What do I need to get started? Daily 5 Book Study

I'm once again joining up with Brenda over at Primary Inspired to talk about what you need to get started with the Daily 5.

I have to admit that getting started with the Daily 5 was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be. Mostly because I hardly had to actually do anything all that much differently from what I was already doing!  Here's what you need:

Quiet Signal

I have always used the same attention signal for this that I use for everything else, but you don't have to.  I am a stickler for my attention signal being all of three things:  visual, audible, and portable.  If it's not, I can't use it everywhere and I can't make sure to get everyone's attention.  I use a simple "Give Me Five" where the students see my hand going up and they hear me begin counting "1-2-3-4-5."  As the students hear me, they join in.  Students put their hands in the air and pick up counting wherever I am.  This makes it easy for me because I don't have to yell use a loud voice.  The kids that don't hear or see me can hear and see their neighbors.  I can use it anywhere as long as I have at least one hand.  It's always a keeper for me.  However, I've been playing with the idea of using something more fun like chimes (which is what The Sisters use).  I don't know, though.  I don't like that it doesn't meet my three requirements for an attention signal.  But I could give the job to a kid... Things to think about.

Chart Rack or Interactive Whiteboard

I use a chart stand.  I use the SMARTboard for some things, but I find that I can do more with instruction on the chart stand while the whiteboard is more used in my classroom for independent or guided practice activities.

Tools, Not Toys

I'm having trouble with this whole idea.  It's just a personal problem, not an issue with the use of scaffolding (which is what this is).  I am just personally struggling with the idea that other students will begin to act up in order to get the "toys" that they see other students using during this time.  It will take some serious training in the beginning to address this.  A few lessons on "fair is not always equal" should cover it.  Like I said, it's me.

But some things you will need in your tool boxes:

• timers - sand timers would work well because they are silent (maybe a stopwatch for older kids)
• small fidget toys - I plan to talk to my OT/PT to see what she can let me borrow
• Legos or some other small toys
• pattern blocks
• hexifix cubes

Book Boxes

Kids are going to need a place to store the books that they will be reading!  I've heard teachers that use plastic bins from Dollar Tree or tote bags or magazine boxes from IKEA.  I don't have those stores where I am.  I do, however, have a Post Office.  I use Priority Mail flat rate boxes.  I put them together and cut them in half.  They are a little bigger than the magazine boxes, and they don't cost anything more than about a half hour of my time.  I'll post pictures of this later, as I won't be able to get into my classroom until August and I don't really need 24 book boxes in my teeny, tiny apartment for the next month.

A Gathering Place and Focus Lessons

Please don't overlook this if you teach older grades.  When I taught fourth grade, my students still loved to come to the meeting place.  I usually let them bring their chairs so they weren't sitting on the floor, but this concept is important in all grade levels for several reasons:

• students are more engaged because they can participate in lessons that include accountable talk,
• behaviors are minimized because of the proximity, and
• distractions are limited because the students aren't playing in their desks.

It's all win-win in my book!  Even with the older kids.

The only issue is that you will need a space large enough for all of your students.  This would be the carpet area in our primary classrooms.  In my fourth grade class, I taught the students how to move their furniture to the perimeter of the classroom to make space.

Remember to make your focus lessons short, sweet, and to the point.  Remember the brain research... keep the focus lessons to 5-10 minutes, depending on the age group.

i-Charts

Do you remember the i-Charts you created when you were working to build independence?  You'll need to have a place to post those in the classroom.  I post mine above the bulletin boards that I use for my CAFE, VOICES, and GNOMe menus.  It is necessary for reference later when you need to go back to the expectations.  There are a lot of ways to reduce "wall clutter" with other anchor charts, but these charts are critical to teaching and maintaining those expectations.  They should be up all year.  I know.  It's hard, but you'll be thankful you left them up when you can easily reference the charts.

Classroom Design

You don't really need a special classroom or an elaborate layout to make Daily 5 work for you.  You need some space for your gathering place, you'll need places for students to read and write independently, you'll need space to store your materials for your focus lessons and the like... Otherwise, your current classroom design is probably great!  Personally, I plan to make at least one big change in my classroom design... I plan to get rid of about half of my desks.  Stay tuned to see how that fiasco little piece of brilliant works out of me, or even if I actually go through with it.

Keep in mind that you will need to have space for the kids to do the work for the Daily 5, and that space isn't all desks and chairs.  When was the last time you sat in a rigid chair at a desk to read for pleasure?  Probably when you were in elementary school, right?  If we're trying to encourage reading for pleasure, we should provide students with pleasurable reading places.  Small rugs, fun chairs, bean bags, pillows, etc.  Let the kids lie down, sit at a desk if they want to, hang from the ceiling (just kidding about that last one), as long as they are reading!

When I get into my classroom in August, I'll post about the status of my classroom design.  We'll see if I am actually brave enough to move away from a class set of desks or if I'm just all talk at this point.  

So, how do you feel about getting started?  Overwhelmed?  Hopefully not.  If you have questions or concerns, let me know.  I want to help you get your reading block up and running!  You won't regret it!  

If you haven't gone over to see Brenda, head on over.  She's got a Daily 5 Starter Pack giveaway going on.  Don't forget to link up with your blog if you haven't.  If you don't have a blog, leave a comment anyway!  I'd love to hear from you!  If you missed the earlier posts, use the pictures at the bottom of the page to navigate through.

What’s Coming Apart So It Can Come Back Together?

“There are always gaps between our expectations and those of students, misunderstandings born of cultural differences, and bureaucratic constraints, plus the frantic rush of the school day… Many teachers have found the process of generating research questions to be a healthy way to stretch toward new understanding and to avoid having the gaps become gulfs between students and colleagues.”  (Shagoury& Power, 2012, p. 23).

We, as teachers, have a tough job.  We want so much for our students to be successful, and we often times forget that they aren’t like us.  They don’t have the same backgrounds.  They don’t have the same experiences.  They don’t have the same values.  Generally speaking, teachers come from a middle-class background with strong values in the power of education.  I don’t know about you, but I teach in a high-poverty area in a Title I school where the families might value education but struggle to get the kids to school on time.  I could go on and on with this whole idea, but I’ll save you from that whole soap box.  Needless to say, with all of the “stuff” that is piled on the plate of a teacher, the policies and the school day in general do get in the way!  This whole idea that generating research questions will help close the gap, so to speak… I’ll bite.  I’m telling you; I think this teacher-researcher thing might be something!

I was thinking as I was on the plane yesterday (I’m headed to my niece’s birthday party in Louisiana.  She’s turning 8 on Sunday.). I spend a lot of time reading about different things to inform my teaching.  Mostly about how to teach… better.  My focus has always been on improving instruction.  The same is true still.  I mean, look at what I decided to read this summer.  But I need to learn how to change my thinking to improve student learning.  How do I change my thinking?

Then I started thinking about something one of my instructors was asking at the beginning of this class.  She asked, “What do you really want to know, in your heart?  And why?”

Like I mentioned previously, I was honestly just going to pick a topic that was easy just to finish the requirements of this course.  (Don’t judge; we’ve all been there! Haha!)  But I couldn’t really get into those easy topics because I don’t really want to know.  I think what I came up with instead is quite meaningful.  It’s definitely something that I’d like to see resolved.

I really want to know about interventions that can be done in the classroom, either whole-group or small-group, to work on closing the achievement gap before it gets to the point that students are being pulled for “Tier 3” interventions.  Pulling students out of the classroom for interventions means they are missing time in the classroom.  Whether that time is during core instruction or small-group work or community building activities is irrelevant; they are missing that time in class!  Maybe it’s not an actual intervention that I’m looking for.  Maybe it’s just a structure.  I just want my students in class, and I need to know how to keep them there.

So from that and with the support of my colleagues and instructor, my research question is “What happens when interventions are done in the classroom?”  It seems pretty vague, but it’s researchable.  I will document the use of the workshop model in reading, writing, and math instruction.  I will use intervention groups during that time to reteach, reinforce, and enrich the students’ understandings.  I use use the ELL teacher and the ELL tutors that come to help within my classroom rather than having them pull the students to work outside the classroom.  My focus will be on student achievement, but I will also collect data on classroom community, students’ identity, and instructional consistency.  (I’m not really sure how I could collect data on some of these.  I plan to interview students and maybe do something like an anticipatory set, but I’m open to ideas as well!)

In my imaginary world where everything is glitter and rainbows and goes according to plan, my first graders will go to second grade as readers and writers.  They will understand mathematical concepts on grade level.  They will be supported more because I will know exactly what supports they need.  I will be better at keeping data in regards to anecdotal notes.  (I’m sure you wish you lived in my world, too. Haha!)

This is what I plan to work on during the upcoming school year.  I have a lot to do in the next month before school starts to get ready, starting with getting everything organized to start workshop from day one.  What is the one big change that you plan to make this year?

"Things I Learned Last Week"

As some of you know, I have been working on this grad cert for teaching ESL.  Part of the course requirements is an action research project, so I bought a book to help me with that.

I read the first chapter in an effort to get started on this project.  I honestly intended to just b.s. my way through this whole thing, get the A, and move on.  After all, when am I ever going to use all of the random things we've done?  I just wanted to learn some strategies for teaching ELLs.  (Honestly, the only reason that I even applied was that my district was paying 80% of the tuition.)

Anyway.  After reading the first chapter, I have decided that I am really interested in becoming a teacher-researcher!  Not just for the purposes of this class, but because I think I could learn a lot from actually paying closer attention to the data that I'm analyzing anyway.  By thinking about said data a little differently.  By thinking about it as a researcher that happens to be a teacher.

So to keep myself motivated to do this project the right way, I've decided to sort of document my journey through the whole process here.  Some of it might be boring.  Some of it might not apply to you.  But maybe you want to be a teacher-researcher, too!  Maybe you want to and you just don't know it!  (That was me.  I just didn't know that I wanted to seriously document the changes that I was planning to make anyway.)

The book is set up in such a way that includes a "Research Workshop" within each section of the book.  (I wonder if that's supposed to be comparable to a Reading Workshop or Writing Workshop that I do with my students...)

The first "workshop" was designed to get the teacher-researcher thinking about things differently.  It's titled "Celebrating 'Things I Learned Last Week.'"

On page 9, the authors write:

"In the pages that follow are examples from new and veteran teacher-researchers who explain how they dig into their data and cope with the messiness of their evolving research.  Some of the advice deals with the little things we learn that can get us through the day, if we pay close attention to them, and help us reconnect with the research questions that intrigue us.  It takes practice to notice the small details.  It may involve looking through a new lens, readjusting our focus, and celebrating what we see as we document what we have learned.

"The poet William Stafford believes that these details in life are the 'golden threads' that lead us to what he calls 'amazing riches.'  In his poem 'Things I Learned Last Week,' he celebrates the learning that comes from close observation, from reading, and from reflecting on his own actions:"

The authors of Living the Questions then discuss teacher-researchers' attempts at taking on the challenge of looking closely at "what we learned last week."  I decided to take on that challenge myself.

It was a lot harder than it sounded when I was reading that part of the book!  Holy cow!!

You should give it a try, too!  Here is the format:

• Title
• Write "Things I Learned..." and then the increment of time of your choosing.
• Under your title, write in parenthesis, (with apologies to William Stafford)
• Couplet 1
• Start with a living thing (animal, plant, insect),
• and something unique, quirky, or little-known about that species.
• Couplet 2
• Begin with, “Sometimes” and follow with some small noticing or observation.  It could be poetic, about life, or something literal, like something you discovered recently just going about your business in everyday life.
• Quatrain 1
• Begin with “A man/woman” and something he/she does.
• Then, write two lines that reveal some irony or contradiction about what the man/woman does. This can allude to a specific person, or be more general.
• Couplet 3
• Write about a famous person or institution,
• Then write something that contradicts the previous statement or makes it ironic.
• Couplet 4
• Same as above.
• Quatrain 2
• Follow this format: 
• If I ever die, I’d like it to be
• (time, place, month, etc). That way, I’ll have
• (something in nature/natural phenomenon) to go with me, and
• (a thought about why you chose the ‘something’ above)
• Quatrain 3
• Write about a place (could be a building, city, country, type of climate or geographical landscape, etc.)
• Then "one person's job is to..." then some description that you find interesting, sad, ironic, funny, or surprising.  Ideally, this should refer to allude vaguely to the first couplet.

Good luck!  Let me know how yours turns out!

I really am thinking about teacher-research in a brand new way.  I'm looking forward to beginning the school year so I can get this project off the ground.  Of course, I look at all of the work that I still need to do and realize that I'm running out of summer.  But it will all come together in due time.

Here are some things I've learned about research (the "little r" kind)...

10 Steps to Independence - Book Study

Hi, there.  I'm joining up again with Primary Inspired and the rest of the great bloggers working through thoroughly understanding the inner workings of The Daily 5.

I'm a little late, though.  Let me tell you what; I put way more thought into my literature review that I was working on (homework) than was necessary.  But once I started writing it, there was no more worrying about whether or not I was doing it correctly.  The words just sort of... happened.

Anyway.  A few days late to this party, but my homework got finished... Worth it!

Now that I'm back on track, we're talking about the 10 steps to teaching and learning independence.

If you know me at all, you know how I love brain research!  It applies so much to how I do things and the rationale behind what I do, both in the classroom and in my life!  It's no wonder that it was so easy to agree with these ten steps.  Honestly, before reading the D5 book, I was already doing probably 7 of these steps... Check me out, being cool before it was cool!  The important take-away from all of this is to make sure that you're activating the whole brain while you're teaching.  That way, you impose upon the students' muscle memories to form habits.

Step 1.  Identify what is to be taught

Pretty simple, right?  But this is a step that I see so many teachers just jump right over!  If you want the kids to learn something, they need to know what it is they are trying to learn!  "[A]rticulating exactly what is going to be taught is an important step to creating independent learners" (p. 37).  This is where your "I can..." statements come in.  State your teaching objective in kid-friendly terms, and you've got yourself a learning objective!

Step 2.  Set a purpose and create a sense of urgency

Tell them the why of what you just told them they were responsible for learning.  The Sisters talk about how they use a section of the i-Charts for this purpose.  That's great, but don't forget to set a purpose for all of your other lessons, too.  Kids don't want to learn about things they don't care about, so you've got to let them know why they should care!

Step 3.  Record desired behaviors on an i-Chart

This works so well!  It makes everything so much easier to reflect upon later because you've given students a rubric right there.. posted on your wall.. for all to see!  When you take away the ability for students to say they didn't know what they were supposed to do, they won't do things they aren't supposed to do anymore.  If your school is using CHAMPS, this is the same idea.  In my classroom, I use the i-Chart as part of my CHAMPS board.  "P" down there at the bottom... "Participation"... "How will Ms. Dawley know that I'm doing my job?"  Well, it's all that stuff on the i-Chart!  Easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy!

Step 4:  Model most-desirable behaviors

Once that i-Chart is made, show, don't tell, the behaviors that you expect to see.  Model, model, model!  As teachers, I feel like we say that a lot.  But again, I see so many new teachers that forget this step.  It's so important to model for students what is expected.

Step 5:  Model least-desired behaviors

Confession:  This is the step that I forgot all of the time!  I've added it in over the last couple of years since reading the first edition, and I have definitely seen its importance to the process.  The best part:  You pick the barometer kid to show the least-desired behaviors, he gets his 15 seconds of fame (the attention that he was going to get anyway by acting up... you've given it to him now on your terms), and he now has that out of his system.  Then you go ahead and let that kiddo show the correct way.  Now, if he does act up during independent work time, you can use the modeling to your advantage.  He has already shown you that he can do his job correctly, so you can point that out!  (Don't forget the last correct model.  People remember the last thing they see or hear.  They need to see and hear the correct model before being released to work.)

Step 6:  Place students around the room

This one has always been sort of tough for me.  I never really know where kids would be comfortable, so I always second-guess the places that I choose for them to sit.  I'm still working on this.  I know I just need to get over it because they will be choosing their own spots soon.  The whole purpose here is to just let them know where they are allowed to sit.  Once they start choosing their own spots, it's easy to say "Remember to stay away from the doors and the water fountain."  They usually do very well when the time comes to let them choose, but I forget every year that the beginning-of-the-year kids are way different than last year's end-of-the-year kids.

Step 7:  Practice and build stamina

This part is important, but it's one of those that I didn't add in when I started teaching.  Why I didn't consider that the kids couldn't behave and stay on task because I didn't let them build up to it was beyond me.  Of course it wasn't my fault! Yes it was.  Now that I have added this in (and we graph the growth as a class), they can work independently for so much longer!!

Step 8:  Stay out of the way

This is so important in the beginning.  True, you are going to think that you won't be able to do this because you need to make sure the kids are on task.  Well, guess what?  They are only ever going to be on task when you're looking at them if you give them that expectation from the beginning!  The goal here, remember, is to teach them to do the right thing even when no one is looking.  You can't teach them that if you're always there to correct them!  Give them some space.  Let them mess up (and they will).  Once someone is off task, note that child as a possible "barometer" child, and go back to whole group.  This is going to be quite the process at the start, but it'll be fine.  (This whole process makes me crazy at the beginning because I feel like my kiddos can't do anything, but it will all be great soon.  So worthwhile.  Trust me!)

Step 9:  Use a quiet signal to bring students back to the gathering place

The noise that will come from cleaning up and coming back together will match the volume of the signal that you use to get the students' attention.  You want to have something calming and quiet.  This will make transitions so much easier!  (Oh, and don't forget the CHAMPS chart for transitions!!)

Step 10:  Conduct a group check-in

And here it is... My last confession for this post:  Here's another step that I would always skip, but it's so important!  As a teacher, I am often reflecting on how things went during a lesson, what I need to do differently next time, interventions that I now need to provide because my students didn't quite get where I needed them to be... The list goes on and on.  You know this; you do it, too.  Well, the same thing is true for those kids!  They need time to reflect to become better.  They won't do it on their own, though.  They need some direction.  Chances are, they've never self-evaluated anything they've ever done before.  (At least that's the case with my Firsties.)  This also a good time for a statement of commitment (because you know I'm a Conscious Discipline fan, too).  That statement would be as simple as "Next time, I will _."  Older kids could write it down on a slip of paper, maybe an exit ticket or something.  Younger children could simply say it to a partner or maybe draw a picture.  I'm going with say it to a partner because this needs to be quick.


There it is.  Those ten steps will make your dive into student independence so much easier, I swear!  But you have to do them all!  Every time!!

Tell me what you think.  I look forward to hearing your perspectives on this whole idea!  If you have a blog, comment here with your blog link.  I'd love to visit you!  Then head on over to Primary Inspired and link up.  If you don't have a blog, comment anyway!

If you'd like to get my graphs for charting students' stamina, you can visit my TPT Store [here] or click the picture below.

I referenced both CHAMPS and Conscious Discipline in this post.  You can get more information on CHAMPS [here] and on Conscious Discipline [here].

If you missed Chapter 2, you can use the image below to navigate your search.

     

The Foundation of the Daily 5 - Book Study

Once again, I'm joining all of the great bloggers who linked up with Primary Inspired to talk about The Daily 5 Chapter 2, "Our Core Beliefs:  The Foundations of the Daily 5."

I have to admit, once again, that a lot of my thoughts wandered off to Conscious Discipline while I was reading.  Right out of the gate, all of the mentioned core beliefs fall right in line with everything that I know about Conscious Discipline:

• Trust and Respect
• Community
• Choice
• Accountability
• Brain Research
• Transitions as Brain and Body Breaks
• 10 Steps to Independence

Okay, so maybe that last one was something that I remember from the first edition of The Daily Five, but it still fits in.

"Meaningful learning requires respect and trust between the teacher and students."  That's the first sentence about The Sisters' views on the topic, and I couldn't agree more!  We do teach our students rules, expectations, behaviors, academic content, etc., etc., etc..., but we seem to always fear letting them go to do it independently.  We underestimate them when, in fact, we need to trust them!  By showing them that we trust them to do the right thing, we are giving them the respect they need to feel like we know they can do well!  When they know that we trust them, they will respect and trust us.  Trust and respect make up the foundation for building community!

Truth:  This has Conscious Discipline written all over it!  We need that loving and caring environment for students to feel safe.  That safe feeling keeps the students in their executive brain state, and it allows for them to be in a position to learn.  The executive state is where people (not just kids) can make wise choices, and they can't be in that state if they do not feel safe and loved!

In my experience, allowing students to make choices regarding activities that they'd like to do is the most powerful tool in my tool belt when it comes to time on task.  A person is more likely to complete a task that he has decided to take on himself.  I can use personal experience to reinforce this idea.  I love reading, really I do.  But do you know what I absolutely hate?  Reading.  I want to read a book that I want to read, darn it!  

I recently finished Born to Run, but I had the hardest time getting started.  The only motivation I had to read it was that my boyfriend suggested it and I didn't want to disappoint him by saying it just wasn't my thing.  (I'm sort of obsessed with the Alex Cross series.  That's my "thing."  I thought he knew that about me.  Geez!)  Anyway.  I read a few books when summer began, and I was in my happy place.  It wasn't until he left for work that I picked up the book because I wanted to.  And it was a great book!  I finished it in about two days, and I'm glad I read it.  But it was the worst thing ever when I didn't want to read it.  The same thing happens to me when I'm assigned a book to read for class.  I just don't want to read it.  I'd much rather read something that I chose than something that someone else put in my hand.  Anyway.  I'm rambling here.  

Choice is powerful for students for more than just their reading material (although that does have its benefits).  Allowing students to choose which tasks they want to complete is extremely powerful for motivation!  (I think The Sisters also said something along those lines.)  Even when students are required to choose from a list of options, all of which must be completed, they comply when they get to make the choice of the order of completion.

I honestly could not have said that better!  Students will make a commitment to their learning when they make a choice.  In order to see the results, they have got to learn to hold themselves accountable!

I can't tell you how many "Ah-ha!" moments I had while reading this section.  I don't know why I had so many... I did read the first edition; honest!  But there was so much happening here that made me realize that much of what I was doing was great, but my thinking about what I was doing still needed work.

For example, I stopped using the workbooks from the reading series years ago.  I noticed the same thing that was mentioned in the book:  "... many of the students did not have the ability to fill our the worksheets [independently]..." (p. 27).  Can I just tell you how much I hate reading every single thing on the page aloud just so the kids can complete it?  And then having to reread to individuals that weren't paying attention the first time or just didn't really understand what was going on... Torture, I tell you!  But I still wanted something that students had to complete to prove that they (1) did the work, (2) knew what they were doing, and (3) I could physically have to present should there be any questions about the child later.  But seriously.  Worksheets don't hold kids accountable.  There are so many other things that we can do to make sure they know what they're doing.  Starting with keeping anecdotal notes as data for progress.  Kids keep themselves accountable for behaviors, and we can see them because students are self-managing during those independent work times.  We keep kids accountable for their learning by conferring with them individually and meeting with small groups.  Those anecdotal notes are plenty for keeping track of the learning, and there are other ways to have the kids show what they know (because we are tethered to those pesky grade books).  They can share at the end of the literacy block, do book talks, book reports (but fun ones, not the boring ones that we grew up with), maybe keeping a reader's notebook to jot thoughts while reading... The list is endless.

I have done a lot of random reading over the last five or six years about the brain.  Everything from how video games affect kids' brains to how long a 6-year-old can pay attention.  I have to be honest here, there wasn't much in the D5 book that gave me that "Wow!" feeling, but I definitely found myself nodding in agreement often as I was reading.  I'm so glad that The Sisters mentioned the research on attention spans.  More adults, whether teachers or not, need to know this stuff!  I mean, how many times have you sat through hours upon hours of lecture trainings or classes?  And what did you get from it?  Probably a whole lot of squat.  Now think about those classes or trainings that were more interactive.  Those that provided opportunity for movement (or brain breaks) periodically.  Those that allowed time to talk to the people around you to solidify ideas.  Much more valuable, right?  

We need to give our students short bursts of information, then allow them time to process it.  Now, I know.  Sometimes our lessons just have to be longer than 5 or 6 minutes.  That's okay.  A brain break could be a full-blown yoga session, or it could be as simple as a turn and talk.  This will refocus the brain and allow the students time to process the information.  I wish I could remember the name of the guy that I saw last August.  He was amazing!  (He wrote a book... something about swallowing an elephant or something?  I don't know.)  Anyway.  The information that he gave about the brain was so helpful!  Once a person has given you as much attention as they can, a reaction happens in the brain.  I remember the image on his slideshow of these yellow balls bursting.  Once the yellow ball bursts, the person is no longer even hearing you.  (Well, they hear you and they may appear focused, but their brain just can't take anymore and it needs to refocus.)  They can't learn anything if they can't pay attention.  If you aren't familiar with it, create an account with GoNoodle.  It's free, it's fun, and there are brain breaks available of all lengths, levels of energy, and forms.

I could go on with more examples of why transitions are necessary, but I'll leave you with this:

Transitions do not need to be difficult.

I often just give my students what they need for a lesson one piece at a time.  We use the materials, I ask them to go put the item away and come back to the meeting place, and suddenly like magic they are ready to go again!  All they need is just a moment to not have to listen to you.  That's all.  There are a lot of ways to integrate simple brain breaks.  Perhaps one day, we should have a linky about those!

***

I know this was a lengthy post, and I appreciate you for sticking with me through it!  See you next time when we talk about The Ten Steps to Independence (also mentioned in the foundations of D5, but it's so big that it requires way more detail that just an insert into a chapter)!
(Use the images at the bottom of this page to navigate the book study.

          

What I'm reading..

I'm pretty sure everyone is finally on summer vacation!  It is much deserved!  Woohoo!! School is through!!  Teachers, if you haven't yet, go outside, get a sunburn (or be like me and smell like a Coppertone everyday!), laze around, grab a book that has nothing to do with your job, spend time with your families... Do something that isn't work related!  I spent my first weekend of summer vacation out with my friends and my second weekend (Memorial Day) camping with my friends and boyfriend.  Cooper Lake is beautiful, right? :)

My dogs sometimes like camping, too.  Haha!!  (The black one is afraid of water.  What kind of lab is afraid of water? Geez! Only my dogs... Haha!)

So after some much needed "me" time, I came home, showered off all of the camping grime, and picked up a book.  My boyfriend suggested Born to Run.  One of his friends gifted it to him, and he enjoyed it.  He knew that I was a runner for a long time, so he thought I'd like it.  I have to be honest, I didn't at first.  I couldn't really get into the storyline.  But then, I don't know what happened... It took me like 856 years to get through the first chapter, but once I did, that was it.  Even with the enormous to-do list I had, I finished the book within two days.  If you have a passion, or even just a small curiosity, about marathon running, this is a good book.  I don't run marathons.  I'll do a 5k here and there.  The last one I did was the Mud Factor Obstacle Course.

But I'm no marathoner... or so I thought.  This book will tell you why you're actually a marathoner, why you're wearing the wrong shoes, why you're having pain in your ankles and knees, why you can't seem to get farther than you did the last time you ran.  I won't tell my boyfriend, but it was pretty good. ;)

Professional texts that I've read so far this summer include The Read-Aloud Handbook (more like a skim because I read it two summers ago), The Writing Thief (which you can read about [here] and [here]), The CAFE Book, which is of course the supplement to The Daily 5 (which you can start reading about [here]), Introducing Reader's Workshop:  Supporting Our Youngest Readers, and Conscious Discipline which I attended a training for during the four days after Memorial Day.

I definitely recommend all of them, but if you have to choose just one, please choose The Read-Aloud Handbook.  Then share it with other teachers everyone you know!  I buy a copy for everyone that I know that is having a baby, educator or not.  It wasn't written for education; it was written about education!

As some of you are aware, I'm currently in another round of grad school.  I'm working on a Graduate Certificate for Teaching English as a Second Language.  (I haven't decided yet if I'm going to turn this into another Masters program... I only need the grad cert for the state to give me the endorsement on my teaching license, and do I really need another Masters degree?  Probably not. Haha!)

Anyway.  The assignment that I'm working on has me reading these two books:  The Literature Review:  Six Steps to Success and Living the Questions:  A Guide for Teacher Researchers.  I don't know if either are any good.  I'm sure they would be extremely useful if you're also trying to complete an action research project.  But that's what I'm reading now.

As for my reading plans for once this literature review and research design are complete... Well, I've got some pretty lofty goals.  These are the books that I want to read (plus several more on my bookshelf next to my chair), but I know that I won't be able to read them all.  I don't know what to start with, though... I guess I've got until I finish my homework to decide.  :)

What's on your summer reading list?

The Writing Theif... revisited

So, I finished the book.  It was a quick read considering the amount of information contained in so few chapters!  (If you missed my initial opinions, you might want to click [here], as I fully intend to elaborate on some of that a little bit.)

Let me just say that this woman is sort of brilliant.  This whole book is brilliant.  I loved the way it was written.  It wasn't a "how-to" book at all, which is what I expected.  It was more of a  conversation, a dialogue if you will, with the author regarding why we should be using mentor texts to teach writing.  Sure, she gives examples and ideas for using mentor texts to teach writing, but she spends more time talking about why the texts are important.  Why we should be showing kids, not telling kids, what to do with their own work.  (Isn't that what we make the kids do for us?  Show rather than tell?  This is the perfect way to model that expectation!  Mentor texts!!)

Ruth Culham does an excellent job of providing evidence for a lot of her ideas.  She has grounded so much of her thinking in research into many authorities on the subject of writing.  Not on the subject of teaching writing, per say.  She quotes authors, not researchers, often.  She has the research element there, but the quotes from the people that actually write books are exceptionally relevant to everything that she has done within the text.

As for those pesky thoughts that I was having about how this book surely can't be for me because my little first graders could never choose several books and compare the leads and then decide how to revise their own writing to include a strong lead based on what they learned from the mentor texts... Yeah.  Those were still running through my head the entire time I was reading.  In fact, I didn't feel that many of her examples really fit my situation given that I teach first graders and they can't read - like, at all - when we begin the year.  But then I got to thinking.. They are first graders.  First graders. They have little to no experience with real writing anyway.  What better time than now to show them what real, good, authentic writing looks like?  I mean, they copy everything that I do anyway.  I might as well show them how I use texts that I love to form ideas for writing, organize my thoughts, choose my words, and all the other great things that mentor texts provide.

I can honestly say that I do not feel that this book was a complete waste of my time.  Should I have been reading The Literature Review:  Six Steps to Success instead?  Well, yeah.  But only because I have to write one and I have no clue where to begin.  (And I need to have the lit review finished by the end of the month so I can thoroughly enjoy my vacation in July, but I'm such a procrastinator sometimes. Haha!)

This book certainly helped me to see the value in merging my reading and writing instruction.  I mean, I've always used mentor texts to teach writing.  (Okay, confession... Not always, actually.  But I have since being trained several years ago in using a workshop model for reading and writing.)  However, I've only just realized how well close reading lends itself to writing and vice versa, thanks to Ruth Culham!

I have spent the last several years reading everything that I could get my hands on that talked about reading instruction.  This was the first time I've really focused on improving writing instruction.  It was a great place to start, and I'm looking forward to really delving into the topic!  I plan to read The Art of Teaching Reading (I'll actually finish it this time, honest!) and The Art of Teaching Writing, both by Lucy Calkins, at some point this summer.

 

I have tons of other books on my bookshelf that I plan to read, but one in particular seems worth noting.  It is also by Ruth Culham.  I have 6 + 1 Traits of Writing:  The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades.  I got it back in probably March or April, and I was able to pull some ideas for the end of the school year last year.  They were great!  I wish I would have picked up the book earlier!  I am definitely looking forward to using Ruth's suggestions starting at the beginning of the year this coming year!  (For all of you that teach older students, she also wrote 6 + 1 Traits of Writing:  The Complete Guide Grades 3 and Up.)

   

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of the Daily 5 book study blog linky.  [Check in here if you missed the first post.]  Also, don't forget to check in with the rest of the crew on that linky.  There will be plenty of tips, ideas, and freebies to go around!