Moving J-K-L Readers

  My own dear daughter is now in second grade and is a reader! Yippie! But like most kids her age, as she moves from level to level, the books get longer and there is more of a story to hang on to over many pages. So now I want to help her as much as I can and I know just the way to do it. But how you ask???? Well,  that is the same question that I hear over and over again, year after year.  Well my friends, this is when I begin to introduce the tried-and true-method of summary post-its to kids with my cute little chart!

First I model for the kids this nifty little strategy that I use in my own chapter book for them. I tell them that I STOP! and THINK to myself and say " What is this chapter MOSTLY about?' I make a really dramatic to do and show them how I would write the post-it using a few phrases.  The I have my kids reread their last chapter in front of me and try it out.  

This is an actual chart that I have used many times over the years with kids moving to J-K-L level readers.

Recently, I used this technique with a 2nd grade reader who is new to Level K. She is reading the Iris & Walter series, one that I highly recommend. First she read this one...

Since this was her first attempt at using this strategy, I wanted her to just get the gist of what was going on in each chapter. She got to choose the post-it ( a fancy one, of course) and then write in her pen.  Here are her notes from the book.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

She did get the overall gist of the story and was able to tell me all about Iris and Baby Rose in her retell when done reading.  She did want to know if she could write more, however, I wanted to her spend her time reading, not rewriting the whole book.

As we tried this strategy again, on another day, her post-it responses were better. Take a look for yourself.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

 So here you have it! My little reader grew in her post-it work over a few days! Yeah, keep at it kiddo! She got better at putting down what happened in the story in simple phrases. She even made the connection about Iris being homesick, just like Benny. Clearly this reader is ready to keep trying this on her own. Soon we can move on to more challenging tasks that will help her get ready for Level J books.  She can now talk about her book with her partner using her post-its and even pick one and writing long about it.

Puting the Social back into Social Studies

Interactive Writing in Social Studies

Among the many roles that I have at my school, I am also a mentor to a new Kindergarten teacher. YEAH! So this means I get to spend some time with Ms. V's class and teach!! It is amazing because she is willing let me experiment my theories with her class and hopefully learn something too! 

Recently, I  attempted  to bring excitement to  a drab social studies text to her rocking Kindergarten class.  I worked with Ms. V's and her class to learn about Who's Who in Our School Community through a walking field trip in the school, followed by an interactive writing session.

The Set Up

On Monday we did a Social Studies lesson on Who's Who in Our School Community.  First we talked about the people in our school community that are important to running the school: the principal, the assistant principal, the custodian, the food service workers, the nurse and the school safety officer. Each time we talked about a new person, I pointed to an index card with that person's name on it.  (HINT: By the end of the lesson, we could transfer those name cards to our social studies word wall too!) In our class conversation, we were wondering , what do each of these people do in our school community? Since we wanted to know, we decided to go on a trip and interview each of these special people in our community. Before we left the room, I had written our question out on a card and when we got to each person, one brave student got to ask the question.

The Trip

Our first stop was the cafeteria, and we met Mr. Noble, one of the food service workers at our school. He told the students what his job was, "to serve students food." We then took a picture with Mr. Noble and went on to the next person.

Each person that we talked to was thrilled that the children were interested in what they did at our school. Our principal even invited all 28 children into her office and had then sit around her table! With each person we visited, we asked the question, took a picture, and then said thanks. It took about 20 minutes to complete the whole trip!

The Interactive Writing Follow Up

When we got back to the room, the children were bursting  with energy and could not wait to share their new information.  So, as a class we wrote about what we learned in our trip. Earlier in the day,  I had made a writing booklet on chart paper with a large picture box and two lines on it  for the class to use.

In the meeting area, the class proceeded to write about each of the people we met on the trip. Ms. V and I called on students to help us 'write' the story with us. We used two different colored markers so that the children's writing was in one color and the adults color was in another. This way, while the kids were stretching out a word, or reading the room to find the correct word, I could fill in some other words that we did not want to focus on for the day.  Most balanced literacy gurus state that you should share the pen....well we wanted to speed up the writing and not have it last 2 periods.  Since these students are in Kindergarten, I would not want them to struggle with the word 'protect', so I would ask one child for the initial and ending sound, let him/her write the P, and then fill in the rest myself.

By the end of the period, we wrote about 2 people we met that day.  

We finished the rest of the book over the next few days in social studies class.

Once the pictures were all printed out, we added them to the book and the word wall as well. Finally, we shared our book with each of the people in our school community! 

YOU want my kids to TAKE NOTES? But they are 6 yrs old...

With all the talk of new standards and performance tasks around here, I felt that it was time to share some ideas on ways to teach kids how to use a sticky note to take notes. I have been hearing from some teachers that this is just too hard for kids to do. Well.... of course it will be hard, just like learning to read and learning how to write cursive, but with practice it will get easier.  

First, we must understand that kids will not write super small, so give them a BIG sticky note or a clip board with half a sheet of paper & a pen so they HAVE ROOM to write and  do write instead of wasting time erasing.

Second, you will introduce to your class 2 different ways to take notes: one is by sketching & two is by writing key words.  That is it. Nothing crazy, just keep it simple!

This is a chart that I would unveil to my class as I introduced each method to them. Since your kids will be anxious to write down or draw everything under the sun, you will want to have them practice lots and lots so they get the hang of it.  Once your kids have mastered one, you can show them another way to take notes or you can show just a small group.  It will really depend on your class and their reading & writing abilities. Either way you do it, try to give them a choice as to which one THEY want to use. ( even if it is the color of the sticky note!) If they are more confident it their drawing, then let them draw.

The current reading unit that I am supporting is a Fiction Unit on Self Monitoring. Since the students that I am working with are moving from Level G-H-I readers to J-K-L readers, they do tend to get stuck and sometimes not even know it.  YIKES!  Students just get so excited that they are reading chapters or they finished another LONG book, that they gloss over a few words here and then they have no clue what is going on! OH NO!

I am using a book like the Mercy Watson Series to model for the students my amazing READING SKILLS and how to use STICKY NOTES to help me get UNSTUCK while reading.

THE SKETCH METHOD

First, when I begin to read my new Mercy Watson book, I would have a nice  BIG FAT sticky note on my chart paper  ready to go. I would begin to read the book and as each character was introduced, I would think aloud about the many people we were meeting in the book.  Then I by the 2nd or 3rd page, I might then stop and say to the class,

        

  "Wow, there are many characters in this story and I don't want to get confused, so I am going to sketch some notes on the characters in this story so I remember who is who." 

Then I would sketch a pig for Mercy,  simple man for Mr. Watson and a woman for Mrs. Watson. I would then tell the class as more people are introduced, I would then add them to the first sticky note with the characters on it.

At the end of chapter one, I would pause and tell the class this:

  "WOW! I just read a whole chapter.  Before I read anymore, I must STOP! And think what was this chapter mostly about.  Ok let's see, ( counting on my fingers) I learned that Mr. & Mrs. Watson have a pig named Mercy. Mercy likes toast and Mercy likes to sleep in bed with Mr. & Mrs. Watson because she is warm and toasty. WOW,  that is a lot of information. So what is the chapter MOSTLY about....hmmm I think I will draw a picture with a bed and 3 heads in it smiling. This way I will remember....."

I would continue to do this for the second chapter as well. I would model and really think about what I was going to draw before I drew it. I would TELL the kids this as I am thinking it.
Then by chapter 3, I would have my class try it the same way I did. Talk about what the chapter was mostly about with a partner FIRST and then draw a simple picture to help them remember what the chapter was MOSTLY about.  HINT HINT....time it. Give kids 30 seconds to draw it or 1 min MAX! This way the kids can get the feel that during reading we spend time READING, not writing a notes.

For the first few times you try this with your class, you will want to have that TALK TIME before sketching , especially if this is the first time your class is take notes.  By the third read aloud, you can just pause at the end of a chapter or section and tell the kids, to stop & sketch.

At the end of each Read Aloud, would have children put their names on the sticky notes and collect them to see what my next steps are in my note taking lessons or what small group work will need to be done based on the notes. Move on to new genres and keep at it! They will succeed! Don't give up! You can do this! Keep trying and I promise your kids will get better at it! 

WRITE SOME WORDS METHOD

Again I would use another book that would support my current reading, social studies, or science unit to first model for my class how to take notes while reading.  Since I read Mercy Watson #1 for the sketch method, I might want to use Mercy Watson #2 for this time around since the class is familiar with the characters.

So again, I would begin my Read Aloud with a large sticky note ready to go on chart paper.

"Since I already read one Mercy Watson book, I know the crazy cast of characters in the book. So before I even begin I am going to get myself  ready to take FAST NOTES by writing M for Mercy, ( draw a M on the chart) Mrs. for Mrs. Watson & a Mr. for Mr. Watson. This way I will save time by not writing the whole name down when  I am taking notes.  Now I am going to start reading"

As I begin reading the text, I would again model for the kids that at the end of the chapter 1, I would say to the class,
"Ok now I must stop and think what is this chapter mostly about. Hmm well Mr. Watson like to take their pink convertible out for a ride each weekend and Mercy LOVES it. So let's think. How can I say this in a few words. Hmmm. Mercy & Mr. W ride in pink car or Mercy rides in car with Mr. W....What about Mercy & Mr. W love to ride in convertible.  Ok, that is a few words. So I will write on my post- it like this."

Again, I would model this for the kids once or twice like we did with the sketching. Again, the students would benefit from TALKING about what the chapter was MOSTLY about and then finding  SIMPLE words to  put on the sticky note. The hard part will be the words.  Don't give up! Tell them not worry about spelling. As long as the kids know what it means, then go with it! Remember, it is their notes and we want them to be comfortable with it.

Again, give them a time limit and stick to it. This will force them to get the work done and get back to reading. Make it like a contest and I am sure your 6 and 7 year old students will beat you to it!

Like I said before, the more you practice it, the better they will be at it. Just don't give up!
Your kids will get it and if you want to change it up and have them take notes on videos, informational texts, and the like, this is just a few ways to get them ready to make that leap.

Happy Note Taking and let me know how it's going! I want to help!

 

My Read Aloud

Here is one  Read Aloud that I have used with my students in a 4th grade classroom.

While looking at the front cover  of the book, this is a post-it I would use with my class. Notice how I am telling them what I know about the Mayflower and showing them how I would READ more to learn more.

Next I would introduce some of the vocabulary that my children would encounter in the book. I would make sure that before reading each section, I would introduce it to them with the picture card as well. Then I might put in the room or tape it into a chart.

Next, I would begin the first section with a series of Think Alouds & Turn and Talks,  I modeled this while looking at the front cover of the book.  Next, I would  ask the students to try it too. The pattern would repeat, I model, students try it.   This way, I am asking them to THINK before they begin to read a section and get their reading muscles ready to read.

 

Here are a few more of my post its  from the read aloud. Since social studies topics might be a bit hard for kids to understand , I would want to make sure that the kids were getting the subject matter or  accumulating the text. I would do this with a combination of Think Alouds, and Turn & Talks  early in the school year. Here is a post-it of how this might look in the early sections of the book.

While reading, I would add a Think Aloud where I would say, "Hmmm this does not make sense. I need to reread that." And I would.  This would let my students know that I too, need to stop and check my understanding of  the text, thus tucking in reading skills while teaching social studies.

 After reading a section or two, I would show the students how to make sure they are really remembering what is going on in the text. I would hold out my thumb and count with my fingers as I said each important fact that I learned. I might also have children turn and talk to partners and recall the facts that way too.

Finally, I would store all of my work in an envelope that I pasted into the back cover of the book. I usually make sure that I have  extra vocabulary words and picture cards  so that I can share them with others who might be on my grade team as well.

Happy Reading!

Ready, Set, READ ALOUD!

Earlier I posted about reading aloud books to your students to launch the workshops. As you already know, my dear teacher friends, you want to model great reading habits in YOUR  read aloud so that the children can see what master readers do when reading. 


Some of my TOP TIPS For Reading Aloud as listed below:

1. Read the book before you even think of reading it to your class! (This goes with out saying)
2. Your GOAL is to teaching READING SKILLS! You are the model, the expert reader, the MASTER, so find the skills your group is lacking in and show them how it is done.
3. Read a variety of texts at all levels and all genres. This way all students can 'see' themselves in the books you read. Another plus is that you can teach content area topics at the same time! COOL!
4. Ask open ended questions to promote thinking
5. Give student opportunities to discuss the book without the teacher (Turn & Talk, Stop & Jot,  a thinking prompt, a listening prompt), with the idea that this will grow from a 2 person, to a 4 person to a whole class discussion!
6. Support the book with visuals for ELLs ( vocabulary, maps, picture cards)
7. Keep track of the BIG IDEAS discovered by your class during the Read Aloud

Happy Reading!

Launching your workshops

One way to kick the year off in Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop is to have a really super strong  Read Aloud that sets the tone.

One picture  book that I  recommend is Aunt Chip and the Great Tripple Creek Dam Affair by Patricia Polacco.  This book is about a town worships their  TV's and uses books for everything EXCEPT reading. As Aunt Chip promises everyone,"there will be consequences" and eventually there are some. The lessons that students can take away from this book are endless; the most important being the value of reading books!  I have had teachers let students lead the discussion of why reading is important and this usually leads to some action.  Take a peek at it on Amazon or at your local library.
http://www.amazon.com/Aunt-Great-Triple-Creek-Affair/dp/0399229434

Another great book to start off the Writing Workshop is The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli. This is a story about a girl who is entering a library contest to write  'the best story'. While looking for inspiration for her story, she gets ideas from her family and friends yet, she feels that her story is still not quite right. Finally, when she writes her story from the heart, she is successful!! Yippie!! As a child who once struggled with writing, this story was me, totally me!
See for yourself by clicking below. 
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Story-Eileen-Spinelli/dp/0803730551/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314499332&sr=1-1

Back To School Part 3: Setting Up Reading Notebooks

Reading Notebooks have been used over the years in a variety of ways . In my classroom life  I have used them in all of these ways: a place to respond to the book, a reading log, a student-teacher communication book about books read, a list of books to read in the future, a place to house reading goals, a place to prepare for book talks or book clubs, reading notes or mini-charts from class, lists of new words/ideas encountered while reading, a sticky-note holder, and maybe even a book report holder. AHHH! That is just one teacher! Yikes! With all these ways to use a notebook floating around out there, it seems quite exhausting to determine how YOU  can use this notebook in the most effective way.  This is where I, teacher friends, come in and try to make some sense of this whole reading notebook thing.

THE NOTEBOOK

A simple plain composition notebook works for most kids. You might want to ask kids for 2 reading notebooks in the initial supply list, so that when kids run out of room in one notebook, they can move on the next on right away.

The Set-up

Just like in my earlier post, I am suggesting that students use the first four pages of the book for the Table of Contents for consistency. Again, students would number the front side of all pages and keep the back sides blank. As you will soon see, the TOC would start with Goals, Book List and then Reading Responses.

Goals

Page 5 & 6-Most schools in my area require students to set and monitor goals at least monthly. This is a safe place where kids can write them and reflect on their reading goals at the end of each month/unit of study in school. I would give kids at least 2 pages in the notebook to write them (or more if he/she writes large). 

Books to Read List

Page 7 & 8- This is a personal book  list that students can add to or modify as the year goes on. I suggest that teachers share their own "Books to Read List" with the class to help them see how one works. This also goes hand in hand with the goals.....you write out the books you want to read and then you read them!

Reading Responses -Page 9 & beyond....

Let me get this out first...this IS READING WORKSHOP and we want kids to spend their time reading, not writing. So in my classrooms, I have  strongly suggested that children DO NOT write about reading every single day. Yes my fellow NY teachers, I am well aware that the new Core Common Learning Standards adopted by New York State added in the standard stating that students must respond to literature. However, this does not have to be in the same old way  " Today I read about Mercy Watson the pig. Today he went with Mr. Watson to ..."  

 A Scaffolded Approach

While recall is an important skill, it is  a very LOW LEVEL skill. To promote higher levels of thinking, students should be encouraged to respond to reading by jotting on a sticky notes about a variety of things while reading. Then, at the end of the session, students might  be asked to pick the sticky note that was the most important to them or the story, and share it with their reading partner. Then after sharing, students could take that one sticky note, place it in their reading response notebook and write long about it for homework that evening (or maybe not!). 

Ramp it Up....

  Later on, you could to ramp up the reading responses by having students would pick out at least 2 important sticky notes to expand upon or write long about once a week. This way, students would not feel the pressure to write about a book they just started or a topic that they don't know much about.  

 I Finished a Book, Now what?

When a student completes a book, I would ask a student to remove all of their sticky notes from the book and sort them into categories (i.e. character notes, predictions, setting notes, my ideas, and so forth*) in the notebook and then reflect on it.  This can and will look like many different things depending on the reading level.  In addition to sorting, perhaps with help of a partner, students might try to find the 'best' sticky note and write long about it.  Or a student could  even find the one sticky note that really changed his or her mind about the book/idea/ character and reflect on it. These are just some of the ways that I have had students stop and reflect on a book before moving on to the next one; by using the reading notebook for reflection.


*These are just some ideas, but you can let the kids sort them on their own and see what they come up with. This is also something that can be done as a whole class based on Read Aloud sticky notes first and then tried with partners.

Back To School Part 2: Setting Up Writer's Notebooks

Getting your classroom ready for the first day of school is sometimes the only thing on teachers' minds.  Sometimes we forget that we have to teach the first few days too. I am a HUGE advocate of starting off strong and by that I mean, YOU WILL TEACH ON DAY 1 and  in most cases, give homework. I know that this might go against all the touchy feely ideas of being a teacher,  but if you don't start now, it begins the snowball of 'non-teaching days.' Might I remind many teachers of the day(s) before a holiday, the day that you come back after a break, the days when you have assemblies, the field trip days, and so forth....So to start the year off strong, plan on teaching on the very first day to set the tone and get the kids excited about reading and writing!!!

Teaching a mini-lesson on the first day of school and showing your students how to set up the notebook in a particular way will make your life easier in the end. By taking the time to phyiscally model the  setup on chart paper, with a giant sized writer's notebook or with a regular sized notebook using a document reader camera, will save you tons of time later when assessing.  When I say modeling for the class, I mean starting with a blank notebook page and taking your class through the entire  process.  In the past, I have done this on chart paper in the front of the room and left the chart there for the first month of school as a reference. 

Day 1 Writing Notebooks Set Up

1. The first four pages (front and back counted as one page) were the table of contents. I labeled it Table of Contents  (TOC)  and then had the children put numbers on all the front (or right sided ) pages in the notebook. (once kids are in 4th grade, they could do this at home for homework early on)
2. The first entry in the TOC  was done in class on day 1 and part of it was completed at the meeting area before being set off to try it on their own.
3. Page number (top right corner of page)
4. Top Header: (in the middle of that big empty area): H for entry done in Home or S for entry done in school
5. Far left side of paper in the margin the date  (8/3) 
6. Students start writing on line one, and try to write to the end of each line
7. Students write on the RIGHT/FRONT  page ( i.e. page 5) and then continue on to page 6 which in the next page in the notebook
8. Students are expected to fill up at least one page during  a workshop period ( this can change depending on the grade and level of the students)
9. The LEFT or BACK side of the notebook pages are used for revising or expanding ideas that come up after a student has completed an entry and thus would DATE that page on the left margin too. 

Here is an example of what a notebook might look like:

 

  
Now here is an actual notebook from a student in Grade 4. Please note that this entry was labeled as support, because the student was working on an essay unit and needed help in distinguishing the different parts that were used to support his idea/thesis that Henry Hudson was dumb.

Questions? Comments?
 
Next up: Back to School Part 3: Setting up Reading Notebooks

Back To School (BTS) Part 1: The Book Box

Each summer , I always  think about all the ways that I can reinvent my classroom to make my space and classroom  run smoother for both me and my students.  As you my fellow teachers can understand, there is  never enough closet space, bookshelves or wall space to put all those super important things that you NEED in your room.  Rest assured my dear reader,  that I have one space saver & noise saver that I have used in my 6th grade classroom that worked wonders for my middle school students.  Let me introduce you to 

THE BOOK BOX- a catch all for everything needed in reading and writing workshop! It contains a reading notebook, writer's notebook, reading & writing folders with paper, sticky notes, dictionary, pens, pencils, erasers, and a book baggie filled with just right books.

Here's how it works:

When students would walk into the room, each student  would grab his or her book box and put them at their desk or special spot, turn in their homework and meet me, the teacher, in the meeting area for the mini-lesson. After the mini-lesson, students would return to their spot & begin  independent work without having to rifle through a desk and disturb anyone.

The Box- It can be a cardboard or plastic magazine box from an office supply store or craft store. If you have the time & lots of friends who eat cereal, you can use old cereal boxes with the top half cut diagonally on one side,  I have found some really great deals in the summer months and have found that both plastic and sturdy cardboard will outlast your cereal boxes.

The Tools-In my box I had students keep BOTH reading* and writer's notebooks, so that I could look at them when they were at lunch or in another class, but mostly to help keep the kids organized. I also had students keep reading and writing folders there so that I could see drafts (writing folder), book club work, vocabulary work, and/or reading lists (reading folder). Additionally, students  put pens, pencils, and sticky notes all in the box so that no one had a reason to leave their spot during a workshop. The resting home for the book baggie was a must, as too many students would complain that they were carrying around 2 or 3 large chapter books at a time in a bag inside their back packs. So I came to the conclusion that they could keep the books that were' next up' to read  in the book box to help them save their backs.

*In 6th grade I also had kids use a 3 subject notebook for reading, so that they could have a section for vocabulary work, reading responses, and reading projects. When  used  in lower grades, a one subject reading notebook works best.

Lower Grade Adaption:

When I became a literacy coach a few years back, I helped a new teacher set up her room and together we modified how the book box might work with smaller readers and writers. We decided that all reading tools could be placed inside the book baggie (book log, books, sticky notes, pencil) and kept at the child's desk. Then, the folders (she used yellow for reading & green for writing) could be kept in a community file area. We used two magazine boxes for each table in the room & labeled them according to table names. Meanwhile the reading notebook was kept in the students desk. Writing paper was used in place of a notebook  & could be found in the community supply area of the room. Another super 2nd grade teacher used these lovely little chair storage sacks that went over the back of the chair. This too is another way to store all things reading or writing.