Raising Readers and Writers

On Friday morning, K asked me if she could read her book to the class. Of course, I said, “Yes!” right away. I was thrilled that she would want to take the risk to read in front of her peers. K has worked so hard this year in reading and writing. I had noticed that she was reading this book a lot during our literacy block, but I never guessed that she was practicing to read to us (maybe she didn’t realize it either!). She’s even asked me to get another copy for her reading buddy. So, when I told the class that we had a guest reader, everyone wondered who it would be. Imagine their surprise that it was one of their own classmates. K sat proudly in the author’s chair and read her book. I was so proud of her. One of the kids interrupted her saying, “Mrs. Johnson, K has really good fluency like you.” K beamed!! I’ve never seen her be so excited about reading!

I am so proud of her. Reading in front of the class was a real risk for her, but she decided that it was something she wanted to do and she took the initiative to ask me if she could. Can you guess how many guest readers we have for next week? If you guessed that everyone wants to be a guest reader, you’d be correct! So we’ve started a “Guest Reader” list. It’ll take us about 4 weeks to cycle through the class. The best part is that they now have an authentic reason to reread favorite books and practice fluency. K taught us all a lesson on Friday. When we take risks, we grow and can lead others to grow too! Thanks K!!

In a previous post, I explained the new task presented to the teacher writing group. My friend, Sara, popped her head in today and said, “I was you today.” I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not. She told me that she began Writing Workshop today and it ended up taking her whole morning. She didn’t get to anything else.

You see, last year, Sara (who is one of our ELL teachers), did inclusion in my room for the literacy block. We were a well-oiled machine, and we both loved working together. However, it never failed, when she would come in after lunch, I was not where I was supposed to be in our schedule. I think I probably drove her a little crazy. So, today, Sara had one of those days. It happens to the best of us!

Today, Sara took her risk with a group of 17 ELL kindergartners. She wanted each of her students to write in the style of an author of their own choosing. Below is her description of her day. I wish I could have been there.

It was the first day, first lesson of letting children choose their own craft and/or mentor text. At 3:30 in the morning, this seems to be when I do by best thinking, I was already feeling a sense of panic, as I knew it would be nearly impossible to have all of the texts I needed for conferences at the tip of my fingertips, but it was a risk I promised my colleagues I would take.
Oral Story Telling- child one wanted to write a text on dinosaurs, non-fiction. We discussed a few facts he knew and off he went. Not exactly the type of text I had in mind but, oh well, he’s writing. Child two, three and four….not so sure yet where they wanted to go, many still looking through the texts. “Who wants to write like John Butler” I stated, and of course many hands went up. I began to feel secure again, as now I could guide my children together, using only one or two mentor texts…but just I was getting ready to model and read “Who Says Woof” out loud, Child Two raises her hand. “Remember Mrs. Kennedy, you said we could choose anyone. Today I am choosing Mo Williams, I am going to write a story like that pigeon except I want make-up” and off she went to write.

Oh to be five again. From there, I stepped back (refrained from hugging her tightly) and realized that today she had taught me, instead of me teaching her. Taking risks also takes time, and what we learn or try the first time, won’t be as strong or significant as what we might try with more practice and time and explorations. And by the way, I didn’t have that Mo Williams book with me today, but she knew it well enough, it didn’t matter, and tomorrow it will be on her desk waiting for her as she arrives!

Please welcome Cathy Mere as she begins her new blogging journey! Cathy was one of the first grade teachers that I aspired to be like when I found out I was moving to first grade. Check out her blog. I already love it! http://reflectandrefine.blogspot.com/

A colleague stopped in tonight as I was finishing up with my after school writing club (4th and 5th graders writing scripts for the drama club). She had read my article in Choice Literacy about the teacher writing group and shared that she had an “aha” moment. She explained that she hadn’t come to our January meeting because she was feeling poorly about her writing that we did in December. After reading the article and realizing that she wants and needs that writing community, she realized that many of her students must feel the same way. You know the ones…they have to go to the bathroom 2 minutes after writing workshop begins or they wander around the classroom library for way too many minutes looking for a “just right” book when they should be reading (or writing, or doing math…it doesn’t matter. If it’s hard, they want/need a break). It gave her a whole new perspective on many of her students.

That’s one of the best parts of the teacher writing group. We are learning, without realizing it, the frustration as well as the joys our students go through each and every day in our classrooms. I believe it is this knowledge that makes us better teachers. We are also there to support each other through the ups and downs in this crazy, yet wonderful profession. Learning together and leaning on each other is what it’s all about. My friend said that the article gave her just what she needed today. She’ll be back for the next meeting, ready to go!

So, the next time one of your little (or not so little) guys has to leave the room when the work gets to be a bit much, it might just be that he needs a little break to regroup. And that’s OK! We all need that sometimes!

Everyone should have a Dr. Bloome in their professional lives. Dave is the director of the Columbus Area Writing Project and he meets with our teacher writing group every month. I tag team with Dave for the meetings. I do the writing prompt and read around and Dave helps us move our thinking forward by talking about writing instruction. Tonight’s meeting was another one that took us a bit out of our comfort zones, but will only improve our teaching.

Dave challenged us to take a risk in our teaching. He explained that risk taking is at the heart of learning. Not all learning is safe and predictable, but we don’t grow unless we take risks. So, our assignment is to take a risk in our teaching of writing. We answered the following questions as we planned: What is the “risk” you are proposing to take? Why is this a risk? What do you hope to learn or accomplish by taking this “risk?” What do you need and need to do to prepare yourself to take this risk?

The people at my table shared their plans: A kindergarten ELL teacher wants to give her students more control over their writing. She’d like them to be able to make a decision about their writing and name the craft or mentor text they are using. Our literacy coach wants to be more present as a writer when she is doing instruction and share her own writing. A K-5 resource room teacher wants her students to be able to try some new genres and document their writing journeys. Her frustration lies in trying to meet everyone’s needs across all the grade levels. I want to work alongside my students to become more independent in publishing their work digitally. I just received The Digital Workshop, so that may give me some ideas. I’d also like to try Voice Threads…so we’ll see. I have a month to try something out.

Dave asked us to try the risk, see how it goes, and write about what we’ve learned. The important part is not whether or not the “risk” is successful, but what we learn from it.

On a side note, when we met with the technology teacher today to plan future projects, she told me that several teachers talked about “taking risks.” Should be interesting.

Tomorrow is our next teacher writing group meeting. After reading Franki’s article at Choice Literacy(if you’re not a member, consider looking into it) about books for President’s Day, I decided to use the book Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barak and the Pioneers of Changefor our writing prompt. I checked it out of the library, but it’s one that I must own (which is true of my relationship with most books!) The book’s simple text and snippets of biographical information paired with the rich illustrations give the reader a deeper understanding of those individuals who paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement. After reading the prompt, please feel free to share your own stories in the comments section.

Rosa sat so Martin could march. Martin marched so Barak could run. Barak ran so our children could fly.

This quote, sent via text message, became well-known last year right before the election. As a result, the idea for this book was born.

Our Children Can Soar focuses on 10 different individuals who led the way for the Civil Rights Movement including an unknown Civil War soldier, George Washington Carver, and Jesse Owens. Each of these people is highlighted on a 2-page spread illustrated by a different children’s book illustrator. The illustrations are spectacular and even though they differ in style, they weave the story together in seamless fashion. There are short biographies of each person in the back of the book as well as a brief message from each illustrator.

After reading the book:

This story weaves a message of hope. We are who we are because others have led the way. Our families, teachers, coaches, friends, hobbies, and maybe even books have affected us in some way. Spend some time now writing about those people and things that have given you hope and paved the way for you.

This book could be used in a variety of ways…poetry, biography, famous African-Americans, the use of endnotes, repetition of a phrase to tie a story together, or to launch a piece of writing about heroes, hope, or ways to change the world yourself.

If you want to feel secure, do what you already know how to do. If you want to be a true professional & continue to grow…go to the cutting edge of your competence, which means a temporary loss of security. So whenever you don’t quite know what you’re doing, know that you are growing. -Madeline Hunter

I received a copy of this quote right before I moved to first grade three years ago. I kept it posted where I could see it every day. It reminded me that the discomfort I felt was a sign that I was growing as a professional. It would all work out in the end! I still have it posted right behind my table, even though I don’t walk into school each day terrified that I’m going to ruin some six year-old’s chance of ever learning how to read and write. (I guess I was a little “over the edge” back then!)

After school today, I met with another teacher for coffee. I’ve been wanting to talk to her about her reading workshop for a long time. Cathy wrote More Than Guided Reading, which helped me make the transition to first grade. I knew that she would help me think through my dilemma.

Even though lots of things are going well in reading workshop, I still feel like I’m missing the boat. I am meeting with 5 guided reading groups (one group consists of one child, so that lesson goes pretty quickly) each day, and 3 others a couple of times a week all in an hour and 15 minutes. (I know, it’s crazy!). I don’t have time to conference individually with students and it feels like a revolving reading door. One group finishes, another one comes up, that one finishes, another one comes up…with no time to breathe in between.

As Cathy shared her reading workshop block, I felt a sense of relief. Each week she groups her kids based on their needs as readers (not necessarily their reading levels) and doesn’t meet with more than 2 groups a day. The rest of the time is spent in individual conferences with goals in mind for each student. This is what I was looking for!

I left the coffee shop feeling energized, and a little uncertain. My mind went back to Madeline Hunter’s quote. I’m stretching myself again as I try to better meet my students’ needs. Cathy reminded me of the importance of thinking about my goals for my students as readers and writers (same goes for mathematicians too!) and to not get so hung up on reading levels. Yes, it is the district’s expectation that our students be at a certain level by the end of the school year, but my goals are much bigger. I want my students to enjoy reading and I want them understand and use the strategies I’m teaching them every day in their reading lives.

Once again, I’m reminded of the importance of surrounding myself with people who listen and help me broaden my perspective. I’m really excited to try Cathy’s ideas next week. I’ve been thinking about the changes I’ll make and I’m looking forward to having time to meet individually with my kids. Do I feel a little uncertain about how it will all pan out? You bet I do, but hey, I’m growing, right?

My friend, who is a principal in a school district in northern Ohio, knew that I was trying a math workshop approach this year in my first grade classroom. She asked me if I would be willing to share some lesson plans and how I set it all up. Her teachers want to try a math workshop. I have to say that she is a phenomenal instructional leader, because she jumps right in with her staff and learns along with them as she guides them to expand their horizons.

Of course, pulling this information together gave me time to reflect. Even though I absolutely love doing math workshop and I believe that I know my kids better as mathematicians this year, there have been times that I wanted to throw in the towel. Once again, it’s that messy teaching that I have mentioned in previous posts. Sometimes I feel like I am walking through really muddy water and I can’t quite see where I am going. I just hope that I get there. It’s uncomfortable. I make mistakes. And sometimes I need to take a break and I just teach a lesson out of the book. There are times, too, when the sun comes out and I think, “Whew! I did it! This is great!” Those are the times when I’ve had a chance to meet with our math coach. She helps me refocus and she listens to my frustrations. Then she leads me again down the path of hope by reminding me of what I do know and what has been successful. I need a pick-me-up from her every once in awhile.

As I was reflecting tonight, I began to think about my struggling readers who are not where I hoped they would be in January. I wonder if they feel like I do when I’m feeling lost in math workshop. Do they look at a page and feel befuddled as to what to do? Do they forget what they have learned and lose confidence in themselves? This serves as a reminder to me about how important my job is to coach them and remind them of all the smart things they know how to do as readers. I also have to remind myself as to where they began the year. They have made tremendous progress and we still have almost 5 months of school. We will just keep working toward our goal. There will be dips in the road, but that’s to be expected. That’s what makes the journey more interesting. We WILL arrive at our destination.

And let’s hope that I make it down that math workshop road without too many bumps (or giant potholes)!

To teach…it comes from the Middle English word techen , which means to show or to instruct. But what is considered good teaching? I guess it’s pretty subjective. Since this is my blog, I get to share my opinions!

How many of us worry that our hands on classrooms where real learning is happening might be construed as chaotic and out of control? Consider this…a classroom where children are doing real research for an authentic purpose. They simply want to know more about frogs. They aren’t doing research because it will help them do better on a test. They aren’t answering questions that their teacher made up to fit an archaic form that teachers have been using for the last 20 years. They aren’t gathering information for a boring animal report that no one will read.

Instead, they have real questions that they want answered. Their teacher has modeled for them how to ask questions, how to use informational texts to find their answers, and how to put their findings in their own words. Really, what are you learning if you just copy the author’s words?

Why frogs? To scaffold their learning, the teacher asked her students what they wanted to learn more about. Their choice? Frogs. They are thinking about getting a frog for a class pet, so it makes sense to learn more about them. Are they only learning about bull frogs (you know, what it looks like, what it eats, where it lives)? No…these kids had LOTS of questions about all kinds of frogs. And their teacher honored their thinking by allowing them to ask their questions and she taught them how to find their answers. (Eventually they’ll be choosing their own topics and using what they learned to research their questions).

Is it quiet when they research? Are students sitting silently at their desks as they copy information from a book (answering the teacher’s questions)? No! Why would they be? What happens when we find interesting information? We can’t wait to share it. I drive my husband crazy when I read something that makes me stop and say, “Wow!”. I make him stop what he’s doing (or whoever is sitting close by) so I can tell him what I’ve learned. Well the same thing happens in this classroom. Kids are sharing information and coming up with new questions. They are excited about their learning! Their learning has purpose!

Good teaching is happening in this classroom and lots of other classrooms like this one. Kids are being SHOWN that their questions are important and their thinking is valid. They are being SHOWN how to find their answers and the importance of working cooperatively with others to create something special.

Sometimes we worry when we are one of these teachers, especially if we are brand new teachers. What will others think when they pass by my room and kids are spread all over and having conversations? My advice? Surround yourself with others who believe like you. You are on the right path and your kids will only benefit from your thoughtful decisions and the atmosphere you have created in your room.

Katherine Paterson will be succeeding Jon Scieszka as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Her platform is “read for your life.” With books, she said, kids (and adults) use their “powers of intellect and imagination” and experience “delight.” Stories also teach children about people from other religions, races, and countries, she said. “Books help us make friends who are different from ourselves.” (from Library Journal) You can read more about her appointment here.

Katherine Paterson has been a favorite of mine for a long time. My students couldn’t get enough of her books. I would no sooner bring in new titles that they would disappear off the shelves. My oldest daughter grew up on her books. Paterson’s works seep into our souls and touch us as few authors can do.

I love Paterson’s platform, “read for life.” Like all teachers who have a passion for literacy, I have always believed that first and foremost, my job is to create life-long readers and writers who find delight in reading and writing. I am always on the hunt for the book or author that will ignite the spark that creates joyful reading. I love the challenge at the beginning of the year when a student tells me that he or she doesn’t like to read. I always tell those children that I will change their minds. I don’t think I’ve failed yet. There is no better sight than to see a child curled up with a well-loved book or another calling across the room with the newest fact about arachnids just gleaned from an informational article. Teaching first grade gives me a whole new perspective. These young learners are just beginning their journey as readers. What a privilege it is, as well as a tremendous responsibility to create an atmosphere where children find excitement, new worlds, wonderment, and new experiences in books. Congratulations to Katherine Paterson!