Writerly Wide Awakeness

     Today, I met with our fantastic 5th grade team about their mini lessons for reading workshop for next week.  We are using the new Units of Study from Lucy Calkins, and one of the sessions is about reading with a "writerly wide awakeness."  At first glance, we considered skipping it, because the language seemed a little "fluffy."  But, upon closer reading, we realized just how valuable this lesson really is.  Basically, the teaching point is about reading with the intention of writing, so that you notice things that you would otherwise not notice while reading.  If we read a book knowing that we are going to write, we will notice the details more and see things that we might otherwise skim right over.  We think about what seems important, and notice the details.  Many times our students just read, read, read and then realize "Oh yeah, I need to write something now..."  But, if we write with a "writerly wide awakeness," then the process of reading will be enhanced because of the focus for writing.

     It all comes down to our purpose, and our lens.  And, it circles back to close reading, texts and LIFE.  

     In teaching, so much of our effectiveness can be dependent on our ability to instruct with a "teacherly wide awakeness."  There are details to notice all the time.  Students who struggle, students who excel, students who are having a rough day.  We see the signs of stress, or the signs of joy, or the effects of bullying.  We wipe tears and tie shoes and embrace our kids.  And, when we are in the right frame of mind, we can see things with a "teacherly wide awakeness" and make the decisions that are important because we saw the details.  

     Today, I was driving home after a great week, thinking about my gratitude for many things.  I was thinking about an email I need to send to our teachers, with the intent of sharing some things but also celebrating their efforts this week.  I had so much gratitude on my mind: for Friday, for a great staff, for first responders on this anniversary of 9-11.  Through the clouds, I suddenly saw a rainbow.  I really love rainbows, and on this rainy day this brought a huge smile to my face.  Almost immediately after I noticed the rainbow, I noticed a fire truck and ambulance driving beneath it with their sirens blaring.  I thought of it as a tribute to those first responders who lost their lives.  Not five minutes later, I saw a second rainbow, and this time a plane flew through it.  There I was, sitting in my car, with a "life wide awakeness" that filled my heart with gratitude.  

     Reading workshop (and our school subjects in general) can be filled with many lessons, and if those lessons are taught without purpose and reflection, skills might transfer but deep learning might not occur.  But, if we open our minds to seeing the purpose for the lessons, and the value they have, we might see things in a new way.  We might achieve a "wide awakeness" that helps us see what could be important.  We might notice things that we might have otherwise missed.  And, in those details, the greatest lessons might be learned.  

     So, thank you, +Tyler Haar, +Jean O'Neil , +Katherine Whisler and +Katie Wallace.  Your conversation today helped me see things in a whole new way.    And, especially on this anniversary of 9-11, thank you to those who lost your lives that September day.   Your light is still shining on us, and for that we are very grateful.  I was wide awake to your presence today.

     

Crying While Close Reading

    

Unit Planning
Common Core Standards
Reading and Writing Workshop
Balanced Literacy
Book Clubs
Assessment
Standards Based Grading
Technology Integration
Close Reading...

   Over the last few years, I have done a variety of district PDs on various topics, most of them literacy in some way or another.  Every topic offers its own challenges, and that is certainly true of close reading.  To be honest, there seems to be many definitions of close reading out there.  Not a new term, there has been much interpretation on the topic over the years and they all seem to be in the spotlight in the last year or so with the Common Core Standards.  What I have come to do in my PD sessions is to make a hybrid version, based on a bunch of them.  +Christopher Lehman, Kate Roberts, Douglas Fisher, Sunday Cummins, Lester Laminack, Timothy Shanahan and more have shared their vision. Basically, what I have chosen to communicate to others is that we should embrace the HABITS that create close reading situations, and focus on transferring those habits to our students.  Why?  

I believe that when students read independently and create their own meaning and emotion around a text, that in that moment they are actually close reading.  

     In my district, that is often heard expressed in this manner:

     For the majority of my career, I was in 2nd grade, and they did not read Charlotte's Web.  I tried it as a read aloud once, and I started crying during one of the chapters and I had to pass the book to my co-teacher.  It happened again, at a different part of the story, when I got to read a section of it to a third grade class as a literacy coach.  There is just something about that book that causes me to well up with tears every single time I read it.  I like to call that close reading.  Clearly, I read with habits that allow me to create my own meaning and emotional response to text.  

      The reason I share my thought about kids crying over Charlotte's Web is not because I want kids to cry.  That would be mean.  No, I just want them to apply to strategies of close reading to books independently, so that they love books as much as I do.  I still clearly remember the time I burst into tears while reading A Separate Peace.  I was in a bowling alley at the time, probably around the age of 10.  Devastation, on a few levels.  I remember feeling both happiness and great sadness when I read the final pages of Harry Potter.  I remember struggling through the closing quote of Snowflakes Fall while reading to my own children at bedtime on the anniversary of Sandy Hook.  I will never be able to read Thank You, Mr. Falker to a class of my own students again.  

     I love books, and somehow those books became a part of me.  I want the same for my students.

                                                                       Sniff sniff sniff.

     Ginny Burdett, somewhere over the course of the year, heard my thoughts about crying during Charlotte's Web.  Imagine my surprise when she sent this picture to me from during her Readers' Workshop time.  The room was silent, and all of a sudden she heard the quiet sobs.  When she went over, she found her student crying at this page of Love that Dog by Sharon Creech.

(Truth be told, I just teared up reading that page.  Wow.  I get it.)

     

     I can't tell you how much this moment meant to me, and I wasn't even there. Ginny is a first year teacher, who clearly has a strong relationship with her students and has established a reading community in her room.  Her student happens to be someone who has struggled as a reader, and has received intervention support for many years.  This is the year that she has learned to create her own meaning while reading.  The students in that room learned that is is natural to have emotions while reading, and that mindset can really help them become life long readers.

     Later in the day, I saw their class going down the hallway.  I saw the 4th grade, and pulled her out of the line and into an empty classroom.   I asked her if we could take a picture together, because I heard she had a great moment as a reader and that I wanted to remember that with her.  She said, "Of course!"  Once we took the picture, I asked her where they were going.  Her response?  

"We are going to library!  I can't wait to see if they have Hate that Cat!"

     Watch out, world.  We have a life long reader on our hands!

     Long story short, close reading should not be something that we do to a text that makes students feel like reading is work.  We want close reading to feel like a natural part of what readers do.  It's not to turn in, or to annotate a certain assigned number of ideas.  It's to open our hearts to books.

     If you share that vision, please check out Christopher Lehman and Kate Robert's Falling in Love with Close Reading to guide the creation of your own vision for your students.

     Thanks, +Virginia Burdett, for sharing your love of reading with your class, and for sharing this special moment with me to share.  

Close Reading in First Grade (AKA: A Coaching Collaboration Success!)

     I had a first grade teacher come to me and ask how to make her shared reading time more of a close reading time.

     Once again, let me refer to the Lehman/ Roberts definition of close reading:

     For a reader to independently stop and reread for meaning, they have to be independent readers in the first place.  That is why the Shared Reading block is a great place to attempt creating habits of close reading for our littlest readers.  Our first grade teachers have a shared text that they read every day for 10-15 minutes outside of the workshop block.  Most often, by the end of the week, most of the students can go back and reread the text for a specific purpose.  If they can do that, we have the very beginning habits of close reading. 

     But, let's think about it for a minute... Why do 1st graders need to close read?  They are still learning how to read?  Right?  

     Close reading is about NOTICING details and thinking about them.   It is about creating meaning in the texts we read, with meaning that is relevant to the reader.  So how can we help our emergent readers notice details, think about things, and create meaning from what they read?  My answer has always been to close read images.  By using pictures with our K, 1st and 2nd graders, we can get them to think deeply about a text, but remove the challenge of finding a text that is deep enough to really think about that they can actually read.
***We can use pictures beyond K-2, too.  Trust me.  I have.

     So, when +Julianne LaFleur came to me to ask how she could enhance her Shared Reading block, and they were beginning their character unit, the words MO WILLEMS practically fell out of my mouth.  What better characters to explore, with the focus on feelings, than the always expressive Piggie and Gerald!  

     I had been to a workshop at Institute Day where +John Fontanetta presented a lesson from the Library of Congress where we close read just the eyes of a famous historical figure.  We had to describe the man, just based on his eyes, draw the rest of him, and then were given his full image as well as historical documents about his impact on history.  

     Since that very day, I have been waiting for +Julianne LaFleur to ask me this question.  I have really wanted to do this with Gerald.  And now we have!

     I took I'm a Frog! and copied about 15 pictures of Gerald.   I then cut out just a rectangle around the eyes, and slightly enlarged them on a white sheet of paper.  I then went back to Miss LaFleur (and +Sarah Berry was there with us that day) and showed her the copies.  I then asked, "How do you want  to scaffold this to your students?"  Let the collaboration begin!  We talked about reading other Piggie and Gerald books first to generate emotion words about the characters, having the students show emotions on their own faces to "feel" their facial expressions, and then of course passing out the Gerald eyes of an unread book as we had planned.

     The best part of it all?  Miss LaFleur came to the team planning meeting the next week, shared the resources, and gave them lesson plans to use over the week during shared reading.  She shared the experience with her team, so they were all able to do the lesson with their classes.  That also meant that I got to see it happening in more than one room!  

     On the first day, I walked into +Jodi Meyer's room, and she had just read Waiting is Not Easy! and generated a list of emotion words to describe Gerald.

     On day 2, I walked into Mrs. Meyer's class after they had read Elephants Cannot Dance.  She had them meet with a partner, and add a new word to their emotion chart.  She had each team share their word, but also had them tell where in the story Gerald felt that way, and why.  Was it in the beginning, the middle, or the end of the story?

     On day 3, I think Mrs. Meyer had them practice showing the feeling with their partner and a new book.  Miss LaFleur had her students, who have iPads, use Popplet to make a web of emotions about characters.  They chose a character from their own books, and used the illustrations to generate the emotion words.   The one above about Piggie even shows the evidence in the illustration, like "his eyebrow is up."

     On day 4, they finally got the pictures of Gerald's eyes!  First, they generated the words to describe him.  In Mrs. Meyer's room, she had them write a sentence about why they thought he might feel that way.  In Miss LaFleur's room, she had them add a setting around him, and then added a speech bubble to have them infer what he might say.

Here are a few videos from when they first started drawing:

Meyer

LaFleur/Alper

     In Miss LaFleur and Miss Alper's class, she had them do a gallery walk to match their drawing with the full image of Gerald.  She laid them all in a line, and had the partner pairs put their drawing above/below the picture they thought it matched.  She did this after she modeled how our faces show expression, of course.  :)

     In the end, they did not all find the exact match to their image.  Some of his eyes were very close to the eyes in another image.  But, for the most part they were close.  Sometimes, the emotions they identified hit the target.  Sometimes, they did not.  But, they definitely are noticing a new detail now! Facial expressions are a huge clue into how a character is feeling.  

My take aways from this?

1.  Mo Willems is a genius.

2.  A Library of Congress lesson on close reading images can be adapted to a primary classroom.

3.  First graders need to focus on learning to read.  However, if we want to add some close reading habits, like rereading for a purpose (emotions) or using images (like illustrations in picture books) then the kids will have a blast while thinking a little deeper.

4.  This series of shared reading lessons hit multiple CCSS standards.  RL.1.3 and RL.1.7 are the biggest, but the incorporation of narrative elements, dialogue, partner work, reading multiple books about the same character, and fluency immediately includes more.

5.  MY BIG TAKE AWAY?:  The Common Core tells us what to teach, but not how to teach it.  I have said that many, many times.  I think that just by watching this seed idea grow in two different classrooms in two different ways shows that.  Collaboration with each other not only helps us learn new things, but it also helps us teach each other.  This series of lessons was just a seed idea that grew into something much more.

And, to close, I figure I'd add a fun image my son drew of Piggie and Gerald.  Just because.  :)

      

     

Influence, Gratitude and LOVE

     

      I have frequently, both in person and on this blog, called myself a literacy nerd.  I am the person who idolizes literacy gurus.  I read their books, follow them on Twitter, and when I meet them in public, I ask if I can take my photo with them.  I want them to know the influence they have.  I want those literacy gurus to know that the words they put into print were read by little old me, and helped to shape in some way the teacher that I am.  I think I now have, because of IRC, pictures with most of the authors whose books line my professional shelf.
**Tim McGraw also falls into this category.
***Some of my D100 coworkers might also feel like I stalk them, with all the tweets, blogs and emails I have been sending about their instruction.  Sorry, but you guys are awesome.

      Thursday was extra special.

     About a year and a half ago, I left the classroom that I loved to become a literacy coach.  I had seen so much change in education, and I really felt that my love of literacy would help me find a way to help the teachers in my building feel empowered in their own instructional decision making.  I wanted to help them remember that they have the power to make a difference in their students' lives, and that sometimes a little collaboration and support is all that we all need to get past the curriculum changes and standards changes and funding changes that seem to be constant in education these days.  I believed in my heart that I was in the right place.  I wanted to be part of the "all of us" that makes a difference for our students.

     After a month of school and still struggling with my coaching identity, I stumbled upon a webinar by Christopher Lehman.  I sat at my desk, with headphones in, and my lit guru crush began.  He spoke the message that I was looking for.  Love what you do.  Collaborate with others.  Believe in the students.  YOU ARE THE MAGIC.  I logged off the webinar and ordered Falling in Love with Close Reading.
(Read this blog post here for more of that first experience.)

     When the book arrived, hot off the presses, it transformed me.  The buzz words of close reading had been swimming around, and there were just so many versions of them to be found.  But, Chris and Kate's definition stopped me in my tracks.

Independent.  Text.  Media.   LIFE.   Reread.   Choices.   Reflect.  New understandings.  

LOVE. 

     I'm not sure how a book about close reading made me appreciate my life more, but it did.  I began to see close reading everywhere.  On the playground with my own 2 kids.  Through the tears of a student.  In  Oreo cookies.  In visual images.  A new appreciation of the sunset.  I started to take notice of things that I don't think I had noticed in a long time.  I even wrote a blog or ten about the effect it had on me.  I became a better photographer because I noticed the details.  But, the truth is, because I was being more appreciative of the world around me, I think it made me more thankful of the little things.  

      Now how many close reading books can do that? (It was really the authors.  Kate Roberts and Christopher Lehman are inspirational literacy leaders.)

     A year and a half later, I finally got to meet Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts in person.  I had been waiting so patiently to get my picture with them, like the rest of my literacy gurus that I love.  But, this picture actually made me nervous.  In the last year, I have mentioned Christopher Lehman quite a few times on this blog after Teacher Poets, his webinars, his EdCollab events, etc.  I tweet him, and retweet him, a lot.  I even got up in front of my school district in a Keynote at Institute Day and, while talking about the power of Twitter, I may have bragged that he wished me a Happy Birthday on Twitter to 500 D100 staff members.  I was kind of afraid that he may have noticed my attention and feared me as a stalker.  I am harmless, really.  Just appreciative.  I love literacy.  And the people who inspire me in literacy deserve recognition.

     And then he waved hello to me at the conference.  He recognized me from Twitter, and waved hello.  OMG.

      Thank you, Twitter!!!  (Reason #578 to get a Twitter account if you don't already have one.)

     Chris and Kate Roberts were downright charming and hysterical and REAL.  3 books signed, two pictures, even some conversation with Kate in the line for the bathroom.  That is just how real these two really are.  It took everything in me not to nerd out and talk to them during lunch.  I didn't want to seem like a total stalker.  

      I was so excited to get the autographs that I didn't read them that day.  I just opened my Pathways book and teared up a bit, 2 days later.   (Full disclosure: It doesn't take much for me to tear up).  I led a Pathways to the Common Core book talk when I still was in the classroom, and it started to open the door to the world beyond 2nd grade and into the CCSS in general.  Look at what he wrote!!!  Goosebumps!!!  Thanks for your  positive message about the power of teachers, Chris.

     My big take aways from the conference?

From Kate:

Thinking!

     We need to high five our students' thinking, whatever their thinking is.  As teachers, we need to be aware of how our body language and our facial expressions often give away when we don't think their thinking is "high five" worthy.  Validate their thinking.  Then have a discussion around it, and take it to the next level.  For example, when we close read Katy Perry's Roar, she said that the kids might say "It wants us to roar."  Start with that.  Move them through the process and have them walk away with a deeper idea, but keep the idea their own.  Have the students do the actual work.  

     These are words to live by.   Every.  Single.  Day.  No matter the subject we are teaching.

From Chris:

     Close read yourself.  

     I might not always be the nicest person to myself.  Perhaps I should pay attention to the words I say to me, and the messages that I send with my actions.  It will help me be a better teacher, and a better coach, but ultimately a better mom.  I want my students and my children to be their own cheerleaders, and that needs to start with the models they see.  Perhaps sometimes I need to get my own pom pons out and be nice to myself so that my students see a model that shows that.  Or do something about the actions I notice that don't show the person I truly want to be.

     It was a great, great day.  I highly recommend seeing Kate and Chris is they ever come back to Chicago.  They really were the dynamic duo of the literacy world yesterday.  They could present the phone book and inspire us along the way.  Chris said that structure done right is almost invisible, and they nailed it with their presentation.  5 stars.

     In a quick shout out to others who have transformed me in my short coaching career, I just have to mention the work and tweets of Dr. Mary Howard, the words of Lucy Calkins, and books by Jennifer Serravallo.  I cannot tell you the impact Howard/ Calkins/ Serravallo/ Roberts/ Lehman have had on my PURPOSE for teaching and coaching.  Much gratitude.  Check out their work.

    So, as I close, I will leave you with an image of my own life.   Friday night, blogging about close reading, and my kids were playing with their new valentine seals.  

seals in a circle

hearts on their skin

red and pink seals

pink, yellow, red ducks

order and equity

"it's your turn"

patience

collaboration in creating the game of hot potato

     What do my children value in life, based on their seals' game of hot potato?  They believe that we all are part of this world, and that we all can be joyful together.  In a game of hot potato, or otherwise.  Influence others.  Spread that joy (of hot potato).  Have gratitude for things that bless our lives (like valentine seals).  Be present in the moment.  Enjoy LIFE.

     With much love and gratitude, thank you Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts, for your influence this week and beyond.

My challenge to you (my few readers):

Who has influenced you?  Who do you have gratitude for?  Let them know.  Send them a letter.  Tweet them.  Thank them in person.  I sent a letter to my 2nd grade teacher doing just that about 15 years ago, and we still send each other Christmas cards each year.  It feels good to let others know the power they had on you.  Share the gratitude.  Spread love.  :)

You are a pathway.

Close Reading, Grinch Style

     My daughter is home with a fever today, which means I am home with a daughter with a fever.  What does one do with a sick daughter?  Go to Pinterest and make Christmas crafts together, of course.

     Her current favorite Christmas character is the Grinch.  So, we made some fun crafts together in honor of the Dr. Seuss seasonal icon.

     It started the other day with some ornaments for our tree.

 

     Today, we painted a paper plate brown and turned him into a reindeer, just like Max.

     Next, we found a way to make the Grinch by painting a paper plate.  (Pinterest has everything.)

     Then, we drew the Grinch and Max, his dog, following step by step directions we found.  This time, we each drew our own.  Keira was happy that we drew the same things.  Mommy/ Daughter bonding with smelly markers and dot dot markers.

     My favorite thing that Keira made, though, was her own picture of the Grinch.  She clicked on a picture of the Grinch from the ones I had searched in Google, because it was the picture of when he got his "wonderful, awful idea."

     As a literacy coach mom, I immediately thought about how my daughter close read that image.  She knew the exact moment in the story when that happens simply because of the expression on his face.  She has, in fact, noticed some differences between the cartoon version and the book.  But, most impressive to me is that she is inferring a character's feelings using illustrations and story events.  Take this conversation a few hours later:

"Mommy, why do some people hate Christmas?"

"Who hates Christmas?"

"The Grinch."

"I think it is because he didn't have love."

"But he has Max!"

"But did he really love Max?"

"He said "hating the Who's" in the movie.  I know he didn't love them.  He loves them now, though."

     Talk about character development.  That Grinch certainly develops over the course of the text.

     I love the Grinch, because it has always been a holiday tradition of mine.  But, perhaps he could mean just a little bit more.  Perhaps, it can be a door into deeper thinking with a mentor character who really leaves an impact on our students.

     On my search for Grinch crafts, I found a few fun things, and a great blog post from Scholastic, about how to actually use the text to do some close reading.  Here is the blog post.  She mentions some possible themes and social issues to explore, and gives some picture examples of annotated text from the book.

     On Fairy Tales and Fiction, they give some freebies for the Grinch.  There are some fun character activities for K-1, maybe 2nd grade kids.  Here is the link to their blog and freebies.

     This is a fun number identification coloring sheet, that I do not really think is Common Core aligned all that much, but makes the Grinch when complete.  Fun activity, not deep thinking.  Here is the link.

     I saved the best link for last.  This lady loves the Grinch AND taking photographs of her kids.  We had a conversation this week in 2nd grade about character traits vs emotions vs physical traits.  Her anchor chart is really a combination of the three things.  I suppose when asking kids, at 1st and 2nd grade, to describe a character we hope for great vocabulary, and less about which of the three categories the word falls into.  We want them to go beyond "happy."  But, using the word adjectives instead of "character traits" removes the argument about categorization, I suppose.  Perhaps that is a way to start the conversation with kids.

These images are from thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com

     This post is really about holiday fun, mixed in with a little literacy fun.  Enjoy the season with your students and your family.