[MOSAIC] Cheryl's nightmare
Kristen Kaney
kk227 at comporium.net
Sun Feb 4 12:28:26 EST 2007
Cheryl,
I am appalled at the thought that your reading/literacy coach actually tells
you that you may not use literature and novels. I teach fifth graders that
are all reading far below grade level and if the only thing I used was the
basal, my kids would NEVER want to read. This year I took the approach to
use guided reading with novels, integrate with our social studies text and
nonfiction sources, and Lexile level books for all my students to have
success in reading. It works!!! I can teach them all how to use strategies,
reading comprehension skills, and vocabulary no matter what material they're
reading... the best part is, they are becoming life-long readers. Isn't that
we want anyways?
Your literacy coach really needs to rethink the turn-off of reading that is
being created by the mandate. There is no way we can possibly get children
up to speed and on grade level if we don't start meeting them where they are
and taking them up from there!!!! I would suggest checking out the Lexile
website and checking with your school or local library to create some book
lists that your students could atleast use for self-selected reading time.
Best of luck!
Kristen
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: appreciating reading/book talks (The Plumtree)
2. Re: most significant barriers (Cheryl Day)
3. Re: inferring update (Joy)
4. Re: inferring books/more/long (Joy)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 19:57:39 -0800
From: "The Plumtree" <theplumtrees at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] appreciating reading/book talks
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Listserv"
<mosaic at literacyworkshop.org>
Message-ID: <BAY121-DAV6BB786199F802AA958695CD9A0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original
I agree that you have to give kids a focus when they do book talks. I
neglected to say that at the beginning of Self-Selected Reading--I do a read
a aloud with a strategy in mind and model for the kids what I want to see in
their book talks.Usually my read alouds correspond to a strategy that we are
working on in guided reading. The kids have sticky notes as in Deb's book
and they track what they have read and share some of that thinking. My kids
are really getting decent at questioning. We have discussed thick and thin
questions. I only have 2 kiddos share a day, because for me it is easier to
go into depth with two kids. Therefore it takes 2 weeks to go through the
class.
The quick pair shares are just a quick way to allow all the kids to have a
chance to say something about the book that they are reading. I also find
that this gives the kids motivation for doing some reading because they want
to have something to share.
There are many different ways to get kids to share books and acclamate them
to critical thinking and reading. Deb Miller's book is an excellent
resource, as well as Self-Selected Reading by Dottie Hall and Linda
Gambrell.
During conferences the kids are encouraged to share the strategies that
they are using as they are reading. This is my time to reinforce and
encourage the children to dig deeper, and if needed to choose books that
are appropriate.
Marti
To: <mosaic at literacyworkshop.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 10:38 PM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] appreciating reading/book talks
> Just a ghost from the past... but in reading all of your posts and trying
> to
> implement the best of the best in my own practice I can't help but think
> that
> responding to text has got to be more than a written response. ...
> especially in primary. Turn and talk is good but it takes quite a bit of
> structure and
> practice for kids to expand their thinking this way since often little
> ones
> only concentrate on what they want to say and even though they give nod
> to
> the speaker .... their thoughts are still mostly on their response.
>
> A better activity of turn and talk is in Debbie Miller's "Ducks at
> Night"
> activity for mental images. This activity keeps the kids focused on
> their
> partner's response because they are looking for something to add to their
> personal t-chart picture after the book talk is over. I think the
> structure has to
> be built in to the activity for kids to really get the subtle message:
> Your
> thinking expands, modifies or is confirmed when shared with others.
>
> In the same respect, written response is not an authentic response to
> reading unless writing to the author or having an online book chat. Rather
> play
> acting, painting, building, singing, this is the medium that I want to
> grow the
> strategies in..... who has suggestions????
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>
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>
>
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 03 Feb 2007 08:02:25 -0700
From: "Cheryl Day" <cday51 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] most significant barriers
To: mosaic at literacyworkshop.org
Message-ID: <BAY127-F263116B05FF65833A037D3D49A0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
What a nightmare! This sounds like something in a dream. I have a 90 minute
block for reading, but the emphasis is literature not basal. We are
encouraged to teach from the state mandated objectives. Basals do provide
some advantages in the classroom, but should not be the only resource.
Sounds like your reading coach should try teaching like this before she
mandates. For my lower readers I use Read Naturally to build fluency. For
those that are struggling with phonics I use Intensive Phonics. Both are
wonderful support programs and when applied properly yield much better
readers. For example I have a student that is reading grade level material
(4th) at 46 words a minute. She is now at 76 words a minute and our goal is
to increase that as close to 120 as possible. What I like about the Read
Naturally program is that it includes comprehension, vocabulary, and writing
development. It builds from their instructional reading level up. There is
some wonderful information on the internet about it. Your curriculum
director needs an epiphany.
Actually, I teach 120 minutes of reading a day. The ten students needing
fluency work come in for 30 minutes during the lunch recess. I alternate
them. Five come in on Monday and Wednesday. The other five come in on
Tuesday and Thursday. Four days a week I have two volunteers come in for 15
minutes to work the Intensive phonics program. Parent volunteers, when
trained properly, can be a wonderful resource.
Good luck! My prayers will be with you.
>From: RR1981 at aol.com
>Reply-To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies
>Listserv"<mosaic at literacyworkshop.org>
>To: mosaic at literacyworkshop.org
>Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] most significant barriers
>Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 19:57:23 EST
>
>
>In a message dated 2/1/2007 7:28:55 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>rid06872 at ride.ri.net writes:
>
> > What do you all feel?
>
>
>
>
>In a message dated 2/1/2007 7:28:55 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>rid06872 at ride.ri.net writes:
>
> > "What do you think are the most significant barriers that hinder the
>development of a successful reading/language arts program?"
> >
> > What do you all feel?
>
>
>I could ramble all day about our current mandates. We are required to
>have
>a 90 minute reading block. 30 minutes is whole group, 60 minutes is
>stations/small group. We MUST teach from the Houghton Mifflin basal. The
>overwhelming majority of my class reads below grade level, yet I must teach
> them from
>the on level basal. When they are in stations, the group that works
>independently, while I work with a group, most of them do nothing. They
>are not
>capable of reading grade level materials, and I am not supposed to be
>giving them
>work that isn't from this publisher. (Although out of desperation I
>sometimes ignore this mandate). I am not allowed to integrate any other
>subject
>areas into the 90 minute reading block either.
>
>We aren't allowed to read novels or chapter books at all. When I
>questioned the literacy coach about reading novels her response was, "Why
>would you
>want to do that"? I replied, " So we could read authentic literature".
>But I
>was told no we must read the basal. We cannot do any writing during the
>reading block, unless it is a response to something they read in the
>wonderful
>basal series.
>
>I believe that my students would make more progress if they were reading
>texts-including a basal-that was at their reading level, not necessarily
>their
>grade level. The students I do have who read on grade level don't really
>get
>the attention they need or deserve because we are focused on those who are
>behind.
>
>The ony analogy I can make is if I spend all day in Calculus and I am
>capable of 6th grade math, what am I really going to be learning?
>Nothing.
>
>I absolutely love reading, personally, as well as writing, but I HATE
>teaching it. We also have no formal writing curriculum and many of our
>grade level
>objectives for writing sound like reading objectives. Example:
> TLW
>Apply knowledge of word families to increase vocabulary.
>
>Rosie
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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>Mosaic at literacyworkshop.org
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>http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
>
>Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
>
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Message: 3
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2007 07:47:05 -0800 (PST)
From: Joy <jwidmann at rocketmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] inferring update
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Listserv"
<mosaic at literacyworkshop.org>
Message-ID: <869953.93991.qm at web34701.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Thank you for sharing this. Your teaching is very inspiring.
ginger/rob <read.think at sbcglobal.net> wrote: I am so excited! Last week I
gave picture books (3 kids with the same
book/3 different books going) to my 9 top readers with the charge to pay
attention when reading to WHERE in the text they hear the "signal" to stop
and THINK and infer what the author is meaning. I have never done this
before so I wasn't sure if they could do it. I had them each read their
book alone and notice these places (they could put a sticky note at that
place if they found any). Then I put them together in their group of three
to reread together and this time they were to put and "I" at the top of a
sticky note, write their group inference, and stick it next to the text
clues that led to the inference. Even though they each have their own
books, I told them to just use one book to hold their inferences.
I was very nervous that they would not be able to recognize those places
where our minds lead us to deeper inferential thinking. But today proved to
me that they CAN do it.
I did three different rounds of fish bowls. I wanted to hear how they were
doing before they got too into the work. The first group of three sat inside
a larger circle of 6. I had each member hold the book with the inferences
and first read to us the part in the text that led to the inference. (As an
aside: when I train my kids to do book clubs I always have them say: "When I
read ___-actual words from the text-_____ I wondered....." or "When I read
_______ my thinking was......" or "When I read _______ it made me remember
when I ......" I do this so that they remain grounded in the text, always
knowing what they read that led to that thinking.) Next that student read
the groups inference. AND I HELD MY BREATH!!!
After each of those three took a turn sharing a group inference, the next
book group sat inside the circle and repeated the process. 9 out of 9
inferences were right on target! Each place they had put a sticky note was
truly a place that naturally led to an inference!!!! OH MY GOSH!!! They
were DOING IT!!!
For me, I think this is huge because while I feel good about my ability to
teach what an inference is and my interactive think alouds whole group
produce good inferential thinking in my students, I just wasn't convinced
that they were able to "know" WHEN to infer when reading independently. I
believe this work we are doing now is the just right next step for them. It
reminds me of when I learned to do think alouds. I hated it at first. It
felt awkward. I never knew when to stop and think outloud. Now I can think
aloud through anything you give me. So maybe as we do this more they will
feel more aware of that metacognitive voice inside and HEAR it and give
themselves the luxury of stopping to THINK. Isn't that our goal?????
What amazing work this is!! Powerful!
Ginger
moderator
grade 2
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Joy/NC/4
jwidmann at rocketmail.com
How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content
go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
---------------------------------
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------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2007 08:43:43 -0800 (PST)
From: Joy <jwidmann at rocketmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] inferring books/more/long
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Listserv"
<mosaic at literacyworkshop.org>
Message-ID: <746787.37318.qm at web34711.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Ginger,
I agree with you when you say it doesn't matter which book you use. I
think it would depend on your students' abilities, interests, schema, etc.
That is something only you would know as their teacher.
And Ginger, yes this is a BIG deal. While you are being more explicit, to
me you are taking this one step further into a more constructivist approach.
You are looking more carefully at what they are doing and when, and allowing
them the freedom to tell each other. (Which you know I value because I think
that kids learn best when they can socialize within an academic context) You
are giving them a structure to have conversations with each other, yet
everyone gets to listen in and learn. I like this as well as turn and talk
or jigsaw groups.
Wow, and you are doing this with second grade. I think it is interesting
that you are only doing it with 9 students. Why only these 9?
I know when I see the words "long" next to your posts that it will contain
insightful, useful, inspiring information. I read it with interest, then
reread, and think. Then I read it again! Sometimes I'll flag it and reread
it months later. Please do not pare down what you write! It is very helpful
for me to read all your thinking, and it helps me when I try to explain it
to another colleague.
My biggest question to you is: When are you going to write a book?
Joy/NC/4
jwidmann at rocketmail.com
How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content
go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
---------------------------------
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