Week of July 24
There is so much to consider in these chapters! (I'll post my podcast reflections soon...still trying to catch up from being out at ILA!)
133 Comments
Molly Klodor
7/24/2017 09:08:55 am
I LOVE the chapter "Silent Reading!" Sometimes I feel like the silent reading evangelist. I know that 10 minutes a day is hard to swing since teachers already have to cram so much into each period, but this chapter, along with tons of other research, supports the value of silent reading. A turn and talk question mentions reading logs. I don't use a reading log in my classroom and I do feel that students fake read a fair bit. In the past, I have asked students to create Goodreads accounts (single sign-in with Google!) and join my classroom bookshelf. They rank the books they read and add short reviews (I have some talking points that help guide them if they don't know how to write a review) which then other students can see and use to inform their next book choice. It's an authentic way of recording and reflecting on the books you've read.
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Jennie Burris
7/24/2017 02:55:44 pm
Molly -
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Heather Barnes
7/25/2017 08:56:17 am
Just finished setting up a "Mrs. Barnes" GoodReads account and will continue to post the paper reviews in the room. :)
Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 12:35:44 pm
Thank you, Molly, Jennie & Heather for the ideas! Last school year, I only did SSR when we were working on towards an independent reading project. However, I know that I need to incorporate it much more but with a focus. Your ideas definitely help .
Joan Miller
7/25/2017 08:48:11 am
I love the Good reads idea. I had a teacher think about it last year but hopefully I can persuade them this year. We also have done Google Forms that sort the info with some basic questions as they finish. We use that most of the time to keep data on how many titles we've finished, etc.. It amazes kids when we talk about the number of books or pages.
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7/25/2017 08:59:46 am
SSR, Independent Reading or DEAR?
Angie Toole
7/25/2017 01:26:58 pm
Molly,
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Jennie Burris
7/26/2017 06:21:17 am
The value of Silent Reading is SOOO HUGE! I love that students get to pick what they read because it is often one of the only times they will read something totally of their interest.
steve murray
7/26/2017 02:30:08 pm
In high school I feel odd giving kids time for silent reading. But the wide spread of my urban students means that some kids get really frustrated with a what they see as a slow pace and other kids have a very difficult time focusing when there is ambient noise of any kind. Moreover, some of the latter kids have few opportunities for quiet; many of their homes do not have much reading material, privacy, or quiet spaces. I want to give them that. I also try to use that time for conferencing if needed.
Jackie Blosser
7/25/2017 06:05:03 pm
Molly,
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Molly Klodor
7/31/2017 02:04:54 pm
I teach high school students. This is a social media website that isn't marketed as an education tool, but that's how I use it. I have an account and then I made a "bookshelf" where other users can add books to the bookshelf. I don't have anything set up as private because I want every student to be able to see each other's reviews.
Tracy Obringer
7/26/2017 06:36:12 am
Molly,
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Molly Klodor
7/31/2017 02:07:15 pm
Tracy, I don't ensure they aren't faking their responses. I ask them to respond to a few questions (What did you like/not like about the book? What was your favorite/least favorite part? To whom would you recommend this book?), but they don't have to follow a formula in their response so long as they include the basic idea of those questions. I know it's not foolproof, but I love it as a way for students to better engage with the books they read.
Kelly Cummings
8/16/2017 02:19:42 pm
I watched Penny Kittle present at Dublin Literacy Conference a couple of years ago. She teaches high school. She has a book called Book Love. I think that book could help you.
Megan McCaffrey
7/26/2017 12:51:15 pm
I knew you'd love that chapter! : )
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Molly Klodor
7/31/2017 02:08:33 pm
Megan, that'd be awesome! It's so hard to fit everything in, but I hope if we lay the ground work of independent reading in 9th and 10th grade, they'll build on that when they get to you!
Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 06:17:18 pm
Megan,
Angela Westlake
7/27/2017 08:04:47 am
Molly, I feel the same way! Silent reading is a huge part of what I do in my classroom, but I know many teachers who never do it. I love all the data to support why this time in invaluable. I'll have to look into Goodreads! I also have some fakers in my class every year, so I think this would be at least one step toward encouraging authentic reading.
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Barb Gall
8/3/2017 12:55:28 pm
Angela,
Tracy Obringer
7/31/2017 06:04:03 pm
Molly,
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Jenn Ramage
8/3/2017 06:23:58 pm
I may experiment with silent reading in my science classes this year. While they are reading important informational text for 10 minutes at the start of class, I can have the valuable conference time with different kids each day. I know Beers & Probst focus on choice, which I would implement for them on one of the five days of the week (80% content/20% choice). Content wouldn't always be from the text book, though; I would provide articles on various topics, as well as allow kids to bring in their own articles to read and share with others.
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8/4/2017 11:26:23 am
Jenn,
Kelly Cummings
8/16/2017 02:21:49 pm
Great idea! Maybe they find their own article to read on the topic?
Tara O'Hea
8/6/2017 03:06:58 pm
That is an awesome idea to use Godreads. I am on Goodreads, so why not have my students join. I wonder if there are privacy concerns with this? I am very cautious about student privacy.
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Molly Klodor
8/21/2017 06:43:39 pm
Tea, I teach high school, so maybe your concerns are different than mine. But I'm not so concerned with privacy for two reasons. 1. Students can set their accounts to private, so you could ensure privacy that way. 2. There's a lot of value in building a good digital footprint. I think if an employer or recruiter saw a student's opinion on a book they've read, that'd be a positive way to have a presence online.
Kelly Cummings
8/16/2017 02:10:35 pm
This is a great idea! I am going to try this this year! Thanks Molly!!!
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7/24/2017 09:46:53 am
"Getting their attention is about interest, keeping their attention is about relevance." p 115
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Jennie Burris
7/24/2017 02:44:44 pm
Moira -
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Joan Miller
7/25/2017 08:52:14 am
Jennie and Moira- So true! I love the idea of asking students to tell me what they want to learn. Long ago, I taught 4th grade during Proficiency test. I'm ashamed to say that I would use the "after the test" as a carrot for what they wanted to learn. I loved the topics they chose: oceans, pet ownership (we read Shiloh), an online yearbook, etc… It was the best! They were super motivated and had a great time. I think we should all work to try and do this more. I also have about 4 teachers who do Genius Hour with students during a "free" period. Some of their reading/researching is amazing! I'm going to try and remember this again as I start working and planning with teachers again this upcoming school year.
Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 06:24:54 pm
Same here, Jennie! I never thought to ask my students about relevant topics, either. It seems like it would be the logical thing to do (or at least that's what it felt like after I read the chapter about Revelance), but I just never considered it. The chapter also makes me wonder if students could come up with why a topic relevant -- if we asked them, "Why do you think we are studying this?" or "How do you think that this connects to your lives?" I teach high school, and I bet that most of my students could figure out how a topic connects to their lives. I might try this once and see if they can make the connection for themselves.
Kate Simons
8/22/2017 05:21:16 am
Hello Jennie,
Angie Toole
7/25/2017 01:33:50 pm
Moira,
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8/5/2017 03:25:58 am
I just reviewed Ohio's Learning Standards for ELA in Reading Literature K-12 and there is not one standard that is not addressed by the signposts strategies and BHH framework.
Tara O'Hea
8/6/2017 03:09:34 pm
I totally agree. Do you have any tips on getting to know the students quickly at the beginning of the year (to delve deep into what is relevant to them), so we can get off to a great start?
Angela Westlake
7/27/2017 08:07:24 am
Moira, weren't these lists amazing! I love to see all the things the students were thinking and wondering about. And yes, it seems like a great way to really think about our students' interests and motivations. I hadn't ever thought about the difference in interest and relevance before.
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8/4/2017 11:30:26 am
I agree-I like their distinction between interest and relevance and also feel like this is applicable to all disciplines. What that new teacher said about all teachers just insisting students learn it b/c it's part of the curriculum is so frustrating.
Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 06:30:23 pm
Moira,
Andrea Conover
8/8/2017 02:03:53 pm
I loved the lists! It made me want to do that at the start of the year as a gateway into what texts I put in front of my students. I am also considering using the idea to implement more research based activities in our school's iTime (an intervention/enrichment period).
Jen Zarlino
7/27/2017 01:00:14 pm
I circled and starred this quote! And you are right, the topics the students shared are relevant and are topics adults find relevant. Reading and discussing and exploring these topics together within a safe environment would make for a great school year of learning for teacher and students alike. We teach students with a variety of needs and talents, but no matter their reading level they all are curious about the world they live in and the important issues of our time. Reading ability does not equate to thinking ability.
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Jennie Burris
7/24/2017 02:52:56 pm
Page 116 -
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Joan Miller
7/25/2017 08:46:34 am
I so agree! This is my 21st year and I fondly remember the days when I only had to ask a principal for some help/resources to try and do what was best for kids- and I had it. Now, I feel like we have to do some serious prep before we have the conversation- money, research, time, etc… to even have a case for discussion. I do think that when we focus on larger ideas we allow for relevance for all students no matter their individual interests.
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Jennie Burris
7/26/2017 06:23:13 am
You are such a supportive parent to help teachers out like that! There are so many books for YA now that are being made with characters of diverse background (so different from when I was a young reader). It is great to see this happening and students grabbing onto them!!! :)
Megan McCaffrey
7/26/2017 12:58:55 pm
I couldn't agree more. I teach in a diverse high school and this year we are actually implementing an African American literature elective that our principal is going to teach. He is a white man but lived in and grew up in an urban area and does a great job of interacting with our entire student body. I'm curious to see the way this class turns out. It was by invite only and have works such as Autobiography of Malcolm X and The Fire Next Time lined up as a few of the texts. I also think our Principal teaching the class is going to be awesome. He was previously an English teacher so I think it's great that he wants to be back in the classroom and teaching a class that can really make an impact. Carefully choosing text that is diverse is key. Additionally my students get mad because they say all American Lit is annoying because people die or are crazy!
Jennie Joseph
8/1/2017 06:52:07 pm
Megan I would love to know more about how the students were chosen. How very cool that your principal is doing this. Wish more of the staff in schools would find MEANINGFUL ways to get in the classrooms...and not just for evaluation of teachers or discipline. Anyone have suggestions for other ways to get principals and others involved other than inviting them in for a special student "fair" or the like? Even then they sometimes don't show.
Traci Kennedy-Brockfield
8/8/2017 09:00:17 pm
This is so true and I see it even on standardized tests. Sometimes the text is so not relevant to my rural, low income students it makes it very hard for them to relate and understand the text. I try hard to have a variety in my room; then I typically go for a period of time buying all of one type of book then realize "oh, I need more of this" :) It's a vicious cycle!
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Joan Miller
7/25/2017 08:41:00 am
Such great chapters- I loved the nuance of interest versus relevance. I so agree with the idea that we should focus on relevance instead of just a passing interest. We always need that "interest" to get something going but we should instead look for ways to highlight the relevance to their own lives. When I was "assigned" Shakespeare with 8th graders, I worked hard to show how Midsummers Night's Dream was really about parents trying to tell their kids what to do and who to date. All of a sudden, they liked the play- they wanted to talk about all the characters that were getting into each other's business- this is a very important topic to teenagers. They hate when others try to get involved! I think that as teachers we just have to always consider why we are doing what we are doing- when we find reasons, the kids seem to care more. I also give my kids purpose statements for everything- When we were required to write our learning targets- many of my kids would just zone out. When I turned them into purpose statements- here is how what we are doing will matter to you? All of a sudden, they were actually listening.
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Heather Barnes
7/25/2017 08:54:10 am
Joan - I completely agree that kids care more when they know why we are doing what we're doing and how and why it matters to them! (And the answer to everything can't be because it's on the state test!) ;)
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steve murray
7/28/2017 07:33:45 pm
I try to spend a fair amount of time explaining to kids about why they are being asked to do what they are. This is especially important i think with state mandated tests and requirements. I feel like if I don't then somehow in their eyes i am colluding with the powers that be and that I am part of some conspiracy that the adult world has set up against them. The reality is, as we know, is that we teachers often have very little impact on what tests, etc, the kids encounter. I hope hearing that from me helps.
Megan McCaffrey
7/26/2017 01:01:06 pm
I always sacrifice silent reading. I have for years. Reading the Silent Reading chapter made me feel even worse about doing it! I know I must change that for the upcoming school year. Even when I feel there's not time, I need to have students read!
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8/4/2017 11:33:41 am
Megan and others,
Jenn Ramage
8/3/2017 06:34:22 pm
For several years, our principal wanted us to silently read with kids during the bell we call Tiger Time (about a half hour). In all honesty, I am not an avid reader and resented the demand. I had other important classroom tasks I could have been doing during that time, and my students knew I was "fake reading!" I love that Beers and Probst advocate for use of the silent reading time to conference with students. As a science teacher, I'm brainstorming ways to effectively bring silent reading into my class!
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Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 06:41:38 pm
Joan,
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Andrea Conover
8/8/2017 02:05:32 pm
Joan - I totally agree that I needed to read the Silent Reading section. I only have 50-55 minutes and often silent reading gets cut, but I feel motivated to continue to make time for this critical activity as often as possible!!
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Heather Barnes
7/25/2017 08:51:30 am
"Giving kids time to read is necessary, not optional." I might just be doing something right. :) I continually need to tweak some things, but I think I'm headed in the right direction for my kids.
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Joan Miller
7/25/2017 08:54:56 am
Heather- total fist pump for you! I'm sure that as they walked away you were silently high-fiving!
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7/25/2017 09:04:06 am
I think 'faking' could go by the wayside when you sue the sign posts. Getting to real dialogue instead of the typical,w ho is the main character? causes the disruption and promotes the thinking that you want to have happen in your class. There are a couple of active Notice & Note Facebook Groups. You may want to consider joining. There have been several pics shared of creative ways to engage students in tasting books.
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Tracy Obringer
7/26/2017 06:48:51 am
Moira, 7/26/2017 06:55:18 am
Tracy,
Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 06:53:08 pm
Moira,
Tara O'Hea
8/6/2017 03:13:14 pm
Hi Moira,
Angie Toole
7/25/2017 04:11:39 pm
Heather,
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Heather Barnes
7/28/2017 06:07:38 pm
Angie -
Jennie Burris
7/26/2017 06:25:28 am
Heather -
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Heather Barnes
7/28/2017 06:09:04 pm
They were completely annoyed. :) There would have been some great feedback from the kids in that class!
Tracy Obringer
7/26/2017 06:51:50 am
Heather,
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Heather Barnes
7/28/2017 06:13:33 pm
Tracy -
Miranda Franck
8/21/2017 03:41:46 pm
Tracy,
Megan McCaffrey
7/26/2017 01:04:29 pm
That's awesome! I like that you just have 1 day of SSR rather than the daily. I'm just so frustrated with students who fake read that I have eliminated SSR so I don't have to deal with it. The project idea is good...especially because I'm sure it gives students a choice at what they want to do.
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Angela Westlake
7/27/2017 08:11:19 am
Heather, I love your commitment to doing what is best for kids. I think that teachers are often afraid of doing what doesn't look like "good teaching," even when we have research to back what we do! I love that you were prepared with an explanation page. I'm also hoping to use Goodreads this year. I am so excited to see so many passionate teachers who are really putting their students first!
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Jen Zarlino
7/27/2017 01:09:28 pm
Way to go for advocating for your professional decisions and what you see works for your students! I have been lucky enough that the administrators I have worked with have valued independent reading as part of my teaching practice, but whenever I had a new administrator, I was ready to defend it.
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Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 06:51:28 pm
Very impressive, Heather!
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Angie Toole
7/25/2017 04:01:19 pm
I really enjoyed reading chapters 12 and 13. On page 114 it states, " In short, getting kids attention is about creating interests; keeping their attention is all about relevance." I totally agree and can relate to this. However, I fall short of applying this to my daily teaching. I often find myself reading from the scripted programs or implementing adaptions to the curriculum that I'm not always going that extra step of making sure the way I am presenting the material is both meeting their interest and keeping their attention. It is easy to stick with what has worked well in the past because you have seen the success and there is a level of comfort for the teacher in teaching something how they always have. With the pressure of the tests I do think teachers are scared to try something new rather then presenting the standards closer to the students interests.
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Jackie Blosser
7/25/2017 06:01:18 pm
Angie,
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Tara O'Hea
8/6/2017 03:19:03 pm
I fall into that comfort trap as well. I know what I did last year worded because test scores increased dramatically. therefore, i am comfortable implementing what was implemented last year. however, I am the type of person who seeks out continuous improvement, and this applies to my teaching as well, so hopefully adding the BHH and concepts of this book to my teaching will increase scores even more.
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Jackie Blosser
7/25/2017 06:35:36 pm
As an educator beginning my 30th year, I have often found myself reflecting on my early years of teaching before the stress of teacher evaluation tied to a single student test, state mandated testing and school report cards. In the first 15 years of my career as an intervention specialist and then an elementary teacher, my favorite part of the day was always reading aloud to students and the following independent reading time. Conferencing with students about want they were reading and wrapping up the time with students sharing what they had read were daily practices in our reading instructional routines. My students made reading gains and most looked forward to this time of the day. Enter high stakes testing, mandated curriculum, a basal reading program and so many other initiatives and there was no longer time for this. The National Reading Panel report lead so many curriculum leaders to deem SSR as not effective and a waste of time. It saddens me that the shift in education has really taken the fun out of teaching with so much emphasis placed on test results. How do we as passionate advocates of reading instruction and disruptIng thinking influence the powers that be in order to impact change? My district has been mandated to create pacing guides, common assessment, and very strict accountability checks by the state department of ed. that allows for so little flexibility in teaching and learning and would make it extremely challenging to implement many ideas from this book. Everything we do have to have "evidence based" research showing that the strategy is effective with our student population,in order for the strategy to be implemented. This latest buzz word in Ohio, I fear will continue to squeeze on SSR implementation and student choice in reading. It saddens me as I read the section on all students reading the same novel as this is what I see on a regular basis in my district and as a curriculum leader will be challenged to distrupt the practice especially at the middle and high school level, My goal as I face this year is to get one teacher at each level to change their thinking on this practice. Wish me luck!
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Jen Zarlino
7/27/2017 01:41:38 pm
I am sending you lots of luck and I have a similar goal to challenge and disrupt some common practices that can be improved.
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Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 07:10:59 pm
Jackie
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Tracy Obringer
7/26/2017 06:44:51 am
I think I may have posted about this is previous weeks, but it is something that I feel is really important. I teach high school and I like to devote Friday's to independent reading time. In my opinion, 10 minutes a day really isn't ENOUGH time at the high school level...especially for my slow readers. They may only get a few pages done and then they won't touch the book until the next day (hence forgetting everything that they have read). I like my Friday's to be all about choice. I have told my students that they can read WHATEVER they want to read...I don't care about reading level, genre, etc. I just want them reading something that interests them. My administration is pretty easy-going and they have no issues with me devoting an entire period to simply reading. MY issue comes from the fact that I don't know how to monitor 100+ students to see if they are reading or just faking it. I have tried conferencing, reading logs, projects, etc. Unless I am reading everything they are reading, I have no idea if what they are telling me is really true! I love the Signposts idea and I hope to start using it this next school year. But, even those can be faked by high schoolers, especially when I can't question them on a book that I have not read.
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Barb Gall
8/3/2017 01:11:14 pm
Tracy,
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Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 07:15:27 pm
Tracy,
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Kate Simons
8/22/2017 06:10:29 am
Hello Tracy,
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Bob Long
7/26/2017 07:23:05 am
I was encouraged by these sections.They really reinforced my thoughts about silent reading. I'm fortunate in that I get to have a Teen Literature class where we free read for 45 minutes every day. From the outset, I felt it was important to let the kids pick their own books. In reading this section about relevance being "always personal" and "what matters to you" (p. 114) I thought back to the topics of books the kids read this past year. These really were topics that were of interest to them personally: human teenage trafficking in foreign countries, child abuse, lifestyles and hardships of a young girl in Africa, boys growing up in tough urban communities and then getting to go to college. If we had tossed one of these books on an entire class, my guess would be that many students would not be interested in it.
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Amy B
7/27/2017 04:54:19 pm
My memory flashback was I always being the student who didn't mind reading aloud so I would Popcorn read as long as a I could to spare the other students who hated reading aloud. I also found an anchor as you did in these chapters to the idea that relevance isn't crazy hard to create. If we ask students what they are interested in we can use the school library or public library to link students up with text around their interest. With modern day Google and large public library systems it isn't much of a stress to find texts. My aha moment was if I was really stuck finding a text for a student maybe a tweet on my school Twitter account with an educational hashtag could be a quick way to reach thousands of teachers for help.
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Megan McCaffrey
7/26/2017 01:12:53 pm
Okay, I clearly need to get back to having my Juniors do SSR!! I prefer the idea of devoting 1 day to SSR rather than a few minutes everyday. My idea is also to allow even more freedom that just picking a book. As mentioned in the research, reading anything will help kids read better and more often. While there are books out there on virtually every topic imaginable, I was thinking as long as they are reading something--magazine, newspaper, etc...I would allow that. It doesn't need to be a novel. This will take some creativity on my part to set up any types of assignments, reading checks, etc...but I think even requiring students to read a novel is still not a choice. If I say read something...anything you want...then that is truly giving them a choice. If they want to read Sports Illustrated--they are still reading words on a page which is all I want them to do! I'll probably encourage novels but not require them.
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Jen Zarlino
7/27/2017 01:17:19 pm
I have the same line of thinking- if it is school appropriate, I'm okay with you reading it. I subscribe to some magazines, print short stories and have them available in binders, bring in books from the library and have built my own library over time. I definitely have more novels, and I also ask students at the beginning of the year to do an online book hunt to begin a list of books to read during the year and I read their lists for any common titles to add to my library. I monitor their reading with conferences and their writing about reading in reader's notebooks. Students also sign up for book talks and create book trailers to share. I get a pretty good view of their thinking between all of those methods.
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Miranda Franck
8/21/2017 03:46:20 pm
I also allow Jim Burke's Digital Textbook for them to read when I give them a day to...as I am conferencing, etc. It tends to interest my hands-on students with lots of non-fiction.
Kate Simons
8/22/2017 06:14:37 am
Hello Megan and Jen,
Traci Kennedy-Brockfield
8/8/2017 08:56:50 pm
I've had a few students ask me if they could read a Bible during SSR and my thought was absolutely!
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steve murray
7/26/2017 02:26:09 pm
There is a constant competition for the kids' time, and I don't have any easy answers for relevance, but I do know that I have spent a lot of time over the years trying to explain the relevance of certain texts to me. For example, Othello spoke so deeply at a time of jealousy and sense of betrayal; The Outsiders spoke to me when a friend died; the image of the immigrant drowning in the muck in The Jungle startled me and contributed to my growing consciousness of social justice....I think this year I will begin the year with a questionnaire, intended to elicit responses like those in the "What Do the Kids Want to Know?" section. But it would also be instructive to find out from parents what they really care about. I suspect that what the parents care about is more closely aligned to what administrators and school boards want than what kids do. I don't blame the parents, or the kids, or the teachers.We all seem tangle up in this world that seems to say "If you don't get into (fill in the blank) University, you won't succeed, or "If you don't get this grade on your (fill in the blank) test you'll have fewer options own the road. Full disclosure: I am a teacher of 30 years but I am also a father of a high school kid. Yes I want him to be sensitive, to be thoughtful and engaged, and to be empathetic and kind, an I can think of 100 books I wish he would read. But I also worry about his grades, about his test scores, etc. It's a balance. I think the big challenge will be to find out what kids care about and hope there is something on our "approved" reading list that matches up.
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Amy B
7/27/2017 04:47:45 pm
I can really relate to your idea of balance in learning. This text feels very judgy to me about schools, administration, and teachers who teach to have a successful test score. Over the last few chapters specifically the authors give an opinion that teaching to the test is a bad practice. Is it really bad to teach the state curriculum which will be tested on the state curriculum test? Isn't what is on the test the basic skills a student in that grade should know? Shouldn't a school community be striving for the best learning and performance from its students in a measurable way?
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Jenn Ramage
8/3/2017 06:42:59 pm
I appreciate your perspective, Amy. As I was reading, I jotted a note in the margin about curriculum. I don't think having an aligned curriculum across states is a bad idea. We live in a time where employment transfers move families across the country consistently, not to mention local district transiency for some students and families. Is it frustrating as heck that there is so much focus on the tests? Heck, yes! However, that doesn't mean having a curriculum is a bad thing. 8/4/2017 03:23:35 pm
Steve, I totally agree. Now how do we (teachers) find the time to discover the "relevance" for each individual. Also, interesting point....many students don't know the relevance until they read. I've had many students say they weren't excited about a book, but when they had finished it....they said it was really good.
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7/27/2017 07:26:03 am
Let's not forget about the opportunities to read aloud as well. For those of you struggling to make time for independent reading or justifying why, you may want to engage in Global Readaloud this year.
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Jennie Joseph
8/3/2017 01:05:34 pm
I find a lot of value in doing whole class read alouds -- I have heard of this, but don't know much about it. Could you please share some about your experience with Global Read-Aloud?
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Barb Gall
8/3/2017 01:12:33 pm
I LOVE that you are advocating for the read aloud in the upper grades. All students benefit from read alouds through high school!
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Andrea Conover
8/8/2017 02:15:38 pm
I agree about read alouds! On my end of the year survey some of my read alouds are often my kids' favorite books from the year.
Angela Westlake
7/27/2017 08:01:51 am
Wow! The section "What Do Kids Want to Know?" was so eye-opening! These students were really focused on a lot of important topics in the world. It was interesting to see the progression from the youngest kids to the oldest and how the topics are so similar, though on a much different level. Finding ways to incorporate these topics into our classrooms in a relevant, age-appropriate way is the next challenge! This summer, I've been on a quest to find good read-alouds for my third graders that will really get them thinking about things like bullying, friendship, and other life lessons.
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Amy B
7/27/2017 04:42:28 pm
Thank you for the recommendation, the text became a bit overwhelming with suggestions to find the next great read on reading. I agree that the chapter on SSR was incredibly helpful to remember that sometimes research isn't a solid reason to drop/accept a practice in our classrooms. Especially, when your gut tells you that a practice is beneficial for students. I know homework only has an effective rate of .5 (goal is 1.0) but I still feel in 5th grade it builds character skills as well as academic skills. Engaging with a book under this revised model of SSR really being a modeled activity with a focused goal or task changes the passive activity to an active one.
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Angie Toole
7/27/2017 06:26:19 pm
Angela, The Jelly Donut Difference Sharing Kindness with the world is a great book to read aloud. Kids love it and you can have them "Sprinkle" Kindness in many ways.
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steve murray
7/28/2017 07:40:11 pm
Not sure where to put this comment, but this seems as good a place as any... I got frustrated with the comment on p 123 about the teacher who reputedly would "never give up teaching Heart of Darkness." This was tossed in as a criticism of teachers who reportedly are resistant to change. I took issue for two reasons: 1. I have taught H of D for years and plan always to teach it; 2. the reason I plan to teach it for the foreseeable future is because my students are engaged with it because, I dare to say, our discussions about it make it relevant. I wish the authors, rather than just including this anecdote would have queried the teacher ask WHY he or she is so adamant about continuing to use this text. There seems to be some assumption that the teacher in question uses H of D because they also do, rather than that the teacher may well have good reasons for doing so.
Jen Zarlino
7/27/2017 01:33:21 pm
I enjoyed these two chapters, but it is hard not to enjoy reading something that you believe in. Students reading independently and having choice in their reading is so important, and at the same time, students also need to be exposed to texts, texts that challenge them in ways, through teacher lessons, shared class experience, etc., that students may not have chosen to read but by engaging in the text and learning with others, will help them grow as readers and apply new learning in the texts they do choose to read.
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Amy B
7/27/2017 04:37:53 pm
This text is starting to get a bit edgy with the use of language and references to modern day technology. I wonder how this text will hold up over the next ten years with all its modern day metaphors?
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Jennie Joseph
8/1/2017 06:56:40 pm
I like how you are reminding me that the "hook" at the beginning of a lesson could be replaced by relevance. Because I teacher higher students, and often via inquiry, I also think that them explaining the relevance could be interesting and more insightful for them.
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Jennie Joseph
8/1/2017 07:02:56 pm
I value the idea of students getting time to read, HOWEVER I struggle with effective ways of doing this sometimes, especially with completely self selected books. I co-teach in 3 different classrooms and have been with a few teachers over the years. I do currently have a teacher who builds into almost every day, silent reading (and mostly student select books). I see the value. BUT, when I conference with kids I feel SO rushed and like I never do that time justice. They often have to summarize and often I then fall to "why did you pick this book" and other super cheesy questions that don't seem meaningful enough. It also takes more time than it "should" considering the worthiness of my questions (not enough worth). Has anyone ever had parent volunteers occasionally do conferences or peers or....??? Anyone have thought-provoking questions they could share that they use with conferences when they haven't read the book before?
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Traci Kennedy-Brockfield
8/8/2017 08:52:55 pm
I so need a cheat sheet of questions to ask as I often find myself falling into old habits and not pushing for better questioning!
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Barb Gall
8/3/2017 01:04:28 pm
Both of these chapters were really inspiring to me. I agree that relevance is important in building 21st century learners. Employers today want people that are hard working, passionate, and outside of the box thinkers. Simply memorizing facts does not adequately prepare our youth for their role in the future. I can see PBL coming more to the forefront in our classrooms and I love it!
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Jenn Ramage
8/3/2017 07:00:28 pm
When considering relevance, I loved the idea of surveying kids on what they want to learn. I find it to be the same concept as offering project menus. Students can be engaged in curriculum while also satisfying their own curiosities.
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8/4/2017 03:18:58 pm
Faulty foundations.... my biggest gripe right now. We have so many students entering 7th grade with faulty foundations. In our district the students are currently not held accountable (teachers as well) for what they are learning. I have many suspicions as to why...but my hope is that with some changes in the leadership and focus of the district, as well as a few teachers who are trying a grass roots effort, this will change.
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Traci Kennedy-Brockfield
8/8/2017 08:51:46 pm
Very good points - particularly about needing that knowledge in upper grades so you can continue to grow on a concept. I wish more parents took time to help their students find apps that could go alongside their schooling. We bought Stack the States for our 7 and 9 year old this summer - and they learned all the states, capitals and locations and even fun facts and flags on our car rides (mom and dad were tested too)! I do think technology could help us with more retention issues that you mentioned. That may allow more time for relevance in their learning, too.
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8/4/2017 11:46:19 am
I'm curious that no one (that I saw) really brought up the topic of how much teachers themselves read. I am a HS teacher turned HS librarian, and I have been trying to spread the gospel of audiobooks to my staff (and students).
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8/4/2017 03:15:09 pm
I totally agree. I constantly tell my students that I WISH someone would send me to my room so I can read! I get crazed looks from a few, but they get the point!
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Katy Flynn
8/21/2017 06:35:25 pm
Oh Debbie, I often feel the same way! How I wish someone would take away my devices (although my kindle might be useful) and tell me I had to read for a while (an hour, two, half a day, a whole day... all of those options would be glorious!). One of my favorite tote bags has the saying I'm sure many of us are familiar with "So many books, so little time", and how true it is!!! I am that person who has so many books waiting- on my bookshelves (physical copies of books!), in my OverDrive account, on my Kindle, etc. and I just want to read them all!
Traci Kennedy-Brockfield
8/8/2017 08:48:39 pm
So true - now that I don't have my kids riding with me every morning to school, I have the time to do this! When I asked our librarian for a book (a read aloud that I found when I searched "Good Read Alouds for 4th Grade" she didn't have the book or have time to read it but she listened to it and told me I HAD to read it to my class :)
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Miranda Franck
8/21/2017 03:50:25 pm
Since I have had children, I listen to a ton of audio books. My free time at home that I used to spend reading books after the kids are in bed has been consumed with grading since I try to be home from school earlier.
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8/4/2017 03:13:24 pm
Relevance=Student interest/motivation etc... luckily the common core is so vague that would allow teachers to account for interest. Yet many teachers can't or don't. Why? Time. I hate that while we all want to do the best thing for kids...time constraints are always an obstacle. Something else that struck me while reading was parental opposition. I have never seen students more engaged or more motivated to read then when we were reading "The Hunger Games". Many of the teachers in my building won't read it any more because of parents. I wish more parents would trust us to handle the sensitive nature of the books in question to foster a love of reading. I just finished "The Hate U Give" and I suspect this will also have a huge negative parent outlash. However, the topic is relevant, kids will relate to it, they will find it interesting....therefore they will read.
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Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 07:31:47 pm
Debbie,
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Traci Kennedy-Brockfield
8/8/2017 08:46:25 pm
Ugh - Parents can totally ruin it some times! Even my older sister, who is very intelligent, refused to let my niece (also very intelligent) read Harry Potter when she was younger just because it had magic and witches. I asked her if she had read it and she hadn't. The teacher in me lectured my sister about not squashing the curiousity of a new book without reading it herself. (HP is what really made me a reader at home - and I never picked up a HP book until I was out of college until my friends made me read it - I'm so glad they did!
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8/5/2017 03:30:18 am
Also, look at how many of the Speaking and Listening Standards are addressed in the opportunities you provide your students to dialogue about the texts they are reading.
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Heidi Weber
8/16/2017 06:27:07 am
Speaking and listening through "talking about texts" is going to be a focus for me this year. I've been exploring different ways to build these skills in students over the past few years... so much to explore in this area!
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Lisa Frase
8/5/2017 08:16:53 pm
In response to the "Turn and Talk" on page 137, I am definitely not satisfied with the amount of time that I allotted in my classes last year. I only utilized 15 to 20 minutes on Fridays the 2nd & 3rd quarters. In addition, I am not sure how much SSR takes place in my school yet, but I know that at least two of 6 other English teachers use it. I think that we feel time is the reason that we don't use SSR the way that we should. In addition, I think our school district is very much focused on "teaching to the test" right now.
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Traci Kennedy-Brockfield
8/8/2017 08:43:23 pm
I found the information about upper grades and SSR/FSR interesting, but then pondered my own experience, and definitely never had it in high school. I hope more high school teachers find the time for FSR in their rooms because students today are so over programmed they won't do it at home or when they're in college.
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Katy Flynn
8/21/2017 06:18:41 pm
Lisa, When I was thinking about silent reading and remembering how much I enjoyed it I didn't even think about silent reading and high school because trying to think back we didn't do a whole lot of it. Those teachers who do it at the high school do it really well and set a good example for the rest of us to follow. I'd enjoy giving my students more time than I do (which is very little) so I guess the only place to go from here, for me, is up! I think that's going to be one of my personal goals this year, not necessarily one that would go on any sort of evaluation form or LPDC notebook, but a goal for myself to attempt to work on. If you have any pointers on how to present silent reading in an effective and meaningful way please share!
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Katy Flynn
8/21/2017 06:28:12 pm
I just remembered, I used to do FSR when I taught the anatomy class- we read "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston. They loved it because it was different from what they were reading in AP, and we structured it like a book club. So we had target chapters to read before coming into class for a discussion day once every couple weeks. And when they were stressing about life, we had a reading day during which they did SSR and they all read it. I had purchased the books for the class (all 9 of them) and let them keep their books at the end of the year. I think they enjoyed that activity woven in among our anatomy lessons.
Tara O'Hea
8/6/2017 03:04:42 pm
Two powerful quotes really resonated with me as I read this section. The first one is, "Who is in charge of determining relevance-us or them?" Here I am so happy with the essential question that my colleagues and i chose for the first quarter. You know, the question that is referred to daily, that all reading will focus on. Yeah, that one. The one WE selected. Ugh. Now I need to find what is relevant to my students. I love the honesty in this section and how it is making me disrupt my own thinking.
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Andrea Conover
8/8/2017 02:22:05 pm
As I'm a little late to this thread, I will probably reiterate what a lot of others have already mentioned. I loved the Rethinking Relevance section. For me, this section really reinforced why I do a lot of what I do at the beginning of the year. It helped reassure me that the time I spend developing rapport and community in my classroom is so important. Though sometimes it takes a while for me to get to know my students, that time spent is SO important. This section reminded me that rapport is the key to engagement. It reinforced why I have always felt it so important to get to know my kids. It also reinforces why I can't use the same texts every year, because sometimes the texts that are relevant to one group are not to the next year's. I just found a lot of value in the importance of knowing your kids and what is relevant to them in this section.
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8/9/2017 05:23:14 am
Andrea,
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Traci Kennedy-Brockfield
8/8/2017 08:40:56 pm
I had several thoughts go through my mind in these sections.
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Kelly Cummings
8/16/2017 02:26:44 pm
I really enjoyed this chapter. Because of this chapter I am going to use my intervention time to do a genius hour. The section that talked about Next Practices, and taking the risk of failure to create something new. This is so cool. In my hour I am going to use, we are doing an action hour where they choose something to take action on. I introduced this to my students this week at conferences and they are excited about it. I can't wait to see what comes out of their questions and possibly their failures.
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Katy Flynn
8/21/2017 06:12:57 pm
That sounds really interesting to do an action hour. I'm sure you've done a lot of brainstorming regarding your action hour and when you mention it, it brings forth so many ideas that I'm seeing how this could relate to various topics. I'm thinking about providing reading time for students to find scientific articles pertaining to topics they find interesting in hopes to provide more student choice, engagement, and encouragement in reading in a science classroom. It's something that I have tried before but was not strong in the follow through and students often asked how the reading activity related to the content or standard that we were learning at the time. I could additionally set requirements to read articles of interest relating to the current topic; so if we were discussing the concept of electricity they could go and read articles about clean ways to provide electricity to Third World Nations, how electricity availability and pricing affects political policy, or find something pertaining to electricity in any interdisciplinary manner. Thanks for lighting the spark leading to some brainstorming!
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Katy Flynn
8/21/2017 06:02:39 pm
The idea that just because a concept is stated in the curriculum doesn't necessarily indicate that it is relevant for students was one that I picked up on and absolutely understand. I have often received that question of, “Why do we have to learn this?” and sometimes have responded with “ Because it's in the standards,” or “Because it's required by the state”. Discovering ways to make the curriculum relevant to the students should ensure some of the engagement issues that we've discussed. Then the question raised is, “How do I make some of these more obscure or abstract standards relatable to students when this may be the only time that they encounter a concept?” The skills associated with the entirety of a science course, or an English course, and so on, are what they need to learn, apply, and take with them into their adult lives. But how do we marry the life skills that they need to learn with the content that they're required to recall? Yes, State Testing is less about the recall and more about these skills now but they still can't achieve without some of the growth of content knowledge.
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Miranda Franck
8/21/2017 06:51:54 pm
The "Rethinking Relevance" section appealed to me because I'm fortunate enough to be able to teach English, where allowing them to have a say in what we read is very manageable, especially since I do not use a textbook. I love starting with issues, problems, and concerns they have as mentioned on page 121. I'm going to be more obvious this year in my approach to this. Kids really do like to learn overall: they just want to care about the material in some way. It's a head fake when we can carry this off. I loved how the question asked about where a teacher might see him or herself in THREE years. That's doable without being too intimidating.
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Kate Simons
8/22/2017 07:50:37 am
The authors correctly stated that "something that is relevant is inherently interesting." Over the last several years, I think that the educational system has spent a lot of time strategizing to raise rigor, but developing relevance has not been stressed enough.
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