Ideas Worth Remembering--Part 2

Sometimes we grow our reading muscles in deeper and wider ways when we give a text a second read.

FOR ANOTHER GO AFTER A READ ALOUD, TRY THIS:

If you’ve shared a short text, such as a picture book, during read aloud and you want kiddos to give it another read OR kiddos have an interest in giving it another go, that’s a perfect time for students to use a note catcher or anchor chart to hold their thinking. Here’s one way to go about it:

1. Read aloud a short text.

2. Give students an opportunity to read the book a second time (the same day or following day)—either in small groups or individually.

3. While students read or directly after, ask them to hold their thinking, capturing big ideas in ways that make sense to them.

4. Using words, phrases, sentences, and pictures…

   • What do you already know about the topic or ideas featured in the text?

   • What are some ideas worth remembering?

Reading about the inventor of Crayola Crayons leads to exciting new knowledge! To order a copy of this book, click here!

Ideas Worth Remembering--Part 1

Sometimes it’s the simple note catchers that help kiddos grow their reading muscles.

FOR SHARED READING, TRY THIS:

1. Select a short text.

2. Give students a copy of this note catcher. Note: Projecting a copy on the screen OR creating an anchor chart gives more visibility and opportunities for co-constructing meaning together in visible ways.

3. Read the text together, making notes about “Ideas Worth Remembering” and any “Wonderings” related to the text.

4. Decide if the short text leads to new inquiries new inquiries and the need/desire to read more about the same or related topics.

FOR SMALL GROUP WORK OR INDEPENDENT READING, TRY THIS:

1. Select a short text or ask students to select a short text to read.

2. Give students a copy of this note catcher. Note: Giving students a clipboard allows for flexibility and mobility when working.

3. Small groups or individual students read the text together, making notes about “Ideas Worth Remembering” and any “Wonderings” related to the text.

4. Ask students if the reading leads to new inquiries and the need/desire to read more about the same or related topics.

Download a copy of this note catcher here to use with your students

SHORT TEXTS are EVERYWHERE!

We LOVE lists.  We love making them.  We love living off of them.  Sometimes lists can feel stressful (too many things to do!) while other times they can make us feel productive (checking things off that we’ve accomplished.)   Look at this cute list!

This is one of Julie’s favorite lists, written several years ago by her son who was home sick from school.  Julie remembers his Motrin had kicked in and he was feeling better and antsy. Julie had some work to do so she suggested he create a list to keep track of his day.  Julie recalls him checking things off one by one, even the rest time. She has fond memories of his two-part plan of either playing or resting from 3:00 to 4:00 depending on how he felt.  Julie’s son used his list to keep the day moving. He wanted to have a plan in place and he smiled with a sense of accomplishment as he checked things off as the day progressed. Not only did Noah create (produce) this list, he also read it (consume) which made this short text meaningful to him.

Lists are just one example of short texts. There are SO many and they are EVERYWHERE. Here are just a few:

• Poem

• Short story

• Picture book

• Infographic

• Podcast

• Script

• Song Lyrics

My friend and colleague, Elizabeth Keim, and I are are working on a new project focusing on using SHORT TEXTS with students across the grade levels & subject areas.  If you, or anyone you know, would like to weigh in and share ideas and perspectives, we’d love to hear what you have to say!  

PREVIEW THE QUESTIONS & SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSES HERE

STAY TUNED—we have a new book coming out focused on SHORT TEXTS later this year!

Everyone Deserves a Thinking Partner...Especially Students!

Last week I wrote about a simple truth— we are smarter together. I also stated that learners, of all ages, deserve a THINKING PARTNER or multiple THINKING PARTNERSHIPS. If you want to read or re-read some of the big take-aways that thinking partnerships inspire, click HERE.

Everyone deserves a thinking partner…especially students! Facilitating a process where kiddos find THINKING PARTNERSHIPS has additional big take-aways, including some of these:

• creating independence during reading & writing workshop

• providing student-to-student support structures during workshop and across the school day

• nurturing of new friendships & collaborations

• increasing small group work (pairs, trios, 4-6 students) based on interests, inquiries, passions, habits, and needs.

Creating THINKING PARTNERSHIPS is the fun part! Finding different partnerships for different reasons to team up to support one another is important because one size fits all or one person fits all doesn’t work. Take a look at this planning grid—it can be used to drum up conversation and create connections for students to work with one another!

Reminder: Helping students revisit this planning grid regularly and switching up thinking partnerships often will increase the big take-aways listed above.

If you’d like to read more about Thinking Partners, check out Chapter 2 in my book What Are You Grouping For? How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers—Not the Book.

THINKING PARTNERS—YOUNGER STUDENTS

THINKING PARTNERS—OLDER STUDENTS

Everyone Deserves a Thinking Partner!

Truth—we are smarter together! Learners, of all ages, deserve a THINKING PARTNER or multiple THINKING PARTNERSHIPS. When we think together, there can be so many big take-aways, including some of these:

• promoting risk taking and trust

• igniting thinking to get ideas on the table before, during and after a learning experience

• provoking divergent thinking by pairing learners who may bring out new ideas by working together

• building new relationships OR building up existing relationships

• creating a culture of continued learning and revision

Creating THINKING PARTNERSHIPS is the fun part! Finding different partnerships for different reasons to team up to support one another is important because one size fits all or one person fits all doesn’t work. Take a look at this planning grid—it can be used to drum up conversation and create connections for teachers to work with one another!

THINKING PARTNERS—TEACHERS

Giving Students Opportunities to Hold Their Thinking Builds Tracks in the Snow: Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, I mentioned that kiddos’ tracks in the snow can be anything that makes their thinking visible— anything kids write, talk about, make, create, design, or do. When they write, talk about, make, create, design, and do something, they are creating evidence of their thinking—tracks in the snow!

I’m a big believer and doer of student choice—especially in the ways that they hold their thinking and in the ways they share what they know with others. But, while giving choice, it’s also important to model different ways to hold thinking so that students have different go to strategies and techniques. This idea comes from the oldie but goodie, sketch to stretch.

TRY THIS: As kiddos are reading something (could be a short text or something longer ) ask them to noodle around about images that come to mind. This might be an explicit image —a picture on the cover of a book or visuals described across the pages of text. Or, it might be an implicit image —gained by the reader by inferring from the text or connecting text to one’s own experiences. Once they have an image (or two if they prefer) ask them to draw a large outline of the image. Then, as they read. think, and talk ask them to write words, phrases or sentences inside or along the border of the image.

Here’s an example:

To order a copy of this book, click here!

THE BIG TAKE-AWAY: Holding thinking in this way gives readers a space to make their thinking visible in short bursts and it serves as a great reference for them to use when talking to others about big ideas and/or places in the text that were confusing.

For more, check out Chapter 4 in What Are You Grouping For? How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers—Not the Book.

Giving Students Opportunities to Hold Their Thinking Builds Tracks in the Snow: Part 1

Have you read that great book by Wong Herbert Lee, Tracks in the Snow? It’s a sweet story about a girl who follows her tracks in the snow, only to realize that the tracks she was following were her own from the day before. Just like the girl’s tracks led her to the place she wanted to go (home), when kiddos’ create tracks in the snow, it can lead them to great places.

What are examples of kiddos’ tracks in the snow? That’s simple because it’s anything kids write, talk about, make, create, design, or do. When they write, talk about, make, create, design, and do something, they are creating evidence of their thinking—tracks in the snow!

While kiddos ultimately should have a voice and choice in how they show their thinking, sometimes giving them structures to get their ideas off the ground can be beneficial. Take a look at this example.

If you are interested in seeing a few more, here are a few more response stems that you could consider using during your workshop time. You could also use these as Exit Tickets if that is a structure that you harness in your classroom.

A great way to lift students' thinking is to model/show them how to use these types of responses through a shared text or read aloud experience. Co-constructing a few together will have big payoffs as students work independently. If you are interested, . And, if they don’t meet your students’ needs, please revise them!

For more, check out Chapter 4 in What Are You Grouping For? How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers—Not the Book.

Sometimes a Note Catcher Gets Talk Moving!

Note catchers…I LOVE them. Well, to clarify — I love them when they aren’t collected for a grade or effort points and I love them when they aren’t used to “ding” kids for what they can’t do. Put another way, I LOVE note catchers that help students (and teachers) collect ideas and hold their thinking.

Note catchers are a great tool to get talk moving. That’s because the act of writing, before we share, gives us a dress rehearsal for what we want to say and how we might want to say it. Note catchers make our thinking visible. They are valuable because they become a place holder for our thinking, making our sharing (or talk) with others more efficient and effective.

If you are interested in an example, take a look at this note catcher. Maybe you’ll ask students to respond to something they read using this type of note catcher or maybe teachers will hold their thinking after reading a professional article. But, remember the important step of giving them time to share the ideas they collected on the note catcher with others.

Give this a whirl and see what you think — use this as a springboard for creating a note catcher that fits your purpose and meets your needs. Have fun!

Webinar: What Are You Grouping For?

If you’d like to hear an overview of a few teacher moves for launching and sustaining small group reading opportunities, take a listen to this webinar I recently co-hosted.

Re-Imagining Small Group Reading -- Course for Graduate Credit!

Interested in…

• Re-imagining flexible, small group reading opportunities?

• Investigating tools & actionable steps essential for starting and sustaining small groups?

• Earning 2 semester hours of graduate credit?

• Learning at your own pace?

  • 8 online sessions

  • complete at your own pace

  • anytime between now and mid-August, 2019

If so, join me by checking out this RE-IMAGINING RDG GR 3-8 Course.

3 Ways to Re-imagine Small Group Reading Experiences

I had the pleasure of writing a blog post for Corwin Connect this month focused on 3 ways to re-imagine small group reading experiences. You might also find our book, What Are You Grouping For?  How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers—Not the Book (Corwin, 2018) helpful. Small group reading opportunities might be just what you are looking for if you are a:

• Grades 2-8 classroom teacher

• High school teacher who is curious about supporting readers through small groups

• Tier 1 or 2 response-to-intervention (or instruction) teacher

• Special education teacher differentiating reading instruction across grade levels and through inclusion

• ENL (English as a new language) teacher who want kids to bolster their reading and speaking skills at the same time through language-rich, collaborative small group experiences

• Instructional coach, curriculum director, or building administrator

Check out the Corwin Connect blog link!

http://corwin-connect.com/2018/10/3-ways-to-re-imagine-small-group-reading-experiences/

Thank you #G2great Learning Community!

What a week filled with blessings!  We were invited to be guests on the 8/23/18 #G2great Twitter chat. The chat focused on ideas captured in our new book, What Are You Grouping For? How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers – Not the Book (grades 3-8) Corwin 2018 where we re-imagine small group reading instruction that goes beyond grouping by students' reading levels.  Tucked inside our book, we outline five teacher moves that position students as the center of decision-making in different, dynamic ways.  We also position students as decision-makers for their own reading lives.  One way we do this is by considering flexible groupings for students based on their:

• interests
• passions
• curiosities
• needs
• wonderings
• worries
• newly found connection with another classmate
• something going on in the world now or in the past
• author
• and...so many more!

Maybe you are thinking back to your own childhood and how you were grouped for reading instruction?  Our reasons for grouping will challenge what you knew as an intermediate learner.  Yes, that's right...that means NO more squirrel, seahorse, or blue bird reading groups for the purpose of trying to get the next "level".  As Mary Howard referenced in a twitter post (to which I have added on):  Let's make sure that we don't raise another generation of readers who associate their literacy journeys to letters, numbers, colors, animals, or percentiles.  Instead, let's fuel students' reading lives with texts they want to read, alongside peers who are going to nudge them to question, build inquiries, make meaning, and grow.

The #G2great learning community deepened our thinking about small group learning opportunities for students. If you are interested in learning more from this great chat, check out the WAKE.  Thank you to Mary Howard, Fran McVeigh, Jennifer Made Hayhurst, and Amy Kruger Brennan for their kindness and support in helping champion our work!  

An extra thank you to Mary Howard for an amazing gift.  Her blog post combines the best of gifts--a synthesis of the #G2great Twitter chat and highlights from our book.  Thank you, Mary, for your time, energy, compassion, and passion in keeping students at the center of our collective work and for supporting us as we re-imagine small group learning opportunities for the kiddos near and dear to our hearts.  You've helped bring the JOY of our work into the world and we are grateful!

The Proximity Principle: How to Curate Resources In Order to Stoke Student Interest

Written by Julie Wright & Barry Hoonan

The art of curation is matching texts that will inspire and fuel students’ curiosities with the science of also finding texts that can be used as tools for the content we need to teach. Texts with dual purposes - student interests and content - have big take-aways! When we inch closer to students and pay attention to what they are reading and what they are interested in, we can better collect texts that matter to them and make a bigger difference in their learning.  

Let’s call our first move - Curating to Stoke Students’ Interests.

Having the benefit of listening in on our students, we move forward in search of stoking their interests by compiling dynamic texts together.  Then we promote ‘their texts’ by displaying them beautifully and giving credit to the students who lifted the topic or inspired the text set. Or, we provide time and space during whole or small group for students to share hot reads or book stacks with peers.

Teaching reading is also grounded in curriculum – skills, strategies, habits and the growing of new ideas. When we curate with curriculum in mind, we like to believe we are standing close to a radiant ideal … that when we spend time learning, that information, knowledge or new idea matters.

So let’s call our second move - Curating Mentor Texts to Teach Something Powerful.

Whether you are a teacher looking for a text to meet a curricular need or selecting one for a read aloud, at heart you are always doing one thing: you are making a choice that will help you teach your kids something powerful.  The natural step for finding these texts is to look for favorite and reliable authors. The authors and their works will mentor readers. Readers will feel the power of mentorship.  So we lean on these texts as mentors. And we curate with ‘our mentors’ in mind.

In the end, we want our students to “sit around the table” with the likes of Jacqueline Woodson, R.J. Palacio, Angie Thomas, John Green, Matt de le Pena, Jandy Nelson, and Rainbow Rowell -- being wiser and more insightful and more curious than before.

Here’s an example:

Barry’s class has just finished hearing Helen Frost’s powerful prose Hidden read aloud. The sixth graders have discovered from the author’s notes that there is a mystery ‘hidden’ in the last word of each sentence in the second section of the book.  It reveals one of the character’s perspectives. They sleuth their way through and read the cryptic message out loud. The class is a buzz.

There are so many possible next steps to capitalize on the students’ enthusiasm for word play.  We could curate a text set around books written in prose style, like Witness by Karen Hesse.  We could pull together Helen Frost books or even stage a small group to read Hidden again.  

Students’ amusement with twisting story plots and fabulous verse opened the chance to stoke their interest in Shakespeare.  Using Tales from Shakespeare by Tina Packer made the perfect blend of colorful pictures, great storytelling and some insightful placement of Shakespeare’s own words.  And, to capitalize on students’ interests and knowledge of Shakespeare (or lack thereof) Barry asked his kiddos to write on graffiti boards (white paper with color markers) the stories they knew and all the things that came to mind when they thought of Shakespeare and his writing.  The colorful boards and conversation danced with questions and ideas such as:

• A small group discussed the idea that Shakespeare was a long time ago and people talked really funny then.

• Titles like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night surfaced as other things to read or compare.

• A student commented, “Oh no.  My brother hated reading Shakespeare in middle school.”

There was a mesmerizing amount of experiences and opinions around the texts being discussed, but very little love toward Shakespeare’s play.  Betting on the inertia of word play and misconceptions, Barry began reading ‘Tales’ out loud. Kids were asked to echo lines from the book and together the class engaged and enjoyed  Shakespeare’s timeless and relatable stories.

Here’s the interesting part:  Choosing the next read aloud is curation at its finest.  We want to play to our audience of readers and we want to lift their understanding of humanity, history and themselves.  Our end goal is to leave them knowledgeable, inspired, and curious.

For more on teachers and students as curators, see Chapter 7 in our new book!
 

The Proximity Principle: How to Assess Readers’ Work In Order to Break the Cycle of Teaching to the Middle

Written by Julie Wright & Barry Hoonan

If you want to know what students know and can do, along with what they need next, using proximity to get up close to students’ work is essential.  We like to think of assessing student work in these ways:

Student conversations:  The stuff kids talk about -- dialogue between and among students and teachers.  Talk is an authentic source of data for understanding what kids know and what they need next.  This might be student talk during minilessons or shared experiences. It could also be the talk that happens as kids share out during mid process or at the end of workshop.   This is particularly insightful is students share how they process understandings during whole group, small group, and 1:1 interactions.

Student work samples:  The stuff kids make, create, write, or design.  Student work can be short (annotations, jots, blurbs, reflections) or longer in nature (paragraphs, projects, models).  The in process, along the way, work helps us create a focus for instruction and know what to do next in the moment. The end of learning work helps us assess culminating learning where we can look back in order to plan forward.

John Hattie explains that, “visible learning is teachers seeing learning through the eyes of their students, and students seeing themselves as their own teachers.”  Think of student work as anything students create, talk about, or do that makes their thinking and understandings visible. Below are some examples of student evidence.  As you read, there are lots of ideas that could be added.  Think about what you would add to this list.

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Teaching and learning is hard, rewarding work -- both for the student and the teacher.  As a teacher and coach, we’re often asked to “boil things down for teachers and show them what to do.”  Since reading is a complicated process, it makes “boiling it down” tricky. Yes, reading and meaning making are dependent on students’ ability to decode and comprehend the text.  That part is complicated in and of itself. Add to that the idea that reading is dependent on the individual reader’s interactions about and within the text in order to for knowledge, skills, and understandings to come into full bloom.  Student work is our lens into knowing what kids know and and what they can do. It’s also our lens into what they need next to grow their reading and thinking muscles.

Here’s an example:  

It’s late January and sixth grade students are enjoying a mini-unit focused on interesting people in the world.  Through whole group learning, we created a shared agreement that we would begin by reading short texts and that short texts meant anything that can be read in one to two independent reading times.  Students also agreed that short texts could include pictures. This definition was important because it took into account students’ needs and interests. For example, students explained that one to two independent reading times was important because not everyone reads at the same pace.  In addition, many students wanted the opportunity to investigate higher level picture books, or sets of picture books with a common author or theme, and they wanted to make sure that picture books were accounted for in their definition.

If we fast forward about a week, kids are reading, re-reading, trading, talking about, and enjoying all types of short texts.  

Organizational Tip:  Give each student a two-pocket folder because it gives them a place to store reading materials.  Along with this folder, using a reader’s notebook or a binder with paper is key so that there is a designated place for students to hold their thinking.  

During the work time portion of reading workshop (after the minilesson and before the debrief/share out) is where students are given time to read, write, think, and talk about what they are reading.  Across the mini-unit students have multiple opportunities to read independently and in small groups to construct and co-construct meaning. This becomes a data center for teachers to figure out what students know and what they need next to lift their learning.  During a small group conversation with a group of students who were investigating short, one page stories in Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky, students read, took a few notes about big take-aways and then they shared their thinking with a shoulder partner.  If you lean in, listen and take note, you can size up student thinking and understandings (and possibly misunderstandings) in less than twenty minutes in order to determine what students know and are able to do and what they need next to grow their reading muscles.
 

Here’s the interesting part:  By leaning in, listening, and taking note, we can assess and respond to readers’ work and we break the cycle of teaching to the middle.  

For more, check out our new book!