Sunday, January 25, 2009
Not answers so much as thinking....
Wow! There are so many questions lingering out there! This is good news. It means we are all in a place where we are trying to figure out what works best for ourselves and our students. This week I am going to ask you to go through the wonderings (from last week's post) of your classmates and choose one of their questions to do a quick write in thinking about the quesiton that you choose!! Be sure to post the question you will be writing to and who that question came from!!
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I'm going to try to answer Lisa's question. How do we instruct the parents?
ReplyDeleteThis year at Lancaster, the literacy Committee has created a parent night to inform parents of the reading strategies that our students are using. We had one in the fall that focused on metacognition, schema, and questioning. A few teachers volunteered to have their class videotaped while they taught a lesson on a particular strategy. Snippets of the taping were shown to parents so they can see what goes on in the classroom. As a group, parents read small pieces of literature and practiced using the strategies themselves. The parents felt the evening was very informative. They said they would like to learn more activities they could do with their students at home to follow up with the strategies their children are using at school. We are having another parent night either in Feb. or March. This night will introduce the parents to visualizing, determining importance and inferring. Again, teachers will be videotaped to show parents what goes on in the classroom. Teachers will also use the reading workshop model to teach parents a mini lesson on the strategy and have them use it themselves. Parents will come away with a list of simple activities they can do with students at home to follow through with the strategies their children are learning at school. It sounds like a lot of work, but I think the parents are happy with it and the teachers are happy knowing that some parents will help their children use the strategies while they’re reading at home. I hope this gives you some info. on one way to inform parents of the reading strategies.
I was very interested in Erin's questions about keeping her first grade students actively engaged during the Readers Workshop. I share these questions - as well as the envy of Debbie Miller's classroom! I find the readers workshop very daunting. I struggle with the students who are up and down, up and down, trying to select the perfect book - and the student who is flipping through pages, but barely glancing at the text - and the struggling reader who chooses the chapter book every time. I feel like I'm so busy monitoring everyone, I have a hard time making room for the individual conferences. Like Erin, I also wonder about organizing my library and making sure I have enough high quality, high interest texts at various levels. I suspect that if I can get the organizational piece under control, that the active engagement piece may follow. Reading everyone's comments, I can see that several people in this class are further along in this process than I am - I am looking forward to learning from all of you!
ReplyDeleteI am writing a response to Colleen. She asks about setting up a classroom library. I have a book shelf students can access in my classroom. There is quite a variety, both in levels and interest, fiction and nonfiction. I don't have students check out books, and I often have them thrown back in random order, or never returned at all. As I read Colleen's comments about her classroom library, it got me to thinking about my library. I need to organize the books, and develop a system for checking them out. Then, what about the books that are taken? Can kids just read a few pages, put the book back and take another two days later? I have been having students complete a book summary once a month from a book taken from the libray in school. I talk about how to choose a book, following an interst or an author, and reading the book's jacket. It bothers me that few fifth graders over the years take that time in the library seriously. They hang out in the back talking, teasing or fooling around. I started holding them accountable a few years ago. The books that are reported on to the class have gotten other students to ask for titles and check them out later in the year. I wonder about Reader's Workshop...are kids held accountable for finishing a book that they started? I would like to hear about different systems for having students act as classroom librarians. I would like to learn a few systems for keeping up a classroom library.
ReplyDeleteI am posting this response to Louise. If you do have the opportunity to be in the classroom with your students, that is certainly a good place to reinforce the comprehension strategies. But I would definitely fit it in to your small group whenever you can. In the small group the children have less pressure on them from the "crowd" and also have more turns to respond. You can model the strategies, then have them try it with one friend in your small group, and then gradually you can determine if the child can do it more independently. You can gather a lot of good information to give the classroom teacher based on what you observe. You could preview materials the classroom teacher will be using so the child is able to be successful when they return to the class. I know you have minimal time and the pressure is on to teach the children to decode, but the strategies will help as well. Plus, if the kids see you having fun with the strategies like thinking aloud or visualizing, they will realize (so we hope!)that reading is fun too.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated SSlaurent's admission that she is a little nervous about how to be successful in teaching reading. I am also struggling to work through the reading program, but know that in the long run, it is right for the students.
ReplyDeleteThe students that I work with have difficulty with reading. This program has allowed them to feel confident in performing tasks at their ability level and sharing their ideas in the regular classroom forum.
This program shows promising signs that the students that I will work with will further their ability to work in the regular classroom. I believe that this should be the goal.
I am thinking about Lisa's questions regarding how Reader's Workshop meets the needs of the struggling readers in the class. I worry about that, too. Since the kids that are the neediest have the most difficulty following through after instruction, how will I make Reader’s Workshop work for them? I don’t have enough information about Reader’s Workshop yet to know that. Lisa also asked how reading assessments are fit into the day. I would guess that you assess the kids a few at a time over a week or so, having the others read or do station activities while you are assessing. What type of assessments should we use? Are we assessing when we conference with the kids? How often do you conference? There’s so much to think about. It is overwhelming. Still, I am interested in finding out more about this method of teaching reading.
ReplyDeleteI am going to answer Tara's question: How do I manage my time to be most effective? I also struggle with this question. I want to make the most out of Reader's Workshop but how do you break up the time, or how do you find the time when your day is so diced up? I only have 2 ninety minute blocks for Reader's workshop a week...so what is most important to incorportate in that time. I wish there was some kind of guide to break down and tell me what to do and when to do it. Like all teacher's, our days are planned to the last minute so that we can fit everything in. I think if I was given a skeleton schedule or guide stating what strategies to introduce and when, I would feel more comfortable with my time. I know that there is a lot of information out their on Reader's Workshop. I just want to find the most effective information that will help me organize my time effectively. I am interested to hear what others have to share.
ReplyDeleteI think we all especially classroom teachers need to take a step back and not be so hard on ourselves. Everyone seems to want a "quick fix", me included, to find the best and most efficient assessment process with our students. Also, exactly what does a Reader's Workshop model work and look with all types of learners.... Can be very challenging to say the least. I agree that we all can learn from one another with time and patience. As Kathy said, "to not rush into a project but to take caution to assure success".
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking a lot about Colleen's question. Like her, I am proud of the work my first graders are doing during guided reading lessons. During discussions they are able to activate schema, make connections and describe the images they see in their minds. I also agree with her that I am concerned about the independent work that they are doing during our Reading Workshop time. I do feel as though I am seeing some improvement. Many of the first graders are now readers, and I have organized my classroom library so that they have access to books at their level. I also make the McGraw-Hill leveled readers available to them. Because I teach a multi-grade classroom I have the advantage of occasionally pairing them with an "older" and doing partner reading. But when they are reading independently how do I know that they are decoding correctly? How can I tell if they are reading accurately or just skipping over the words they don't know? Are they getting meaning from the text or are they just flipping through the pages? I try to conference with five students during each Workshop period, but even if I manage that I feel as though I'm not connecting with the others. Their Reading Journals sometimes provide a little insight into their reading but I want to learn how to make sure that every student, no matter what their reading ability, is doing something valuable during each lesson.
ReplyDeleteI am writing in response to Sue Wilk's question about incorporating McGraw Hill into the Reader's Workshop. I too have struggled with incorporating both programs and often wonder about how to grade most effectively. I read the McGraw Hill story of the week on Mondays and still introduce the spelling words for that week, associated with the story. Before we read on Monday I decide what my focus lesson for Tuesday will be. We read the story aloud as a class and during that time I sort of practice for Reader's Workshop the next day. For example: if we were working on schema, throughout the McGraw Hill story I would ask the students questions about background knowledge and assess what they know. Then on Tuesday I would introduce schema and relate it to background knowledge so that the concept is not complete foreign to them. On Wednesday we either work on the same focus lesson or do something else depending on how well they understood and used the concept from the day before.
ReplyDeleteI still use the McGraw Hill spelling words and we still take the comprehension test at the end of the week for a reading grade. We only read the story one in class but the students are free to read the story whenever they want. My class has spent a lot of time writing in their Reader's Notebooks about their thinking while they are reading, so I have come up with a rubric for that writing and also use those as a grade for reading.
I couldn't agree more with Sue. I,too,am always thinking of ways to get students to take ownership of independent reading, stay engaged and on task. I think all of us have the same questions and concerns and as teachers we need to see Reader's Workshop in action. I'm sure that through a thorough understanding of this course these questions and concerns will be resolved. I feel that there is nothing wrong with using the McGraw-Hill series and the vocabulary and spelling that accompany the series in tandem with Reader's Workshop. As a district we are working towards embracing the Reader's Workshop, but it makes sense to use both sources since teachers within the district are at various stages of implementing this way of teaching reading. The McGraw-Hill series provides a common assessment of the student's grasp of vocabulary and spelling which will will allow us to teach these subjects until we are all comfortable with Reader's Workshop as a replacement. It's all about taking baby steps and eventually reaching your comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteErin asked, "Will my first graders really be actively engaged in Reader's Workshop? How can I keep them engaged?"
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine that first graders can actually be independent and read for sustained periods of time, but it will come. I think that part of the key to that engagement is a lot of enthusiasm on part of the teacher and a lot of modeling. Choice plays a big role in any child's engagement as well. In addition, we can't expect that our students will be able to read for sustained periods of time right away. We have to model for students what real reading looks like. We have to model choosing just right books. We have to model what setting goals looks like and how to build our stamina as readers. I think it is important to take it one step at a time or it is very easy to feel overwhelmed by the whole thing. My experience has shown me though that students will far surpass our expectations; often times we do not give them enough credit. As I reread my response to you I am not sure that I clearly answered your question, but I hope that some of what I said helps. I think that over time you will find that your first graders WILL be engaged in Reading Workshop, more so than you ever thought possible. This stems in large part to the fact that your Reading Workshop is designed around who your students are as readers and what they need as readers. If you are taking into account your students interests as readers and what they need as readers, then I think the engagement just sort of follows suit.
John
ReplyDeleteFirst I want to say I am on the blog--didn't think I would make it!
ReplyDeleteI want to make sure the students I have keep moving at grade level. I know some are not there but hope any suggestion would be great. Also to have a good blend of literature books and the use of the reading series. Also I have a big concern with about 5 students who really aren't interested--you may have some ideas to suggest.
I am addressing Jenn's comment about trying to be the perfect teacher because I know how dangerous this type of thinking can be, in teaching and in life. I bet we can all relate in one way or another to that comment...the perfect teacher, the perfect daughter/son, the perfect mother/father...The dangerous part is in realizing you can never really get there. When I had my second child and found myself struggling with the "how can I be the perfect mom" question, a very enlightened person said to me, "You don't have to be the perfect one, you just have to be good enough." I looked at her in disbelief..."So, I'm thinking, I am supposed to aim for what... mediocrity?" I left the conversation thinking, "Yah, bad advice, she's nuts."
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until I got even further into the weeds of parenting that I realized, SHE WAS RIGHT! Good enough had to be good enough. There is no perfect or best and you will make yourself crazy in pursuit of it. My guess is that most of you, even at 50% effort, are still fantastic, caring,and creative teachers that touch your students' lives immensely. Learn this lesson now, aim for the moon, but good enough IS good enough, too. Rest assured that the mere fact you ask so much of yourself will serve your students VERY WELL!