Sneak-Read!

I had a student ‘sneak-read’ today… 

And I’m celebrating!  This is a student that came into my classroom at the beginning of the year and stared at the floor.   When I wanted to be sure he was listening I would get down on the floor and look up at him.  This student not only was uninterested in reading, I was having a difficult time trying to find books to appeal to him because of his unresponsiveness.  I had never seen anything like it!  And today….  Today I actually had to tell him to close his book for a moment so he could participate in our mini lesson on making inferences.  Then I promised him he could continue to read and use his book to practice inferring.  He agreed, albeit begrudgingly.  Truth be told, I would have loved to have just let him continue reading.  I had been waiting a long time for this day and I just want to revel it.  The site of this student so engrossed in a book that he was able shut out all distractions around him, made me feel like I had just won the lottery!

It seems hard to believe but last week I had another student make a profound revelation that set my heart racing as well.  After our mini lesson in workshop, the student looked up at me, smiled and commented, “I used to just read to be ‘done’.  Now I get it.”  I think I stared at him in what I can only image was shock and asked him to repeat his statement. I had to be sure I had heard him right.  He repeated it.  I had him heard correctly.  I wanted to jump up and down and clap my hand and dance around the classroom.  I had made a difference! 

This is what we reading teachers dream of, students that “get reading”. It’s one of the best feelings in the world.  I could use a dose of this every day but feel so lucky to have experienced it two weeks in a row.  I can only hope we have started a trend.

The Power of "Believe"

This year our principal challenged all of us to choose our “word” for the year.  A word to inspire us not only as we start the year, but to provide a focus for ourselves and our students as we move though the challenges of the coming school year.  Without hesitation I chose the word “believe”.  This has been my unofficial “word” for many years.  When I’ve had challenges in life, whether as a teen, a college student, a mom, a teacher, I’ve focused on the power of believe, believing everything would be all right. Believing I could do what others told me was impossible.  Believing I could achieve my dreams.  Believing my children could achieve their dreams.   So it was natural that I chose “believe” as the word for my classroom.

         I didn’t do anything special.  I simply wrote the word in red marker across a sheet of typing paper and posted it on the chalkboard in the front of the classroom.  I told the students that it was our “word” for the year.  In our classroom there would be no giving up, no “it’s too hard”, no excuses.  This became our classroom policy.  If a student complains that something is too hard, I simply walk to the chalkboard and point to “believe”.  If that doesn’t do the trick, we all remind the student to believe.  It has almost become a chat for us, “Believe.  You can do it. PMA (positive mental attitude)! Believe!” Corny as it may sound, it works.  The student sees that I believe, classmates believe, finally the student begins to believe. 

Is it the power of the word at work? Is it the power of realizing that the teacher and classmates believe?  Is it the positive energy generated?  Whatever the reason, the energy created is palpable and students are changing.  They believe in themselves.

Believe

When you enter this classroom…

Believe you’re a reader

Believe you’re a writer

Believe in the power of books

Believe in the power of words

Believe that you’re smart

Believe you deserve respect

Believe others deserve respect

Believe we all matter, always

Believe that you’ll try your hardest

Believe that “OK” is not enough

Believe in doing your best

Believe the best in others

Believe honesty is the only way

Believe in the possible

Believe in the impossible

Most of all

When you enter this classroom…

Believe you’ll never stop believing in yourself!

Writing... Enjoying the Process!

We’re taking a different approach to blogging this year.  I’ve read so many good ideas via Twitter about “paper blogging” that I thought we’d try something different and start with that.  It’s not that I’m new to blogging with students. My class was quite successful last year with their reading blogs.  But it was just my homeroom that I taught reading to last year.  This year I have 78 students, three different classes, and they’re all excited about blogging.  So this week we’ve been working on writing book recommendations.  We’ve been taking it slowly, reading examples of both good and not-so good reviews, brainstorming characteristics of good book reviews, completing graphic organizers as part of the prewrite process, and finally moving on to the rough drafts today.  It was amazing to watch as the students became completely engaged in writing their recommendations.  The students moved through the writing process from rough draft, to peer conferencing, to revising with very few snags.  Taking it slowly really paid off!

But the magic started as I began to walk around the classroom and the students eagerly asked me to listen to their writing. The best part of my day was sitting with the students and listening to them read their book recommendations. It was the best of both worlds.  We were talking about writing, getting excited about great books, and sharing ideas.

Mock Newbery Book Club is Here!

It's finally here!  Tomorrow is our first official meeting of the Pleasant View Mock Newbery Book Club for sixth graders!  We'll be discussing why the Newbery Award is so special and what it takes for a book to win the award. Students will then have an opportunity to review several past winners of both the Newbery Award and the Newbery Honor Award.  Everyone  will then choose a past award winner or honor book to read for the first two weeks.  At our next meeting we'll compare notes and determine what it took for these books to win the award.  Then it's off to the 2013 books and our search for the next Newbery winner!

Check out these book trailers for a few past winners of the Newbery Award and Honor Award:

Holes by Louis Sachar
1999 Newbery Award

The Giver by Lois Lowery

1994 Newbery Award

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli 

1991 Newbery Award 

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm

2011 Newbery Honor

Writing and dreams, a powerful combination....still

Traditionally our sixth grade writer’s workshop begins the year with a formative writing assessment. Students are given a prompt, asked to brainstorm ideas, write a rough draft, and a final copy.  Since the purpose of this assessment is to see what the students already know, they aren’t allowed to conference with peers or teachers for help, ideas, anything.  I dreaded giving this assessment probably as much as the students did.  It seemed hypocritical to ask the students to write this way when it’s not at all how we teach writing.  Yet year after year, this is what we did.  Until this year.  Finally this year I was told it was not necessary to administer the assessment!

However, I still wanted to collect a writing sample from the students.  I needed to know them better as writers.  Then, while lesson planning late one night (that’s when I get my best brainstorming inspirations), it hit me.  Together the students and I would read the Time for Kids article about the 50^th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.  I then wrote my own “dream” speech to use as a model and posted it on my blog.  Finally for the assessment, the students would write their own “dream” speech.

The lesson couldn’t have gone better.  Many of the students were immediately taken in by the article.  They had heard of Martin Luther King Jr. but for the most part had been unfamiliar with the extreme discrimination of the time.  They were aghast when they learned of the segregated schools, libraries, and even water fountains.  I then shared my blog with the class by displaying my “dream” speech on the Smart board and read it aloud.  One class of students actually clapped when I finished reading the post!  Later in the day when I was describing the lesson to another teacher and how I had read my post to the class to model, a student overhead and said he liked the post so much he wanted to run up and hug me (it’s only the 4^th day of school)!

Now it’s Friday night. I’m home in my pjs and reading the students’ dream speeches. (Isn’t this a typical Friday night for teachers?) I have to admit I wasn’t prepared for what the students wrote.  I had been expecting dreams of wanting good grades, more recess, less homework and I did read several essays with these wishes.  But then there were the truly heartfelt dreams:

I have a dream that I will get more respect from others.

I have a dream that you won’t get criticized for what you say or do in class.

I wish we could read any book we want, and not just around a lexile range.

I have a dream that the subjects I struggle with will be easier.

I have a dream that I will get straight A’s for my mom.

Now it was my turn to want to run and hug someone.  I had told the students I would not force them to read their dream speech aloud.  I guess they believed me.  This is going to be a great year!

My Dream...

Tomorrow in writer's workshop the students and I will be reading an article about the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech.  As I read the article through myself I got the idea  of having the students use it to inspire their own "I Have a Dream" speech.  Of course I knew then that I would need a model for them, so here is my "I Have a Dream".


I have a dream that this year my students will embrace learning.  They will come to school looking forward to learning.  They will not worry if an assignment is being graded or how much it’s worth. They will be motivated to learn for the sake of knowledge and self-fulfillment.  They will not simply complete an assignment to be “done”.  They will challenge themselves to not only finish their work, but also to comprehend it.  They will look for ways to extend their learning into the real world.

I have a dream that this year my students will all become not simply better readers, but life-long readers.  They will read not because they have to, but because they want to.  They will learn how to choose books that appeal to them, books they will stick with and not abandon.  They will be able to understand what they read, and know which strategies to use if meaning does break down.

I have a dream for myself too this year.  I dream that this year I will read more everyday.  I will read books of my own choosing, books that I read because I WANT to read them.  I will write about the books I read because I know that I do some of my best thinking on paper.  I’ll write what I think of the books, revise my writing until it sounds like me, and then post it to my blog so that I can share my thoughts with others.

I have a dream that this will be the best school year ever!

Open for Learning!

      Well, it’s Sunday and after 5 hours of work today my classroom is DONE (almost)!  This year our school will be implementing the middle school model for fifth and sixth grade, which means I'll be teaching reading and writing workshop to three sixth grade sections each day.  So I needed to make some changes this year. I wonder if anyone is truly able to pull his or her room together in the time allotted during pre session? Or should we say “pre season," because with all the physical labor involved in unpacking a classroom and getting everything ready for the students, I honestly feel as if I’ve been in training camp.  (I’ve got the broken nails and sore muscles to prove it!) Not to mention the three half days of “strategy” sessions we attended! So I’ve got the room presentable, I’ve got a game plan down, one more day to tie up loose ends (and maybe get some reading in) and it’s GO time!

On my front table I display a book I'm currently reading (and keep a list of students that request it as soon as I finish!).













New this year, I'll be displaying all the books I read.
This is my summer reading list.  Nineteen and counting!  It was quite the conversation starter during open house.
Got this idea from Twitter...

Also new this year, the "Newbery Nook".  This is where all Newbery award winning books (including honor books) will be kept and all 2013 new releases.  I'm hoping to start a Mock Newbery club this year.  We'll start by reading past winners and then move on to books published in 2013.

Common Core front and center!  It's hard to see in the picture, but on the white strips are Common Core standards written as "I can..." statements.  I will be changing these to align with the current workshop lesson.  The strips are laminated and have magentas on the back so they're super easy to change out.

"This class is something to "Tweet" about!  Great idea I found on Pinterest!  We also have out Twitter handle displayed so hopefully people will follow us.  :)   @PV6Reads

 



 Finally the class library, my favorite part of the room!  These photos are of the fiction section which has two separate seating areas for students. The books are in baskets, arranged by genre.  The nonfiction section is currently being categorized and labeled.