1980s Again (Or the Role of Choice in Reading)

     There I was, sitting in a very messy post-Christmas house.  Toys were everywhere, and I should have been cleaning.  However, I had just stopped in to a #LearnLAP Twitter chat, created by the talented Paul Solarz (@PaulSolarz) and guest moderated by Teresa Gross (@teresagross625), on Lit Circles and Book Clubs and had discovered something called #BookSnaps.  I have been a Snapchat holdout, until now.  In the name of literacy, I created an account.  I just needed a book to read to #BookSnap about.

     And then I remembered my book twin, and her quest to read books 1-40 of The Baby-Sitters Club in sequence by the end of the year.  We had agreed to both read #18 over the break.

     I was transported back to 1988 and found myself in New York City with the gang, exploring museums, walking through Central Park, and going to the theater.  Mix in a little middle school drama, 80's fashion, and old friends, and I was wishing I was actually there in New York.  Reading these books now, as a literacy coach, I am amazed at the craft work involved in the telling of her books.  Before CCSS Standard 6 was all the rage, point of view was on Ann M. Martin's radar.  Well done!  

     I finished the book, and really wanted to fly to New York.  Since that is not a realistic option, I remembered another book that I had upstairs in my waiting to be re-read pile.  Last summer, I had purchased From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  I received the book as a gift from my 4th grade teacher long, long ago but the box had been misplaced.  I bought a new copy, with the intention of reading it last summer, but never did.  My old copy has since been found (!!!), and I finally decided to re-read it.  

     Why now, might you ask?

     The story takes place in New York City.  They don't go to the American Museum of Natural History, like the BSC, but they do stay at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The main character of Mixed-Up Files is named Claudia, just like one of the main BSC members.  And, after Mary Anne talked the whole book about tourism in New York City, I wanted to read more.  

     From page 1, I knew I had made the right choice.  Enter my #BookSnaps.  :)

     What a great read!  To be truthful, I think I might have had the Art Institute of Chicago in my head for most of the setting, but reading about New York in the 1960s, and comparing it to the description in the late 1980s, was interesting to do.  Claudia's development as a character, and her reasoning for running away, was a hidden bonus to the re-read.  To be honest, my comprehension has greatly improved since I was a 4th grader.  I was a fluent reader, but not a deep reader, back then.  I'm glad that is now part of our instructional goals.  :)

     I was sad the book ended, so I read the afterword from the newest copy of my book, because it had hit a 35th year anniversary since my 6th grade read.  Hearing from E.L. Konigsburg about how the city of New York would be in some ways both the same and different for Claudia and Jamie in 2002 only deepened the comparison to The Baby-Sitters Club setting connection.  It turned out that the Met had actually written about it in their Museum Kids newsletter, too.  I quickly googled it, and there it was!!! Here is the PDF if you are a Mixed-Up Files fan.  There is a whole section on Michelangelo, since the mystery of the book is based around him.  Suddenly, I kind of want to re-read The Davinci Code.

     What does all of this have to do with anything?

     At the #LearnLAP Twitter chat about book clubs, one of the questions asked about tools that would help kids be successful.  Here was my response:

     We often hear the complaint that kids are "just reading" during Reading Workshop.  That somehow, the act of reading a novel isn't enough.  Now, that is true if the kids are not actually reading.  If they are holding a book quietly in hopes the teacher won't notice them, then we have a problem.  But, if they choose a book (like BSC #18), finish it, choose another one (like Mixed-Up Files), finish it, then go to the internet and find a nonfiction article to follow up, then isn't that what we want?  That wasn't my intention when I opened up BSB #18.  I just wanted to try #BookSnaps, and keep a promise to my book twin.  But, since the books mattered to me, I finished both of them in 2 days.  Yes, I'm an adult.  But, I am also a READER.  Maybe we need to tell stories like this to our students, to help them see that the books they CHOOSE to read can make all the difference.

     On that note, my own reluctant yet fluent 2nd grader reader just got books 1-4 of the Princess in Black series.  Let's hope that this character speaks to him as much as "the Claudias" did to me!  Maybe we will even make #BookSnaps about her.  :)

   Thanks, Paul and Teresa, for a great #LearnLAP chat!

Serravallo Struck

 

     I would say I am starstruck, as I often am.  I'm a #fangirl by nature.  But this time, I was beyond starstruck.  I was #SerravalloStruck.

     I became a literacy coach 4 years ago after teaching second grade for 15 years.  I knew second graders well, and they come in a wide range of ability, but I felt like I needed to up my game in knowing what readers at ALL levels do.  I learned by reading with kids for all those years in 2nd grade, so that is just what I did.  I went into rooms, sat next to kids, and conferred with them.  A lot.  At every free moment of the day, I would go into rooms across the school and read with kids, creating a staircase in my mind of behaviors that readers do.  4 years later, I am still building that staircase.  One of the ways some of those steps were built was reading with kids, and some were built learning from literacy experts.

     I found Jennifer Serravallo's book about conferring because that was my original goal for developing myself as a coach.  I read her work and watched a few of her videos, and I really liked what I saw.  I moved on to her small group instruction book after a few colleagues gave a PD and mentioned it.  The next summer, when the Playbooks were released, I read them with a coworker and we completely revamped our format for our formative assessment PD sessions for the summer.  Then, when I saw the Independent Reading Assessment, I begged my principal to buy them so that I could read the ladders and learn from her to reflect and continue to build the literacy staircase in my head.  And then... The Reading Strategies Book.  What a resource for our staff to use immediately, no matter the experience level!  I bring it with me to planning meetings so often that I even had a student look at me and say, "You look just like the lady on your book!"  I had become such a #fangirl that I think even the kids were noticing.  #twins

     In short, I have followed Jennifer very closely over the years, and today I finally got to see her in person.  The truth, however, is that I felt like I had already met her.  I have watcher her videos, and was part of her Digital Campus course, so I feel like I have been in a classroom with her.  I've watched her live on Facebook and read her tweets in chats.  But today, as I found myself face to face with her, I was suddenly so starstruck.

     And then I realized it was gratitude.

     Because of her work, I have put tools in my literacy toolbox, and hearing her speak today I was able to reflect on the impact they have had.  I flashbacked to myself sitting with teachers individually and making micro-progressions using the assessment kit as our guide.  I've gone into classrooms and done engagement inventories for teachers wanting help with readers.  I've modeled compliment conferences and talked about fluency records in building meetings and in planning sessions.  I've held PD sessions that focused on looking at student work, and asked teachers to bring student samples to our planning sessions.  We have completely revamped classroom conversations and book clubs after using her conversation records and TCRWP videos.  I could go on and on...  So many little nuggets of gold are hidden in her books.  Those nuggets, combined with my own knowledge, have been such a powerful combination.

     The thing that fills me with gratitude, though, is that by learning from Jennifer Serravallo and others, they have helped me develop into a confident coach.  Jennifer shares her knowledge with us freely, and that is a model for me to share with others as well.  If we don't see our fellow teachers as our dearest resource, I think we miss a huge opportunity.  Listening to Jennifer Serravallo talk, it is CLEAR that she is a product of all those she has learned from and alongside throughout the years.  She sees the impact others have had on her and recognizes it, and that is inspiring to me.

     It was also clear to me that the strategies and work that Jennifer has shared with us has come from real experiences with children.  She told us about her struggle to understand Nadia as a reader, and ended up creating the Independent Reading Assessment to get to know her reading habits better.  It isn't about using the "right" strategies created by others.  Sometimes, it is up to us to look to our students and create our own strategies to help them better.  

     I have had many conversations about professional development recently, and I am so filled with gratitude because I allowed myself to *want* to be a better teacher and admitted that I had things to learn, and it opened the door to so much more than I could have expected.  Watching her today, I realize that I still have so much to learn, and I looked around and saw myself surrounded by a table full of colleagues who I also learn from every day.

     It is up to us to see the value in learning from others.  Today, I got to see the impact it has had not only on me, but also on my school and our students.

    Here are my sketch notes from the day with Jennifer Serravallo.

 
 


(I wrote this weeks ago, and never hit publish.  Oops.  I am still filled with gratitude though!)

The Marvels, and a Reflection of Myself as a Reader

I wanted The Marvels the second I heard @MrSchuReads talk about it.  I think he had an early copy of it, because I went to Amazon right away and tried to buy it.  No luck.  A few months later, it popped back into my head again, so I ordered it.  And it came.  It was beautiful, with gold embossed pages too!  That day, I say in the entryway to my house and read as many of the 400 pages of pure images for about half an hour before it became completely necessary to give my kids a bath.  Brian Selznick has created his own genre that combines visual literacy with text.

I call it awesome.

I brought the book to school, showed it to some teachers, and then it sat on my shelf.  Waiting.  Waiting for life to calm down so that I could enjoy it fully.

A few weeks ago, I found my niece's copy of The One and Only Ivan, and I got incredibly excited.  Abby is old enough to read books that I enjoy!  The literacy coach in me couldn't help but go home and order her Crenshaw and The Marvels for Christmas.  Crenshaw, because she loved Ivan, and The Marvels because I love it.  Even though I hadn't read it... yet.

Then, finally, an ice storm hit Chicago.  We are on winter break, and winter arrived in the form of sleet and ice and rain.  There was no chance that I would head outside today.  It was finally time to read The Marvels.  Now that my niece has a copy of the book, what if she wants to talk about it?  I felt driven to read it.  Plus, we are reading with a Husky paw over break and tagging the pictures with #HiawathaReads.  It seemed perfect.

So, this mom hid in her bedroom, covered in blankets and with a cup of hot cocoa, and read it from front to back.  672 pages or so in one day.  There was a stop for lunch when my husband made us spaghetti, and a stop for a performance of the Nutcracker by my kids.  At some point I also had to take some pictures of a LEGO creation for my son, because he wants to be in their magazine.  And, there were sections of the book where my kids played around me as I continued to turn the pages.  I was going to read this book.

And I did.  And it is glorious.  (So was my cocoa.)

I would love to tell you about the book, but I won't.  Amazon calls it a narrative puzzle of pictures and prose.  I think it is something that needs to just be read.  But, if you read it, I'd love to talk to you about it.  In case you wanted a sneak peek, here is a Vine made by Mr. Schu with a little preview:
https://vine.co/v/O0gDxF31DHT

The one thing I will mention is how much I love the message it sends about the impact books can have on us.  I found this section of text early on, which was perfect since I was in a snowstorm of my own a few days after Christmas:

The character regularly got lost inside stories, quoting excerpts of famous books and carrying texts with him like his prized possessions.  He spent a lot of time "lost inside stories" and on this wintery day it was easy to say that I did the same thing.  Later in the text it quoted Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and said:

You will not regret the time you spend reading this book, in a land of Marvels.

However, the reason for this post is not for a book review.  It is for a reflection of myself as a READER.  The reader that hid from her family so that she could continue reading to find out what was going to happen next.  (My husband was home, but still...  This mom tries to be present with her kids.)  But, I HAD to keep reading.  I kept doing what good readers do, and had questions and predictions in my head and I just HAD to find out what came next.

When is the last time your students read like that in class?

The truth is, they usually don't.  They usually read books that they enjoy, but stop and start and sometimes stop and never restart.  So what makes the difference?

I think that the more we put ourselves into the role of readers ourselves, the more we can figure out the answer to that question.

I never once stopped to name a trait of any of the Marvels.  Nor did I track his change over time, or compare them to characters in other novels.  RL3
I never came up with a big theme in the book, and found key details to support that theme.  RL2
I did stop and snap pictures of some favorite quotes alone the way, so I was on my way to analyzing the craft of the book.  But, that would be a stretch.  RL 4 and 5
I wished I could compare it to Hugo, but I left that in my office at school.  No RL 9 today.

I guess my point is this:
While I did not specifically do any standards work today, I could certainly do any of those standards if I was put into a conversation with someone about The Marvels.  I might have to refer back to the text, or think about it a little before I respond, but I can do it.  Since I have been taught those strategies already, I can apply them to any book I read.  But, that doesn't mean that every book I read needs to be picked apart and reduced to standards work to prove that I read.  Trust me, I read that book.  My kids are relieved that I finished, in fact.  :)

Sometimes, readers need to read for the enjoyment of it.

I was thinking these thoughts, because I think sometimes as a literacy coach people think that I will be happy if the Common Core standards are always front and center, and that the kids are showing their ability to do them.  BUT...  I think that first and foremost we need to have kids who consider themselves READERS.  Kids who know the standards today, and USE them as they grow into adult readers.  The standards make students think critically, and those critical thoughts will help them living in the world, both in books and in the actual world.  But, if learning the standards means reading is always a chore, will they actually continue to read on their own?

I was debating this post, and then I jumped into a #learnLAP Twitter chat and this tweet by @Kevreaddenn made me think, "YES!!!"

BALANCE.  We need to teach them how to read deeply, but also how to love reading deeply.

If you are looking for a book to enjoy, I do suggest The Marvels.  :)
It's glorious.

If you want to let your kids love reading and escape into the world of a book, let them do just that.  Let them just read sometimes.  

I am a Wild Reader!

     My district is doing a blog book study on Donalyn Miller's book, Reading in the Wild, this month. We have many talented writers getting together to share the knowledge of one of my favorite literacy gurus, Donalyn.  Many of our staff saw her this October at IRC, and we were inspired.  Thanks, +Kristin Richey, for organizing us together in this blog study for #D100bloggerPD!

     I have the task of writing about chapter 3, which is 40 pages of awesome.  Since I can't be Donalyn Miller, I tried to synthesize her ideas to fit into this not so teeny tiny blog post.  :)  If you have missed any posts in our book study so far, here is a ThingLink to all of them.  Just click on the black circles on everyone's Blog Buttons above.

Chapter 3: Wild Readers Share Books and Reading with Other Readers

     Our purpose, as teachers and as readers, is to enrich our lives through reading and writing.  In order to do that, we need to build a classroom community that is a family united in our reading.  We need to laugh together.  We need to cry together.  We need to create a place where connections are made with people from the books we read.

Donalyn Miller's response to Jeff Wilhelm's question is:

I want my students to see themselves as readers and writers.  I want them to know how much I believe in them.  I want my students to feel they have something to contribute to the world.  Working each and every day of the school year to build a classroom community that values and supports every member serves my bottom line goals.

     The truth is, having a single classroom with those goals will not make a child a life long reader.  It takes longer than a year, and requires parents and teachers who model reading, defend reading, and allow choice in reading materials for their children.  

Build a Reading Community

     We need to have students reading, both at home AND at school.  How can we develop this?  She claims (and I agree) that sending home book orders and celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday is not enough.  We need to send messages about reading to the students and the parents.  Some ideas?

• Put read recommendations and home reading tips in parent communications.
• Put a weekly book recommendation in your email signature.
• Have teachers model reading by posting "I am currently reading...." outside your door.
• Share book recommendations during morning announcements.
• Have your librarian create quarterly book lists of the top new books.
• Support families who don't have books at home.
• Loan classroom books to students.
• Increase access to books, especially over the summer.

At the school level, "scrutinize every component of the school day to determine if your procedures, policies, and systems support or hinder students' reading." 

     When I was reading that, I immediately had two thoughts.  One was as a teacher, and one was as a parent.   

     My teacher thought was: REMIND.  Our staff communicates with parents constantly using Remind.  I quickly looked through all the reminds from our staff on my phone, and found very few messages that promote the joy or reading in general.  I got a pretty clear idea of what was going on in math, and a lot about day to day reminders, but very little shared the literacy life of our classrooms, and they all have strong literacy going on.  Share your read alouds!  Send favorite lines!  Tell them what your mini lesson was!  Share your anchor charts!  Recommend books, for both parents and students to read!  Share the joy of literacy, as well as the typical announcements that we share using Remind and Schoology.

     As a parent, I thought of my son's first grade teacher.  At Open House, the literacy coach in me immediately noticed her library.  I even snapped a few pictures, because Leah the parent always has her camera.  As the year has started, I have enjoyed finding books from that library in my son's bag EVERY DAY.  Books about their current unit, whether it's a Mo Willems author study, or a Kevin Henkes study, or a unit about bears.  Their year long theme has them traveling the world, and his library books are also about countries and geography.  Mrs. Hartmann has given children ACCESS to books, and allows them to choose books that matter to them.  

     Donalyn Miller also talked about homework, and how often the homework our students are asked to do actually prevents them from READING.  Doing an S.E. Hinton crossword puzzle with never be as valuable as reading the actual text of The Outsiders.  Stay Gold, Ponyboy.  Right?!?!?

     Look at my son's homework for Thanksgiving Break!  Stamina build.  :)  We only got to 6 minutes, because my daughter didn't quite get family stamina build, but the whole family read books independently together.  Now, that made my lit coach heart smile.  I can't wait to practice today!!!  :)

Buy books.  :)

 Online Reading Communities

     Join one, or ten.  There are tons.  Follow the blogs above.   Follow Nerdy Book Club.  Use Goodreads.  Join a Facebook group, or a Twitter chat (like #D100chat on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, and #titletalk on the last Sunday of the month at 8pm).  Increase your literacy capacity by expanding your PLN.  

Become a Lead Reader

     In order to read books with kids, you need to read them yourself.  You can't recommend books if you don't read them.  You can't connect to kids about books if you don't read books yourself.  Read.

Last year, 4 teacher and my principal got together to read Out of My Mind together, as students in a book club.  Read with OTHERS.  Just read.

Community Conversations

      She starts this section talking about limiting reading choices.  She basically says that she agrees with teachers and parents being "mindful of the content of reading material" that our kids read.  But, that we walk a "fine line" if we limit of book because of our own discomfort with topics.  She said that we all must decide what books we allow in our classrooms based on "our book knowledge, our experiences with students and parents, and our school culture."  We need to know our kids.  We also need to be respectful of their self created reading communities.  

     I also have to add that we need to be respectful of genres that we ourselves do not particularly enjoy.  If we want to celebrate reading and allow children to read what matters to them, they might choose a graphic novel.  That genre did not exist for my generation, and it is a hard sell sometimes to teachers. But, I keep buying them for my lit coach office and I can't keep them on my shelves.  Kids who read are readers, even if the genre isn't our first choice.

Books that Build Communities

     This post was getting long, so I almost didn't include these titles.  But, how do I not share books recommended by The Book Whisperer herself?

Communities that Write could read...

• Ask Me, by Antje Damm
• BookSpeak! Poems about Books by Laura Purdie Salas
• Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems by Gail Carson

Communities that Value all Members could read...

• Hound Dog True by Linda Urban
• Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper
• The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
• Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Communities that Have Fun could read...

• Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
• I Want my Hat Back by Jon Klassen
• The Wonder Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Communities that Care about the World could read...

• A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham
• Fourteen Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy
• Laundry Day by Maurie J. Manning

Sharing our Reading

Reading Graffiti, with book titles, or opening lines, or favorite quotes.  Independent reads, or read aloud, or anything in between.  I LOVE this idea of making their reading a little more visible to others.

                               

Book Commercials are another great way to share our reading with others.  This one is especially popular in my 1:1 district  Our teachers use iMovie, Tellagami, and a lot of other apps to create book commercials.  We just have to work on sharing them with others in a meaningful way, since the ones described in Reading in the Wild are described as quick and in person, recommending a book to the class.  Many of our book commercials end up just sitting on their device.  What is the point of a commercial that is never viewed by others?  At least put them on a shared Padlet wall.

Reading Doors!  Across her building, ALL the classrooms create reading doors.  They showcase the books, magazines, web pages, newspapers and journals they like to read.  They reveal the doors at Meet the Teacher Night.  Then, she turns the door over to her students.  Genius idea.

My 5 Word Take-Away

     I am not known for my brevity, but this post may break the record for my longest blog post.  I really tried to shorten it and synthesize ideas, but I just had to try and share all the inspiration from Chapter 3, and that was my task in this #D100bloggerPD book study.  So...  let me sum up the chapter (for me) in five words.

READ.CONNECT.SHARE.SPREAD JOY.

     On November 30th our Blog Book Study will continue with +Marilyn McManus and a Vignette called "Conferring: What's the Point?"  I'm excited to read her take on it, since that was the topic of one of the first PDs Marilyn and I did together for the district!  Here is a link to her blog.

     For those of you in Chicago, I am extremely excited to say that I am going to see Donalyn Miller LIVE in person again in a few weeks!  Monday, December 7th is going to be an inspirational day.  :)  Join us #D100bloggerPD friends!

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.

     

Reading Workshop Routines and Structures

     The first week of school has finished, and the teachers at Hiawatha spent it getting to know their kids, building classroom community and positive climate, and adjusting back to the routines and schedules of school.  It was a great success.  If you would like to take a tour of our first week, via Twitter and Storify, here you go:
https://storify.com/leahod/first-week-success

     The second week, though, can bring some pressure.  It could even make you want to scream a little.

     Curriculum starts creeping in rather rapidly, and for our staff that means they are ready to start getting some feedback based on the curriculum.  BUT, let's start as a reasonable manner.  If we build reading workshop well at the beginning of the year, then learning can begin and continue to take off all year long.  That's why I like to focus my first feedback of the year on the basic routines and structures needed for a successful workshop model to occur.  It helps us know if we are on the right track, and it gets me in the classrooms to offer support and answer questions as they come up.

     When I come into a classroom for brief visits at the beginning of the year, I look for the things listed above.  Do I expect to see them ALL in place during the visit?  Of course not!  But, at least one of those things is usually either being actively taught, or evidence of it is seen in student behaviors or on the walls.  So, I simply circle the things I see and then write notes about what I notice or observe in that visit.  No judgements.  No evaluation.  I just let the teacher know that I can see that they are building workshop routines and structures in their classroom.  And, in the process, I get to see the students.

     Why did I choose to include those things in my list above?  Honestly, they just seem to be some of the lessons or structures that once you have in place, you can focus on content and the CCSS in your instruction.  If you don't have things like a meeting place, or a time for mini lessons, or partner routines, or anchor charts, etc. you will have a much harder time once you eventually start trying to cover the standards.  Also, if your students don't have stamina or are not engaged when they are reading, there will be management problems once small group instruction starts.  We are not planning for small groups or CCSS lessons now, but they will be much easier down the road if the workshop routines and structures are established in the first 6 weeks of school.

     On the post its on the right, I like to give compliments for things that are going well, and considerations for things that I have questions about, or perhaps things that I didn't actually see but might be in place.   Considerations are just meant to help the teacher reflect on the routines and structures they have established in their room.  They often just help us have a conversation about the workshop after the lesson has occurred, or jump start another routine or structure.

     I walk into classrooms with a growth mindset mentality.  I am looking to give high fives through my notes, and validate the hard work that has already been put in place.  I know that we all want to make sure we are headed in the right direction.  I am lucky to be a person who tells our staff that they are on the right path, and help them continue down it as well.  

     I am eager to get into the classrooms and start supporting the teachers by talking to the students and doing a little kid watching myself.  Here we go!

(Thanks, Bitmoji, for the Little Leah's in this post.)

     

The Kids are My Curriculum

There I was, standing in front of 2 sessions of new teachers, giving an overview of reading workshop during New Teacher Week, but starting with an apology... 

     I apologized for the overwhelming information I was about to give.  Yes, I tried to make it general, and less daunting to our new staff who come with a range of experience.  I tried to think of the questions new staff would ask.  I put on my smiling face, and talked about the underlying principles of workshop and the resources we have and the things to consider at the beginning of the year.  But with each question asked, I somehow starting talking about common core, and Calkins, and formative assessment, and guided reading, and CAFE, and balanced literacy, and leveling systems, and workshop set up, and curriculum resources, and...

     The truth is, ALL teachers want to know what they are going to teach.  Sessions like that are necessary, because whether they are new or not, workshop model is an expectation and they need to explore it.  But, workshop and balanced literacy is NOT a script.  There is no one *right* way to do it.  There are guiding principles, but no clear recipe for success.  So, sometimes, when you talk about it, it actually creates more questions.

     And, maybe, that's ok.

     If teachers are questioning their practice, and looking to their kids for answers, they are probably going to teach better than if they just followed a script.  Even if at first things are a little rocky, the reflection and kid watching will smooth things out.  BUT... Sometimes we do need to follow something.  Experience builds with action, and with knowledge, and with time.  We need to fill our teaching toolbox before we can really look at the kids and know what to do next.  Programs and workshop overview can help do that.  But, it is up to the teacher to determine their path.

Case in point:
https://crawlingoutoftheclassroom.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/what-my-reading-conferences-have-become/
@JessLif

     That blog post was written about conferring and the other day I found it on Twitter.  Yes, conferring is on our puzzle pieces of balanced literacy and is an expectation.  But, after reading the blog post below, I started to think about what happens when something is taught because it is "an expectation."  I have seen it with my own eyes a lot as a literacy coach, and as a classroom teacher myself.   Decisions are made, and sometimes people jump to do them not because they understand the purpose or because they have adapted it to meet their students' needs, but because they have to, or their principal wants them to.  And often times, that isn't really the case.  And, things fall a little flat.

     But then, there are moments of brilliance.  Moments when teachers try something new, or adapt things to fit their own teaching style, and it resonates with both the teachers and the students.  Learning just starts oozing from the classroom and spills into the halls.  And people notice the great instruction and want to learn from that teacher, or even her students.  We begin to inspire each other.  And our students grow.  And we grow.

     Those moments of brilliance sometimes happen after we allow our selves time to develop as {both new and experienced} teachers.  

    So, I apologize to the new staff who might have wanted me to give them the one answer on how to teach workshop.  I really can't, because I don't know your kids.  Sitting in that room during New Teacher Week, your kids were still registering.  I can make assumptions and use my experience to generalize, but I want to meet them.  Then, I can guide you better.

     And, the truth is, many of your questions will be answered as you need them answered.   Some answers will come from within, and others from colleagues and Twitter posts and professional resources.  My email is always open to you, and the rest of the D100 literacy coach team is here to support you as you follow our literacy plan.

     Workshop model and balanced literacy are the heart of our district literacy plan.  It is driven by shared beliefs and common planning and a growth mindset mentality and lots of best practices.  We do have a program.  I even held up the Units of Study box and showed it.  But, I held it up and hopefully made it clear that the program is not our curriculum.  THE KIDS ARE.  

     Meet your students.

     Set up your workshop.

     Incorporate pieces of balanced literacy into your literacy instruction.

     Ask for support.

     Invite me, your literacy coach, your peers, etc. into your classroom.  

     You will be great.  And, someday, I hope you appreciate that this district that hired you believes in teachers so much that YOU can make decision in your classroom about how your students need to be taught.  We learn from each other, but respect each other enough to allow for instructional differences.  Workshop and balanced literacy allow for you to find the pieces that fit your students' needs.  Putting together the puzzle isn't always easy, but it sure can be powerful.

     Welcome to D100!

In case you needed my presentations...

K-2 Workshop Overview

3-5 Workshop Overview

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time! (For Reading Workshop)

     We had our Instructional Decision Making (IDM) meetings this week, where we looked at student data with grade level teams and the reading team and DRC to help make some decisions for the remainder of the year.

     To say the meetings are overwhelming would be an understatement.  So many of us come to those meetings with different triggers that overwhelm, so it really is hard to neutralize all stress from that meeting.  My part was supposed to be about the universal, and the second half of the year of reading workshop really does look different in many grades.  So, how do I give information in a somewhat friendly way as to not completely overwhelm?  Enter the double PB&J.

     It started as a goal to create a single page "one sheet" with options for reading workshop in grades 2-5 as the year continues.  We started the year with guided reading as the universal type of small group, but we are ready to start talking about other types of small groups that could be seen during workshop.   We are building toward book clubs in those grades, and we want to hit some concepts before we get there so that kids are successful in them.  As I started creating the boxes on the sheet, it almost started to look like a sandwich to me.  At first, it was a double cheeseburger.  But then... the double PB&J was born.

The Bread

The bread is the mini lesson and the share: The beginning and end to a solid workshop block.  A purpose for reading, with accountability for that reading.  The slices of bread keep it all together and focus both the teachers and students.  I threw the CCSS into there, because our curriculum materials alone do not determine the types of mini lessons we need to have.

The Peanut Butter

The layers of peanut butter are actually the types of small groups that *might* be going on in a workshop.  I said *might* because this list of groups is not complete.  They just happen to be the types of groups we discuss at Hiawatha the most.  Also, two are kind of made up by me...  It just goes to show you how important instructional decision making can be.

The first layer of peanut butter are teacher led small groups.  The first two are different levels of Jan Richardson guided reading (our universal model) and the third is a strategy group modeled off The Sisters (Boushey and Moser).  The last two are actually just strategy groups, too, but are less focused on small size and reading level, but more on conversation and Common Core standard work around grade level text.  We have many above grade level students who struggle with grade level common core work, and many ELL students who need explicit conversation instruction.  Those are just groups that give teachers permission to focus on those areas, too, once students get to grade level reading levels.  (Students below grade level could also be in those groups, but should also get guided reading as well.)

The second layer of peanut butter are small groups that are student led.  For these groups, if the teacher has taught conversation and comprehension strategies all year, this is the time for the students to apply all they know with book clubs.  Starting with partnership book clubs is a nice way to get those expectations going before book clubs officially start.  Because they are student led, the teacher should be able to continue guided reading or strategy groups with those students she needs to see.  Otherwise, she can observe and act as a moderator for the clubs as they have their conversations.

The Jelly

The first layer of jelly is the idea that shared/close reading strategies should be somewhere in the block.  Namely, that all students should be exposed to their reading level AND grade level text, and that they should be taught to reread for deeper comprehension.  This strategy can be used in all the small groups listed, or as a whole group strategy.

The second layer of jelly are the things that help us assess our reading workshop and make decisions about what we need to do in our own rooms.  No two classrooms are alike, because our students are not the same.  Running records, conferring, and formative assessments help guide us where we need to go with our students.  Adding mini lessons, starting a strategy groups, close reading an image, working on a certain standard, all start with assessments.

That's it!  The double PB&J.

     The intention of this one sheet was just to give our teachers some control over the decisions that they can make during reading workshop.  There are reasons all those pieces are in that sandwich.  Sometimes, we just need to know why they are there, and what key components are in each piece so that we can apply them somewhere else.

You might spread peanut butter and jelly onto the sandwich as separate layers, but they blend together immediately.  So do all the pieces in reading workshop!  

     What is your reading workshop PB&J going to look like in 2015?

***Thanks, +Felicia Frazier +Michelle Brezek +Courtney O'Connor +Anne Kruder +Meg Hanisch for the collaboration on my double PB&J!  You literacy coaches are the best!