Rachel Renninger

[ksherbz-blog]

A tremendously important read [I think, anyway] about caring for children, teaching what and how you know you should teach, advocating for yourself, and standing firm in your philosophies amidst “new reform movements.”

[het5023lled-blog]

"The writing conference lets you engage in the teaching dynamic that most of us wanted when we entered this profession — a unique one-on-one interaction between you and a student."

RE: listening: “…About 75% of what we do as teachers has to do with what was done to us at the other side of the...

[brookecharlie]

listen

be present as a reader - react as a normal human being

understand the writer

follow the student’s energy

build on strengths

teach one thing

content differs depending on age and ability

"Teach the writer…not the writing. The idea is to add to the young writer’s repertoire of...

[brookecharlie]

Concern for teaching the facts has caused us to neglect forging an emotional connection between those facts and the lives of our children.

-(McClure and Zillow, p. 28)

Include aesthetic response/experience in reading literature, not just the facts!

(via brookecharlie)

[rer5152]

10/31/13

Knipper & Duggan

Mastery of content is demonstrated not only through reading but also through writing  pg. 462

integrating writing with reading increases comprehension because they are reciprocal processes (math!)

writing requires deeper processing than reading

WRITING TO LEARN

writing can help them decide what they know and what they wonder

both good & bad examples of writing shown

authentic engagement + immersion+ demonstration = learning

students need feedback from peers & teacher

Prepare for writing assignments:

guided writing procedure- write prior knowledge on topic

learning log-- predictions, concepts, questions, personal opinion questions to prompt student

quick writes or 1 minute papers-- thinking about upcoming topics for a lesson

structured note-taking 

listen-stop-write

reviewing and summarizing:

microthemes--draw together key ideas in their own words

framed paragraphs-- skeletal paragraphs which leaves blanks for students to fill in

text boxes- students take down key ideas/facts in one column and their reflections/questions in the second column 

sentence synthesis-- students create a sentence using 3 or 4 pre-selected words by the teacher to make a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the lesson

critical & creative writing to learn strategies:

biopoems-- students chose most significant features of the person being studied

word map-- what is it? what is it like? what are some examples?

ABC list--students create an alphabet list on a particular topic

Fletcher & Portalupi

prewriting-- brainstorming ideas

rough drafting

revising-- adding parts or things, changing parts, deleting parts

proofreading

publishing

rereading is the glue that connects the stages of writing pg. 69

students writing by ears, hearts, & minds 

reading aloud builds community--building common experiences

glues relationship between teacher & student

literature is valuable simply for modeling the possibilities open to writers

the more you know your students as readers the better you'll be able to challenge them to think critically about their writing

we need to give them paper and pencil to go, but we need to tap their experiences as readers if we really want them to soar

[coldplaymania]

[brookecharlie]

Readers…

determine meanings of unknown words by using their schema, paying attention to textual and picture clues, rereading, and engaging in conversations with others

make predictions about text and confirm or contradict their predictions as they read on

use their prior knowledge and textual...

[brookecharlie]

Standard Miscue Marks

(use for miscue analysis - analyze child’s reading from recording)

[ksherbz-blog]

Well would you look at this handy dandy little suchandsuch.

[kyrahnagy]

The child selects the text to read (too hard, too easy, just right).

Sometimes the adult reads a few lines, and then the child takes over reading. The reading is recorded. **Miscue analysis is NOT done while the child is reading.

The adult’s job is to watch and listen.

There are TWO retells at...

[kyrahnagy]

The three types of cueing systems:

graphophonic: “knowledge of letters & sounds” - deals with the relationships between sounds and words

syntactic: “knowledge of words and language” - deals with grammar structure and syntax of the English language

"When readers encounter an unknown word, they...

[brookecharlie]

The myth of ‘sounding it out’ has infiltrated homes, schools, and the larger society despite its limited usefulness to children. (Compton-Lilly)

"Sound it out" is a myth! Instead of telling kids to "sound it out," which actually interferes with their ability to decode the text, have them use a multitude of other strategies! Don’t use "sound it out" as an excuse when you don’t know what else to say to help a struggling reader. (via brookecharlie)

[rer5152]

Tumblr #4

Crafton

Learning experiences must be:

child-centered

must include time for reading, writing, interaction, & reflection

she must assume multiple roles to make learning work

I really liked how Crafton used an iquiry based curriculum in her classroom to teacher her students about the Iditerod. It was really cool to see what the students came up and I liked how they shared what they learned with parents and administrators. I think that having a presentation to other people would help to motivate the class to do their best work. I was wondering how Marcia found a topic that interested the entire class, and if all of the students are different, then how can you find just one topic to interest the entire class? Also, the planning time it takes for these inquiries is incredible! She started to plan in September for something in February! Talk about thinking ahead, and what if her students did not want to learn about the Iditerod? She planned it so far in advance, did she really know her students well enough by then to know that they would be interested and do a whole unit on the Iditerod? What if the story did not prompt the questions and the responses she was hoping for?

[rer5152]

"As educators we should be seeking diversity."

Crafton

[rer5152]

Tumblr #3

From what I can remember from my elementary school days, we got to go through the whole process of writing, editing, publishing, and illustrating our own books. I always loved to make my own books, and we were allowed to share with the class when we were finished. I think that the writing workshop is a good idea because it lets the students write about what they want to write about, which is important so they can express themselves and be creative, while still being engaged. It's also nice because every student is different so they can all be doing different kinds of writings and picking which they think is the best fit for them. Also, I really like how the students get to share their work with peer editing, and the entire class when they want to. It helps create a community in the classroom, and it encourages teamwork. I know I always like someone else to check my writing to make sure it makes sense and there are not any mistakes. Some concerns that I have about the writing workshop would be that the students just do not want to write. I was in my fourth grade classroom and the students had a free writing time, and there were some students who would write the same few words and then erase them. They just didn't seem like they wanted to write even though they got to pick the topic and there was an anchor chart for generating topics. What do you do then? 

"... Writing facilitates the making of meaning. Through writing, one can create and clarify meaning. Writing is not simply a mechanism for expressing preconceived, well-formed ideas; instead, it allows one to explore and articulate one's thoughts." (Samway, 90)

"Our own thinking develops through writing" ~Samway

[ksherbz-blog]

When children are given opportunities to write for authentic, meaning-making, message-sharing purposes, they can accomplish much, even when they are emerging readers and writers and/or writing in a language which they have not yet mastered.

Samway, p. 91 (via ksherbz)

[itris22]

Like little scientists, they are constantly making and testing hypotheses about language, among other things.

Bissex (via itris22)