tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745264669381540932024-03-19T23:58:25.823-04:00Sarah Speaks...Sarah Cordova is a literacy consultant who works in elementary and middle school classrooms across the country supporting administrators, literacy coaches and classroom teachers in developing and implementing the most effective and engaging reading and writing practices. For more information about Sarah and her consulting services and presentations, visit her at www.literacy-matters.netUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-67314901084151958602014-07-27T22:12:00.001-04:002014-07-27T22:12:04.852-04:00Mentor Text of the Week- A Cool Drink of Water<h5 style="color: #7d98b0; font-family: Volkhov; font-size: 20px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961) 0px 1px 1px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This week's text is...</span></h5>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Drink-Water-Barbara-Kerley-Inspirations/dp/0792254899/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406512516&sr=1-1&keywords=a+cool+drink+of+water" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: inherit !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A Cool Drink of Water by Barbara Kerley</i></span></span></a></h6>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: mediumblue;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></i></span></span><span style="color: grey; font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">You can click on the title above to purchase the mentor text from amazon.com</span></span></h6>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">This text is a narrative nonfiction piece of text, most <span style="line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">appropriate</span> for <span style="line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">students</span> in the upper grades,</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">although it can be used in the <span style="line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">primary</span> grades as well. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_0FDC0WS29D1tfDTkSXF82nAKkYkpzoc1FppGaj4Iki-J_MjT_glIJMKB0dASjlAjgNXibIb96VaGavmQTc0QWH1fnnqALqzRpWLrtn__I4o3KY4rgBaiXY0GgJ49RHyxU9oW3QAg9g/s1600/Coll+Drink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_0FDC0WS29D1tfDTkSXF82nAKkYkpzoc1FppGaj4Iki-J_MjT_glIJMKB0dASjlAjgNXibIb96VaGavmQTc0QWH1fnnqALqzRpWLrtn__I4o3KY4rgBaiXY0GgJ49RHyxU9oW3QAg9g/s1600/Coll+Drink.jpg" height="200" width="182" /></a><span style="font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Possible Minilessons for Writing Workshop:</u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></u><br /></span></span></div>
<ul style="color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">List structure</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Use of font, capitals, italics to emphasize certain words/ideas. </span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Use of ellipses to get reader ready for a list</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Engaging photographs depicting the use of water all over the world</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Vivid verbs start off each page</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Specific adjectives/word choice</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Repetition</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Varied sentence lengths</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Varied sentence beginnings</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Content specific vocabulary introduced </span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Conclusion that relates the topic to each reader and wraps up the text</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Extra information about the topic ("A <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">cool</em> drink around the WORLD")</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Maps</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Clever title</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Note from Scholastic at the </span>back<span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> of the book about their effort to lessen </span>environmental<span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> waste</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span>Interesting quotes about water from various figures at various times in civilization<span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Letter at the back about water conservation from the President and C.E.O. of the National Georgraohic Society</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Click <a href="http://www.barbarakerley.com/TRngs.html#TRWater" style="color: #333333; font-size: inherit !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" target="_blank">here</a> for a Teacher's Guide for this book</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-38829610076281413602014-06-11T10:14:00.000-04:002014-06-11T10:14:49.736-04:00Mentor Text of the Week- What If You Had Animal Teeth by Sandra Markle<h5 style="background-color: #eaeaea; color: #7d98b0; font-family: Volkhov; font-size: 20px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961) 0px 1px 1px;">
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-You-Had-Animal-Teeth/dp/0545484383/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402495348&sr=8-1&keywords=what+if+you+had+animal+teeth" style="color: #333333; font-size: inherit !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">What If You Had Animal Teeth </span>by Sandra Markle</span></span></a></h6>
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<span style="color: mediumblue;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></i></span></span><span style="color: grey; font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">You can click on the title above to purchase the mentor text from amazon.com</span></h6>
<div style="background-color: #eaeaea; color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This text is a narrative nonfiction piece of text, most </span><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">appropriate</span><span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> for grades 2-5.</span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/MqHr51mHBDo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Possible Minilessons for Writing Workshop:</u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></u><br /></span></span></div>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Clever introduction</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Close up photographs that let the reader really examine the subject</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Interesting, shocking, and new facts presented to the reader</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Repetition ("If you had..."</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Analogies to the reader's own life helping them truly understand the information being presented </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Humorous illustrations that make the facts relatable to the reader</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Illustrations of background reveal clever connections to the topic</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Extra fact bubble on each page for additional information about the topic</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Varied sentence lengths</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Main idea and supporting details</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">List structure</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Varied sentence beginnings</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Varied sentence types (questions, statements, exclamations, etc.)</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Content specific vocabulary introduced </span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Conclusion that relates the topic to real life and wraps up the text</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Extra information about the topic ("Where Do Teeth Come From?" and "Teeth Need Care")</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Photo credits that show the validity of the photographs</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Clever title</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGLnhbMFBZUe_46w4WEuW8CC-SrG-e7T1g_Zfy1NejA3TXzbew9tgtVUK1D6FXek8oZWrYLPoN6h029ruQKxChHBUJo3f2v7v7ZaOfoBmPMrLCBL-kl_MXSkwZBjog-9rDYBHrUShK5g/s1600/What+If+YOu+Had+Animal+Teeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGLnhbMFBZUe_46w4WEuW8CC-SrG-e7T1g_Zfy1NejA3TXzbew9tgtVUK1D6FXek8oZWrYLPoN6h029ruQKxChHBUJo3f2v7v7ZaOfoBmPMrLCBL-kl_MXSkwZBjog-9rDYBHrUShK5g/s1600/What+If+YOu+Had+Animal+Teeth.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: #eaeaea; color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-69233717324406060402014-06-10T09:48:00.003-04:002014-06-10T09:48:56.086-04:00Mentor Text of the Week- Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqXewD0bILglxPEnugYO7XvOHrFcO4d1dgpZQJLqVsIntZFRbNoalBk28z3sjR8BLjkHWSZD8QFtBqaCDl84LGKsJI2lAoJgiA1AKguYqJP4oO8y65-uuPamgtnQ0pTp9dP6dkTq-1G4/s1600/Every+Friday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqXewD0bILglxPEnugYO7XvOHrFcO4d1dgpZQJLqVsIntZFRbNoalBk28z3sjR8BLjkHWSZD8QFtBqaCDl84LGKsJI2lAoJgiA1AKguYqJP4oO8y65-uuPamgtnQ0pTp9dP6dkTq-1G4/s1600/Every+Friday.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Please feel free to check back each week as well as follow us on Facebook at</span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/DEInstitute" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;">www.facebook.com/DEInstitute</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"> for updates. Enjoy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This text is a personal narrative piece of text, most </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">appropriate</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> for grades K-3.</span></span></span></h6>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Possible Minilessons for Writing Workshop:</u></span></span></div>
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<span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></u><br /></span></span></div>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Author's note reveals the <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">inspiration</span> for the idea (a perfect <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">generating</span> idea on "everys" in your life)</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Two page spreads</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Background details that allow the reader to get to know the characters and setting more fully</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Repetitive beginnings "We..."</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Patterns on clothing for extra detail in illustrations</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Environmental print makes the scenes come alive (inspiration is from city in New Jersey)</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Compound sentences</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Commas in a series</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Thoughtful and limited dialogue</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Purposeful punctuation: em dashes, exclamation points</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Small moment (entire event is probably 30 minutes long)</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Movement through time is shown through events going on around characters</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Facial expressions to show emotion</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Variety of sentences</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Illustrations tell more than what's on the page in text</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Short amount of texts that makes for a perfect narrative</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-31805292784454898702014-04-02T11:24:00.003-04:002014-04-02T11:24:58.608-04:00Mentor Text of the Week- The Beetle Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">In an attempt to get more minilessons into the hands of dedicated (but strapped for time) educators, I have dedicated a portion of my website/blog</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> to the Mentor Text of the Week (MTOW). Each week, I will choose an accessible mentor texts and give you the following:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">The tittle, author, and illustrator</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">The text type (as related to the Common Core) and genre</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">The grades to which it would fit met appropriately</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Various minilessons that could be used at different stages of the writing process</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Please feel free to check back each week as well as follow us on Facebook at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DEInstitute">www.facebook.com/DEInstitute</a> for updates. Enjoy!</span></span></div>
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<h5 style="font-family: Volkhov; font-size: 20px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961) 0px 1px 1px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicLUKTPTBhVJ3H3Wyrb2pWq6aZc4prqaxlDuCtmtM95oTb4J7bnmFZMVMDwgxCxfzGsayQC-xD7fX7gvzs9sf1qWqCmDPQAPIlzybJgsOxns0xH1WUbmkmvDHEa-7W5Ij-2axFgP36as8/s1600/Beetle+ABC+Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicLUKTPTBhVJ3H3Wyrb2pWq6aZc4prqaxlDuCtmtM95oTb4J7bnmFZMVMDwgxCxfzGsayQC-xD7fX7gvzs9sf1qWqCmDPQAPIlzybJgsOxns0xH1WUbmkmvDHEa-7W5Ij-2axFgP36as8/s1600/Beetle+ABC+Book.jpg" /></span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></span></h5>
<h5 style="font-family: Volkhov; font-size: 20px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961) 0px 1px 1px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This week's text is...</span></h5>
<h6 style="font-family: Volkhov; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961) 0px 1px 1px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: inherit !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beetle-Alphabet-Book-Jerry-Pallotta/dp/1570915520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396452183&sr=8-1&keywords=beetle+alphabet" target="_blank">The Beetle Alphabet Book </a></i></span></span></h6>
<h6 style="font-family: Volkhov; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961) 0px 1px 1px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: inherit !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beetle-Alphabet-Book-Jerry-Pallotta/dp/1570915520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396452183&sr=8-1&keywords=beetle+alphabet" target="_blank">by Jerry Pallotta, </a></span></span></h6>
<h6 style="font-family: Volkhov; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961) 0px 1px 1px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: inherit !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beetle-Alphabet-Book-Jerry-Pallotta/dp/1570915520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396452183&sr=8-1&keywords=beetle+alphabet" target="_blank">Illustrated by David Biedrzycki</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beetle-Alphabet-Book-Jerry-Pallotta/dp/1570915520" target="_blank"><i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></i></a></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beetle-Alphabet-Book-Jerry-Pallotta/dp/1570915520" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></h6>
<h6 style="font-family: Volkhov; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961) 0px 1px 1px;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This text is an informational/nonfiction piece of text, most </span><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">appropriate</span><span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> for grades 2-5.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Possible Minilessons for Writing Workshop:</u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><u style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></u><br /></span></span></div>
<ul style="font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Clever dedication ("Thanks to John, Paul, George, Ringo…)</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Titles of Beatles songs hidden on many beetle illustrations throughout the book (Check out letter I, J, N just to name a few…)</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">ABC structure</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Diagrams with labels</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Introduction that speaks to the reader and excites them</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Domain-specific words woven into the facts</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Eye-popping, bold, close-up illustrations that hook the reader into the text and topic</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Small topic, perfect for a selecting lesson on choosing topics that are interesting to a reader and also researchabl</span>e</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Analogies to help reader understand concepts/facts being presented</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Added in thoughts/opinions of the author </span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Two page spreads</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckY-CuoH7CbCqiZrT157vR17F1YuCEpV08LfTi6lcmi443JPmMYwhb79f9Lbao821wD4epFG7Y9ZF9IRzFdOI1q1ov7YpB4q4YOoLGoT61dc6BDTGv4F66oR78yNyJuKKJyrFYTg1iO4/s1600/Beetle+ABC+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckY-CuoH7CbCqiZrT157vR17F1YuCEpV08LfTi6lcmi443JPmMYwhb79f9Lbao821wD4epFG7Y9ZF9IRzFdOI1q1ov7YpB4q4YOoLGoT61dc6BDTGv4F66oR78yNyJuKKJyrFYTg1iO4/s1600/Beetle+ABC+page.jpg" height="252" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Use of interesting and purposeful punctuation: exclamation points, question marks, and commas in a series, </span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Perspective in illustrations so the reader can see the world through the beetles' eyes</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Varied sentence length</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">,</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">beginnings</span><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">, and</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> types of sentences (exclamatory, interrogative, declarative)</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span>Voice/Humor/Talking to the reader that connects the facts on the page to everyday situations</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Interesting, surprising, silly, and new facts about animals <span style="line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">the</span> reader may already know</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Illustrations that allow reader to truly comprehend the size of the beetles (actual sizes are shown in the shadow of each letter)</span></span></span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-62452903675402030242013-11-03T15:09:00.000-05:002013-11-03T15:09:20.750-05:00Reflections on the First D.E.I. Writing ConferenceWhat an incredible two days I had hosting the First Annual D.E.I. Writing Conference this past weekend. After months of planning, emails, Facebook postings, presentation revisions, and phone conversations, the conference kicked off in Stony Brook, New York on Friday morning.<br />
<br />
There were new teachers and veteran teachers. Primary level teachers and upper grade elementary teachers. Middle school teachers and reading specialists. Administrators and college professors. Each and every one ready to learn more, talk more, and share more about writing instruction and how to make it more effective and more efficient. <br />
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The days were filled with lively discussion, healthy debate, thoughtful questions, and shared laughter about what we, as educators, do in our classrooms each and every day. Being surrounded by educators who were so dedicated and enthusiastic in making their writing instruction more relevant, authentic, and meaningful for their students made me remember why collegiality is such an important part of our any profession (or any profession for that matter). <br />
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A highlight of the conference for me was when I got to sit and listen to two of my colleagues, Tara Falasco and Kathleen Masone, as they spoke about "Test Writing as a Genre". I sat in awe of their knowledge and passion for writing and learning, in general. I asked questions, shared anecdotes, reflected on my own teaching practices, and connected with their words about embedding test writing into our every day experiences.<br />
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Picture books were a major focus of the day and teachers got to explore and investigate the many possibilities for teaching writing using some of our favorite texts in informational, narrative, and opinion writing. <br />
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Here are a few slides from three of the sessions that dealt with the power of mentor texts in Writing Workshop. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLCbxiE5kDMn6Z2IxUGjF3biJMhhyphenhyphengQgXjIDRqJ_LrrfIN_PCe6IxncS9HdtAJbqjperKC9qNcRH_87YdwTw0aJpL8PX7mOaoLCgLbTEtc2vNfGtte5KyBKRTfqWno_CA2FqA0HsstLM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-11-03+at+2.57.45+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLCbxiE5kDMn6Z2IxUGjF3biJMhhyphenhyphengQgXjIDRqJ_LrrfIN_PCe6IxncS9HdtAJbqjperKC9qNcRH_87YdwTw0aJpL8PX7mOaoLCgLbTEtc2vNfGtte5KyBKRTfqWno_CA2FqA0HsstLM/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-11-03+at+2.57.45+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Opinion Mentor Texts</div>
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Informational Mentor Texts</div>
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Narrative Mentor Texts</div>
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For longer lists of mentor texts, full slideshows of all six sessions, photos, and other handouts shared at the conference visit <a href="http://literacy-matters.net/fall-conference-handouts.html" target="_blank">this link at www.literacy-matters.net</a></div>
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We hope to see even more dedicated teachers at our summer 2014 conference!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-42623932746371902352013-11-03T09:11:00.000-05:002013-11-03T09:11:03.612-05:00D.E.I.'s First Annual Fall Writing Conference- Anchor Charts for Writing Workshop<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are the photos from the PowerPoint shows that were too large to upload onto my website for all of you who attended as well as all of you who couldn't make it. Stay tuned for my blog post on the WONDERFUL two day institute on Long Island.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photos from Session #1: "<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reworking the Writing Workshop: Taking What Works and Making it More Efficient, Effective and Exciting"</span></span><br />
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<pre style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;">Photos from Session #2: </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;">"</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Raising the Quality of Narrative Writing in Your Classrooms: New Narrative Mentor Texts for Your Writing </span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Workshop Classroom</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">"</span></span></pre>
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<pre style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><pre style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;">Photos from Session #6: </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Using Interactive Read Alouds to Introduce Mentor Texts in Writing Workshop</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">"</span></span></pre>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-87284872886278512172013-10-19T22:35:00.000-04:002013-10-19T22:35:29.002-04:00Forgive me, RalphI had the opportunity to meet Ralph Fletcher back in April at the Massachusetts Reading Association conference, where he was speaking as the closing keynote speaker. As a literacy "nerd" and a long-time fan of Ralph's work, a colleague of mine and I sat at the front table hoping to catch a closer glimpse at the writing master. Wonderfully, I got the chance to strike up a conversation with him about the future of writing workshop and the Common Core State Standards before he began. My colleague snapped a shot of us (the excitement in taking this photo was similar to what I imagine I would feel if given the chance to take a photo with any of the New Kids on the Block during the late 80s) and I listened to Ralph talk about "boy writers" for 60 minutes. I soaked up each and every word and proceeded to buy his book of the same name; <i>Boy Writers. </i><br />
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I am a HUGE fan of Ralph Fletcher and agree with him and what he writes constantly. I profess his wisdom to colleagues, students, and parents constantly. I have heard that Ralph believes that <b>revision</b> is the most important stage of the writing process. And as painful as it is, and as conflicted as I feel in doing this, I must disagree with Ralph (I can't believe I just wrote those words!). <br />
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I believe that <b>selecting</b> is the most important stage of the writing process. Selection is where students choose an incredibly powerful and meaningful memory and create a thoughtful and honest memoir. It's where students select the naked mole rat to develop a feature article that teaches readers all about this disgusting-looking yet fascinating, little rodent. It's the time when students pick to argue the case for or against longer school days in a persuasive letter to the board of education. Selection is where an idea is chosen carefully and thoughtfully that will take flight and evolve into something incredible or...where an idea is chosen quickly and frivolously causing angst for both student and teacher for weeks to come as they both struggle though the rest of the writing process. <br />
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Care, thought, and time should be taken when selecting an idea for a piece of writing. I believe asking students to think "small", at first, is the way to help them focus their idea and then grow it, as they move through drafting, revision, and editing. <br />
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A fourth grade teacher from a school in which I consult invited me to demonstrate a drafting minilesson in her room a few weeks back. To gain some insight, I asked her to send me a list of the students'' ideas. This is the list she sent. <br />
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As I sent her an email discussing the importance of selection, I suggested we think smaller and that she ask some of the students (Kayla, Katherine, Rachel, Justin, Finola, Manny, and Tommy) to focus in on some of their larger topics. I received her response in my inbox and was so pleasantly surprised to receive a new and revised list of the students' selected topics for their personal narrative after some conferring on her part. They were smaller, more focused, more interesting (let's be honest...), and had a much better shot of being drafted, revised, and edited with less stress, better focus, and more excitement. </div>
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Check them out side by side....</div>
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As Kayla, Katherine, Rachel, Justin, Finola, Manny, and Tommy took their larger topics, shrunk them down, and created smaller ones, without even realizing it, their writing experience became a deeper one. </div>
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Selection, and selecting a <b>smaller</b> idea (regardless of the genre) is the key to making students feel successful right from the beginning of the writing process. I hope Ralph Fetcher can forgive me. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-81489298066730339202013-10-08T09:23:00.002-04:002013-10-08T15:20:27.733-04:00My Daughter, the Writer<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I know I will sound like
another mom bragging about their child and their academic accomplishments when
I say this but my daughter is a real writer. Please forgive my pride and amazement and
allow me to tell you the experience I had watching my five-year-old daughter yesterday
afternoon after she came home from school. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Anna started Kindergarten in
September and truly loves every second of it.
As her mother, I have been trying to expose her to reading and writing
since before she could talk and she has been overwhelmingly
receptive to my attempts. She started
asking about how to spell family names and write the letters of the alphabet while in the four year
old class at her incredible nursery school.
She “read” books by flipping through the text, describing the pictures,
and creating voices for the various characters she saw on the pages before
her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> But yesterday afternoon something
completely new and amazing happened. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Anna sat down at around 3:45
PM and asked my mother, who was watching my children at the time, for 27 pieces
of white paper. She then proceeded to
copy the names of all of her classmates on separate pages, add pictures, and
pile them up. When she was done with
this arduous task, she asked me for 27 envelopes into which she would put the
newly decorated notes. Two hours into this
project (with no stoppage for snacks, television, Barbie doll breaks…), she
proceeded to delve into the “art cart” and grab some stickers, which she would
use to decorate the envelopes. She
again, wrote each of her friends’ names onto the outside of the envelope and
signed the back with a “love Anna” so the recipients knew who had created this
mystery gift. She pulled off the paper
that hid the adhesive (demanding that I not throw them out because she was
going to use them as “sentence strips”), sealed them up and placed each one
into a Target plastic bag. When I
thought she was done (two and a half hours later), she asked me to sit with her
on the couch and allow her to read the front and back of each envelope showing
me both what she had accomplished and her reading prowess. She recognized that some didn’t have her
signature “love Anna” on them and that she had spelled Brady’s name without the
“d”. So back to the kitchen table she
went to revise and edit her work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As I watched Anna throughout
this process I kept asking myself <b>how </b>she
was able to sustain her interest and focus.
She was so intent and intense during this project. As I reflected later that evening, I realized
that Anna was doing what students in workshop classrooms do each day. She was “given” things that teachers around
the country give to their students in workshop classrooms each day. Anna had the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Choice</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> to write about what interested her and about which she
cared</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">A real </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">audience</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">
to whom she was writing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">A true </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">purpose</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">
for writing- I can’t wait to hear all about how she delivered them and her
friends’ reactions when she gets home today!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Materials</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> that suited her task- as much as I was not crazy
about handing over 27 envelopes to her (especially the self-stick ones!!), I
knew they were integral to this project</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">An </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">understanding</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">
that writing takes time and is a process but the payoff is tremendous!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Writing aids</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> to help her feel confident and comfortable as she
wrote (she used a calendar sent home to parents for the “Adventures of Baby
Bear” which included ALL of her friends’ names spelled for her). Anchor charts and writing resources are
pivotal if we want our students to become more confident and independent.</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As I tucked Anna in last
night I explained to her that she should feel so proud of herself for all that
she'd done this afternoon. I told her that she was a “real writer”. And as she rolled over with her puppy doll, her
face lit up with a smile that let me know she knew I was telling her the
truth. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeCajwkYbUQriA7aNXkL9O6ZT21BTaoL-qsf2LWz8Pu0WUnzARVmesPhCdNz_HUiaXWRO9XBjyaEKMRAlCZTjbfGw_-DSeMhhLQAyO6GQOGvjlcYZSvnhLXrVqhB02Xd_ABZVnR43LZw/s1600/IMG_6586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeCajwkYbUQriA7aNXkL9O6ZT21BTaoL-qsf2LWz8Pu0WUnzARVmesPhCdNz_HUiaXWRO9XBjyaEKMRAlCZTjbfGw_-DSeMhhLQAyO6GQOGvjlcYZSvnhLXrVqhB02Xd_ABZVnR43LZw/s400/IMG_6586.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <span style="text-align: center;">Anna hard at work!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihX9lCccHK5bLJ1O03vt7Ok2YbjwCwc9KlNV6WJut65KeiJZ76w5hXN6DmwCO4B3-GkSkebDJzjWUUtfwiZ6HNQHhdezlcjOjVN-jbgo6NL8Bo45hCV3ScgAqYlKmSCHCBm4KC1HP86YU/s1600/IMG_6587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihX9lCccHK5bLJ1O03vt7Ok2YbjwCwc9KlNV6WJut65KeiJZ76w5hXN6DmwCO4B3-GkSkebDJzjWUUtfwiZ6HNQHhdezlcjOjVN-jbgo6NL8Bo45hCV3ScgAqYlKmSCHCBm4KC1HP86YU/s320/IMG_6587.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anna checking off the names of the friends' to whom she has already written notes</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgCTHd43Ns7rfSE2WDK1XmY8_n-ncCp_xHabT3siUA-EFBcSH310XbJaRDuRxlVKUJWqcCAOAsYWqliR4VBzRmSoJd5EelaNxbdCH6ecE40pesdyZNWY2f4u2rwBICZEhmbzwD2eUVwk/s1600/IMG_6588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgCTHd43Ns7rfSE2WDK1XmY8_n-ncCp_xHabT3siUA-EFBcSH310XbJaRDuRxlVKUJWqcCAOAsYWqliR4VBzRmSoJd5EelaNxbdCH6ecE40pesdyZNWY2f4u2rwBICZEhmbzwD2eUVwk/s320/IMG_6588.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> The "Writing Resource" that allowed Anna to write each friends' name without any help from me. She marked off when she finished their note with a pink dot. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-81418393492860030622013-10-04T15:56:00.000-04:002013-10-04T15:56:14.457-04:00Admitting My Dirty Little Secret
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Each and every day I tell the
students I work with (as well as my own children) to keep up with their
reading, build reading stamina, make
time to read, and have conversations with pieces of interesting text. And yet, I am sad to admit that I have not
been practicing what I preach. I am
constantly distracted; by my work, my family, my health (having two hip
replacements in less than 3 years is always a good way to get distracted by
life…), the Internet (I do love me some Daily Show clips!), and other things
that take me away from real, meaningful reading on a daily basis. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I remember when I was in my
own 4<sup>th</sup> grade classroom, I read constantly. In collegial circles, with my colleagues
after school, for my principal when she’d drop a great article into my
mailbox…I was really reading a lot. I am
ashamed to admit that I do not read as much as I should but that all changed
when I picked up <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Know-How-Strategies-Writers/dp/1571104135/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380914825&sr=8-1&keywords=notebook+know+how+strategies+for+the+writer%27s+notebook">Notebook Know-How:Strategies for a Writer’s Notebook</a></i> by Aimee Buckner two weeks ago. At first I requested it at my local library
but after one chapter knew I needed my own copy to mark up and keep as a
reference on my shelf. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This book has reinvigorated
my love of reading professional literature and made me remember why it’s SO
important for teachers to keep reading!
I took away so many tips from Aimee’s ideas (see my highlighted pages below)
and have begun sharing them with teachers across the country in a quest to make
the Writer’s Notebook more resourceful, manageable, and exciting. Aimee pushed me to think about the notebook
in ways I never imagined…after 13 years of using one! I was able to fly through the book (my
sessions of P.T. definitely helped me focus) and get excited all over again
about the tools we use in our classrooms.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Keeping up with professional
literature allows us to not only learn new things but also reexamine how we can
think about old things. It’s such a wonderful
way to keep us sharp, engaged, and reflective as educators. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am looking forward to
choosing my next book (I am contemplating Aimee’s new book on Nonfiction
notebooks…) and acquiting new ideas, which I can share with all of the teachers
with whom I call colleagues.<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Make sure you read each tip carefully. These are just a sampling. Buy the book...trust me it will wow you!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUvDYnf2yi2i-CmZSz-90HqUovpdOO8QZCENaEj3XcQameS2EFHR8He8Y9_ge-PLzmuGtxexS_Ar6zIKbjN6TMvZKqaDQ-S3rJ_YaFMz97_3oR8nxJqRDazMrO_O6VJ9cJElQxaxKScU/s1600/IMG_6578.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUvDYnf2yi2i-CmZSz-90HqUovpdOO8QZCENaEj3XcQameS2EFHR8He8Y9_ge-PLzmuGtxexS_Ar6zIKbjN6TMvZKqaDQ-S3rJ_YaFMz97_3oR8nxJqRDazMrO_O6VJ9cJElQxaxKScU/s400/IMG_6578.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitakTuNVy63Tz2eZ1Y7XO-CtY5oU-A0cOLy7C6zqyX2NtRmt7ypXUsCFUBo09PAynpFo0vOPK88IqZLdF6lIfnGEdwy9MIN_bHLTZKoTAmzDoQfibejNjC9bshh34XalvbsEMRi4aZ4c0/s1600/IMG_6580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitakTuNVy63Tz2eZ1Y7XO-CtY5oU-A0cOLy7C6zqyX2NtRmt7ypXUsCFUBo09PAynpFo0vOPK88IqZLdF6lIfnGEdwy9MIN_bHLTZKoTAmzDoQfibejNjC9bshh34XalvbsEMRi4aZ4c0/s400/IMG_6580.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtBjDGHr9BzGnFcbX9MAek3lLfcLz2Ic6sYOUM_MfySZYj-VTkesUGa1lxvwzJs3SjI2B9J3q6n5HxSBQs1G7wSXjCxWxKRGx9cjn2e3mfr9Tn1sVLpydwbMSfVO-MlgGIuhvrcSX44Y/s1600/IMG_6582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtBjDGHr9BzGnFcbX9MAek3lLfcLz2Ic6sYOUM_MfySZYj-VTkesUGa1lxvwzJs3SjI2B9J3q6n5HxSBQs1G7wSXjCxWxKRGx9cjn2e3mfr9Tn1sVLpydwbMSfVO-MlgGIuhvrcSX44Y/s400/IMG_6582.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-48355442680543293832013-09-24T08:56:00.002-04:002013-09-24T08:56:59.204-04:00Fighting Our #1 Enemy...TIME: Saving Time in Writing (and Reading) Workshop<div style="text-align: center;">
This week I will try and post a number of tips for saving time in our workshop in an attempt to get back some time, give our students more time to write (and read), and us more time to confer and grow our writers. </div>
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<b>Saving Time Tip #1</b></div>
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I never had scripts or published units of study when I taught in my own classroom. I had to move through my minilessons quickly and consistently all on my own. </div>
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As a new teacher to the workshop model, I was nervous that I would not have the will power to ask students to hold their questions, comments, and connections as I went through my 15 minilesson teaching point each morning and afternoon (we had the luxury of an hour for Reading Workshop in the morning and an hour of Writing workshop at the end of our day...). I would watch the clock, ask certain students to give me a silent signal when I reached the ten minute mark, or just cross my fingers that I would be able to get through the four parts of each day's minilessons under that 15 minute mark. It was tough and I needed more than the ticking of the clock to move me along and help me out. </div>
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Enter my "Minilesson Cheat Sheet". I decided that in order to transition quickly and consistently and help my students learn the routine of the workshop, I would need some help. On an index card I scribbled down the phrases that I used every day for each part of the minilesson. I laminated it, left it on top of my overhead projector (now I am dating myself...), and referred to it each and every day until I had those phrases memorized and they rolled off my tongue. Not only did I feel more confident having my Workshop Cliff's Notes by my side, my lessons became more efficient and my students could anticipate what part of the minilesson I was up to (and when they had to be a part of it) based on the phrases I was using. </div>
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This past week, in an intermediate school I was working in, we talked about "the enemy" and how our minilessons must be quick and consistent for our students to get to work. After creating a fiction unit of study for Reading Workshop with an amazing group of teachers on Long Island (along with three scripts for teachers to reference), I created the cheat sheet below for those teachers to come back to time and time again. I hope that you can use it as a way to keep your minilessons shorter and your reading/writing and assessment time longer. </div>
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Let me know what you use to keep tho<span style="text-align: center;">se minilessons under 15 minutes!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2RCkjY2-WD4paeg6drgIlNoy6YEbJTfDbhQq9BgWuvZcFWjySsxnbS92lc0MUdOIScPtgEjPx84SmGNYaI7juQGGfYr4nuGjSgtIulmsnu_zv2XSb5E701OtvKG16M9kbU7qCqdaoF58/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-23+at+6.39.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2RCkjY2-WD4paeg6drgIlNoy6YEbJTfDbhQq9BgWuvZcFWjySsxnbS92lc0MUdOIScPtgEjPx84SmGNYaI7juQGGfYr4nuGjSgtIulmsnu_zv2XSb5E701OtvKG16M9kbU7qCqdaoF58/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-09-23+at+6.39.42+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-9263953058855354802013-08-13T21:49:00.000-04:002013-08-13T21:49:00.539-04:00Your Classroom Door as a First Impression<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Every semester I tell my undergraduate students in the Literacy Department at Dowling College that when they are writing their resumes and cover letters for their first teaching job they need to craft those resumes and cover letters in a very thoughtful, careful, and creative way. The Assistant Superintendent for Personnel to whom that resume and cover letter are being sent does not know who they are, what they know, or what they believe. Those two pieces of paper are their first (and usually only) shot at impressing a person who truly needs to be impressed if they have a chance of getting chosen out of the hundreds of applicants lining up for the one or two slots available for the fall. I try to impart that what they put down on those pages is a first impression. And first impressions are important. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Your classroom door, like those carefully crafted resumes and cover letters, is also a first impression. Even if your door is open for most of the school day (as mine was when I was teaching) your classroom door is typically the first thing that students, parents, colleagues, and administrators see when they enter your home away from home. For me, literacy is always the driving force for all learning that takes place in a classroom. So why not have your classroom door, your first impression, reflect how important reading and writing are to you from day one? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are a few ideas for creating a door that really gives everyone who passes through it, an idea of your literacy hopes, dreams, and goals for the upcoming year. What will your door look like?<span style="font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRviXgccZIJLXFIDC4UTq0F4ZzhWHrGjwTC9Hb-Ze0A_sTRjHq2oKwXdfxJ1xdQiY0_VUcHq1sTznWSLpVshtONYs_9meeIpx6lw8MazFZd1KpxPfXRat4dCUhmfYc_ogxoTXD9lpugA/s1600/Board+1+Text+Messages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRviXgccZIJLXFIDC4UTq0F4ZzhWHrGjwTC9Hb-Ze0A_sTRjHq2oKwXdfxJ1xdQiY0_VUcHq1sTznWSLpVshtONYs_9meeIpx6lw8MazFZd1KpxPfXRat4dCUhmfYc_ogxoTXD9lpugA/s1600/Board+1+Text+Messages.jpg" /></a> </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For older students who can't pry themselves away from their phones, check out this way to mesh texting and books. Have students use "text speak" to write short summaries about their latest reads. </span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3KXqLQLsvO-ItGYRIQ_3Z8_dciMDOusGfOCTPMZgMg5OGwNW5ELGXf_gpAgZhN_mCLWazOitMPJVKDfCXmjJBHzFCKLMxU-49Ko5lbvwcvg2OjibVTrXwid2WtzsOHhPbPzDvsYgtXkQ/s1600/Door+Book+Critics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3KXqLQLsvO-ItGYRIQ_3Z8_dciMDOusGfOCTPMZgMg5OGwNW5ELGXf_gpAgZhN_mCLWazOitMPJVKDfCXmjJBHzFCKLMxU-49Ko5lbvwcvg2OjibVTrXwid2WtzsOHhPbPzDvsYgtXkQ/s320/Door+Book+Critics.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> This door has students write book critiques and color code them for "must reads", "maybe reads", and "skips". </span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMhfpmg2eidbFjuGpt0pcq4b2Wo2D5nwYBaAVkCgoujuMXkdWLIOpDqKmNU7MZTS3tvqFnVpczlwzukfjtWJu7h6De2yncZSf04ez-4_3fvctBct_jYELa9ZP6ubjElZ9OmLdM-wiNjY/s1600/Door+My+Reading+Life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMhfpmg2eidbFjuGpt0pcq4b2Wo2D5nwYBaAVkCgoujuMXkdWLIOpDqKmNU7MZTS3tvqFnVpczlwzukfjtWJu7h6De2yncZSf04ez-4_3fvctBct_jYELa9ZP6ubjElZ9OmLdM-wiNjY/s1600/Door+My+Reading+Life.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> This door shows what the <b>teacher</b> has been reading to show that he/she lives a literate life, both in and outside of the classroom.</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_FPrkhDn6AHNZoZrX3HQy0unJK3yc14pbabBAg3NeX78piFl5Qew2MSdb7CNJW2cShNX5NrQyER79NSoG_FKsiNAxk7SqEu0NJd9hRImoqn9vprvqgFLE98YL3pvsgG48lOODT9XzWI/s1600/Door+Popcorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_FPrkhDn6AHNZoZrX3HQy0unJK3yc14pbabBAg3NeX78piFl5Qew2MSdb7CNJW2cShNX5NrQyER79NSoG_FKsiNAxk7SqEu0NJd9hRImoqn9vprvqgFLE98YL3pvsgG48lOODT9XzWI/s320/Door+Popcorn.jpg" width="206" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Students post the book covers of their favorite reads for the school community to see.</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJvmsNZ6i00WLugEUqh2r1a6ugvTwcuLB_woRdTnSmecppFjoZ1U9Stma_e-An-VUYXbCFovxs3JgsVPHyU2FKY34lvpP6GdvImRV9ZhDrAKwOxwDZJ7dNskUS3VnvLqxoNf7_xGOZ-0Q/s1600/Door+Readbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJvmsNZ6i00WLugEUqh2r1a6ugvTwcuLB_woRdTnSmecppFjoZ1U9Stma_e-An-VUYXbCFovxs3JgsVPHyU2FKY34lvpP6GdvImRV9ZhDrAKwOxwDZJ7dNskUS3VnvLqxoNf7_xGOZ-0Q/s320/Door+Readbox.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> All kids know what Redbox is. Why not create a door with "Readbox" with all of your students' reads from the summer. Then change them from month to month. This teacher even has QR codes for more information about the books!</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihX93lNzA6mmzO-Dw4VrlVqpzWK8cF6KDbBFc8Ns8D2Ak0pSjdz4tXqSJf_0wRtt8gYShz15T4jzplkL72y3CkwcSwiSxv7twffVzvTdHbsbknyM7q1yigGuPkuIHkA-1R-WdfhaQLsno/s1600/Door+Snow+Days+are.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihX93lNzA6mmzO-Dw4VrlVqpzWK8cF6KDbBFc8Ns8D2Ak0pSjdz4tXqSJf_0wRtt8gYShz15T4jzplkL72y3CkwcSwiSxv7twffVzvTdHbsbknyM7q1yigGuPkuIHkA-1R-WdfhaQLsno/s320/Door+Snow+Days+are.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Looking for ways to increase your students'' vocabulary in Writing Workshop? Use your classroom door to build up words and ideas for them to use in their writing. Doubles as a word wall too!</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGr80zterDj82lb-7Szs3yT-x9HG2u_n4zEcmj5a6Y4SAHk5-0k_EuoNwCPacwo8mIsuZ3TXgGYn-tzl2POrwyRM1Y7tuvn361PsxyzrPtw-7XeSiQXzYTwQCG1R1hmrLiCZ-pqbSKX8M/s1600/Door+Twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGr80zterDj82lb-7Szs3yT-x9HG2u_n4zEcmj5a6Y4SAHk5-0k_EuoNwCPacwo8mIsuZ3TXgGYn-tzl2POrwyRM1Y7tuvn361PsxyzrPtw-7XeSiQXzYTwQCG1R1hmrLiCZ-pqbSKX8M/s320/Door+Twitter.jpg" width="192" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Want to link social media and learning? Have students tweet (in 140 characters or less, of course...) their ideas about their books, writing pieces, or any other learning taking place inside your room.</span></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-46112333372390959512013-07-15T15:55:00.002-04:002013-07-15T15:55:40.948-04:00Looking for New Mentor Texts? Look up!I am at my public library a lot. I mean a lot. <br />
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I have two kids (Sam is almost 8 and Anna is almost 5) who treat the library like their own private bookstore. We are there a few times a week choosing new books to read, taking out DVDs, signing up for programs (my son just participated in the "Read to a Guide Dog"program...it was incredible!!!), and/or using their computers and iPads that are bookmarked with the most incredible websites and apps for kids. <br />
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I am also an educator. Going to my public library a few times a week gives me a chance to "do work" without really feeling like I am doing work. I am constantly on the lookout for new and exciting mentor texts but don't necessarily have the time (remember I have two kids...) to search through the thousands of picture books (not to mention chapter books) that my library has to offer. So how do I effectively and efficiently flip through all of the texts there at my fingertips and choose the right ones?<br />
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I look up. The talented, knowledgeable, and patient librarians have done this work for me! Librarians take time each day to hand pick the newest, most beloved, ALA recommended picture books out there for children. They select books in various genres, thinking about children of all ages, and prop them up above the book shelves for me to see! I have found many of my beloved mentor texts by simply grabbing some of the librarian-selected books at the library. I'll grab a few each time I visit, bring them home, digest the possibilities, and THEN purchase them for use in the many classrooms I visit each year. <br />
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The next time you are looking to boost your classroom library for mentor texts, check out your public library and look up. You may discover some new texts that will help your young writers to do things they never dreamed possible.<br />
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Here are some of my recent favorite librarian-selected picks:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZn7ikfUxFXiVNH-JDh7npdNB7vYfe5SGLs_uiliL1rO-92CoW76zYIW_SI9l0zl2z2eE81DK1YqlkBVpdrKIbx2LihFkVkTa18e1JrLUD7CBlVtyA5tAWujFwKVw7_noixOP-W-OJpY/s1600/IMG_6161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZn7ikfUxFXiVNH-JDh7npdNB7vYfe5SGLs_uiliL1rO-92CoW76zYIW_SI9l0zl2z2eE81DK1YqlkBVpdrKIbx2LihFkVkTa18e1JrLUD7CBlVtyA5tAWujFwKVw7_noixOP-W-OJpY/s1600/IMG_6161.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a>Anna's flip flops laying on my desk next to <i>The Loud Book, To Be Like the Sun, Chloe Instead, </i>and<i> Pug and Other Animal Poems.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vegaB1O0no4MhHAV3MhN3C_4rI4DA_pr8FssU4zWcEecjAngC_00Xar4L_nTB95syfL43kn5pGD1HYsgHxhKgj83-9Nb03u_XdMlhLN8kWsc06fzaGY-Rx0VH9nO9QV3zn2h43aMZOQ/s1600/IMG_5859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vegaB1O0no4MhHAV3MhN3C_4rI4DA_pr8FssU4zWcEecjAngC_00Xar4L_nTB95syfL43kn5pGD1HYsgHxhKgj83-9Nb03u_XdMlhLN8kWsc06fzaGY-Rx0VH9nO9QV3zn2h43aMZOQ/s1600/IMG_5859.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Doing some nonfiction work and flipping through <i>Same, Same but Different, What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You?, and Castles, Caves and Honeycombs </i>along with <i>Fireboat: </i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cG4AbSxdZc5skwL4iFz52-EERkL8pPb7w0rT_93sPlNUjmLyosm4UfO2jqXzYoJoM7pbejsQSfwcpSK8v4LGVnu66ModXTirreETvMWWZqY9W3KSk3wVGwjSDQs4vxgNJOZCzgBAgcs/s1600/IMG_5861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cG4AbSxdZc5skwL4iFz52-EERkL8pPb7w0rT_93sPlNUjmLyosm4UfO2jqXzYoJoM7pbejsQSfwcpSK8v4LGVnu66ModXTirreETvMWWZqY9W3KSk3wVGwjSDQs4vxgNJOZCzgBAgcs/s1600/IMG_5861.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OzgM39oU6krKTemuncI2VeKbXyPD1V1IvCIia6zmkPgMjdKUoMF5nWWXZTtVvsoYZUV8Z43E6pFoFVWgOOw42XL84dfiZaEdBBdDIpageKMBvFKQsmuqYhcGwxygn92TLIXKPBS_A_A/s1600/IMG_6074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OzgM39oU6krKTemuncI2VeKbXyPD1V1IvCIia6zmkPgMjdKUoMF5nWWXZTtVvsoYZUV8Z43E6pFoFVWgOOw42XL84dfiZaEdBBdDIpageKMBvFKQsmuqYhcGwxygn92TLIXKPBS_A_A/s1600/IMG_6074.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a> Wrapping end of the year teacher gifts and testing out some mentor texts...<i>The Librarian of Basra, My First Day, and Who Says Women Can't be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell.</i></div>
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Take a trip to your public library and let me know what you found?</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-28687567158800827272011-10-15T21:34:00.003-04:002011-10-17T21:58:51.752-04:00Test Prep That Makes Sense<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="244" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHdI2AU2OKOejbFHlLlahXL8Zj57AcTr4VlnNv0nIbtDbBWiAfZut2TQZGFz7TDgQ1gIA-Eh-efQi2zP99_dTFlxRbrZXONqcH5omgBIQLWebJwpILywU1gAvI_aYRPvXI9ZWEtZSHiA/s320/test+prep.jpg" width="320" /><span style="color: purple; font-size: x-small;">Thanks to Lester Laminack's Facebook page for this cartoon</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">While presenting at the New England Reading Association conference a few weeks back, a colleague of mine and I facilitated a seminar on the power of using mentor texts in your writing workshop (</span><a href="http://nereading.org/images/cordova_cohn_conf_handouts.pdf"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">click here for a link to our handouts from the session</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">). We shared ideas for minilessons, our favorite mentor texts for various genre studies and classroom photos to support an effective and engaging writing workshop. We had a wonderful turnout (about 130 educators from across the east coast attended the session!), tremendous enthusiasm and tons of thoughtful questions. Yet, inevitably as I have been asked at other conferences across the nation, THE question regarding text preparation came up towards the end of the session. It goes something like this...</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"I love your ideas and I want to use this style of writing instruction in my classroom because I think it's great and I know my students will love it. But (wait for it....) how do I explain to my principal how this ties into test preparation and how this will get our scores up?". </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And as I have stated, time and time again, from state to state, grade level to grade level, the answer is as follows- <strong>Good writing instruction <em>is</em> test preparation. Strategic instruction <em>is</em> test preparation. Teaching the stages of the writing process <em>is</em> test preparation. Explaining audience and purpose <em>is</em> test preparation. Having students build their writing stamina <em>is</em> test preparation. </strong></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When we teach students various strategies to make their writing more clear, more interesting, more focused and more organized we are teaching them how to become better writers- not just for standardized tests...but for LIFE. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When I began teaching in the workshop style in my fourth grade classroom during the time when No Child Left Behind was just targeting 4th and 8th grade students (and teachers!), my students' scores went up on the New York State ELA exam. It wasn't because I was practicing in more coach books or "doing" more test preparation. It was because my students were becoming more effective, more efficient and more engaged writers. Of course, the strategies, techniques and tools they had picked up along the way would help them during these 3 days. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You see, they were being "prepped" the whole year but in a way that made sense. In a way that actually made them feel empowered and excited. They believed that they were WRITERS. And because they had learned what audience and purpose was, they did better. Because they understood that a great opening or meaningful closing could make a "scorer" feel something after reading 200 papers, they did better. Because they understood how to plan before they drafted, they did better. Because they understood the importance of editing their work, they did better. They knew the tools and reasons that real writers used and THAT is what, "made their scores go up". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I am hoping for more time in the near future so I can put together a more formal "Writing for Testing Genre" unit of study. I welcome your experiences and thoughts on the topic. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-8664816975200544132011-09-26T15:49:00.000-04:002011-09-26T15:49:51.193-04:00How Many Charts are Too Many Charts?<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">First, let me apologize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the school year started up, I have been all over the place with both consulting work and my own children starting school (my son, Sam, just started Kindergarten a few weeks back …needless to say it has been a BIG transition for all of us).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am going to try my hardest to stay more up to date on my posts from now on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I have been traveling to numerous schools this September and helping teachers to set up their classrooms for the most effective, engaging and efficient Writing Workshop they can imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been working with administrators to devise checklists of the “musts” when starting off the year with the goal in mind of, “Building a Community of Writers”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This phrase is really multifaceted as it encompasses many different elements of teaching and learning about writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I think of “Building a Community of Writers” I think of two questions that we might ask of ourselves in helping to start the year off strong: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Number 1: What does it mean to become a writer?</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Questions like, “From where do writers get their ideas? “, “What inspires writers?” and “What does writing mean to you?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rQYXx3f_IT_HOZoyUE8NpWCL_SVym8YfzM7sk2n2MgyM9rZh4p_8lrpTUKQ2phZpKkzakgBpBUSMQ9cggmcD12qe4Et752MWuPHQPHvS4DoK8N_wtyp2CK36HsLAEN4oka4bIZuoCco/s1600/Winter+2010+021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rQYXx3f_IT_HOZoyUE8NpWCL_SVym8YfzM7sk2n2MgyM9rZh4p_8lrpTUKQ2phZpKkzakgBpBUSMQ9cggmcD12qe4Et752MWuPHQPHvS4DoK8N_wtyp2CK36HsLAEN4oka4bIZuoCco/s320/Winter+2010+021.jpg" width="238" /></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Number 2:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What classroom routines, rules and management ideas do I need in place to help my students and myself make the time in Writing Workshop the most valuable it can be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Questions like, “What if students need help and I am in a writing conference with another student?”, “What should students do when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">think </i>they are done?” and “What happens in a writing conference?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXblgw2puDmZTVM0VMYDYnHn0lcEmCubtnvoS4d0J7670pn9UIrocdLLgDaaKyoaiOtF2EiRgAhKwyumH6-T352Aaz9UIoXL8sAOnpUh0Rz-UGVXJ-9ghpI4lgpGpvqxXt_jq7OFyeStc/s1600/Winter+2010+043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXblgw2puDmZTVM0VMYDYnHn0lcEmCubtnvoS4d0J7670pn9UIrocdLLgDaaKyoaiOtF2EiRgAhKwyumH6-T352Aaz9UIoXL8sAOnpUh0Rz-UGVXJ-9ghpI4lgpGpvqxXt_jq7OFyeStc/s320/Winter+2010+043.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I have learned that when it comes to hanging charts in my classroom,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> less is actually more</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is strange for me to say that when I have about 200 laminated charts in my basement right now from my own classroom’s Reading and Writing Workshop!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do use many of them when I speak at workshops or conferences, but I don’t want to part with them because they have become a part of my teaching history. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, as I learn more, see more and reflect more I have come to realize that walking into a classroom plastered with posters on the walls (even when they are so neatly written in colorful marker!) can be a distraction to the students, especially our youngest writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That when creating posters, we have to think about the two questions above and then ask, “Why?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How will this chart help my students to become a stronger and more independent writer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How will this chart help me to be a more effective and efficient teacher?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What is the purpose?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>If you can’t answer the question or it’s just to “make the room like nice” it probably doesn’t need to be up there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I like charts that communicate to those walking into your classroom that we are “Building a Community of Writers” and writers need <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">tools</b> to be successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And these charts, similar to our notebooks, pencils, sticky notes and highlighters, are a tool that helps to move us forward in our writing journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Below are some of the charts I have collected from schools across the country that answer the questions above. Please realize that these charts are from different grades, different schools and different teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please feel free to comment, share your own “favorite” charts to start the year off right or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>share these with colleagues and borrow the ideas. ENJOY!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> **************</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Author Posters gives students a sense that writers are real people just like them! Include a photo, other books published (including the mentor texts you'll use during the unit of study), great quotes about writing and information about their lives. Or... have older students work in groups to create the posters together as a research exercise and let them present their poster to the class. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3TZ1VS03Fr7GFvmnjnON3xmxT_K5zrwXPYqxyyAh4_jJkFiyNo21weRhmiWAkaZ2T3k_K0vowkA07SSC1wy2UiAAWr07P-wVnZVom0zYroyL-0jx5zEocKFvAtiSzzr8gS1dJY5us8Q/s1600/Gail+Gibbons+2-3+B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3TZ1VS03Fr7GFvmnjnON3xmxT_K5zrwXPYqxyyAh4_jJkFiyNo21weRhmiWAkaZ2T3k_K0vowkA07SSC1wy2UiAAWr07P-wVnZVom0zYroyL-0jx5zEocKFvAtiSzzr8gS1dJY5us8Q/s320/Gail+Gibbons+2-3+B.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A "Writing Process" or "Status of the Class" chart allows students, visitors, administrators and parents to know where you are in the writing process, where you're headed and that meaningful writing takes great time and care. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">'Rules, Routines and Responsibilities" charts are always good to set the standard of what happens during workshop time and conferences. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsW6LtsTcAdt3RIE2rm0ekzKGijrc-Vzz6pCxApvEnwK7Y_uWHzm8vYGd8CIrnaVksJF96Fbl5qzKKk91gaTJaGph6cKbgoxnwcvda7l4LnTsf8no4lrm3TqmWoVx_hKTpb8sHF3rIb8Q/s1600/HWW-+K+or+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsW6LtsTcAdt3RIE2rm0ekzKGijrc-Vzz6pCxApvEnwK7Y_uWHzm8vYGd8CIrnaVksJF96Fbl5qzKKk91gaTJaGph6cKbgoxnwcvda7l4LnTsf8no4lrm3TqmWoVx_hKTpb8sHF3rIb8Q/s320/HWW-+K+or+1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">These charts are a HUGE help to manage your students who are not conferring with you. It keeps them focused on the writing task and helps them to become more independent without drifting into a chat with a friend about soccer, pulling on your shirt for help or forming the dreaded LINE at your desk.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cC3r-XFPOOZmIJePMzYdbUdJhXzlw_hwJ-QctDdV1Z_5uUj6QqCq5sZ3kwu5YtLZPTAlmnEIGz712S74HPmNyo8YI4coMNF8__XJoZEzaq-tIiCAys3ua9I2M61baz1M37Gq5EKN7NY/s1600/HWW-+grade+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cC3r-XFPOOZmIJePMzYdbUdJhXzlw_hwJ-QctDdV1Z_5uUj6QqCq5sZ3kwu5YtLZPTAlmnEIGz712S74HPmNyo8YI4coMNF8__XJoZEzaq-tIiCAys3ua9I2M61baz1M37Gq5EKN7NY/s320/HWW-+grade+3.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoDcv4kKN3gbT2D9Zqc4cJdOndidTBqPCVly0RTdE8ri8oR9KJ08iGqAGVk9RHV1WLf65ZdJjOf6ItEzhbqb3LRUopQKMUMlvPNTOxNNw8WYV_JP2XO8X4Na2RcNQp76q2j69vRrWOtLo/s1600/Winter+2010+024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoDcv4kKN3gbT2D9Zqc4cJdOndidTBqPCVly0RTdE8ri8oR9KJ08iGqAGVk9RHV1WLf65ZdJjOf6ItEzhbqb3LRUopQKMUMlvPNTOxNNw8WYV_JP2XO8X4Na2RcNQp76q2j69vRrWOtLo/s320/Winter+2010+024.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcEEEwsdCbCTVhGX5Ij4Ymt5oUx1EHLWh5qw4zrxV94QHuAwRQpYpuR0EqPxLhXFdQy4_xA_0q1m79to92qOxIy_InOwYKTQRhTxAfevdCmF5zuFbxW53PRx8PNXPj38aWI1L0DdtmOqI/s1600/Winter+2010+054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcEEEwsdCbCTVhGX5Ij4Ymt5oUx1EHLWh5qw4zrxV94QHuAwRQpYpuR0EqPxLhXFdQy4_xA_0q1m79to92qOxIy_InOwYKTQRhTxAfevdCmF5zuFbxW53PRx8PNXPj38aWI1L0DdtmOqI/s320/Winter+2010+054.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIUKl-OqV0olt0iqYb0oHZ6RqzxDOU8Zyihsc55kbZVL4QYH1pkZbJkl9FCANdCD2U_-0rLcPh4UpeJ0k6zC7gyK1Rppa0ru6e4r9aPt9eCjFNREQTz_whGWSzlpzHkDtc-AjsbetSahY/s1600/Winter+2010+088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIUKl-OqV0olt0iqYb0oHZ6RqzxDOU8Zyihsc55kbZVL4QYH1pkZbJkl9FCANdCD2U_-0rLcPh4UpeJ0k6zC7gyK1Rppa0ru6e4r9aPt9eCjFNREQTz_whGWSzlpzHkDtc-AjsbetSahY/s320/Winter+2010+088.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgQ0SGa5-l40Xld9vvu3DqaNbn4biNWxRbJ5RaMrqOMDmp2w26p2vyAeppHTmJU2zEYt18YxAVlJK3MhyqQewgIBxsKoikW2cCRqXLm07Qh8BNjYsKrfFvHDOcKpGaScrOJHDzHm_nTY/s1600/Winter+2010+092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgQ0SGa5-l40Xld9vvu3DqaNbn4biNWxRbJ5RaMrqOMDmp2w26p2vyAeppHTmJU2zEYt18YxAVlJK3MhyqQewgIBxsKoikW2cCRqXLm07Qh8BNjYsKrfFvHDOcKpGaScrOJHDzHm_nTY/s320/Winter+2010+092.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwpnHDRCT84Ugrqu9mgiDD5DhWzyVHjOeaBEHZD2AKsW6MjObo0RY6ml6k5B6xt2PG6SXYgnVH-RCaXp1rDPT93cantDF6YG7O73HKslzad19kBdiuYDgfU-4uvACd_Y9N7_OYXnAs6I/s1600/Winter+2010+093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwpnHDRCT84Ugrqu9mgiDD5DhWzyVHjOeaBEHZD2AKsW6MjObo0RY6ml6k5B6xt2PG6SXYgnVH-RCaXp1rDPT93cantDF6YG7O73HKslzad19kBdiuYDgfU-4uvACd_Y9N7_OYXnAs6I/s320/Winter+2010+093.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxIwOziJvnPUFFf18Pt_ZDIZdnuhGOWPvUNFijCOf1oNWeRjPMEA_qlytEwxN92kOGLVrITB2mLI40O1WlJezPkQUKqeTOr8MCNRZPdk5OUTsz5pzSVXNx7lzXqjtmaNaykW0Z_33HxY/s1600/Winter+2010+080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxIwOziJvnPUFFf18Pt_ZDIZdnuhGOWPvUNFijCOf1oNWeRjPMEA_qlytEwxN92kOGLVrITB2mLI40O1WlJezPkQUKqeTOr8MCNRZPdk5OUTsz5pzSVXNx7lzXqjtmaNaykW0Z_33HxY/s320/Winter+2010+080.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtW9_tevfHnCaiQgwCebhJh1j7q6VH80be9m877PGgNJcHpoqnZc2geuVhWlcu2J-iC0vaNPC1bAJNG1-D5EuLVAx7NXMaZ3zybroEDsUm2wSU_ZWVcWrMTPxZ7P8tRUadLgafkUKPjIQ/s1600/Winter+2010+103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtW9_tevfHnCaiQgwCebhJh1j7q6VH80be9m877PGgNJcHpoqnZc2geuVhWlcu2J-iC0vaNPC1bAJNG1-D5EuLVAx7NXMaZ3zybroEDsUm2wSU_ZWVcWrMTPxZ7P8tRUadLgafkUKPjIQ/s320/Winter+2010+103.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9lvYFolu-YYvLr16L2XzKS4qYoxZdlHGqqubNTb-YD2BUjP72FUymatiBACqHKHYO11JYCdVJlcbzBSb-JE-NvWwfE9bJl0aG-mMOfjhm3dzVRBCtLjYaiVW2vCzr82V4YzPNXBani0/s1600/Winter+2010+102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9lvYFolu-YYvLr16L2XzKS4qYoxZdlHGqqubNTb-YD2BUjP72FUymatiBACqHKHYO11JYCdVJlcbzBSb-JE-NvWwfE9bJl0aG-mMOfjhm3dzVRBCtLjYaiVW2vCzr82V4YzPNXBani0/s320/Winter+2010+102.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Just some favorites that explain why writing is so important and the impact it makes in the lives of our students, ourselves and our world.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlapjWR2kYf6m1F29PE_DJcivaAo4AuW9ymW_QuFc5ZJJJZfJZfe5fczOWxNLW8ZmT3znpl91Cc3KxIZeu_u_jHY3-Fy8FyN2a78J-Hm6HKXtPeA54Az-NPo_bP8M98jBEIk4B0_i-Pk/s1600/HWW+grade+2-B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsU2NjG3e8rTIwVvK0nfASCwCP8Vsu8IpnWPITHlxZJkEW6jIhNgbIECHMqxPSEl9iZjTk2nNaQjOgoYgEIi3NfYuWpUjI3byE7kU-XuSIzRlriAuc7-HExXQLtfK3lBb8mVwLX0lsBk/s1600/Winter+2010+097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsU2NjG3e8rTIwVvK0nfASCwCP8Vsu8IpnWPITHlxZJkEW6jIhNgbIECHMqxPSEl9iZjTk2nNaQjOgoYgEIi3NfYuWpUjI3byE7kU-XuSIzRlriAuc7-HExXQLtfK3lBb8mVwLX0lsBk/s320/Winter+2010+097.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5kNdL61ru-VSbA2XVz3tTqFWBwl1xk_PIcBncrTyzHSuxkvt2efxb45v1WBL_yIMnu-DLCQPGzMVO1E1msRe2Z-bGQoPVSjRqod_t0dZb3D4Z7dzq9LBvrJZKweHtTcwSSD91me1R2o/s1600/Winter+2010+075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5kNdL61ru-VSbA2XVz3tTqFWBwl1xk_PIcBncrTyzHSuxkvt2efxb45v1WBL_yIMnu-DLCQPGzMVO1E1msRe2Z-bGQoPVSjRqod_t0dZb3D4Z7dzq9LBvrJZKweHtTcwSSD91me1R2o/s320/Winter+2010+075.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>** For more charts and ideas please visit me on Facebook by searching D.E.I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.deinstitute.org/">http://www.deinstitute.org/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-81132745560583599702011-09-02T22:23:00.001-04:002011-09-02T22:29:32.573-04:00Too Pretty to Do Homework?<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Last week J.C. Penney began selling a T-shirt that declared the message, "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me". The sales pitch with the tee read, "Who has time for homework when there's a new Justin Bieber album out. She'll love this tee that's just as cute and sassy as she is."</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobJm6nODpq7kKK5RlmWsKzMNPYPV0KDSAcqh9j7tgGuBFf63-A4aN3KHUvXwd2b5wS1ofOnhbpQjak6Ey74Iap3UQ15cFP7BICpATaWROkaBc2LhExTh2AaTikMBPVVxR3AISrF4rvU8/s1600/too+pretty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobJm6nODpq7kKK5RlmWsKzMNPYPV0KDSAcqh9j7tgGuBFf63-A4aN3KHUvXwd2b5wS1ofOnhbpQjak6Ey74Iap3UQ15cFP7BICpATaWROkaBc2LhExTh2AaTikMBPVVxR3AISrF4rvU8/s400/too+pretty.jpg" width="400" xaa="true" /></a><br />
Men, women, parents, teachers, and children advocacy groups across the country took to the Internet to tweet, message and email their disgust, disappointment and dismay. Within 12 hours of the shirt being put online for sale (the retail store states that the shirt was ONLY for sale online and not in its stores), it was taken down with statements of apology from the company.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The idea that anyone would find this statement and this idea cute and even appealing is blood boiling. As the mother of a 3 year old girl, I have tried desperately to make my daughter- and son, for that matter- understand that "being pretty" is not the most important thing in life. Contrary to what the Disney Princess line of toys and paraphernalia will lead you to believe (<em>Mulan</em> being the sole exception, in my opinion...) , my husband and I really try to instill in our children the idea that being kind to others regardless of differences, being confident in who you are, and trying your best in all you do are the things in life that really matter. While sometimes I feel like we do go a bit overboard (while reading an old version of a <em>Curious George</em> story to my 5 year old son one evening before bed he asked, "Why do they need to say that 'the nurse was <strong>young</strong> and <strong>pretty</strong>?'. Is that really important for the story?"), I truly believe that gender stereotypes can be very harmful to children. </span><br />
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Don't get me wrong, we have the Disney Princess figures in my house along with a backpack and T-shirt to match. Those figures, however, get trapped in the Batcave (and escape by themselves), sit on block towers as lookouts (along with Spiderman and Handy Manny) and discuss the rescue of Luke Skywalker from the top shelf on their toy chest. While driving in the car one day, after discussing why some kids on Glee were so cruel to the character Kurt, Sam asked me if I thought there would ever be a gay Disney princess. The answer I gave him was, "Maybe Sam. That would be great wouldn't it?". And he thought it would. <br />
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As educators, I believe we have a responsibility to debate and dispel gender stereotypes. One way to do this is to share stories with our students that challenge the antiquated and "traditional" roles that boys and girls have so often been given. We can also share stories that celebrate differences and individuality. Having open and honest discussions about what girls and boys "do" or "like" is a wonderful way to get kids talking about their ideas on the subject and perhaps, shed some light on why ANYONE would think that a T-shirt like the one that was on sale at JC Penney would ever be acceptable to anyone. <br />
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Below are some books to get the discussion started. Please feel free to add your own suggestions below. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghPNMOM2fKwxQwJyL1r4Trqgiwt6_rDaDkTAodTknbyrXGrafoLgbWqSyxfNtjBAb-u8LgiOxDqzQsc4lsWQPdfX_zl5jm_thu0T3e0Xctf-F12RH3mbMOxftgQwlHpf45Jp3BY2IjFtQ/s1600/princess+knight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghPNMOM2fKwxQwJyL1r4Trqgiwt6_rDaDkTAodTknbyrXGrafoLgbWqSyxfNtjBAb-u8LgiOxDqzQsc4lsWQPdfX_zl5jm_thu0T3e0Xctf-F12RH3mbMOxftgQwlHpf45Jp3BY2IjFtQ/s1600/princess+knight.jpg" xaa="true" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>The Princess Knight</em> by Cornelia Funke</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0drPyoBPnJd8IYQD9x76Jdl707W9Y4d-KYgP7FihMQ2hJtCrFEBweALpeGcSXNmDDotWzaGlcbFTrp0L0j_0cAlJFCmg2WOX-RcjPYVt_jP_lwQTMiPH_T_Dsy3Y21oa6EQZwvbAYdc/s1600/princess+boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0drPyoBPnJd8IYQD9x76Jdl707W9Y4d-KYgP7FihMQ2hJtCrFEBweALpeGcSXNmDDotWzaGlcbFTrp0L0j_0cAlJFCmg2WOX-RcjPYVt_jP_lwQTMiPH_T_Dsy3Y21oa6EQZwvbAYdc/s1600/princess+boy.jpg" xaa="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>My Princess Boy</em> by Cheryl Kilodavis</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTacsPYGlts1Az_GC6AxI5edhu_cArBFRJZu_0NM03ALXN-HQAdpFTchFucLBiAysRcNcZvgPNGS7_UpeYSowlVVov13awFzFPqWjIXLtNrv3m0z5HJkIVD_WZVWTCIyG8fxPh2H7rfo/s1600/Bronto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTacsPYGlts1Az_GC6AxI5edhu_cArBFRJZu_0NM03ALXN-HQAdpFTchFucLBiAysRcNcZvgPNGS7_UpeYSowlVVov13awFzFPqWjIXLtNrv3m0z5HJkIVD_WZVWTCIyG8fxPh2H7rfo/s1600/Bronto.jpg" xaa="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>Brontorina</em> by James Howe</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAVMB39kfv2Xv1E39VdOdddubUTaByMbO3EYjS62Ozo-qr1CoExI87NAKZWnt7hgJW5__PkdAy8MqEzwtUqN_87Ce1ipKqLLfkXbNmo9bo66CGYocxvhTo5uUuypm2YijnBPpfq487xnY/s1600/family+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAVMB39kfv2Xv1E39VdOdddubUTaByMbO3EYjS62Ozo-qr1CoExI87NAKZWnt7hgJW5__PkdAy8MqEzwtUqN_87Ce1ipKqLLfkXbNmo9bo66CGYocxvhTo5uUuypm2YijnBPpfq487xnY/s1600/family+book.jpg" xaa="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>The Family Book</em> by Todd Parr</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_XHtGWQJhg2GF8WMxVwNzUEIPwVhhQKVunbGNKY06qLgMvcoJy-Gl8WjLvuSJoErBAONOBUX5pbgiAZc_q77dSAE9IG4dTTgprFaf3_nOZ5celNUiWDhqgV5Q_JtWWZryeTQqBdV_e8o/s1600/free+to+be.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_XHtGWQJhg2GF8WMxVwNzUEIPwVhhQKVunbGNKY06qLgMvcoJy-Gl8WjLvuSJoErBAONOBUX5pbgiAZc_q77dSAE9IG4dTTgprFaf3_nOZ5celNUiWDhqgV5Q_JtWWZryeTQqBdV_e8o/s1600/free+to+be.jpg" xaa="true" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>Free to be You and Me</em> by Marlo Thomas and Friends (a great CD too!)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSllD7iiS8eXONuauiO2muSxA2tRTUVoM0iZrprT4NodIYQSFl8b0_qhD_hz-fPk8xY2cV45PsRXvJw8aFfu2KEALj6QIF_o6qjMX4Fmx_sWzFY8AzftLxMwGGzJCbiL6d0ERDKU9iPU/s1600/Oliver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSllD7iiS8eXONuauiO2muSxA2tRTUVoM0iZrprT4NodIYQSFl8b0_qhD_hz-fPk8xY2cV45PsRXvJw8aFfu2KEALj6QIF_o6qjMX4Fmx_sWzFY8AzftLxMwGGzJCbiL6d0ERDKU9iPU/s1600/Oliver.jpg" xaa="true" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>Oliver Button is a Sissy</em> by Tomie dePaola</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmA6jWVngup5hA5xQ27UBQ-WCSGtOw7aE-wdt8Jw62SAB8Z1NUNmO2LAAs7HLFfjath3asJeo55QAKI5DbKBExYZGPg05P7EfM1n8Fy2ZnHuTPTFpCXyEbmBPb2GvCiKFycdypaQAf2Y/s1600/polacco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmA6jWVngup5hA5xQ27UBQ-WCSGtOw7aE-wdt8Jw62SAB8Z1NUNmO2LAAs7HLFfjath3asJeo55QAKI5DbKBExYZGPg05P7EfM1n8Fy2ZnHuTPTFpCXyEbmBPb2GvCiKFycdypaQAf2Y/s1600/polacco.jpg" xaa="true" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>In Our Mother's House</em> by Patricia Polacco</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw7JDPwsDLlQ87UJKSEcGfFYn2pHMIstiPE77LPC4HRAiO3FkMTwbqTuhh39jQx5JnTC587_xWmJ-bNPSpsrfTxHE_qYJm46jQD1iP38BNZg-LXXtV8bzjt-9H2J_UPSB80m4tAcdpmts/s1600/sissy+duckling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw7JDPwsDLlQ87UJKSEcGfFYn2pHMIstiPE77LPC4HRAiO3FkMTwbqTuhh39jQx5JnTC587_xWmJ-bNPSpsrfTxHE_qYJm46jQD1iP38BNZg-LXXtV8bzjt-9H2J_UPSB80m4tAcdpmts/s1600/sissy+duckling.jpg" xaa="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>The Sissy Duckling</em> by Harvey Fierstein</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkYx-n9auN-5c5BVr2i3MiS0QAh0OZb345JHTCP8JvzrIzjWGkNkPVXyb4dz-XrvKyj1mU2tYcfnYE53dS04_H_W3KDqGYh5IhrE_JpWkJNvZe06JQD6_jMh2p8tYrGeQWhg1riEJNhqs/s1600/it%2527s+OK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkYx-n9auN-5c5BVr2i3MiS0QAh0OZb345JHTCP8JvzrIzjWGkNkPVXyb4dz-XrvKyj1mU2tYcfnYE53dS04_H_W3KDqGYh5IhrE_JpWkJNvZe06JQD6_jMh2p8tYrGeQWhg1riEJNhqs/s1600/it%2527s+OK.jpg" xaa="true" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>It's Okay to Be Different</em> by Todd Parr</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKYKwFGhmd93eF3eL6ERT_qfkY5mTcr79YvFWzIA7duP8H0c0PzLgeJACAVmdThPR4w4UWO3e8hfmSI8YHJwAVWf9aNbZi5vmfqf9w0foE9hRos199pNzKniSKkYTuByjmk1DG6OPe90/s1600/william.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKYKwFGhmd93eF3eL6ERT_qfkY5mTcr79YvFWzIA7duP8H0c0PzLgeJACAVmdThPR4w4UWO3e8hfmSI8YHJwAVWf9aNbZi5vmfqf9w0foE9hRos199pNzKniSKkYTuByjmk1DG6OPe90/s1600/william.jpg" xaa="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>William's Doll</em> by Charlotte Zolotow</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFsqf-whnLInHoQM0pct8pjPsyLG-2k8pdbfvg8kpVBVlLAullp-fAy8ZOi37e_tJDzTeeyVeYtKqCsLH51_-isivalq_i8lstXcSbWSxHHkV77U6s4nhsN6gD0OcDUyUTx7WKgQh1Dg/s1600/whoever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFsqf-whnLInHoQM0pct8pjPsyLG-2k8pdbfvg8kpVBVlLAullp-fAy8ZOi37e_tJDzTeeyVeYtKqCsLH51_-isivalq_i8lstXcSbWSxHHkV77U6s4nhsN6gD0OcDUyUTx7WKgQh1Dg/s1600/whoever.jpg" xaa="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>Whoever You Are</em> by Mem Fox</span></td></tr>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-81638301145892206802011-08-23T21:26:00.000-04:002011-08-23T21:26:44.967-04:00Quality vs. Quantity...How Do We Best Teach Our Youngest Writers?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was schooled by the work of Lucy Calkins. When I first discovered <i>The Art of Teaching Writing (</i>as well as <i>The Art of Teaching Reading)</i> during my graduate work at NYU, my thinking about teaching writing changed immediately and intensely. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a reluctant writer (and reader) as a young student, the workshop model made so much sense to me. And when I first saw this type of writing instruction in my student teaching placements (a first grade class and a fourth/fifth grade looped class) in the New York City public schools, I was blown away. These students were <b>truly</b> excited about learning about writing, talking about their writing, studying authors of great writing, and sharing their writing. They LOVED writing and while I moaned and groaned when my teachers used to say, "It's time for writing!” these children moaned and groaned when their teacher said, "Put your notebooks away.". It was incredible to me and very exciting as an "almost teacher" venturing into the world of literacy instruction.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lucy's text became my bible as I implemented a reader's and writer's workshop into my own fourth grade classroom and I saw my students LOVE writing just as the students in my student teaching did. It was magical and also very rewarding as a teacher who, as a student, dreaded writing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As I continued my "classroom teaching" and began my "teacher teaching", my ideas about the workshop and Lucy evolved. I think this is healthy. I think this is necessary. I think this is what we, as teachers, need to do to be considered professionals and serious thinkers. Yet as I travel across the country in my consulting work, I have encountered teachers in the primary grades who have debated me on the following point:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Young writers should finish the task of the day (the teaching point/minilesson) and then start a new piece. This is what Lucy says.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Their idea is based on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their</i> belief that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Calkins</i> believes that young writers, when "done" with their daily work, should grab a new piece of paper and start something new. Anything new. That this will build their writing stamina and keep them interested in writing. That for them to stay with one idea for a longer period of time will bore them or turn them off to writing in general. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So then I picture in my mind a writing folder with papers strewn all over the place. Papers that have some pictures and some words on them but are never really taken to the next level. Papers that become something to keep them busy during writer’s workshop. And so I ask myself, “why?”. Why would teachers just ask their students to keep writing and writing and writing when most of those pieces will just stay in a folder and/or get stuffed into a backpack and thrown out at home? There has to be a better way to build their writing stamina. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have seen Kindergartners and first graders generate a number of ideas, choose one and then stay with that one important idea for <i>weeks</i>. They <b>do</b> have more to say about the rollercoaster ride they rode with their father for the first time. They <b>can</b> organize and draft the beginning to their All About book on Great White Sharks and create a table of contents for the start of their book. They <b>will</b> add more vivid verbs, onomatopoeia and alliteration to their poems about the sounds and sights of spring. They <b>know how to</b> edit their piece to make sure that they have capital letters in the right places in the final draft of their List and Label book. They <b>love</b> to create a thoughtful About the Author page, title and dedication for their story about a dinosaur who feels left out at school because he has spikes on his back when all the other dinosaurs are "spineless". </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have seen it happen and never have the students gotten bored, disenfranchised or turned off. It still amazes me, just as it did 11 years ago during my time at NYU, when first graders take one idea and stick with it for weeks to produce a piece of writing that is deep, thoughtful, powerful and beautifully crafted. I KNOW it can be done and WANT it to be done more. My wish is that teachers of young writers will give this process a chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That they will stop asking our youngest writers to just keep <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">producing<i> </i></span>pieces to keep them busy but rather ask them to produce pieces of writing that really help them to understand the power of the writing PROCESS. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-33355929622584727732011-08-18T17:31:00.000-04:002011-08-18T17:53:07.507-04:00Picture Books for September..Beyond Chyrsanthemum<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">I LOVE Kevin Henkes and I LOVE his book <em>Chrysanthemum. </em> I used to read <em>Chrysanthemum</em> every year during the first week of school when I had my own 4th grade classroom. But kids know <em>Chrysanthemum</em> as they hear it every year, in every class, in every grade. And kids want something other than <em>Chrysanthemum</em> as a way to talk about meeting new friends and building a community in those first few weeks of the school year. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">And just as much as I LOVE <em>Chrysanthemum, </em>I also LOVE finding NEW books that get me excited about September and meeting new friends and building a community that stands for tolerance, respect and working together. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">I saw Ann Marie Corgill last spring at a conference on Long Island and was inspired by her enthusiasm and wealth of knowledge of all things literacy. The day of the conference she talked about great books that she used at the start of the school year to get to know her students, make them feel comfortable and build a community of learners who valued reading, writing and each other. In this <a href="http://amliteracylearninglog.blogspot.com/2011/08/10-picture-books-that-help-us-face.html">recent blogpost</a> from her site, she lists, "10 Picture Books That Help Us Face Life's Challenges". After seeing her I went out and bought Cynthia Rylant's <em>All in a Day.</em> Below are my NEW favorites for September...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRA5Sl25578-bW4eI6-sFfi8S6wIbWsy41cGDh293npHDadZnoOulA4oTgXLpdvFaH7UXwq3ne7T0uZSqAhtC5Ga43ZS6m536JamOVbdHRP11QATzqrFkaL5HmNM8uKB0ziEElGgf0t9E/s1600/Nasreen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRA5Sl25578-bW4eI6-sFfi8S6wIbWsy41cGDh293npHDadZnoOulA4oTgXLpdvFaH7UXwq3ne7T0uZSqAhtC5Ga43ZS6m536JamOVbdHRP11QATzqrFkaL5HmNM8uKB0ziEElGgf0t9E/s320/Nasreen.jpg" width="259" /></a><em>Nasreen's Secret School</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvf-EzTlh9Eq7t7JStQuSfP-b3Ngzc6A7uz0NzHXWohMTv402RaTNSEjw-R6Caprk-DD_xlSf9KOrmuJu8lJa3ZfAo7OJHL8v858wi5nu9qSnJ-SDxUuiboZI_OWWBDiSleVfHY_puyU/s1600/mr.+george.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvf-EzTlh9Eq7t7JStQuSfP-b3Ngzc6A7uz0NzHXWohMTv402RaTNSEjw-R6Caprk-DD_xlSf9KOrmuJu8lJa3ZfAo7OJHL8v858wi5nu9qSnJ-SDxUuiboZI_OWWBDiSleVfHY_puyU/s320/mr.+george.jpg" width="245" /></a><em>Mr. George Baker</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishvZl2tCZhbvue1BFgarSINTMl6vtQY6YA5ls14JWVaNP9GUtv8Ybfm9paq9u0x0-qjHR1Zb_0JZIwnLu85itPDQzc5SCEOij1H9DeJELj0jnkwiGWvJd_PBgAdUIDecUfDaSys5plEE/s1600/All+the+world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishvZl2tCZhbvue1BFgarSINTMl6vtQY6YA5ls14JWVaNP9GUtv8Ybfm9paq9u0x0-qjHR1Zb_0JZIwnLu85itPDQzc5SCEOij1H9DeJELj0jnkwiGWvJd_PBgAdUIDecUfDaSys5plEE/s320/All+the+world.jpg" width="320" /></a><em>All the World</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXy1HYqT9EaBI43mRWoJzGCIAQJl_pqbVHhbnfqkr2LHv5bM0nd0LXZQQZZA3RpiH_Cz12wSmkipkS4ncKYHYLb3n04oszARXJ8tGjrN3uE_x_sotcD9UkWo65TSQJq30fHuhyphenhyphenKNI5BVI/s320/Man+Who+Walked.jpg" width="320" /><em>The Man Who Walked Between the Towers</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrszrJwAs_tfYaSGZu0VqmCRLGiqChm0eU-pjlRQd7802zHXVKBvAl46vFPVJXhjk7BGC3tX4bZw5tKAGz1-resquTH-dRP9SmqyHOqxvWOjOujJdZuQx52NVF9zYNUADAuO8j8pVCfk/s1600/Okay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrszrJwAs_tfYaSGZu0VqmCRLGiqChm0eU-pjlRQd7802zHXVKBvAl46vFPVJXhjk7BGC3tX4bZw5tKAGz1-resquTH-dRP9SmqyHOqxvWOjOujJdZuQx52NVF9zYNUADAuO8j8pVCfk/s320/Okay.jpg" width="317" /></a><em>The Okay Book</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6nG38OfgLf7gNdV6xmRYUTqCpglKHmL4KM8Y-RYqcJYSdyiVHxhQIzzX8muAGC3R_i-2BQRdf2YibVCQWC9HMrM_yvZ9InYf73HFnJTlPB6x_quXfiaivxiy8RkBteoYLA-uKvGvEiU/s1600/Pezz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6nG38OfgLf7gNdV6xmRYUTqCpglKHmL4KM8Y-RYqcJYSdyiVHxhQIzzX8muAGC3R_i-2BQRdf2YibVCQWC9HMrM_yvZ9InYf73HFnJTlPB6x_quXfiaivxiy8RkBteoYLA-uKvGvEiU/s320/Pezz.jpg" width="240" /></a><em>Pezzettino</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY0LjfRrfo_sR323hRNyJdKMh07Qo2XDj5eQDL-5qWN1s3j7QpE_1jcNKZxH1jZllEGhLekdL5bsEbpKH7cuurk2FiH9K_va5l3auMC__5NHMQhDlsn5DoygmbZ2T2FjGDYONgfCL4y1U/s1600/Yellow+Leaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY0LjfRrfo_sR323hRNyJdKMh07Qo2XDj5eQDL-5qWN1s3j7QpE_1jcNKZxH1jZllEGhLekdL5bsEbpKH7cuurk2FiH9K_va5l3auMC__5NHMQhDlsn5DoygmbZ2T2FjGDYONgfCL4y1U/s320/Yellow+Leaf.jpg" width="202" /></a><em>The Little Yellow Leaf</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH859SslU6TL7ZybLAn2hF0I3yMJ10yYZL-E2vhkh5j1fP11yzxXZtLu_-hKA9vTMW7tjA0Lf4TMFCfbTzrYv8Qfxgai9vVzwrv7fWjBAMlHy1TRW9b8WPfMUP_wy6c5h87HWufXXa5Bo/s1600/Paperboy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH859SslU6TL7ZybLAn2hF0I3yMJ10yYZL-E2vhkh5j1fP11yzxXZtLu_-hKA9vTMW7tjA0Lf4TMFCfbTzrYv8Qfxgai9vVzwrv7fWjBAMlHy1TRW9b8WPfMUP_wy6c5h87HWufXXa5Bo/s320/Paperboy.jpg" width="273" /></a><em>The Paperboy</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDC4rOruxddlncDLSrtylxmJNgtIctu1IBZUeNI9VGVR2-_oIiighNAFCn39OPzDTWVytPlWLe9h2C5Lmr74ZcG8_XhP9iTbEj-8c66iikvHnbG-RRl4ubD8YL9ekXSiZMayV-gmLQmY/s1600/Peace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDC4rOruxddlncDLSrtylxmJNgtIctu1IBZUeNI9VGVR2-_oIiighNAFCn39OPzDTWVytPlWLe9h2C5Lmr74ZcG8_XhP9iTbEj-8c66iikvHnbG-RRl4ubD8YL9ekXSiZMayV-gmLQmY/s320/Peace.jpg" width="320" /></a><em>The Peace Book</em></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274526466938154093.post-54647953726580377152011-08-18T16:22:00.000-04:002011-08-18T16:22:52.601-04:00And it begins...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFmd-CP9Ax2vfy05bVBSjXTkF1A7ItzHjWFMYyxY1nMdIPyDfhMsdBffQNMe3dTeBCxxVSZPnjK6vhj-QqWaDQJFraHPnMUYzkqiX-xiRAwLKRyA-73qBBsyz8ZHKibMHtSd0XsqLs7s/s1600/logo.JPG" /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today begins the start of my blogging adventure! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I hope that this blog is a place where educators, parents, administrators, policy makers and anyone concerned with literacy and the state of education can come to learn, share and get excited about the teaching of reading and writing. Please leave feedback as a way to continue the conversations started here or feel free to begin one of your own. Please also share this blog with others who you think might benefit from the discourse presented. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I look forward to learning from one another.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1