2011/09/01

What good readers do

I was reading Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide today during free reading time. I took note of this list of “What Good Readers Do.” Any of these jump out at you?

Here is what they did:

Reread

Changed speeds

Slowed down when difficulty increased

Skimmed when the reading got easy

Asked about the author

Asked when it was written

Considered how this time frame influenced the author

“Chunked” the text

Read around nonessential clauses

Skipped ahead

Skipped hard parts and returned to them later

Considered the author’s purpose

Searched prior knowledge

Highlighted confusion

Considered the author’s intended audience

Subvocalized

Visualized

Made predictions

Examined the text structure

Stopped and thought about the passage

Asked questions

Used context to clear confusion

Noticed how the punctuation was used

Paid close attention to the syntax

Made note of italics

Made note of headings

Shifted body position in chair

Told self to focus

Tracked with finger

Paraphrased

Summarized

Commented

Argued with the author

Evaluated the author’s idea(s)

Attacked unfamiliar words by looking at the context

Attacked unfamiliar words by looking at prefixes, suffixes, and roots

Lived with ambiguity

Drew conclusions

Made connections to:

Other books

Other films

Other languages

Real-world events

Personal experience

When the reading got hard, good readers used all of the strategies found in this list. Now, ask yourself the following: when the reading gets hard for your students, how many of these strategies do they employ? In my classroom, some of my students do some of these strategies, but, unfortunately, some of my students do not know any of these strategies. Many remain at a complete loss when the reading gets hard. Because students don’t know what to do when confronted with confusion, these strategies need to be made visible

 

Gallagher, Kelly (2009). Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It (Kindle Locations 1953-1982). Stenhouse Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Leave a Comment

Filed under General

2011/08/31

Do you own your learning?

I was reading a blog post the other day by Bud Hunt in which he talked about how scary it can be for some teachers to be in charge of their own learning. If you’re interested in learning, I’d suggest reading his post.

It got me to thinking about my students, as usual. There have been times in my teaching career, where I have worked hard to help students “own their learning.” I gave them a standard that needed to be learned and that was about it. In essence, I said, “Here. Learn this. I’ll be here to help with what you need. Then you can show me when you’re done.”

What happened is just as much my “fault” as it is the students.

What happened was nothing.

It can be very overwhelming to be in charge of your own learning when what you’re expected to learn is given to you1.

I would bet that not many of you struggle with figuring out how to learn when you’re learning about what you want2. If you want to get good at video games, you probably figure out how to get good, whether that’s by just playing, watching tutorials online, or reading a gaming magazine. If you want to learn about art, you may practice making art, read about art, or watch videos about making art, among other things.

Help me reflect on what happens when the what has been given to you but the how has not. Leave me some feedback on Edmodo, or reflect in your writer’s notebook.

  1. which really means that you’re not completely in charge [↩]
  2. although, as always, my assumptions could be wrong [↩]

Leave a Comment

Filed under Daily Wrap-up/Preview

2011/08/30

Get ready for magazine sales!

I’m glad we finally got conferring going. It was interesting talking to so many of you about your reading habits. In case I didn’t get a chance to talk to you today, these were some of the questions I asked:

  • Tell me about you as a reader
  • How did you choose the book you’re reading?
  • Where do you get book recommendations?
  • Do you recommend books to your friends?
That’s it. Most of the conferences were short: 1-3 minutes. I’m just trying to get to know you better as readers. The better I know you, the better I can recommend books1
Nuts and bolts:
Tomorrow is the magazine sales assembly. Be sure to go to your 1st period class when you’re dismissed from the gym.
The assembly will run through 1st and 2nd period. Luckily, we have a long long Advisory period and it’s WMS Reads Wednesday!
  1. Wow, that sounded like the the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. [↩]

Leave a Comment

Filed under General

2011/08/29

I didn’t read any books this weekend.

I didn’t read a single page from a book this weekend.

:Gasp:

I know what you’re thinking: But, Mr. Goerend! You told us to read for 20 minutes every night and that you’d be doing it right along with us. What’s up with that??

I have been reading, just not from books. I read three books in the first 10 days of school. It was taxing on my brain. I wrote relatively long blog post reviews for the first two1. My brain was tired from long-form reading.

So what was I reading? I read ten different articles. Some about school. Some about sports. Some just about life.

I read them on my computer, my phone, my iPad, and my Kindle. I used one tool to keep them all organized: ReadItLaterList.com.

As I’m surfing the Internet, I can click one button in my bookmarks bar and it sends the article I’m looking at to my Reading List. I surf around for a while and buid up my Reading List. Once I’ve built up a big enough list, I sit down and read through the articles. If an article is interesting enough that I might want to read it again later, I bookmark it. If it’s something I think other people might be interested in reading, I share it on Twitter or Facebook, or I email it off to whoever I think may want to read it.

So, when I say “Read for 20 minutes!” that’s what I mean. My brain gets tired of long-form reading just like yours does. I make sure I don’t stop reading when that happens.

  1. and I’ll be writing a review of the third book in the next few days [↩]

Leave a Comment

Filed under Daily Wrap-up/Preview

2011/08/26

When life intersects with school

I shared this article from the New York Times on Edmodo. It’s an interesting piece about how funding affects public school. The part that struck me was this:

Many schools that have already reduced hours, increased class sizes and eliminated electives are also now charging fees for workbooks, use of lab equipment and other basic instructional materials; extracurricular activities long considered essential are now available only to students who can afford them.

If I didn’t make it obvious during our debate today1 I think school should be free. Learning is life. Every person getting a high-quality education is good for society.

If you disagree with this, that’s great! Let’s talk about it. I want to hear you thoughts.

I won’t go into my thoughts too much more. I just want to make sure you know that I am your teacher because I believe in learning. We studied “vocation” on Monday for Vocabulary. I believe my vocation is to teach 6th graders.

Have a great weekend!

  1. and I happen to think I did a decent job of hiding my feelings [↩]

Leave a Comment

Filed under Daily Wrap-up/Preview

2011/08/25

Prepare to defend yourselves

Tomorrow we get to start my favorite weekly ritual: Defend Yourself Friday.

Here’s how it will work: Every Friday, I’ll present a “should or shouldn’t” question to the class. Then, I’ll pass out a few articles to read. We’ll spend time reading the articles, reflecting through writing, and debating.

Last year, many students let me know this was their favorite part of the week. They loved debating.

The problem I saw was that last year, our debates were all from our guts. We weren’t informed about the issues we were debating. This year, the articles will give us something to go on. I’ll do my best to find articles that represent the multiple sides to the debate.

I can see you thinking, Couldn’t we help find articles if we knew what the question was going to be beforehand? Yes, you probably could. And that might happen. For now, though, I’d like to savor some of the suspense that builds up.

See you all tomorrow. Big day!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Daily Wrap-up/Preview

2011/08/24

Where have all the books gone?

Today we introduced Poetry Prompt Wednesdays. As I told you, my friend Mr. Hunt puts together poetry prompts each year for National Poetry Month in April. I’ve grabbed the pictures he’s posted from previous years, so we’ll use those until April.

Here’s my poem from today. Feel free to share yours in the comments on Edmodo.

I arrived, cash in hand

“1/2 price books!” the sign shouted.

“1/2 price!” I thought.

I smiled.

Pulling on the door, I found it locked. I searched the windows for clues.

“Out of business,” the sign whispered.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Daily Wrap-up/Preview

Tagged as

2011/08/23

Can you take me back to a simpler time? [Ruby Holler Book Review]

When I was in fifth grade, my best friend and I had a “fort” surrounding the creek that ran perpendicular to the road I lived on. Every day after school and into the summer he and I would meet there to work. We had different “rooms,” a code word to get in, and even a handshake.1

There was so much room for our imaginations to run. We became obsessed.

Here’s how my time at our fort came to an end: one evening, just as dusk was taking over the afternoon sky, I got the itch to go back down and lose myself in the world of our fort. I told my mom I had left some of my dad’s tools at the fort and that I’d run down quickly to get them. “I’ll be back in five minutes,” I remember telling her. Two hours later, in the blinding dark, I made my way back home.

It didn’t matter that I hadn’t lied on purpose. I really only meant to be gone for a few minutes. The problem was that being at the fort meant everything else in the world was gone to me. Time didn’t matter. What I had told my mom didn’t matter. My mom knew that with school coming up, it was time to start focusing.

Whether or not that was the right thing to do2 it was the end to my time at the fort.

When I first started reading Ruby Holler I tried forcing myself back into the mindset of my time at the fort. As the pages went by, I kept trying to find some way to connect to the story.

I never got that connection and I think I can point to two reasons why: flat characters and a predictable storyline.

Flat Characters:

The main characters in the story never seemed to grow. They made the same kinds of decisions (and mistakes) in the end of the book as they did in the beginning. By the end, I just couldn’t respect them. Although the author had set up many learning opportunities for them, they never seemed to learn.

That’s tough for a guy like me. As you already know, I’m big on learning. And if people are constantly going through situations where they should be learning, but aren’t, it’s hard for me to get over.

Predictable storyline:

For me, this book was a lesson in choosing the right book. I saw that it had a Lexile of 660 when I picked it out. Now, I don’t know what exactly my Lexile is, but I know it’s above that. I thought, I’ll give it a shot. Maybe Lexile isn’t everything. And maybe it’s not. But I found myself noticing that the Lexile was too low. I could see all the plot twists coming a mile away. The prediction that is such a vital part of reading just wasn’t there for me.

I’m not going to say that a reader should never read a book under their Lexile. We should try, though, to read books that will challenge us.

Wrap-up:

From the cover, the blurb, and the first few chapters, I was really hoping this book would transport me back to the carefree days of splashing around in my forth with my buddies. I hoped it would be a book where I could find my reading flow and get lost in the imagery and connect with the characters.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t.

Can you?

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech is the 2nd book I’ve read this year.

  1. That’s the only thing I’m actually ashamed of, looking back. A handshake? Come on. [↩]
  2. I’m on the side that she did the right thing [↩]

1 Comment

Filed under Book Review

Tagged as

2011/08/23

Create

I made this poem on the Inspiration Wall today.

Which do you have?

I want to compliment you all on our “field trips” during writing. You have all been very willing to “go with it” these first few days of school. I keep hearing students ask, “Can we read more?” and today it was “Do we get to write today?”

You bet! I’m trying to get good books in your hands and help you come up with ideas to write about.

Don’t forget to always be looking around, observing with your senses, and making mind pictures you can use to capture the stories around us.

Another big day tomorrow!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Daily Wrap-up/Preview

2011/08/22

No. Thank you!

The craziest thing happened today. And multiple times, too!

The bell rang to end the period, and, as students were leaving the classroom, a few of you turned and said, “Thanks, Mr. G!”

Like I said, it was the craziest thing. For what? I thought.

With a little reflection, I can imagine what you’re thankful for, at least what I hope you’re thankful for. I hope you’re thankful that I have a sense of humor.1 I hope you’re thankful that I’ve given you time to read books of your choosing these first few days.2 I hope you’re thankful for each other. I’ve seen so many students helping each other out these first few days. And I hope you’re thankful that we’re learning.3

It’s been a refreshing year so far. I always forget how important relationships are while I’m rushing around trying to teach you all the stuff you’re supposed to learn. Without it sounding too out there, we are a community of learners. Members of a community look out for one another. We pick each other up. We work to help everyone get better.

Let’s not forget that throughout this year.

Nuts and bolts:

Don’t forget to read for 20 minutes each night. I’m currently reading Ruby Holler. Expect a book review post this weekend.

Now that you have your writer’s notebooks, I’ll be expecting that you write each night too4

  1. at least I like to think so [↩]
  2. and be ready for that to continue [↩]
  3. the beginning of the year is always weird with “housekeeping” items such as creating notebooks and binders [↩]
  4. that’s what I’m trying to model by blogging everyday [↩]

Leave a Comment

Filed under Daily Wrap-up/Preview