Fun Memoirs!

Next week is the last week in September. For many of you fifth grade teachers, that means you are wrapping up the unit of study in memoir. Students are finalizing their editing. They are deciding how to publish. Maybe there is even a celebration planned. Where ever you and your students are in this unit, I hope you are doing some reflecting.

As I was glancing over my writing journal this week, I was reminded of something I had started earlier in the year. At the end of each day's writing, I would summarize the day into a six-word-memoir. It is quite challenging, but fun. I began to think---if I was in the classroom, I would have the students do at least one of these to put with their Memoir Unit of Study.

Here are a few samples from the book: Not Quite What I Was Planning edited by Smith Magazine.

• Cheese is the essence of life.---Mary Lynch
• Was rebellious teen. Now raising one.--Michelle Ganon
• I wouldn't change it a bit.---Ann Pacton

Here are a couple of mine:

• Cold, windy day, sinus-y and tired.
• Math isn't easy, but it's important.

Now you can try it! If you want to know more go to www.sixwordmemoir.com  Do some with your class and send them off to have some fun!

Happy Writing!

Happy Reading!

Happy Weekend!



Focus Lessons in Reading and Writing

Today I was thinking of the parts of the writing workshop in classrooms.  One of the important parts is the mini lesson or the focus lesson.  This is not the old 'teacher-talking-student-listening' maxi lesson.  It is the time to give a teaching point that students can learn from and possible use that day in their writing. I do say possibly. It is not a requirement. Sometimes, if I really want the student to try it to just get a feel for how to do it, I might challenge them to try it. I would even bribe them with, "...and if you try it, you can share today!"



 It is another Gramma Preschool day today. When Meron, my four-year-old grand daughter, comes, I have a plan...a schedule. For the reading part of our day, we will review the book we read last time, but we will also introduce a new read aloud book. Today's book is: In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming. I chose this book because in science we are going to be going outside to look at sunflowers. This is a connection between science and reading. I also chose it for the pictures and word choice.

We will start the read aloud... focus lesson by talking about the author, illustrator and title. We will take a fast picture walk. As we do the walk, I will help her to notice the passing of time. It is never mentioned in words. At the beginning the sun is high in the sky and it ends with the fireflies blinking and moon rising above. This is a great book for the beginning reader, but it is also one that could be used for passing of time with the older writer, too. Picture books are wonderful treasures for all ages.

My challenge for Meron today will be to try that in her writing. I want to connect the writing time into the learning areas of reading and science and possibly math as we count sunflower seeds!

It will be important for me to remember to keep my focus lesson short, even though I will be incorporating a read aloud. This is one of the things teachers forget...mini lessons are not maxi lessons!  Happy Reading!

 



Book Clubs For All Ages

Last night was special. I spent all afternoon cleaning and cooking. I had fun planning the events of the evening. At 5:50 it was all set and ready for company. It was the night of my book club.

My new reading space!

Not only would my friends get to see my new 'space' for the first time, but we would also talk about books! We are all teachers or retired teachers, so reading is very important to us. Our book this month was Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand the author of Seabiscuit. It was longer that usual and a nonfiction book. We all loved it It's one of those books that help the reader become a better person just by reading it. The discussion we had was emotional. A couple of us remembered our fathers and how they had been in World War II...like the character in this biography. We all related stories about people we knew who had fought battles in their lives. We were sharing what helped us comprehend the book.



This is what we want students to be able to do. We want them to enhance their comprehension. Being part of a book club helps us do that. If you're not part of a book group, I would recommend it. Sometimes you might not have time to finish the book. Just hearing how the discussion goes helps to transfer real life strategies to the classroom, so I would say...Go Anyway!

Our book for next month is a new novel by Mitch Albom...The Time Keeper. All of us had read books by him, so we are excited to get started on this new one!  Happy Reading!



Comprehension Grows Up

Tuesday's Slice of Life connected to: Two Writing Teachers

I love the idea of comprehension growing up. Its so much better than becoming more rigorous or comprehension in the common core. This is the concept I worked with in a fifth grade class. I wanted to use comprehension in my read aloud/think aloud, but I wanted the students to go deeper. I know the strategies and so did the children. It's a good bunch of students and they've had wonderful teaching. Now, how to get them to a new level of thinking?

I decided our focus would be: "Using images that emanate from the emotions to understand more vividly, more deeply."  taken from Talk About Understanding  by Ellin Oliver Keene. For the read aloud, I would use One Green Apple by Eve Bunting. Its about a child in a new school who is from another country and doesn't speak English. The author puts the reader into another child's shoes. It was perfect for addressing emotions.

I started the lesson by discussing the title and cover of the book. We made predictions and asked questions. I read the book once just for enjoyment---for the story. When I was done, we did a turn-and-talk about their reactions to the story.

Next, it was time to go deeper. We briefly talked about comprehension and how we wanted to go deeper since they are now fifth graders...comprehension grows up. I gave them the challenge of looking for emotions in our story...in illustrations, in inferences, in the reader's feelings. We briefly talked about what emotions were and listed some.

When I read this time, I would stop at preselected passages:

• "I am tight inside myself."
• "I understand. It's not that I am stupid. It is just that I'm lost in this new place."
• "Beside me is a tree, shorter than the others, that doesn't seem to belong. It is small and alone, like me."

I would read again the text and ask what they thought. As we moved through the book, their discussions got deeper. They used the emotions to better understand the deeper meaning in the book.

When we were done, I asked them what lesson was there. After talking it over they had the message of how we all blend together with no ONE person standing out.  It felt good to leave them with a reading strategy of using emotions to understand more vividly, more deeply.

Setting Goals For Writing

This weekend I received an email from a friend, neighbor, and person whose room I am volunteering and doing research. She had all her data from the first of the year's writing prompt. She had used the new, more rigorous common core aligned continuum that her district had developed to evaluate the writing. She saw that her students needed more work. Where should she go? How should she approach it? These were some of the questions she was deliberating.

Since she is a friend and a neighbor, I hopped on my bike and rode over to her house on Sunday afternoon.  Yes, Sunday. AND it was her birthday! But, hey, she's a teacher and a professional, and she didn't want to waste any time. She wanted to be ready for Monday morning and have a plan of action!

We looked at her students' writing. We compared it to what they did on ISTEP. We looked at the various categories which were divided by traits. We talked about the individual students which she knew so well because she looped with them from fourth grade to fifth grade. She now has a plan. After several days of looking at what makes good writing, looking at their prompts and scores, looking at the ISTEP scores and prompts, they will set their own goals. Yes, she will sit beside them as they do this, but she is confident that they will be smart about what needs to be done.

Her next concern was how not to kill the wonderful spirit for writing that these fifth graders have. She didn't want them to shut down.  My advise was to talk to the students about the scores overall.  This isn't a pass/fail issue.  It isn't for a grade. It is a measure. For example, if you go to the doctor and have a high temperature, you didn't fail his test since it is above normal.  It just gave the doctor the information to know something is wrong and it needs to be worked on. That is the same with these scores. It is simply a measure of where there is a weakness. Now what are we going to do about it?

Have you taken time to look at your students' scores from last year...their prompt scores, their ISTEP scores? Have you had the students look at them and evaluate where they are as writers? Have THEY set goals for what needs to make them better writers? If not, this might be something you want to do together so you can set goals for their future writing.

Update from the Inside

Today I want to share someone else's blog. This was written on Sept. 12th by a teacher in Chicago. Hearing what those teachers are facing day after day makes our teaching day seem like an easy job. No matter what side you agree with, it still is the children who are being hurt. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our fellow Chicago teachers and their students.  If you want to read more of this blog it is called: Coffee Fueled Musings

An Update from the Inside

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Katie

I’m a day late for Slice of Life Tuesday but it’s been hard to find a time to sit down and gather my thoughts about the mess in Chicago right now. So I’ll just tell it like it is.
Today, after picketing in front of our school for four hours we were asked to drive to one of three high schools that have been slated for turn around and show our support. I marched with thousands of teachers through a neighborhood that would usually cause me to lock my doors and not get out of the car. It was over 90 degrees and with the sun bearing down the heat was oppressive. As I waddled along, holding my belly, I wept silently behind my sunglasses. Part of it was the stress of this entire situation, part of it my over emotional state as a pregnant woman, and part of it was the energy of the people, many of who probably aren’t used to having so much support right in their community. As we walked backed to the car I couldn’t help but notice how much garbage littered the streets, the group of suspicious men gathered in an empty lot, the shuttered and barred windows. I thought to myself how hard it must be to live here, be a child here, be expected to succeed here.
Every morning we stand out on the street. We are well fed and watered by supportive parents and community members. We are met with honks of encouragement from citizens and city workers. We are also greeted with angry faces, a negative comment, or a thumbs down. Although we always have children with us, some teacher kids and some students who have come to show their support, we are also subjected to occasional profanity and rude hand gestures. I have taken to looking above cars so that I miss this negativity.
The media war is intense. Our union leader, being a teacher herself, is not the best at dealing with the press which makes us look bad… often. I know she’s doing the best she can, but it needs to be better and I find myself apologizing for the union rhetoric and trying to explain the issues to everyone I meet. I go between feeling a great sense of pride in being able to stand up to the political machine and feeling like a pawn in somebody’s game. After three days I wonder what the hell is going on in that room and why they can’t come to an agreement. At night I dream of being back in my classroom with my students and everyday I go home and cry, then fall into bed exhausted. When I wake in the middle of the night I check my Facebook, my Twitter, the News for any sign that this will all end. But it never comes. In the morning I get up and do it all again.
Inside the walls of my school, behind the door of my classroom, when I was able to focus on the joy of teaching I found great meaning in my day. I found great purpose in being an urban educator. Now as I stand exposed on the street corner I begin to ponder bigger questions and issues. I begin to wonder if it’s better somewhere else and if Chicago is the right place for me anymore. If they even deserve me.
I desperately need to get back to my students to remind myself why this is all worth it.

Reflection--A Good Thing

As I take Dave on his morning two-mile walk, I gaze around the neighborhood. Children coming out of homes, heading to their bus stop carrying backpacks and water bottles. Wearing earphones and eating last bites of breakfast. All of them ready to climb on that yellow bus rounding the corner, ready to face another day of learning.

With all the children on the bus, I unhook Dave's leash and set him free. Free to run ahead and sniff the dew-wet grass. Run ahead just far enough to still be able to hear my commands--sit, come, stay--if I need to use them.  We wander on down the street to home. He smells and sniffs trying to locate a rabbit track or hidden treat.

The sky is bright blue with only low, white clouds in the horizon.  The sun is already up shining bright, but the air is crisp and cool. My hoody over a t-shirt feels perfect for a fall day.

Such is the morning of a retired teacher.  I never had a chance to do this when I was in the classroom. It's too bad that a morning walk and then a written reflection isn't a requirement for teachers. A peaceful, quiet morning might be just what teachers need to start their busy, stress-filled day. 

Reflection is a powerful tool no matter when it is used.  May you have time to reflect on your teaching today!