Synthesis with Sentences & Punctuation

 

             We’ve been working on our grammar game for YEARS as a Buckner staff. Many of us have read books, participated in studies, attended PD, and tried a multitude of instructional practices and strategies in our own classrooms. If I were to share the myriad of methods I’ve used over the years, you’d quickly become bored and I’d run out of space to share with you some of the methods that are working here at BES. So instead, I’ll share a most recent successful experience.

Recently, Richard invited me into his classroom to collaborate with Word Study. As is always the case with Richard, we started in one place and ended in another. The place we ended is actually where I’d like to start.  You see, while the concern was with students’ lack and/or inappropriate use of punctuation, the problem was actually so closely tied with sentence structure that we decided to tackle them together. What if, maybe, we taught writers how to craft complex sentences so that they would understand when to use the proper punctuation? This synthesis, this change in our thinking, was the beginning of match made in Heaven- sentence structure & proper punctuation.

                So, our journey began with the commas and complex sentences. Richard first determined which complex sentence structure he wanted to introduce first. The winner was the “Interrupter” –or as Jeff Anderson dubs it, “The Breadbasket Comma”. This complex sentence creator calls for the writer to insert extra details, offering specific information or richer mental image, for the reader. Did you see how that worked? He chose this to share first for its novelty and potentially powerful impact on the kids’ writing. We followed this study (see below) with the comma in a series, AAAWWUBBIS, FANBOY and Introductory commas. While most of these uses of a comma were supportive goals in Units 4 and 5 of the 5^th grade ELA curriculum, writers’ needs dictated a need to add those that were not directly stated in the standards. It did not take rocket science schema to figure out that the way to support students’ in crafting complex sentences was to teach them to notice, name, and use the other commas. We had a simple research based protocol and set expectations for our student writers.

In designing a protocol, we wanted to ensure that our collective efforts would: build students’ awareness, develop their understanding, link reading, writing and communicating with others, and offer accountability on their part. Here’s the gist:

1.       Examine a mentor sentence from a familiar text.

2.       Determine the use of the comma in that sentence.

3.       Students seek and share similar uses in texts.

4.       Share our own experiments with a given comma. Always snowballing our learning and using the ones we’ve previously practiced.

Two other experiences happened each day, (1) Students worked to write using that kind of comma--even if it only for a few minutes. (2) Students shared their experimentation as they wrote in a new way. They offered one another feedback and worked to revise their writing so as to clarify their message and edit their work. Of course, with Richard, it never got dull- challenges were extended (ask a student in his room about “oral punctuation” A.K.A. “voice texting”), games were played, and authentic writing opportunities were offered. All the while…the children learned, sought an understanding, and tried to write in a way that showed both complexity in their sentence structure and proper punctuation.

While our efforts have not transferred into a classroom of distinguished writers, our efforts did show evidence of transfer in students’ writing-and not just “writing workshop” writing. The kids now know that writers craft complex sentences and use punctuation to clarify meaning for the reader. In addition, they also realized that writers work to write with a variety of sentences that include punctuation- regardless of the situation, form, audience, purpose or topic. Kenneyd Park, 5^th grader, summed it up best when she wrote [excerpts], “I feel like I am a stronger and more detailed writer now that I’ve spent some time developing my writing.  …. In my writing, I tend to use breadbasket sentences because they aren’t run on sentences, but still add in extra detail. … I feel that I can use commas and a larger vocabulary (that’s we’re we originally started our journey) to improve my writing.“ This girl’s getting it!

Though your journey may not be the same, due to different standards, different units, different kids, and different methods, what everyone does have in common is a desire to support our kids in crafting complex sentences and using the right punctuation. For our Ks and 1s, this may mean spending time looking at how complete sentences start and how a writer uses “and“ as a connecting word, rather than a starting word (99% of the time). For our 2^nd and 3^rd graders, this may translate to time marinating in using transition words that call for writers to use commas, as well as complete and compound sentences that add support and further support to a topic sentence. For all of our grades, this may mean carving out specific time to introduce, inquire, and practice with students- all the while integrating in authentic opportunities and expecting it…All. The. Time.

Who knew that a simple collaboration could harvest so much synthesis with sentences?  

 

Words, Words, Words...and Phrases

"So much to say, so much to say, so much to say." Dave Matthews Band It happened tonight. I read with Carson Ann and stumbled upon a word I'd never in my life (nearly 40 years of it) encountered. It was in a children's book- a book about horses. She's become quite interested in horses these days and so we checked out a few books, a few fiction stories, on horses to read at home. So, at bedtime she began to read from one of them and came upon the word "forelock". Even with the complete sentence, coupled with the context of the  words and sentences before and after it, in addition to the illustration...we still had to infer its meaning. I relied upon my understanding of the prefix "fore" (meaning before) and my schema for my "forehead" and my previous experience with the word "lock" related to "locks of hair" (Thanks, Goldilocks.) to come to the understanding that maybe it related to the hair on the front of the horse's head. And even with those ideas in my mind, I was still not 100% certain I knew the meaning. You might already have guessed that my experiences and schema for horses is very limited- even being a born and bred Kentucky girl.      Regardless of the exact meaning, we did our best to infer and moved along. The mental image in our minds worked and the story continued. A few minutes later we ended that chapter and switched books so I could read the more complex text to her and she began to fall asleep. I bet we made it three pages into the story before the word "forelock" popped up, again. This time the author offered more descriptive and explanatory sentences, and a more detailed illustration so that we did confirm our original thinking about the "forelock" being the patch or tuft of hair on or just above a horse's forehead--or as Carson Ann called them 'bangs'. Our new horse-related vocabulary word immediately became part of our new schema and a permanent mental image stuck.     It was at that point that synthesis occurred for me related to the KCAS. Aha! I get it. I now understand the need for the standard related to the understanding and use of general and domain or content specific and vocabulary, along with Greek and Latin roots and affixes! How many of us (and our kids) would have just skipped over that word- figuring it didn't matter and banking on the fact they'd never see it again...only to encounter it again and again as they studied or read about a particular subject or topic? How many are "okay" with a general or basic understanding of a words and phrases and don't search for multiple or deeper meanings (as explained below in the Literacyhead example)? What value do specific words have? Believe it or not, words convey more than meaning. They convey the author's perspective, tone, and even subtle suggestions. Just as you determine and select specific words to use (for different purposes, audiences, and topics) so do authors; and it's worth our time and effort to support our students in STOPPING to make meaning of those words, or deepen their understanding of a possible single-dimension understanding. Why? Because we all seek deeper understanding. Why else? Because when we stretch our schema as readers and thinkers, we also extend ourselves as effective communicators and writers. Who knows how many books I'll be reading about horses in the next few months. If it is as many as I read when my son was on his "squid kick", I am sure that I'll be banking some new vocabulary words and phrases, thus growing in a field I never thought I would. I say, "Bring it on!" because when it comes time to transfer my learning through reading, oral communication, or writing, I'll surely have "So much to say, so much to say, so much to say." Check out these sites below for more insight into the power of intentional vocabulary work. Choice Literacy: http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1506 Though it's a podcast, it's totally worth listening to or reading the transcript. He talks about everything from the need to purposefully teach vocabulary (and refers to the three tiers) to the including of small group work based on assessments.  Doug Fisher talks about Vocabulary, Comprehension, and the Common Core in this podcast:   http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1198   www.literacyhead.com: Goodbye, memorization. Hello, memorable vocabulary lessons!  The more words children know, the more texts they can read and understand, and the more they are likely to learn.  In fact, vocabulary knowledge is the strongest predictor of reading success across content areas. When a text presents challenging words, we stop and ask students to think about what they know about the word. We encourage children to turn and talk about the word, which they do obediently, but when we listen closely, what they’re saying is, “Do you know what it means? Me neither.” They shrug and dream up a definition based on imagination or loose connections. Not very productive. Rather than using the collective knowledge of students in the class to come up with a pieced together definition of a challenging word, we have begun to extend our directions, saying “Turn and talk to the person next to you about the word endless. Look at these two pictures for some clues. What can you figure out about endless?" Desert Ride by Jeff Mahorney Globe (detail) by Justin Richel Or, as an alternative, before or after reading a book, we might say, “Let’s try to figure out the word endless. If you don’t know what it means, consider the way it is used in these examples and try to come up with a definition: The endless rain filled the yard with water. I was eating an endless lollipop; it lasted the whole movie! The book felt endless as I tried to finish the 400 pages for the book report. Finally, we might show students a picture of the opposite of endless. Curiouser and Curiouser by Yann PENDARIES By the end of the lesson, students who knew nothing about the word endless, will have a working understanding of the word. Students who already knew the word endless will have deeper understandings. Asking students to work through vocabulary in these ways forces them to practice reading closely and work to use additional text resources to build background knowledge. It invites students to deeply process the word based on text as opposed to grabbing at straws. The kids are doing the work, but their efforts aren’t random. Instead, images and sample sentences (other texts) serve as scaffolds (rather than us!). Don't have to extra time to build the image-filled lessons we're describing? We've done it for you in Literacyhead's vocabulary lessons. Subscribe Now We are listening. You've told us that our vocabulary lessons are your favorite and we're giving them their own special place on Literacyhead. Look for new vocabulary options, coming soon! Learn more.

Learnzillion Is Worth a Million-Looks

Ok, so I've been busy clicking away and this site www.learnzillion.com is awesome and free! Whether you are looking to teach about :

• sentence structures and conjunctions (click on 3rd grade)
• how to use the writing process to answer a constructed response (4th grade)
• how to add transition words to their body paragraphs (4th argument prompt writing lesson). Um, 5th, we are so on this one!
• read a poem fluently
• MATH- hardly ventured to that whole section, but I hear it's pretty good.
• ...and on and on and on!

I am not saying the lessons are perfect, but they are pretty well done. And the grade level lesson can be shown above or below it's posted "level", so don't be afraid to check out lessons from adjacent levels.

Use with kids. Build your own schema. Post on Edmodo for reinforcement or enrichment. (great idea, Heather!)

But before you naysay, click away. 

(Oh,and the passages are timely for your units...I dare say these curriculum maps are used by many in our nation. Unit 4 here we come!)

Happy clicking,

Sarah 

Moving Our Mindset: The Shift to Opinion Wriitng

Argumentative, Persuasive, Opinion, Oh My!!!

Getting ready to teach a unit that asks kids to share their OPINION, rather than persuade? The shift is not only a movement in your mindset, but an evolved sense of voice and emotion. Gone are the days of heated letters, sassy tones, and bargains. Check this link to gain more schema for our mode: OPINION.


The Common Core has many teachers and literacy coaches pondering how to teach students to write in ways that mix fact and emotion. In this essay from the archives, Jennifer Burton looks at the difference between Argumentative, Opinion, and Persuasive Writing in the Common Core with her colleagues, and tries out some lessons with students:

We use many of the teaching points from our former "Persuasive Unit," now known as the "Argumentative or Opinion Writing Unit." We just make sure we leave out that emotional appeal and add a counter argument. What we're most concerned about is how to make the writing meaningful and authentic for students. We don't want to give everyone a prompt, but instead are helping students find topics they are interested in that lend themselves to this type of writing.

  http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1192   Finding mentor texts can be a challenge. While we'd probably seek some higher level models than this site provides, we certainly can appreciate the efforts the children are making to support their opinions.   Good luck and may the mindset of opinion writing guide you and your students. :)

The Low Down on On-Demand

The response below came from the Cindy Parker from the Division of Program Studies (KDE). In it, she shares her insight into On-Demand writing and reinforces our strong belief in the power of supporting our kids as writers.

From her statement I synthesized a few key points.
1) Our kids need to WRITE, WRITE, WRITE.  They need multiple opportunities throughout they day to share their thinking in writing- always considering and working to demonstrate these traits:

• audience awareness
• idea development
• organization of ideas
• the best words to support the message and mode
• appropriate conventions they need to truly convey their message

So whether they are sharing information learned through research in a form of some sort, crafting a story, establishing their opinion, responding to learning, reflecting, writing in a family journal, or simply thanking a volunteer or field trip guide....we are pushing them to always work toward communicating with clarity, development, and refinement.

2) Our kids need an understanding of the traits/ characteristics of quality writing. In a nutshell: the focus ought to be on the traits, rather than the form. This is because the traits transcend form. Students here gain access to those traits through analyzing model text and/or creating a class rubric that mirrors the state's Scoring Rubric as well as through specific  mini-lessons and experiences writing.  What seems to be most critical is that our kids understand that writers communicate coherently with an audience using the above bullets, regardless of the form (i.e. letter, story, Prezi, essay, feature article, etc.) Are forms obsolete? No, they are a form of organization and still need to be taught and experienced, but they are not the "end all, be all" of writing.

3) Our kids need support, but the goal is always  independence. BES teachers really live this one. You know your writers may need graphic organizers to scaffold them as they work to become organized and developed writers, but eventually they need to wean themselves from them as they demonstrate the ability to write without them. You all are always pushing your students to try their own and use what works for them. I have yet to see anyone force a child to use a graphic organizer every time they write. It's always a form of support through Gradual Release of Responsibility. Go us!

Please share your synthesis after you read Ms. Parker's response in the comment section below.

As you know...Together We Grow. -Sarah

MS. PARKER'S RESPONSE: The craft of writing is a long, developmental process requiring a variety of strategies and scaffolds at each level. Requiring students to use a certain form (5 paragraphs) can stifle the creativity and growth of the writer. It can also create in the students’ minds a false sense of good writing.


For students to do well in On Demand Writing, it is critical that they first understand the traits of writing as outlined in the Scoring Rubric. According to the K-Prep Assessment Basics, form, although stated in the prompt, is there only to provide context for purpose and audience. Form is not part of the rubric; rather, students will be evaluated on their ability to communicate effectively with an audience by supporting complex ideas in a coherently.

So what does this look like in the classroom? It means that students write, write, and write. They regularly analyze a variety of texts, including their own writing, to understand purpose, audience, idea development, and language. Knowledge of these traits is critical to allow constructive conversations about writing. This can be done in large or small group settings, as mini-lessons in response to formative assessment needs, or as part of a planned instructional sequence. There are numerous resources for teaching the “Traits of Writing” that can be adapted to each grade level.

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a time or a place for structured organizers as an instructional scaffold. However, because our goal is to develop independent writers, we should gradually release the use of these tools as students evolve in the craft of writing. Remember that on-demand writing is merely an assessment meant to allow students to demonstrate independently the skills they have gained through instruction and that the standards call for students to be able to write well in short and extended timeframes. The standards do not address the strategies for teaching writing, although they do align to a writing process approach.

A resource you might find helpful is Addressing the Three Modes of Writing in the KCAS, available here http://kdeliteracylink.wikispaces.com/file/view/Three+Modes+of+Writing+in+KCAS.pdf/380885860/Three%20Modes%20of%20Writing%20in%20KCAS.pdf. KDE will also be posting soon on the assessment page on-demand writing samplers, annotated student work, and instructional resources.

Hope this helps you—I appreciate your interest in helping students be better writers.


Cindy Parker, NBCT
Literacy Coordinator
Office of Next Generation Learners
Kentucky Department of Education
500 Mero Street, 1911 CPT
Frankfort, KY 40601

Leveled Non-Fiction and Ficiton Passages: Arming Yourself

Fitting readers' needs and being aware of exposure to complex texts is a challenge. Lucy Calkins quotes Richard Allington in her book Pathways to the Common Core, "You can't learn much from books you can't read" (2002). Allington defines these books as those students can read when they demonstrate 96% accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. That challenge seems tough enough, but we also need to be exposing them (though modeling and think alouds) to those texts that are on grade level and will further our students' understanding of the standards though use of the thinking strategies. Basically, we need to have access to an arsenal of texts to use in our teaching, conferring, and classroom libraries.


So, what do you do? You seek support such as: books, booklets, colleagues, LMSs, online sites, etc. Check out sites listed below as they may make your search a little easier and support your ELA, social studies, and science contents as well. Consider them as you work to find your mini-lesson and student practice passages (those we sometimes offer them to try out before they get into their self-selected texts.) You may just find something you like that fits a variety of needs. :)

Happy Clicking!


http://teacher.depaul.edu/Nonfiction_Readings.htm Many grade-leveled passages on various content concepts 3rd -6th grade

http://www.k12reader.com/ Use the sidebar to find the grade level you are interested in finding texts for.

Must Have New Apps

Sometimes I just find myself App Shopping. Like those times when I am trapped in the house, and the dishes sit piled in the sink waiting to be washed, I might just engage in some task avoidance and click on AppShopper or the App Store and see what catches my attention. Tonight I found several great (and mostly FREE) apps that called me to click "Install". Time might be running out, so click it yourself before you miss it!

McGraw Hill Education books: County & City Mouse, Jack and the Beanstalk, Why the Sea is Salty, and Little Red Riding Hood. These books are great for early readers who might need the book read to them,  (when they need help with a word or page, or just need fluency modeled for them), or when they need a just right book to read to themselves.


Word Mover:  This app was created by ReadWriteThink- the well-clicked resource we know best from our ELA units. The app "is used to supplement classroom instruction, reinforce concepts taught in class, and offer increased student engagement". Students can create "found poetry" (we might have schema for this concept though our Magnetic Poetry Center).

Book Creator: This app costs $1.99 and students can use it to create their own books, save them in iBooks, and send them via email, or submit them to the iBookstore.


Please sure your newest, greatest apps for all to see and CLICK!


Happy Installing!