The Dawn of a New Day

     School began Tuesday for my district and while summer slips away from my gripping fingertips, new class lists became a priority tonight!   I just finished typing a menagerie of new class lists like lunch count, emergency binder, homework checker, etc.  I've written, typed, and bubble-lettered my new student's names so many times that I have them memorized!  But, while I'm adding the new names to my old lists, that familiar feeling of mourning hits me hard because I will miss my old class and the family we created last year.
     Every teacher can attest to the transformation that occurs over the course of a school year as you take your new cherubs and mold and shape their young minds.  The newbies that enter my classroom in the beginning of the year are literally strangers.  It takes months to gently guide and encourage them as they embrace my teaching style, expectations, and sense of humor.  But when they leave in June, I can honestly say that I know each and every one of them personally.   I know when they don't feel good, or when they need a hug, or encouragement.  The classroom develops a personality of its own and sometimes, no words are needed as the kids anticipate my next move.
     So, this eighth new school year holds promise of another great group of kids.  We will build our classroom family one day at a time.  Visits from last years kids as well as the year before that warm my heart. You know you have reached a student on some level when they return to share their accomplishments with you...it's why I teach ... to make a difference.

The Lesson...Part 3

Isoke Nia is the Director of Research
and Development for the Teachers
 College Reading and Writing Project.

   I had to be on my game in order to generate excitement for nonfiction text that following Monday.  After all, the kids have been saturated in fiction text for so long that I knew I had to to hook them immediately, or lose them forever! So,   I requested every nonfiction book Gail Gibbons ever created from our school librarian and I threw in a smattering of books about content and created a lending nonfiction library within our classroom.   I decided to begin the study with an activity from  Isoke Nia.  I placed handfuls of books on each of my three clusters of desks.  I included in each group a “red herring” to check for understanding of a fiction text versus a nonfiction text.  I asked each group to create a T-chart and list their noticings of nonfiction text compared with what they knew about fiction text.  During this activity, they were so engaged in great discussions about nonfiction that I beamed with joy! My kids sounded amazingly intellectual...I thought I died and went to heaven!  This immersion in nonfiction text really opened them up to a different kind of reading and they liked it!  
     Afterwards, a representative from each group hung the poster up and each group shared out.  Together, we created one master poster of our findings and compared it to a hand-out that listed the access and visual features of nonfiction.    

Found this awesome idea on another blog:
 http://oneextradegree.blogspot.com 

        Next, we changed location and placed our collection of nonfiction books on the floor and the children created a circle around them.  They were given the task of finding and marking with a post-it the different text features we discussed earlier using our plethora of books. There was lots of chatter as they discovered various captions, sidebars, and headings.  We spent time sharing our findings and selected one student example and made copies of them from the texts.  From these copies, I created larger-than-life posters that hang in the classroom.  Using distributed practice, I constantly review text features with the kids across the curriculum.  Already, I see a difference in my student’s ability to navigate expository text as well as comprehend the text!  
     This is just the beginning in the genre of expository text though.  There are so many options to explore and incredible ideas to pull from.  The photo above is an awesome example of hands-on learning.  I plan on incorporating that in this years expository book frenzy (from The Book Whisperer).  If you were wondering what comes next...I would say text structure followed by great leads for expository writing.   


I hope this was helpful and I am always open to suggestions that will further enhance my student's learning.   

     

Got Nonfiction? Part 2

     Last year, I took a class through the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project (PAWLP) about using nonfiction text in the reading and writing classroom.  It was eye opening and forever changed the way I deliver reading and writing instruction!  One of the instructors was Lynne Dorfman, co-author of Nonfiction Mentor Texts. She did a book pass using her vast collection of nonfiction titles, blessing each book before passing them around to our book-hungry hands!  I left that class energized, believing that every problem could be solved with a nonfiction picture book!  

     Wearing my “nonfiction glasses,” I looked over my classroom library and realized 80% of the books were fiction titles! Problem number one!  Next, I analyzed our language arts anthology and found it was 63% fiction based and 37% nonfiction!  Problem number two!  Is it any wonder the kids don’t self-select nonfiction books?   This lack of nonfiction text creates a gap in students reading ability, both in fluency and comprehension.  As a result, they have far less familiarity with nonfiction text and its  underlying structures than with narrative text.  About 45% of my students read between 10-40 less correct words per minute on the nonfiction passage on the last theme test then the first narrative passage. This is hugely problematic! 

      So, how did I create a love for nonfiction and a thirst for knowledge among my students?  I fell in love with nonfiction books myself!  

...Tune in tomorrow for part 3...

The Lesson

Using Picture Books to Bring Nature to Urban Kids...

     My passion for this topic was born out of my student’s lack of background knowledge and actual experiences with nature.  I realized they didn’t engage in outdoor fun, mostly due to the concrete world they existed in, and the dangers that hid in the shadows of an urban, low-income neighborhood.  I heard too often about shootings, police activity, and fear of what could happen, to appreciate their lack of participation in their out-of-doors surroundings. 

      A few years ago, I bought a historic farmhouse on a little over an acre. With land comes the victory garden, the 5,000 gallon Koi pond, and of course, poultry!  I became a lover of nature, gardening, and dirt.  I spent most of my time elbow-deep in dirt as I weeded, planted, and pruned my surroundings.  Still, I pondered my student’s lives back at school.  I thought about what their reactions to the garden would be: picking a plump tomato and spindly-green cucumber and then making a salad from their labors. I thought about the wildlife around my house and how little they see at home.  My thoughts went wild and eventually I acted on them. 

Gertie, my English setter.

     After countless movies about teachers who inspire underprivileged kids, I took the initiative.   Five contests later, I found myself at a nature preserve in Newtown Square with my husband, our two dogs, and three student-winners.  We spent the day 
soaking in the sun, running through streams, and chasing the dogs.  Was it successful?  Well, when I heard one student exclaim, “Oh my gosh!  Grass!”  I knew it was.  

Baby geese at my back door!

     Although my contests generated immense intrinsic motivation within my students, something that is lacking in most of our student population, I was asked to end the contests because it went against every district rule.  I felt defeated.  How would I bring nature to my students now?  I needed an alternative,  so I took up photography.  I photographed everything!  The change of seasons, projects around the house, wildlife (after all, my house is a designated wildlife habitat!), the pond, the chickens, the garden, emerging Cicadas!  You name it - I captured it!  Realizing the need for hands-on components too, I brought in abandoned bird nests, Cicada exoskeletons, a dead Cicada killer, unwanted snake skins, a deer skull (a big hit with the kids), and pelts.  The photos became a slide show, which opened up whole class discussions.  We googled sounds of birds and sought after books for further knowledge on topics of interest.  

     As a fourth grade teacher in Pennsylvania, I am responsible for state testing in three subjects: math, reading, and science.  Math instruction comprises three hours and twenty minutes per week (I know, I’m shocked myself!), twelve and one half hours are dedicated to the weekly language arts block, leaving a measly two hours per week allotted for science instruction.  For years I have watched in silent agony as my students struggle to both read and understand the science state exam.  I tell them it’s only a reading test about science, but what I really want to say is, “Seriously, you want them to pass a test that is too hard for most of them to read, about topics that they have little or no background knowledge in?”  Houston, we have a problem! 

..... Check back tomorrow for part 2 .....  

What Every New Student Should Know...

     Right before the break for summer vacation, our lead teacher shared an idea she had for a "welcome book" that would be created by current students for newly registered students to our school.  I loved her idea instantly!  When we first discussed the idea, Terry was reading Nonfiction Mentor Text by Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli, both Pennsylvania educators and fellows of West Chester University's Writing and Literature Project.  I took a class with Lynne last fall that changed my approach to nonfiction in the classroom.  I put my newly acquired knowledge to use and worked extensively with my class regarding nonfiction features and writing informational pieces, giving them the edge they needed to hit expository text head-on, equipped now with background knowledge and confidence.   A "welcome book" sounded note-worthy and necessary to me.

     So, why do we need a "welcome book?"  Let me give you some idea of what we face at our school.  The 2010-2011 school year saw 85 newly registered students between the months of October and November alone, with approximately a 45% transient rate, you can see how our demographics are constantly shifting.  With our melting pot always bubbling, there are inevitably some families who don't understand our culture at school.  By culture,  I am not referring to race, rather the expectations our staff and students are accustomed to year after year.  This culture is often difficult for those families who may have left a district with few expectations for themselves as parents and for their children as students,  only to find our district's responsibility meter off the charts!

     You see, our school  encourages professionalism in both appearance (dress code) and in behavior, with the end result a quality learning atmosphere.  As experience dictates, not all new students buy into our way of doing it.  Enter the "welcome book" idea.  This kid-created guide will serve as a resource for the child as he or she navigates the halls and classrooms of their new school.  It can give a new district family insight into their child's day, with expectations written in kid-friendly terms, using positive and supportive language.  This connection could help cement the all-to-important relationship between home and school, bringing us closer together like the team we were intended to be.

  So, the "welcome book" was introduced to my Summer Reading Club last Wednesday.  The kids at Summer Reading Club are also the same kids who attended my writing club this past school year and they ran with the idea of creating a book!  We spent time brainstorming important topics that should be included and planning several possible alliterative titles.  They assigned different pages to each other and began the writerly life of young authors.  They worked hard on clearly stating our school's standards for behavior, while trying to keep negative words out of the text.  This is a work in progress that will probably be completed during writing club this fall.  I know the kids are excited about the project which speaks volumes about them.  I am encouraged by their spirit and willingness to work diligently during their summer vacation. Children never cease to amaze me!

An Idea is Born at Longwood Gardens

Golden Finch eating from sunflower

     I took a PAWLP (Pa Writing and Lit. Project) graduate class at Longwood Gardens earlier this year and I was  awed by the beauty of the gardens!  In the gardening world I am considered a newbie, plants have been known to shrivel and die in my presence, so the magnitude of Longwood's botanical gardens and conservatory were both inspiring and magical to me!  It caused me to wonder about my students and what they would think about the gardens, I mean, they don't get many chances to experience beauty like that in their semi-urban community so, I decided to document my remaining classes using photography and journal entries.  I figured if I could capture some of the things that amazed me and then share it with my kids in a deeper, more personal way then it would be almost like they were there, right?
     I created a slide show after every PAWLP class at Longwood.  I told the kids about things I learned and projects I was working on and they loved it!  I was working on a project for class about bees as pollinators and I made a powerpoint as part of the unit study.  I shared the powerpoint with my kids one morning and to my surprise, they were filled with questions.  A handful of them signed out bee books from the school library that week and about a month later, while on an outdoor science-based field trip, my kids were able to answer questions regarding pollinators!
     This lead me in the direction of things like the natural world around us, conservation, research from Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, and of course...BOOKS!  I am a firm believer that nothing can be accomplished without a lot of books.  So, I decided to let myself wonder about how nature could inspire my kids.  I wondered about how I could build their background knowledge without having to take an expensive field trip every week.  I wondered how my kids could benefit from exploring picture books, both fiction and non-fiction, in an attempt to bring nature into their literal lives.  I wondered a lot.
Any thoughts?

Face Book, Twitter, and Blogging--Oh My!

    On a scale of 1-10, I'm about a good, solid 6 when it comes to technology.  After learning how to operate my smart board in the classroom, I thought I was the bomb!  But, with all the on-line social networking available nowadays, I'm struggling to keep up.  
    My daughter set me up on Face Book last year, but I'm a little challenged when it comes to Twitter and blogging and let us not forget Google+!  So, I began feeling somewhat inferior after I joined Centurions of 2011 - a Face Book group (and yes, at least I am cool enough to belong to one group! LOL) comprised of educators, librarians and the like, whose goal is to read 111 books a piece this year.  It is a tremendous resource for book titles but, it seems like everyone tweets, blogs, podcasts, etc.  and I'm just writing down book titles.  My technological clock was ticking loudly in my ear, so I decided to start a blog.   I joined Twitter, but I don't tweet.  And I listened to my first podcast, suggested by a friend from the Centurians with Ralph Fletcher. Things are going from good to great!