plans with Special Education inclusion partners who need to know what the classroom language and content goals are in order to make learning accessible to students on individual education plans. This past year, I've had my lesson plans copied into another teacher's plan book without permission or attribution. When asked to stop, the person did; however, she continued to copy my "I can" or language/content goals again without permission. Was this a violation of my intellectual property?In the age of Teachers-Pay-Teachers, intellectual property is about to become a huge factor. Pay attention.

Text Mapping Nonfiction

We've been working with nonfiction texts this winter, and so I was doing my due diligence on better ways to teach students how to read and comprehend these texts.For an experienced reader, navigating nonfiction is not a daunting task, but imagine for a moment what it must be like to see all the busyness that makes up a nonfiction text for elementary students.  Text features - captions, text boxes, maps, labels, diagrams - a less expert reader has a difficult time capturing the flow of text. The difficulty of this really wasn't brought home to me until I started text mapping with my fourth grade students.A challenge for my students has been that either the text is so fractured because students stop to attend to the features as they try to read the text or the features are skipped entirely.  For my students, that means they are missing important pieces of information. And in testing situations, students often miss something nuanced that ends up in a test item. I knew I needed some new strategies that would help kids - and me - sort out how to read nonfiction in a more methodical, systematic manner.And so with the help of Google, I happened upon text mapping, an innovation created by Dave Middlebrook.One of the biggest advantages to implementing text mapping strategies was that I noticed how almost immediately my students could follow the flow of the actual text. Since the visual and textual features that supported their reading could be segregated away from the flow of words, the whole reading made more sense to them. They were more able to follow the flow of the words and then go back to pick up more information using those visual and textual features. For a more detailed version of the advantages of text mapping, be sure to read this section from the Textmapping Project Page.We used the scroll strategy in my classroom for several iterations; however, this being test prep season, I've moved away from a physical scroll to adapting text maps to the normal page formats. Also, with a nod to prepping for state testing, we needed to invent black and white coding as colored pencils, highlighters, and the like are not allowed.  While some of the impact of coding is lost when color coding features is removed, the supporting features are still called out from the text. And students are still able to follow a logical flow of text and text features.For elementary level teachers and more ideas about using text mapping, check out Classroom 2.0. 

Beginning student led discussions

"I can" statements are part of our lesson planning. I craft these statements for each segment of our day, direct student attention to them before, sometimes during, and after a lesson.One of the mini lessons I planned this week was to introduce students to an FQR organizer (Facts-Questions-Response). Of course that included a link to the Common Core AND and "I can" statement.After the mini lesson, students were directed to work in partnerships to read a nonfiction text found in our Reading Street books (not a fan of basals, but a great way to find multiple copies of a text) and with the partner jot on the FQR. Mindful of the role that academic language plays, I planned for students to collaborate in partnerships to complete the FQR and then use Turn and Talk to encourage discussion with another partnership.I usually go into discussion-based activities expecting glitches and expecting that I may need to reteach and redirect students who enjoy social language a lot more than academic language :-)  This time, however, as I moved from group to group, I heard.... actual discussion of what facts were learned, wonderings, questions, and reactions to the text.Mindful attention to the "I can" helped me to think about what my students would need to become successful. We not only worked on the process for an FQR, we reviewed our norms for discussion. And that allowed me to be an observer on the sidelines.I can turn and talk about facts, questions and responses to a nonfiction text. YES!

Inferring Vocabulary

Kids can latch on to words in the most incredible ways. And second language learners really keep a teacher thinking.  As an English speaker, I give almost no thought to words and phrases we use every day that have multiple - and often unrelated connections - to meaning.  As a teacher of ELLs, however, that becomes part of the plan for each lesson. And as a teacher of a classroom made up of nearly three-quarters English Language Learners, it is a way of life.This week, as we explored inferring unfamiliar words, that last point was brought to the fore with the following exchange:

Did China people eat off special plates on the Titanic?

This question did make me stop and wonder for several seconds - what in the world was this kid referring to? We had just finished looking for text clue to help infer the meaning of demitasse found in an article we were exploring from Harvey and Goudvis' Comprehension Toolkit Source Book entitled  "Titanic's Legacy". Where was this question coming from?As it turns out, the question was not so out-of-left-field as I thought at first. One of the other illustrations found on the page we were studying was of a "China Serving Plate". Which led us to a whole tangential discussion of the word "china".Never underestimate the power of words. Or the challenge of vocabulary. 

Text to Self Connection

When I was an undergraduate, practicing piano or flute was a drudgery that I could barely tolerate. I put in what I needed to put in to get through a performance, and, given that I was an adept reader of scores, that was pretty minimal.  I can recall sitting in several Form and Analysis classes and wondering how the heck I could cut it without affecting my grade.This winter, as I have begun to become reacquainted with my piano, I've been mentally revisiting those music analysis classes. And I've discovered that while I struggle to activate the muscle memory for reaches on keys that I used to be able to just do, I've missed some things. I have been so focused on playing the notes accurately I have missed the nuance.When I finally reached a level of note-playing that I could pay attention to the meaning of the melodic line, it was very freeing. Suddenly (well that's not the right word!) I could hear what the piece should sound like. I understood.And isn't that exactly what happens with readers and writers. Our struggling readers and writers do their best to decode and mimic the writing elements of a genre. We offer up mentor texts, but unless we can take the time to analyze these texts with depth (and rigor), the students can only uncover the basics.I think we try to do too much too quickly these days. A mile wide and an inch deep should not be the curriculum model we aspire to. Students need time and guidance to understand and to write agilely.My connection? Learning to play a piece of music, moving beyond simply playing the score accurately, is very much like reading and writing.

Adventures in Orton-Gillingham, Part 1

One of the things I did for myself this summer was to enroll in an Orton-Gillingham Comprehensive training. I'd been trained at a previous school in Lindamood Bell and found that systematic phonics instruction really helped my students, particularly those whose first or primary language was not English.While the intensity of this training can't be minimized, it was something life-changing. I feel so strongly that this approach to phonics will push my struggling readers to greater success.Why shouldn't it? Orton-Gillingham incorporates all three learning modalities - visual, auditory, and kineshetic. And how is most direct instruction delivered? If you said auditorially, you would be correct.  Just by re-thinking how much of a lesson is delivered in each modality and adjusting has got to help.My first goal for the new school year has been to convince my administrators and coaches of implementing OG with my safety net readers in place of the district-preferred LLI (Fountas Pinnell). Thankfully Orton Gillingham has a built-in data collection process so that the request for collecting data as proof of the program's effectiveness with my students will be natural.Yesterday, our second day of school, I taught the students the routine for learning red words, or high frequency, irregularly decoded words. Today I'll target my safety net readers and administer the OG Level 1 test as a baseline.We are on our way toward what I know will be effective instruction for kids who really, really need to make sense of the print in front of them.

When Teacher Has an Aha Moment

I am an avid reader of the Choice Literacy website. I love reading what the leaders in literacy have to say and particularly value those who not only share their pedagogy and thinking, but also work in classrooms with real students.  Franki Sibberson is one of those contributors on Choice Literacy; her writings always make me consider changes that can be made to the way I think about and deliver lessons to my students.This is Franki's post from this morning.  When I read it, it became clear to me that while the pull-outs for Tier 3 interventions give my struggling readers support the way instruction at K-2 does, my on- and above-grade readers need greater independence. And - surprise, surprise - every student needs the opportunity to read independently.  That's something I've said all along: Readers can't grow to be better readers if they never get the opportunity to try out or practice reading on their own. Oddly, I feel validated now - and more determined to make this happen in my classroom.As an experienced teacher, what Franki shares about learning - and letting go - with intermediate readers really resounded with me.  We struggle at our school with  providing just-right support to the readers who should be able to soar as readers with greater sophistication and skill alongside those who need greater support.  Reading Franki's article in Choice Literacy this morning made me see things in a new light: in my new 3rd- and soon-to-be 4th-grade classroom, I have two very different groups of readers. The level instruction must be different and will look different.This appears to fit with what our District reading guidelines.  As a district, we are moving toward book clubs and conferring in Grades 3 and 4. It is a model that I've dabbled in with my third graders - and now it will become more frequent. Our struggling readers receive Tier 3 supports through a pull-out program for 30 minutes a day - that will be their "guided reading".  Thinking of these two models side-by-side helps me to understand how to differentiate the literacy block for all readers.Teacher has had an aha moment.

Adventures in poetry

I'm afraid we didn't get very far in "diving deeper" into today's poetry selection. Mostly, today was a lesson in multiple meanings of words. By that, I mean, a word that meant one thing in the mid- to late-1800s (when this poem was written) and the colloquially accepted meanings that kids hear today.First of all, there was quite a bit of twitter about the fact that the poet of our first selection - Emily Dickenson - has a name that makes immature minds go into hysterics. Because, you know, her name has DICK in it. At that point, I knew this selection would be trouble. I just didn't know how much trouble I was in for.Here's the text of the poem:

AUTUMNEmily DickinsonThe morns are meeker than they were,The nuts are getting brown;The berry’s cheek is plumper,The rose is out of town.The maple wears a gayer scarf,The field a scarlet gown.Lest I should be old-fashioned,I’ll put a trinket on.

I anticipated "gayer" would cause a reaction, so I spent some time explaining that "gay" had another meaning when the poet was writing.Of course the little congregation of 9-year old boys at the back corner of the rug thought "nuts are getting brown" was hysterical. They couldn't contain their delight -- definitely wanted to share their unique perspective with all sitting within earshot.Maybe now that we have worked out all the vocabulary minefields, we can study this poem as the curriculum developers intended. Or not.

Poetry.... a little silly

We are beginning a new unit of study in English Language Arts this week - poetry! Going through this new unit I discovered a poem by Emily Dickenson - Autumn. And that reminded me of something Adrien shared with me long ago.You see, you can sing almost every Emily Dickenson poem to "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Try it. These folks did: Sing-a-Long-With-Emily. Still not a believer? Here's another:

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

254"Hope" is the thing with feathers—That perches in the soul—And sings the tune without the words—And never stops—at all—And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—And sore must be the storm—That could abash the little BirdThat kept so many warm—I've heard it in the chillest land—And on the strangest Sea—Yet, never, in Extremity,It asked a crumb—of Me.

Emily Dickinson

More serious analysts of literature will tell you that the meter of Dickenson's poetry is common meter - the same rhythmic pattern used in hymns. But for me, the Yellow Rose is indelibly etched into my head every time I try to read Dickenson. And now I dare you to get it out of your head as well.

You convinced me!

We all need a good laugh - or even just a smile - every so often. Just to remind us of the joy that can be teaching.In the midst of this silly season - this season when there is some hefty assessment going on - I had one of those moments as I corrected a sizable (read daunting) stack of persuasive reviews. Third grade writers are very earnest in their recommendations - even my less nuanced writers try their darnedest to convince me with their very best 9-year-old logic.Here is the writing that made me smile:

Slerp! Crunch! Ahh! China Buffet the place I love, I’ll show you, actually show you all the amazing features with a con about… China Buffet of course. I previously mentioned that earlier. The food: China Buffet has some good food like the refreshing cold and hot, (I meant for it to be hot and cold) beverages which will eternally rock your socks off. You will be doing your stomach a favor!And then there’s seafood, not much of it, but worth it. There’s about a dozen creamy rich flavored ice creamy smooth textured ice cream flavors. There is a fish tank with angelfish, clownfish, and tiger fish. It’s near Sleepy’s and Chuck E. Cheese (and Target).China Buffet has great service. You use tongs to “get” food instead of ordering on a menu and waiting for cooked food. It’s already done!And now for a con, one measly con. Your reaction may be “What! You can’t find the bathroom!” It’s silly yes, it’s there though. I’ve been there numerous times. (P.S. there’s fruit cocktails, pork fried rice, sushi, Jell-o, fortune cookies, chicken, shrimp, clams, etc.).So that’s why you should go check out China Buffet. I rate it 5 stars.

Come to think of it, I would like to do my stomach a favor! Hope there's a table available!