I'm Back

Wow!  It's been awhile since I've been here!  I still haven't figured out how to balance my time so that keeping up with my blog remains a priority. 

I recently did a presentation at Collins Elementary in Houghton Lake, and we were practicing Profundity.  At the K-3 level, so much of the work of deep comprehension needs to be done as a class and the thinking has to be oral practice for a long time.  I used three books, all with one of the themes being "friendship", and had the teachers work in groups to analyze each level of the Profundity Scale. There are other themes and ideas in each of these books as well, and the deeper you go with understanding, the more is revealed!  Here's what we used:

Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel Books, 2010)

Hopper and Wilson by Maria Van Lieshout  (Philomel Books, 2011)

Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Morgan  (Disney-Hyperion Books, 2012)

 

New Informational Text I'm Trying Out

I have been on the hunt for some great informational text.  I wanted to find text that were complex enough to allow me to use the books in a wide variety of ways but had good "meat" to the information.  I came across two series that are wonderful and fit my needs perfectly!  One is the "Who Would Win?" series and the other is the "Scientists in the Field" series.

Students of all ages are intrigued with the idea of a battle between two similar animals...who would win?  The Who Would Win series provides tons of interesting facts about two opponents as well as a nice sprinkling of gross details to keep everyone engaged.  I used this series to set up Argumentation writing.  We made a chart and kept track of the particular trait or feature in the column of the animal we thought would "win" utilizing that trait.  In the end we made our claim based on the information we gathered and supported our argument with facts from the text.  4th graders, both boys and girls, couldn't get enough of this! These books are all by Jerry Pallotta and are published by Scholastic.

The "Scientists in the Field" series are much more complex, with lots of text and many pictures and charts, graphs, etc. to explain the work of the various scientists.  These books are great for research, studying informational text features, and as mentor text for informational text writing.  There are 28 or so titles in the series, with animals being the main focus.  Some of my favorites are The Tanantula Scientist, The Bat Scientist, and The Snake Scientist.  These books are all by different authors and are published by Houghton Mifflin.

I would recommend both series as you build your libary of informational text.

Wrapping Things Up

It has been an incredibly busy spring, and I am finally catching my breath!  I feel pretty bad that I haven't been back here to post anything in such a long time.  I am making it my resolution to do better next school year but you will have to nudge me if I slack off. 

My last visit to Surline Elementary was really fun; it was great to see the progress the students had made in their writing, and how proud they were of their work.  I modeled a lesson about "satisfying endings" using a piece I had written about my cottage.  I showed the students how I used mentor text to get a feel for how other authors ended their narratives, reading the last page from Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathman, Up North at the Cabin by Marsha Wilson Chall, and When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant.  When I conferred with students during workshop time, I focused on their endings, asking them to talk to me about how they were wrapping up their writing in a way that was satisfying to the reader (or what their plan for their ending will be).  I always leave them with a sticky note, giving the a Teaching Point just for them, that serves as a suggestion of where they will go next and also as information for the classroom teacher about where our conversation was focused.

As the year comes to a close, I am thrilled to see the progress of so many writers throughout COOR.  Teachers in every district are honing their craft and making workshop an important part of their instruction.  Research tells us that individual conversations with students make the most impact in improving their writing.  Although it is very time consuming and labor intensive, the rewards are great.  We ALL continue to work on our conferring skills, striving to find just the right words for each student that will unlock their thinking and help them independently move their writing to the next level.  I hope you will stay on this journey with me and continue to do the thinking and talking with your peers to move YOUR skills to the next level.  That will indeed be a satisfying ending!

Some New Titles I'm Trying Out

When I got home the other day, there was a box from Amazon waiting for me!  I am always so excited to get some new titles and try them out as mentor text.  I've been playing with informational text a lot lately, and particularly literary non-fiction, in order to show the students that informational writing involves craft as much as narrative does.  I like to combine informational text with something more narrative in style to show that there are many ways that authors think about their audience and convey their message for different purposes.  Two of the titles that arrived with this order are and then it's spring by Julie Fogliana, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, and A Leaf Can Be... by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija.  With spring just around the corner, I thought these two titles would be nice additions to my mentor text pile.  Both are truly lovely books, with a lyrical style and beautiful illustations.  I'll keep you posted on how I used them...

Informational Text

I had a great session in West Branch last Wednesday.  I worked in 3rd grade classrooms and did a lesson on informational text.  The students had already been dabbling in writing information but I wanted to approach it from the CRAFT point of view.  I had them pair up then allowed them to choose from a big stack of informational books that I brought.  I then gave each pair 5 sticky notes and had them take their book back to their seats and scour it for features that made them want to read the facts.  They did such a good job and really thought about how the authors had had to make decisions to draw their audiences in.  I gave them a good amount of time, then we came back to the gathering spot and each pair shared one feature that stood out to them.  It was so fun and they were very interested in the others' finds.  We also had fun  sharing some of the surprising facts from our books!  Although the lesson took longer than a normal mini-lesson, it was time well-spent.  I think they will incorporate this view of craft into their work the next time they write! 

Here is a list of the books I used:

ACTUAL SIZE                                                                      Steve Jenkins

ANIMALS IN SUMMER                                                       Jane R. McCauley

BIG & LITTLE                                                                     Steve Jenkins

BIGGEST, STRONGEST, FASTEST                                       Steve Jenkins

BOLD $ BRIGHT, BLACK & WHITE ANIMALS                    Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN                                                    Steve Jenkins

EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES                                    Fiona Watt

The FLOWER ALPHABET BOOK                                        Jerry Pallotta & Leslie Evans

FISHES                                                                              Alwyne Wheeler

FOREST: THE LIVING WORLD                                          Theresa Greenway, C. Gunzi, B. Taylor

HOTTEST, COLDEST, HIGHEST, DEEPEST                        Steve Jenkins

INCREDIBLE INVENTIONS                                                Lee Bennett Hopkins

LIVING COLOR                                                                 Steve Jenkins

MOSQUITO BITE                                                             Alexandra Siy & Dennis Kunkel

SEAS AND OCEANS                                                         Felicity Brooks

SEED SOIL SUN                                                               Cris Peterson

SURPRISING SHARKS                                                      Nicola Davies

SURVIVAL AT 40 BELOW                                               Debbie S. Miller

WHAT LIVES IN A SHELL?                                              Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

WIND AND STORMS                                                     Fred & Jeanne Biddulph

Some Thoughts About Blogs

So what makes a good blog?  First of all, it must have some credibility.  Anyone can write about anything, but you have to have cred to be read!  I also think the organization and design of the blog matters.  If it is boring or disorganized, people won't come back.  Finally, a really good blog includes links and embedded video, etc.  It expands the interest in the topic and keeps people engaged.

My blog will help me communicate with the teachers and administrators throughout COOR in a new way.  Instead of just passing along information, my blog will allow me to process my thinking visibly and get feedback on that thinking in a timely manner.  Probably the best part of belonging to the professional networks is having the conversations that challenge our thinking in new ways.  Sharing that on my blog will expand this collaboration to more people.

Blogs provide a super simple way to publish and get to a wide audience efficiently.  It couldn't be easier!

TLA-TAL Getting Started

I now have launched the blog and have to contemplate what I hope to get out of the Teacher as Learner course:  21 Things for Administrators.  I am very excited about working through many of the technology applications, and hope to streamline and organize my work.  I use technology every day but so often I feel that I am inefficient in that usage.  (Sometimes I feel like I have about one million accounts but I lose track of them and god forbid that I have to remember all of the passwords!  Do you ever feel like this?)  I am also really looking forward to the collaboration.  Learning how others are using the various tools will be infinitely helpful to me.  And finally, I am excited that I get to ask all my "stupid" technology questions without judgement...at least I hope that is the case!  It seems like a safe environment to explore and apply new thinking.  Whew...lots of work ahead!