21A Celebrates School and Personal Transfer and Growth

The BES 21A cohort is one Growth Minded Group! These dedicated teachers spent Tuesday morning observing in 12 classrooms spanning K-5 looking for evidence of the Pillars of 21A (Community, Workshop, Thinking Strategies, and Student Discourse). Some of the most exciting observations included evidence noted on the wedges of the Synthesis Wheel. Together our teachers combined their thinking to come to a greater understanding about the Pillars: Teachers and Students intentionally making connections to create a comfortable community to share their ideas an thinking.  

Evidence of 21A Pillars to celebrate at Buckner:

• Teachers develop a strong sense of COMMUNITY in their classrooms. Students were very comfortable sharing their thoughts with one another and worked well together 
• All classrooms taught through the WORKSHOP approach. Intentional use of the the FLEXIBLE workshop structure (collaborative inquiry through YOU Do Together proceeding I DO instruction) moved thinking and engaged learners in some classrooms in various subjects. 
• Students and teachers using language of THINKING STRATEGIES during mini-lessons, on Slides, during worktime and conferring.
• Students using a variety of share and STUDENT DISCOURSE strategies: Hot Potato, Mix & Mingle, Jingle Mingle, Give one, Get one, PB& J Partners, Turn and Talk, Elbow Partners, Share Square
• Student engaged in a variety of meaningful discussions about various subjects. Students were engaged and comfortable enough to question each other's thinking. 

It was definitely a day of CELEBRATION, LEARNING, and GOAL SETTING!

Here is a link for anyone who is interested in being intentional with using thinking.

Thinking About Thinking...Again. Resources to the Rescue

Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Can't you hear it? The heartbeat returning? As we continue to revive the thinking strategies and how to best to support our own understanding as well as teach students, it's often handy to find a resource that really "spells it out."

Think Alouds are not just for kids. Teachers need them, too. Oh, and they need resources, too! Well, the author's of Strategies that Work actually published a fabulous little tool titled the Comprehension Toolkit. Each booklet takes a strategy and provides you with pertinent strategy background, a detailed workshop approach lesson (i.e. purpose, connect & engage, (explicit)model, guide, collaborate, reflection/share the learning), and follows up with reflection/assessment questions for you, the teacher, as you consider how well it went with the learning goals. Additionally, you can find support with adapting and differentiating! This toolkit is not short of teacher tools!

Each Thinking Strategy booklet offers 3 lessons with engaging and approachable (K-2 & 3-6) fiction and nonfiction text. Personally, I love the vision for the complexity of text for the range of learners. It's almost like they met up with Mike Schmoker, author of Focus when they chose the selections! They are meaty, relevant, engaging, and lengthy- just the kind of texts we really ought to be including in our readers workshops. Additionally, authors even provide possible ways (and examples!) of how students could record their thinking. Who doesn't love examples from REAL learners!!!

I highly recommend you check out this valuable resource- even it it's only for your own learning as you re-engage with the strategies themselves and your own understanding of how the thinking could look, sound, and BE in your classroom.

Little booklets with lesson for EACH of the 7 Thinking Strategies

Examples from the Primary (K-2) Toolkit for Student Responses to their Reading.

Are We All Speaking the Same Language?

We've seen the power of ALL using the language of the Thinking Strategies K-5. We know the gains students can make when they already know the meaning of the words we say and how to put that "word" into action. We know the excitement we feel and the confidence the students can display when we have something familiar to build upon.

It might go something like this: Students say, "I know what it means to use my schema!"  (and you learn that they really do). So then our next thought might be, "Yes! Now we can learn even more about HOW to use our schema AND we can do that with complex and unfamiliar text!" 

The reality of common language fostering movement toward deeper and more efficient learning  displays itself again and again. Think about the Phonics Dance, the BES version of StopLight Paragraphing, Fluency components, Bear Essentials, Share Square, Math Practices, Equations and "No Naked Numbers", even Workshop Model! Again and again students reap the rewards of familiar common schoolwide language that we build upon as they move through the content learning and grade levels.

Two sides of the multi-page desk ring that offers tools for reading, writing, and math.

So, my offering to you today is the content on a Desk Ring* that Kindergarten students are taught to use independently. It includes the Phonics Dance Hunks and Chunks, a Fab 5 writing rubric ALL K's have used as writers (of anything) throughout the year, and the reading decoding and math strategies. While some of this language may phase out between 2nd and 3rd, it's important that we, as teachers, understand what students are familiar with and support them as they build their understanding and maybe new language or expectations. There is much to gain when we all "speak the same language." How might this tools' content support you and/or your students?

*The fabulous Mindy McKinney made this terrific tool for K, but I thought you may want it as a tool to reference yourself. Please don't think that I am asking you to copy it and use it with all of your students. 

Top “Start of the Year” Learning Targets & Resources to consider as you Build your Literate Community

Essential Understandings	Resources
Readers, writers, speakers and listeners grow through conversation and collaboration.	Conversation Stems Collaboration Protocols (Fishbowl, 3-2-1, The Final Word, Think-Pair-Share, etc.) Academic Conversations Placemat Share Square video Create a Class rubric Junior Great Book stories and convo. rubric
Reading fluency is essential to comprehending text	Whole Class Choral Reading Peer-Assisted Fluency Peer-Assisted Fluency Feedback Rasiniski’s Rubric 4-5th Rasinski Fluency Rubric (kid version)
Effective writers write for a variety of purposes, tasks, and audiences.	Ralph Fletcher -Writer’s Notebook Lucy Calkins units-start of workshop Invitations (Georgia Heard’s Heart Map, Decorating Notebooks with meaningful images, reading spark, etc.)
Language impacts writing and speaking.	Words their Way Spelling Inventory Assessment Being a “Courteous Writer” What do readers expect a courteous writer to do?  (Jeff Anderson)
Effective readers and writers use metacognition to comprehend and learn.	Thinking Stems Posters
Digital citizens learn through technology.	What is it? Quick video and links to help you navigate teaching DC. Classroom lesson (Teaching Channel video)

Back on the Bike and Fly Fishing

Back on the Bike  

I know it, you know it, we can all relate... I am talking about the experience of riding a bike after a LONG hiatus. You know what your feet and body are supposed to do, but sometimes neither one will cooperate and you lean a bit to far one way or another and ...fall. Or maybe you get those feet going and suddenly your hands forgot how to brake and ...CRASH! Undaunted, you get back up and try again. Starting school again is a lot like getting back on the bike: exciting, frustrating, full of learning, and ultimately results in a joyful journey.

 

The journey of reading can also have it's bumps and bruises. Taking 2 1/2 months off in the summer can cause some tricky trial and tribulations for many of our readers. While some may have not picked up a book in months, others my have read, but not actually engaged in sharing their comprehension and thoughts about the text with others.  This is why easing them back into reading (and thinking about their reading) will be critical before assessing.

For the first 8 days, try some of the following strategies for scaffolding success:

• Asking about predictions
• Making connections & asking questions
• Retelling & Summarizing (oral or written)
• Determining MIP (Most Important Points, events, main idea, etc.)
• Reflecting on their reading

All of these strategies can integrated in fun ways with collaborative partner/table talk and with read alouds you're already using to establish community!

One more strategy for success with DRA assessment includes

Avoiding the Fluency Fishing Expedition!

 

So that you can gain the student's independence with fluency, try the One Minute (2 really) Oral Reading Fluency. Once you have the Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM) and have looked at their Spring DRA assessment you can find the "just right" DRA and assess the reader at the likely independent level! YAY!   *All ORFs are on SharePoint.

 

Getting BIG fish the first time is a great time and energy saver for you and the child.

 

Start Assessing August 28th (strugglers first- due Sept. 15) Window closes on Sept. 29. Enter DRA levels into IC by Oct.2.

 

Universal Idea Connects K-5th

    Universal idea seems so...abstract. Well, it is. It's that unifying idea that connects students thinking throughout a piece of writing. Regardless of the subject/topic or content area, building a piece of writing around a Universal Idea (A.K.A BIG Universal Idea, Theme, thruline)  offers readers a true connection to the text.

Candy leads to a healthy life. (Thesis - first draft of an idea)

    Let's face it, not all readers care about your topic (insert: recess, Civil War, universal idea ;),homework, life cycles, human body system, etc.). Really, they don't. BUT... I have a hunch that the masses, the human race, does care about things such as: health, safety, benefits, injustice, leadership, better life, kindness, etc. Right? Right. Let's play this out through a look a familiar situation. You've been there before, you pick up something to read and see that it's about animals' structures and functions (insert eye roll), but then, all of a sudden you read a little further and see that the writer wants to connect it to survival. Well, I am pretty sure you care about survival. And...you're hooked. You then see that all of the paragraphs connect to this big idea of survival and you know you are moving toward understanding the writer's purpose. Ahhh, not just random facts about structures and functions, but facts using StopLight paragraphs that connect to SURVIVAL! It all makes sense and you leave the text with a better understanding of the topic and how to connects to something greater-something universal.


   So, while writing with a Universal Idea is still new to all of us, it's something that we hold in high value and work (through scaffolded experiences) to help our students grasp. From K to 5th, teachers are using the Gradual Release of Responsibility support students' understanding of writing with a Universal Idea. Check out some of the work of our own Buckner Bears whose work showcases an effort to make connections between topic and readers.

 Kindergarteners "cold write" : writing to support thinking about the UNIVERSAL IDEA: PATRIOISM.

 

Using a list of UIs to build schema. Kids work with partners to share thinking and determine words we  know and try out thesis statements with UIs. They also add some of their own universal ideas to the list!

Julie Brown leads a small group though creating a thesis statement with a UI that is connected  to "green" reasons and "yellow" support for those reasons. Writers begin to notice the connection between UIs and StopLight paragraphing as they prewrite. Next up: research and drafting with "reds" explanation and examples.  

Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS to Kristen Zwischenberger's writers who grew from 36% writing with thesis statements (Universal ideas and connected reasons) to 92%!! What amazing progress these writers made with intentional and scaffolded instruction.

Need some Next Steps for guiding strategic readers (and writers)?

http://www.scholastic.com/NSFresources/

Check out this AMAZING resource for designing instruction for your Guided Reading groups. It's truly one of the best resources I've come across.

Highlights:
Videos- Jan Richardson in action teaching specific (and varied) strategies to a variety of readers at varying levels from PreA/DRA1-Z/DRA 50. Just click on the video you want to watch for:
-phonological skills
-book introductions
-strategies prompting during the independent reading
-teaching points
-comprehension discussions
-word work
-guided writing

Sample Lessons- Looking for ideas for meeting kids' specific needs? Jan has some to share. From any of the reading components above, you can find lesson ideas and needed materials to teach those specific strategies and skills.

Verbal Prompts- What can I say when they___? Check out the graphic organizers that are categories by LEVEL (aka common reader's behaviors) and by READING & WRITING.

 

 



 

Assessments- No instruction is complete (or should even be designed) without information from assessments. This text offers a myriad of assessment ideas and forms.

I

Intervention & EL Resources- Students will additional needs might need a little something different than the others. At the end of each chapter, suggestions show up to support your planning and instructional needs.

 

So, if you are looking to add to your Reading Instruction repertoire, check out this book. We have 3 at BES: Emilee, Angelica, and I are happy to loan you a copy!