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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Writing to Read

Another report I explored recently is Writing to Read: Evidence for How Writing Can Improve Reading, A Report from Carnegie Corporation of New York.  I may have read this report earlier in the semester. However, I have the hard copy in my personal library, so I picked it up last week and begin to read it.

 

 

 
nwp.org

Click HERE to access the report.

 
In many ways the report reminds me of the information I gleaned from the article, The Neglected "R".  The Writing to Read provides evidence answering the following three questions:
  1. Does writing about material students read enhance their reading comprehension?
  2. Does teaching writing strengthen students' reading skills?
  3. Does increasing how much students write improve how well they read?
The report identifies a cluster of closely related instructional practices shown to be effective in improving students reading.  The grouped three core recommendations. 

 
  1. Have students write about the texts they read--this includes responding with a personal reaction, writing a summary, writing notes, and answering and/or creating a question about the text

     2. Teach students the writing skills and processes that go into creating a text--this includes the process of     writing, text structure, paragraph or sentence construction, and spelling skills.

      3. Increase how much students write.

<This doesn't exactly seem like rocket science to me, more like common sense. However, it is nice to have the empirical evidence for those 'non-believers'. >

The Reality:
Although our grandparents (and perhaps our parents) only needed a high-school education to find jobs that paid enough to raise a family, this is a rarity today.  Changes in our world and our workplaces have increased the need for young adults to attend some form of higher education, whether it is a two or four year college.

A Grim Snapshot from WTR Report:
  • Forty percent of high school graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek
  • Only one out of four twelfth grade students is a proficient writer
  • One out of every five college freshman must take a remedial writing course
  • Three out of ten high school students do not graduate on time

The good news!
After meta-analysis on the effects of the three recommendations above, there was positive growth in student achievement! (Again, not rocket science--but enough evidence to rock the boat and shake things up a bit with instructional practices).

I appreciate how the report gives specific examples of how to implement the instructional recommendations.

Examples:

Extended Writing Example
  • With guided journal writing students respond to text by answering open-ended questions about it in writing. For example, students might be asked to analyze why they think characters acted as they did and indicate what they would do in the same situation.
::Side Note::

We have started to do more of this at our school using the Guided Reading Plus lesson plan framework incorporating Better Answers prompts with the "formula" of how to look good and sound smart <Give a gist, add a body of details, and a wrap up.>

::End Side Note::

Writing Instruction: Examples
  •  One instructional procedure that facilitates reading growth is sentence combining.  With this method, the teacher models how to combine simpler sentences into more complex ones. Students then practice combining similar sentences. An interesting twist on this approach is to have students combine sentences in material they are reading or disassemble such sentences.
::Side Note::

Interesting that the source for this suggestion was from Hunt and O'Donnell in 1970!!!  This idea makes so much more sense than an endless packet of "grammar" worksheets.

::End Side Note::

Conclusion

The study showed that students' reading abilities are improved by writing about texts they have read; by receiving direct instruction in spelling, in writing sentences, in writing paragraphs, and text structure, and by increasing how much and how frequently they write.   The key in this report is DIRECT TEACHING---NOT ASSIGNING.  I think sometimes we get confused with the difference between showing students how and telling them what.

I think the best thing to do with this report is to synthesize the big nuggets into an engaging presentation/workshop and have teachers try on some or all of the instructional recommendations.
I look forward to discussing this report with my coaching colleagues at UMO in the near future. :)

What Would You Attempt To Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?

I recently saw this prompt in an artsy type of store:


I think this would be a great prompt for a writer's notebook!  If you gave this to your students at the beginning of the school year and asked them to think and write on it, I think you'd really get an idea of who the child is sitting in the seat.   It would be interesting to give this prompt to a first grader, a fifth grader, an eighth grader, and a senior in high school.  It would be interesting to give this prompt to teachers or graduate level students.  How would a person's age and life experience impact the response?

Here goes my response...

If I new I could not fail, I would attempt to open a wellness center for families with  low-socioeconomic status.  The purpose of the wellness center would be to educate families and children. The impact of the wellness center would reverse the cycle of poverty and slow down the Matthew Effect we see happening in our schools.  Families who receive support from our welfare system would be asked to visit the wellness center twice a month.  Transportation would be provided for those who do not have vehicles.

The wellness center would focus on the benefits of being educationally healthy.  It would serve parents, caregivers,  as well as children in infancy up to age seven.  As soon as the mother is pregnant and qualifies for welfare services, she (and her partner) would enter the wellness center program.  During her pregnancy she would learn about infant/child development.  She would learn the how language impacts learning. Sh would learn the importance of talking to and reading to her infant, toddler, preschooler, etc. 

The wellness center would employ professionals such as pediatricians, early-intervention specialists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, child psychologists, child psychologists specialized in equine therapy, literacy specialists/Doctors in education, specialized in early childhood.   Each professional would have their own wing of the facility with family (patient) rooms.  


The wellness center would be a spacious, modern facility with cathedral ceilings filled with natural light set on 40 acres in Northern Penobscot County.  The wellness center would be a place of tranquility and would overlook Mt. Katahdin.  It would have a huge children's library, filled with beautiful books, comfortable reading nooks, and a reading fort.   It would be a place that families and children look forward to coming.  The 40 acres has a forest, and a pond for children to explore.  There would be a horse farm nestled into the corner of the forty-acres equipped for Equine Therapy.

There would be "behind the glass" rooms where mothers would watch professionals model interactions with their children.  A professional would lead the mothers in a discussion of what they are noticing about the interactions.  Mothers would then try on different strategies for interacting with their children.  One of the professionals at the facility would be assigned to family.  This professional would visit the home twice a month for two hours to support the family in providing an educational environment for the child in the home.  The professional would provide education to the family in the home as well. 

As a result of attending the wellness center, families would receive free diapers, baby food, books, and other items for their attendance and cooperation in the wellness program.  Once the child is seven and has graduated from the wellness center, he or she will receive a $15,000 scholarship to a university of his/her choice in the University of Maine System.  

Until the child graduates from high-school, the family would be supported by a case manager.  The case manager would visit the home twice a month to check on the family and their needs.  The case manager would be in constant communication with the family as well as the child's principal and classroom teacher.

This is what I would attempt to do if I knew I couldn't fail.

Taking the Next Step with Technology

I have been fortunate this semester to be introduced to many great texts about writing and the teaching of writing.  In my last post I talked about four great books I've explored and have shared (or plan on sharing) with my colleagues.  My writing class this semester is an online course.  At first I was a bit skeptical of how the course would play out (I had never taken an online course before).  However, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of a digital community.  I have learned much about technology and writing.  I now have a few more tools to add to my writing/technology toolbox.  With the adoption of the Common Core Standards last month, I am excited that I am a bit more "in the know" when thinking about how to integrate technology.  I have just gotten a taste technology, and I am thirsty for more!

Our instructor introduced us to many interesting articles about writing and technology this semester. I have also read and explored other professional writing texts.  One text I'd like to talk more about is Lisa Miller's Make Me a Story: Teaching Writing Through Digital Storytelling
search.barnesandnoble.com

What I loved about the book:
  • The book is highly organized and has friendly language that ANY teacher could easily understand
  • Lisa gives a step-by-step process of  "how" to create a digital story
  • It gives a great argument for WHY we need to teach digital storytelling
  • It validates what teachers are already doing in the classroom without computers
  • The explicit steps make teachers feel at ease with taking their students to the next step by integrating technology
  • The digital storytelling process could easily be implemented K-6 (and beyond) with some modifications
  • It comes with a CD with examples of digital stories!
Big Nuggets:
How it will impact my teaching and learning at our school:
  • I have partnered with a second grade teacher this year, and we plan to try this on with her second graders.  I think the digital storytelling will be a great vehicle for the students "how to" books.
  • It will be a tool I will use when working elbow to elbow with teachers as I support them in their teaching
  • I work closely with a special education teacher who is always eager to try out new teaching strategies.  She has been looking to integrate technology into her classroom--this would be perfect for the students she works with.
I recommend this book to:
  • K-6 teachers
  • Technology Teachers
  • Librarians
  • Elementary principals
  • Undergraduate education students
  • University instructors working with education undergraduate and graduate level students

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Great Texts for Teaching Writing

Great Texts to Explore

betterworldbooks.com
This is a great text for the teachers of our youngest writers.  It truly captures the importance of language in writing.  If we think about the four vocabularies: receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, reading vocabulary, and writing vocabulary, the receptive and expressive are building blocks of the latter two.  This text includes possible lessons for PreK and K teachers.  This would be a great text to explore in our youngest grades before launching into Calkins Units of Study.


book123.net
This is a fabulous text that truly gets to the heart of the writing workshop and the development of young writers.  The first chapter explores the debate of do children need to know how to spell in order to write.  It offers a wealth of mini-lessons for our youngest writers.  It also gives us a clear map of how writers develop.  This text is a great read for teachers, and a wonderful resource to refer to again and again.


bookbyte.com                               stenhouse.com 

These two books offer a wealth of information of different craft lessons as well as provides a "treasure chest" of mentor texts to use.  Each chapter provides an opportunity for the teacher to "try on" what she has been reading about.  



A Possible Plan for Professional Development

In 2011-2012 school year, KES has a wonderful professional development opportunity.  A UMO implementation coach has volunteered to teach a year-long graduate level literacy course at our elementary school.  Our principal, the coach, and myself plan to work together to plan the outcomes of the course.  Writing will obviously be a big part of our learning.  I wanted to journal about my initial thoughts about what may work for our teachers.

The Nuts and Bolts:
12 classes on-site
2 in late August
1 class a month throughout the school year
3 hour classes = 36 credit hours

Big Nuggets:
The classroom environment: organizing for differentiated instruction
Workshop Framework for reading and writing
Reading Workshop: The essentials
Writing Workshop: The essentials

I have a pretty good idea of where we need to take the teachers in reading.  I'd like to explore what the writing piece may look like in the class.

Routine:
I'd think it would make sense to organize the class, so that when teachers come into "the classroom", there is an expectation (just like we'd have in our classrooms).  Teachers would be expected to get themselves a quick snack, and sit down and write in their writer's notebook.  This is how we would start every class--with a 10-20 minute free write.  Participants could then share the entry they are working on,  another entry, or a celebration from the teaching and learning in their classroom. (Participants would be expected to try on different prompts from Inside Notebooks  or try on different ideas from the Units of Study).


Writing texts to use:
www.readingmatters.net                                 
Our school uses Calkins Units of Study in our K-2 classrooms. Our goal is to implement the units of study in grades 4-6 as well.  The course will provide a great vehicle to explore and possibly pilot some of the lessons, especially from the first book: Launching the Writing Workshop.  We also have the accompany DVD that shoes the lessons in action.


leeapwordpress.com

I think this would be a great resource to refer to when talking about what the Writing Workshop is.  Perhaps we could use this to prepare a presentation of the writing workshop.


Notebook Know-How could be used as a working text throughout the course.  Participants would read a chapter and try on 1-2 prompts in their writer's notebook.  Participants would be expected to have at least 30 entries in their writer's notebook throughout the length of the course. (This seems do-able for a semester length class).  We also have the DVD accompany to this text as well.  Perhaps I could share my book talk at one of our first classes: Notebook Know How

Articles that will be important to share and discuss are:

Websites that will be important to explore:

If I do not have a chance to share my writing plan with the whole staff, I think this class would be a great place to share my prezi: Teaching in the Know: Using Technology as a Tool in Our K-6 Classrooms

These are just a few of my ideas of how to share some of my new learning with my colleagues.  I'll keep adding as I come across new ideas.  I welcome any and all comments. :)

Advice from Unlikely Sources

Last week in Portsmouth, I saw a t-shirt that said, Advice from a Trout.  I can't remember what it said, but it inspired me to do some thinking about animals and what advice they may give us.  This is definitely not my best writing, but I've had some fun thinking about this.

Advice from a giraffe,
stand tall.

Advice from a mouse,
avoid traps.

Advice from a dog,
be a loyal friend.

Advice from a cat,
relax.

Advice from a salmon,
go against the flow, if you need to.

Advice from an owl,
be watchful.

Advice from a hen,
don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Advice from a lizard,
bask in the sun.

Advice from a skunk,
cause a stink.

Advice from a penguin,
chill out.


Imagine the fun we could have writing about this in our classrooms!  




What Do You Think Of?

When you think of Easter, what do you think of?

Do you think of the Easter bunny?
Do you think of an Easter basket?

Do you think of a man, the Son of God?
Do you think of his walk to Calgary?

Can you see him beaten and bruised?
Can you see his friends betraying him?

Do you think of Easter dinner with your family?
With ham, potatoes, and all the fixings?

Do you see Him hanging on the cross?
Do you think of Him dying for our sins?

Do you give thanks for His sacrifice?
Do you thank Him for all the gifts He has given you?

When you think of Easter, what do you think of?