Monday Made-It

Here I am joining up with 4th Grade Frolics for the Monday Made-It.

Today, I wanted to share with you two items that I worked on over the last week.  My Reader's Notebook and my Writer's Notebook.

The Reader's Notebook is one of my favorite things to use with students.  It really gives them an outlet to "talk" to their books.  I teach them how to use Post-It notes to write notes in their books, then they use the notes to write in their notebooks.  There are a lot of resources out there regarding readers notebooks.  Founts & Pinnell got me started with this work, thanks to some trainings that I was a part of several years ago.  Aimee Buckner wrote about using notebooks in her classroom, and Notebook Connections is a great resource for getting started.  Also, if you haven't read The Book Whisperer, please stop whatever you are doing and go get yourself a copy!

When we start the school year, I give everyone a plain old composition notebook.  (I got some at Office Depot last week for $1.50/3-pack because they price-matched the Walmart ad for the colored ones priced at 50 cents each.)  The students' first homework assignment for reading is to find photos and images (I do let them use Google images.) that describe them as readers.  These images can be just about anything, as long as they describe the students as readers.

The first thing we do is cover the composition notebook.  Usually, I have them choose colored construction paper, but I might give the kids access to my scrapbook paper this year.  I have a bunch that I need to get rid of.  Once it's papered, they put the images on the front and back covers of the book.

My photos on the front are of my niece reading to my dog, my niece and nephew during their first trip to the library, my sister reading to me when I was a baby, and my Fourth Graders several years ago reading together.  Of course, I am always ordering books and visiting book stores.  On the back, I have the first library I visited, my Masters degree, some of the books I've read recently, and photos of James Patterson and Gary Paulsen because I like their books.

Students will decorate the notebook covers, and I will affix a label to the top corner with their name.  Once the notebooks are decorated, I will ask parent volunteers to help cover the notebooks with clear contact paper the way mine is.

Inside the notebook, there are four important parts...

Students need a place to keep up with the titles of the books they've read.  One copy of this page is stapled into the front cover of the notebook.  Students list the title and author.  Then, they make a note to show they either completed (date completed) or abandoned (just the letter A) the text.  The last column is reserved for labeling the book "easy," "just right," or "challenging."  As students read (or attempt and abandon) more and more  books, they will staple a new sheet on top of this sheet.  That way, all of the books they've read will be recorded in the notebook by the end of the year.

On the first page of the notebook, students glue the tally chart.  This tally chart will help students track books they complete to meet the requirements of the 40 Book Requirement for reading.  I used the same list found in The Book Whisperer, but I plan to keep record of students' interests as well as make sure the requirements fit the standards.  This year will be a sort of social experiment. ;)

At the bottom of this page, students will glue a chart that we will make together to describe how we choose "good fit" or "just right" books.  (We will make that chart together, so I don't have one yet.)

Stapled into the back cover of the notebook will be a wish list.  Just a list of books students want to read based on their own desires or the suggestions of their friends (or their teacher).  Again, as students' wish lists grow, they will staple pages on top of the previous pages.

As for the pages of the notebook, students will write their responses to reading, of course!  They will also glue anchor charts into the book starting at the back.  (I'm sure there will be more explanation on this in a later blog post once we get going.)

The Writer's Notebook won't take too much explanation.  The concept is the same.

Some resources to think about as you are getting started with your writing notebooks... Fountas & Pinnell's Guiding Readers and Writers, Aimee Buckner's Notebook Know-How, and let's face it... Just about anything by Ralph Fletcher, Lucy Calkins, and Ruth Culham.  (Another suggestion... If you haven't read The Writing Thief, what are you waiting for??)

Students will find photos or print images to decorate their notebooks.  Again, they will start with the construction paper or scrapbook paper, add their images and photos, then parents will (fingers crossed) help cover the notebooks with contact paper.

There are some authors out there that suggest waiting to give students the notebooks until they start questioning why you keep writing in yours. (I can't remember if that was Aimee Buckner or Lucy Calkins or Ruth Culham or who, but I read it somewhere.)  I don't do that with older kids.  In my opinion, they need to start writing as soon as possible, and they can't use a notebook that I just haven't given them because no one is questioning me.  I like the concept because it helps create ownership, but... ain't nobody got time for that!)

I blog, I Facebook, I text, I email, I write...

I didn't decorate both sides of this notebook for two reasons.  First, I didn't want students to feel like they have to have a ton of images.  Just a few would be fine.  Also, I just couldn't really think of much else that describes me as a writer. Ha!Ha!

Inside the notebook, students will use the writing strategies that we learn in class.  Anchor charts will again be glued into the notebook starting on the back page, and the writing practice will happen within the notebook daily.  

Well, that's it for now.  There probably won't be much happening for next week's Monday Made-It because I'll be visiting my family for the week.  I won't get back home until just after midnight on Sunday.  No time for making anything... Unless I can get something going with my niece and nephew this week.  Of course, that wouldn't be made for my classroom. ;)

What have you been making?  Go link up your post!

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!

The Writing Thief

I purchased The Writing Thief by Ruth Culham with my students' very last Scholastic Book Clubs order last year.  I ordered it with some Bonus Points and then put it out of my mind.  I got the book literally two days before school ended.  To be honest, I had never hear of it, but I'm always looking for some interesting things to read as I spend a couple of days on planes in the summer.  (Traveling anywhere from Alaska is no joke!)

Then one day, I was checking in on Facebook.  I wandered over to this group that I'm a part of, First Grade Teacher Gab Group.  One of the threads was about summer reading plans.  Okay.  What is everyone else reading?  Maybe something that I should be reading...  Then, there is was!  A book that I randomly purchased for absolutely no reason... Someone was spouting off nothing but positive comments.  Now I'm intrigued... Not enough to pull the book off my shelf, though.  After all, I've got homework and stuff to do.  And my apartment is an absolute mess!  It still is.  I'll clean tomorrow.

Anyway.  I decided tonight to take the book out.  I read the first part of it.  I'm honestly surprised I made it through that much.  It's already past 12:30am.  I should be falling asleep right now!  But, no.  Instead, I found myself thinking the same thing I think every time I read a book like this...

Surely this doesn't pertain to me.  No.  I know it has nothing to do with me.  I mean, when you show kids' work like Joey's here, all I can think is that first graders aren't capable of that stuff!  I mean, my fourth graders could have done it, but I don't teach fourth grade anymore.

By the way, here's Joey's work that was shared:

Pretty good, huh?

Yeah.  My first graders aren't doing that.

But then I thought about Ruth's account of her time in her grandmother's bathroom... She became a reader and writer right there... and she said she was only like 4 years old!  (You'll have to read the Prologue for that story.  It's a pretty good one.)  If she could do it on her own at 4 years old, surely I can coach a bunch of 5- and 6-year-olds to want to write!

I'm in!!

In the Foreword, Kate Messner talks about how her own love of reading helped to foster her motivation to write.  She goes on to say "And as teachers, we must recognize that our very best resources for writing instruction aren't found in test prep programs or worksheets; they're in the books that we love as readers..."  I have to admit, I wholeheartedly agree!  Test makers and workbook writers are just that... test makers and workbook writers.  They are not authors.  Children need to experience a "conversation" with an author.  They need to feel comfortable questioning the author and figuring out why he chose to write what he wrote.  This is how we encourage children to become better writers; we give them authors to steal from!  (Side note: I also own the book Questioning the Author by Isabel Beck.  It's also on my reading list.)

In the Prologue, Ruth explains the situations that fostered her reading and writing independence.  She also speaks on the idea that this relationship between reading and writing is crucial to making growth in both areas.  Ruth explains how she reads texts over and over and over again, finding new meaning in each layer that she unfolds.  "This is close reading - where reading and writing intersect."  Isn't that what we want for our students to experience?  That relationship that leads to blossoming in both reading and writing?  It's what I want for my students!

I spent the last I don't know how long Google searching for blog posts, linky parties, anything about this book.  So far, I've only come up with one:  Teach Mentor Texts blogged about The Writing Thief last year.  LAST YEAR!! How have I not heard about this book then??? 

I haven't read any farther in this book yet.  I plan to.  In looking at the Table of Contents, it looks like the remainder of the book is set up to cover the educational shifts in writing instruction, some information on using and finding mentor texts, and then examples of mentor texts that can be used for each type of writing.  I still find myself holding that negativity in the back of my mind:  This book probably isn't for me.  It's surely got to be written for older grades.  After all, how can I teach my first graders to actually use the texts they are trying so desperately to decode?!  But I'm going to try to keep the negativity grounded.  Positive thinking!  Positive thinking!  Positive thinking!  I really hope this book doesn't turn out to be a giant waste of time.

If you're reading The Writing Thief, let me know!  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

EDIT:  I just stalked Teach Mentor Texts a little more, and I learned that she hosts an "It's Monday! What are you reading?" link up.  Well, this is what I'm reading... Go join up!  (There are a few links already posted, and the ones I've already checked out have some pretty good book ideas for the classroom!)

UPDATE:  I did finish the book.  You can read about it [here].