Book thoughts: Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

Oh my gosh! This book was delightful!

I saw this book sitting in a 4th grade classroom. For some reason the cover, with a forest of green trees and two kids running barefoot under a rainbow sky, kept drawing me to it! I picked it up several days: one to look at the cover up close, another to look at the cover again and read the back, and a third to flip through the pages. Now I typically don't go for realistic fiction books, but when I saw it was Sharon Creech and that she wrote in free verse (like that of her Love That Dog and Hate That Cat books), I had to ask to borrow it!

Luckily no students in the class were reading the book. I took it home over the weekend with me. I've been in a reading slump lately; I think this book lifted me up out of it.

We hear Annie's thoughts throughout the book about:
-  running for the love of running
- her mother having a growing baby inside of her
- best friend Max who is going through a tough time reaching his goals to put him on a path towards a successful life for himself
- her grandfather who is suffering from some negative effects old age
- her growing love and interest in art and drawing

The book's time frame is as along as Annie's art assignment: drawing 100 apples - 1 each day. We go on a journey with Annie through many days of her deciding how to draw her apple and viewing it in different ways. We experience happy times, tense times, and ending with a time of renewed strength in her relationship with her running partner Max. In these 100 days, Annie shares her feelings about the alien baby growing in her mother's stomach, about her and her father learning how to help their mother during labor, and the birth of her new sibling.

Sharon Creech's writing is beautiful, and her free verse lets us fly through the story. She makes us care and really feel all the emotions Annie has through the ups and downs of her day to day life. We feel the effects of all the people in Annie's life.

[this book has a guided reading level of W]

Materials for groups

Many of us attended guided reading sessions today.
If not, we are all going through Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark assessments - with the purpose of informing our instruction for small groups during reading.

So with some of my time this afternoon, I attempted to rally some leveled reading materials and resources.

Small groups can be guided and level based. They can be focused on a strategy that different levels of students need improvement. These groups might listen to an above level text read aloud, or independent level texts may be used to ensure easy decoding so the focus is on comprehension.


We have many leveled options available to us; however, it never seems like enough!

Here are some leveling options to play around with when planning for guided reading or strategy groups. Its difficult to find a correlation or conversion chart where Fountas and Pinnell levels match up exactly with Lexile or other leveling systems. Teacher judgement and testing texts out will most likely be needed when using some of the following resources.

Also, look at students' Lexile scores on myON and MAP! How exciting to have so much data to take into consideration when planning for the best interests of our students!

Ways to find levels
Lexile correlation to FnP levels - with Lexile in small increments.
Reading A-Z levels correlation to FnP and Lexile - Lexiles in increments ranging from 50 to 370

https://readability-score.com - I would focus on Flesch-Kincaid options and correlate to Lexile.

Book Wizard - Scholastic book search by guided reading (FnP) level or Lexile

Lexile book search

Leveled Text options

Fiction and Non-fiction leveled passage - by Lexile

Newsela.com - nonfiction texts by grade level and Lexile

Pearson leveled books - same log-in as Pearson Math - guided reading levels tend to be harder than RAZ or FnP levels

Don't forget about Komensky's BOOK ROOM in the back of the science/art room!!!
And of course myON's books are leveled my Lexile and guided reading levels!

Words have Power

Just like  I urged my colleagues a few years ago to use the terms: NEW WORDS and FUTURE BOOKS, here is a blog post about working with students who take their time reading (being slow ≠ bad).
Quick Summary: We should be empowering students' love of reading. We need to help build their confidence, and help them realize they types of texts they love to read.
Using words with negative connotations works against these goals.



NEW WORDS - they aren't hard, you just haven't come across them before and need to work them out


FUTURE BOOKS - aren't hard books, you just need some more practice before you are ready to enjoy these type of books


DIFFERENT RATES OF READING - they are JUST different: not good or bad

• Help students realize and understand:
• too fast and you might miss details, too slow and you might not understand everything 
• find the speed that's right for you: 
• can you hear a voice in your head? 
• does it sound similar to how you talk? 
• can you visualize you are inside of the book? 
• do you understand everything that you are reading and feel like you are inside of the text? 
• PRACTICE TOGETHER REGULARLY
• during: guided reading, conferring, book clubs
• once a week, or monthly, with whole class performances

Building a sense of community and acceptance

In any classroom I feel it is important to build a community of learners that care for each other. Students need to truly care for each others feelings, respect their differences, and want to help each other learn to have a high functioning classroom. This is a difficult task to fully accomplish, in my opinion.


This school year I am going to check out some of these books to educate about diversity. This variety of books looks at cultural diversity, and tolerance through many different lenses. 

This list has books that focus more on being yourself and accepting other people's differences.

The Washington Post shares 3 books that many help teach about diversity too.


Hopefully I can create a fun and meaningful after reading activity that links what we read to learning and personality differences as well. I will share later if I'm able to do this.

With any luck, this first step will help me create a peaceful and empowering classroom environment.


Good luck and have a happy school year!

A Reminder about Picture Books

I'm subscribed to a blog called Nerdy Book Club. I get weekly emails including about 5 posts from it. 

This week I got an update email that included this post: "Top 10 Things Picture Books Taught Me". It's a quick read, and includes some great reminders about using picture books to teach writing and reading strategies, as well as other life lessons. It also mentions some titles that were new to me. Enjoy!

Here is the link...

http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/top-10-things-picture-books-taught-me-by-beth-shaum/ 

Running Records

WHEN?
Running records (RR) should be done on a regular basis with your students (on level = 1x per month; below = bi-weekly).

WHY?
The purpose is to record the process and behaviors the student exhibits while reading to inform our instruction on both fluency (accuracy, rate, expression) AND comprehension. We want to see what the students are doing and understanding independently with the texts they are choosing.

If you have a very fluent reader, who is accurate and expressive, you will want to focus on the comprehension discussion after the sample of the student's reading.

WHAT TO USE?
You can pre-count words in a common text for a student to read during small group instruction. If you are conferring with a student, make sure you know the level of the student's own book, and listen to them read. Depending on the type of book the student is reading, usually a page and a half to a page is usually 100 words.


HOW?

Great 8: Questioning

For this month's thinking strategy...

4th grade Anchor chart made in class with students, their questions, and the ideas "inspired by" Harvey and Goudvis (Strategies That Work), and Debbie Miller (Reading with Meaning).

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech used for my think alouds, and student stop and jots.

digital reading

This is the last week of the myON reading contest! If you are encouraging your students to use myON during reading workshop, here are some things to think about.

We want students to be actively reading. That means keeping tracks of their thinking: sharing reactions, visualizations (mental movies), predictions, confusing parts, and "new" words.

We train our students to use sticky notes to track their thoughts while reading. This should continue when students are reading digital texts.


SET UP

In our classroom, my co-teacher and I had the students set up their reading notebooks (in their "Stop and Jot" section) as shown in the picture below. We walked around making sure students understood how to organize their notebooks, and conferred with them about their thinking, prompting them to write down their thoughts.
.
We told students:

• they are reading for 30 minutes they should have 3 thoughts written down.
• if they finish one book, start the same routine with another book

CONTENT

Since our class has been practicing retelling, visualizing, predicting, reacting, etc., students have a choice of their 3 thoughts most days. However, some days I do specify the type of thinking I want them to focus on recording. For example, I might say: you need to stop at one part and write a prediction, and sketch a visualization at 2 other parts.

If students have a difficult time stopping and jotting down their thoughts, you may want them to choose a page number to stop at before they start reading

Anchor Charts: reminders

"Writing helps us remember the NOW later." - Mary Howard

Lucy Calkins gives us examples in almost every lesson of possible anchor charts to create.
Remember these charts should be created WITH students through discussion, modeling, and their input should be added to the chart in some way.
Some things to remember...

Anchor Charts

Making Student Thinking Visible

In Debbie Miller’s new book Teaching with Intention, she provides a good overview of why the above statement is important.

Page 61:  In our anchor classroom, evidence of student thinking was everywhere; anchor charts, student responses, and quotes adorned the walls and boards making thinking public and permanent.  The questions, quotes, ideas, and big understandings displayed throughout the room reflected the real voices of real kids.

 

Why is making thinking visible and accessible in our classrooms an effective strategy for student learning? 

It lets students know that their thinking matters and it provides a visual reference of their thinking to support further learning.

 

So what makes an anchor chart distinctive from other visuals found on bulletin boards and walls?

Look first at the definition of anchor: any device that keeps an object in place.

How this relates to anchor charts:   they are devices that anchor student thinking.

Then look at the features of a ‘true’ anchor chart:

·    An anchor chart is co-constructed with students (should feature student thinking) – it has meaning for the students because they participated in the construction

·    The anchor chart matches the learners’ developmental level

·    The anchor chart supports on-going learning (recent, relevant, referred to)

Lastly, when looking at an anchor chart ask these questions:

·    Was it developed with students?

·    Was it posted for student access and use?

·    Is it a record of student thinking? 

Taken from here

[screen shot from an Expeditionary Learning article]
Written by Lily Newman currently serves as an Expeditionary Learning School Designer based in New England.  She taught grades 4-12 in a variety of urban settings, and was also a coach and trainer. Lily founded and opened secondary schools in Mexico as well as several Expeditionary Learning schools in Massachusetts. Her work is focused on turn-around schools: aiding schools struggling to meet state and national standards and focusing on differentiated instruction.  Lily also supports and mentors school leaders in strategic planning to maximize student achievement, and mentors other Expeditionary Learning staff.  She currently designs, develops, and facilitates standards-based training for schools and teachers, as well as serving as Expeditionary Learning’s key staff member overseeing a Masters of Arts in Teaching program to license teachers in Expeditionary Learning schools.  Lily is also a former board member and active leader for professional development in the Massachusetts Writing Project.

A "Small Moment" Thought

I am by no means as knowledgeable as Lucy Caulkins, nor do I have published books that school districts across the country are buying to implement; however, there are some terms that I have picked up through the process of becoming a reading specialist. 

I feel strongly about never telling a student something is too hard for them. I believe we should use terms that empower students. Please consider using the terms "new words" or "future book" (instead of "hard" as Caulkins refers to them) when talking to your students about reading. Read my reasoning and descriptions of these two terms below.


NEW WORDS - words aren't "hard, they're "new"
We as teachers are told to stay positive, so why would we be anything less than positive in our discussions with students about reading? Readers don't "come to a hard word". They come to a word that they have never seen or heard before. Its a new word to them. New words are words that, as readers, students may have never encountered before; therefore, they may have to work at sounding it out or understanding what the new word means. I don't teach my students strategies for "figuring out hard words so they can continue to follow the story". I teach strategies students can use to read and understand new words, so they can enjoy and comprehend a text.


FUTURE BOOKS - books aren't "hard", they're just not something we're ready for yet
There's no such thing as a "hard book". I feel its important that we never tell students a book is too hard for them to read. The book only seems hard because the student is not ready for it yet.  I use 3 terms when referring to book levels:

1. Vacation books: books that you can whip through and are for pure enjoyment - does not have any new words, or concepts for you to ponder or to challenge your thinking - something you would read for fun while on vacation
2. Just Right books - might have some new words, concepts/topics, but you are able to work through them and still understand the text.
3. future books - have many "new words" in them so the book fails the Five Finger Test - the topic/story line/concept is something about which you have very little prior knowledge - a book that would be better for you in a few months

If students continue reading just right books, and using metacognitive reading strategies, in a few months they will be able and ready to read those currently labeled "future books". I feel this term gives students hope and something tangible to work towards. What do they have to work towards if we tell them its too hard?

Shared Reading Vs Interactive Read Aloud

Someone emailed me asking on clarification on the difference between these two types of whole group reading. 

I know watching these videos and reading the websites takes time away from planning; however, the better your understanding is of these structures, you will be able to plan better and quicker for using them.

Notice I got very excited about one video in particular. I hope you take the time to look at some of these resources. 
Remember, these are good examples of how you CAN do these types of whole group reading instruction; they are not the perfect way that you must do it.

I get emailed when you leave comments, so feel free to comment any questions or reflections.




Shared Reading

This website illustrates an example of shared reading in a primary classroom.
It also includes:
- why its important
- benefits
- two strategies

Shared Reading Video pt.1
- This lady talks to us more than she models. She does which back and forth a little between talking to us and modeling.

Description of Shared Reading Video
- teacher models what she would do with a class, and talks to us directly
- this video may be more helpful


Interactive Read Aloud

Description of Interactive Read Aloud and suggested interactive read a loud books from the Reading and Writing Project website.

***Love this Interactive Read Aloud Video***

- My favorite reading expert is Debbie Miller. I am 90% positive this teacher is also a fan of Miller's by her anchor chart and how she talks to her class.

- While this teacher uses a picture book, I do a similar interactive read aloud with 4th graders using a picture book and focusing on the Great 8 strategies as well.

- *After searching for 45 minutes, this is my favorite video! I am so excited for all of you to watch it!**

- NOTICE how she tells the students what  she will be thinking about while reading, and how the students will have a turn to try

- NOTICE how when she is thinking out loud she puts the book down/closes it most of time, so students know she is thinking aloud and not still reading

- NOTICE how she has the students turn and talk about the teacher's thinking... later they talk about their own

- NOTICE how the main focus is on word solving strategies, but they are using other strategies previously practiced as well (inferring, re-reading).

- I rarely make a chart, most of the time I have the students "turn and talk" or "stop and jot" down their thinking in their reading notebooks, after I have modeled my own.

This video says Primary Shared Reading but to me it seems more like an Interactive Read Aloud since the kids aren't doing any reading. Furthermore, the teacher is sharing a LOT of her thinking and the students are responding with what they think or if they agree.
- 30 minutes... has 3 lessons from 3 days in one video. I only  watched the first 10 minutes straight, then fast forwarded and stopped at a couple parts for the rest

Video: Close reading and accountable talk in an Interactive read aloud
- Caulkins endorsed ;)
- this is special kind of interactive read aloud... not your typical one, but a neat example.
- specifically incorporates common core standards

UPDATE 9/15/13

FnP videos modeling Shared Reading and Interactive Read Alouds - Click here (must be signed into Google Docs)

Docs for Planning Workshops

Here are some documents to help make your planning for readers' workshop clear and concise.


RW Mini-Lesson Planner
- questions to help you consider everything you might need to prepare for a lesson
- prompts to help keep your teacher talk focused

Month by Month layout of Readers and Writing Workshops

Summer workshop Sites

• you have to be logged into your district google account
• has slideshows and downloads from the summer workshops

Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop google site
- structures of workshops
- what to do within the structures
- additional resources and organizers

Guided Reading
- videos modeling for each grade level
- slideshow of structure and instruction

Close Reading
- how it relates to common core
- what it is
- why we do it
- questioning strategies
- tips
- resources

Reader Interest Inventory (reblog)

In the link below, there is a reader interest inventory to give to your students. This will help you get to know you students as readers.

The information these type of inventories provide can be useful when recommending books to students, choosing books for students in a guided reading or small group work, and choosing read alouds for your class. It may also help you understand how your students see themselves as readers, and inform you if any activities to boost attitude toward reading are needed. Students' motivation to read is affected by their interests and attitudes.

I have text books with many different reading interest inventories as well as attitude surveys. Email me if you are interested in looking at some more options.

Home Celebration: A Blog Of Comfort and Joy: Reader Interest Inventory

Book Leveling Resources

Reading just right books is important for students to feel like successful readers.
They should be able to read most words (less than 5 errors on a sample of the text), and be able to understand or retell the important parts. It is a good idea to post book levels on the inside of books. When posted on the outside of a book, students may not be thinking about their interests or purpose for reading when choosing a book.  Classroom libraries are best organized when they are sorted using a combination of genre, series, and/or author. We want our students to think of themselves as "readers", not just a letter.

Below are some resources to help you find book levels...

Fountas and Pinnell (FnP) use various factors to determine a book's level.

____________________________________
FnP doesn't have the book you're looking for? Find the lexile, then use a conversion chart to find the approximate FnP level.

Lexile determines a book level only on semantic (vocabulary) and syntactic (sentence structure) elements of a text. Its better than nothing, but not as accurate as FnP.
Conversion chart

UPDATE 9/15/13

Another chart that shows the correlations between FnP, RAZ-kids, and Common Core Lexile standards - color coded by grade

Ideas for classroom library

Here are some book lists from the International Reading Association.
A book list is created each year. You can look at lists from up to 15 years ago. Each list has books for primary and intermediate. It includes the title, author, and a short blurb about the book. You may want to look at these lists before submitting your book orders.

Teacher Lists
- identifies about 30 books rated by teams of teachers, librarians, and reading specialists as outstanding for curriculum use
- you may find some good books to use in mini-lessons

Children's Choices
- recommended by children themselves
- you may find great books to add to your classroom libraries


Some other book lists...
- from Amazon: Best Books to Read Aloud
- from Booksource.com: Favorite Children's Series Books (grades k-2)
- from Booksource.com: Common Core State Standard Exemplar Texts grades 2-8 (click on a "collection title" and you will see specific book titles)
- sorted by comprehension (thinking) strategy for each grade: K-2 list , 3-6 list


Don't forget!
Make sure you have a wide variety of books in your classroom libraries. 

• Check book levels before ordering to ensure your library will reach all your readers' needs. 
• Numerous genres should be represented in your library. Remember to include not only realistic fiction, but also
•  mystery/ thriller 
• historical fiction 
• fantasy/sci-fi
• graphic novels/comic books
• biographies/autobiographies
• information texts (animals, machines, space, plants, hobbies, etc.) 
• magazines
• poetry
• traditional literature (folktales, fables, nursery rhymes, tall tales, etc.)