Classroom15

I was able to find all of the readers theater scripts on Aaron Shepard’s website.  I own several of his books but was grateful that he generously posted printable scripts online.  That way I could print one copy at home and be ready to go to the copier at school the next morning.  I selected the following scripts:

1.  Savitri: A Tale of Ancient India
2.  The Sea King’s Daughter: A Russian Legend
3.  The Magic of Mushkil Gusha: A Tale of Iran
4. Master Maid

What did I consider?

1. The cultures of the students in my classroom.
2. Readability levels – the needs of basic, proficient, and advanced readers are easily met with a little thought.
3. The number of readers in each group – most classes have 27 students in 3 groups.
4. The complexity of the plot – I had to meet the objectives of my State reading curriculum.
5. Humor, romance, and silliness – all encouraged. 

The value of teaching students HOW to put on a great readers theater presentation cannot be understated.  The more they see exactly what GOOD readers theater looks like – the more they are able to achieve a successful performance of their own.  Aaron Shepard  has links to three performances by the Chambers Readers .  A fabulous group of adults who present several of Shepard’s scripts. 

 As students watched youtube videos of both excellent and “not so excellent” readers theater productions we discussed:  What went well?  What would you change?  – in those productions.

 We also used the discussion starter:  What do you observe that was: Plus (good), Minus (not so good), Interesting…. 

 These discussions helped students verbalize their own expectations for their group performances.

Parker J. Palmer writes in his book The Courage to Teach that there are four stages of development that teachers who have decided to work within the educational system for education reform may experience.  This weekend after a challenging week ,  I determined that I must make an inward decision to live “divded no more,” finding a center for my life outside of institutions. 

I need to take my spiritual leave from the school and its demands in order to remain a teacher who has a calling to create a classroom filled with joy, active, and meaningful learning.   As Palmer says on page 170, I implicitly acknowledge that the institution does not have power over me if I refuse to go along with it.  No longer are “those people” or “that place” my immediate problem.  My immediate problem is me and the silent conspiracy I have had with the institution, the conspiracy that allowed that institution to rule my life. 

Today I affirm my deep caring for the lives of my students and understand that I have invested a great deal of identity and integrity into my teaching.  In order to continue to teach with joy and passion – I will renew my spirit through: reading, writing, meditating, riding my bike, listening to music, sharing cheery moments with my family, eating healthy food, and listening to NPR. 

 I started with a bike ride on peaceful rolling roads early this morning.

  I rode several miles until I came to a place of peace.

My iPod played music that restored my spirit. 

 

Sharks were a popular topic for boys!



Elijah learned important information about bed bugs!



Gerald is a Great White Shark Enthusiast – He researches the topic whenever he gets the chance. He’s very knowledgeable.





Gerald was very proud of this illustration.





Glitter was a popular way to put a shine on the projects.





Tyesha learned lots of interesting facts about polar bears.





Each project had to have three illustrations and a text feature- examples: maps, graphs, diagrams.





John Paul’s first books was 400 pages and very difficult to comprehend.  He liked the topic of dinosaurs. This book by Seymour Simon was a good second choice.                            The topic is earthquakes.  After a brief mini-lesson,John Paul was able to understand that each page in a Seymour Simon book is a paragraph written in the organizational pattern of topic/detail.





Jennifer’s presentation is beautifully organized.





Excellent text features on this poster.





Many students commented that they enjoyed hearing a presentation about the topic of Venus.





Michael loves sports!  Students were not allowed to research sports or biographies.  Michael chose a state with sports people he loved. He also learned a little about the history of California in the process.





Poor Emmanuel – he finished this excellent project and then got sick and was unable to attend school to present his project.





Several students researched Native Indian tribes.  Since that important topic is neglected in our State and County curriculum this was a great opportunity for some students to get exposure to the early history about the original inhabitants of North America.





Snakes – another popular topic – this time with girls.





Count on Ruth to add some pizazz to her poster.

  









 









 



This week my students took the State assessments.  They devoted a lot of time and energy to this effort.  We agreed that there are many ways to present what we’ve learned.  Students are seen here working diligently on their non-fiction book research projects.  Students do not shy away from learning when they have opportunities to make choices about topics and how they present what they’ve learned.  In addition, they like to get up and move about the room as they gather materials, share ideas, and teach each other new skills.  This kind of learning is fast-paced and engaging. 

  Coming soon… photographs of students’ excellent projects and uploads of their Power Point presentations. 

All students had to complete a poster project.  Some students also wrote Power Point presentations.



Six computers are shared so that students can type their: summaries, recommendations, and text features.





Students selected a wide variety of non-fiction topics and texts to read and research.





During the first week, students read their non-fiction books and took notes.  During the second week, students used their research wheels to take main idea/topic/detail notes.  The research wheel is a student-friendly graphic organizer.





Alicia reads and records information on her reserach wheel.





John and Mark take notes on their topics:  Cherokee Indians and Ancient Greece.





Sitting on the floor with clipboards and classmates makes hard work more comfortable and pleasant for some students.





Students selected a wide variety of non-fiction topics and texts to read and research .



During the first week, students read their non-fiction books and took notes.  During the second week, students used their research wheels to take main idea/topic/detail notes.  The research wheel is a student-friendly graphic organizer.

 



Alicia reads and records information on her reserach wheel.



Sitting on the floor with clipboards and classmates makes hard more comfortable and pleasant for some students.



On our school yahoo group, there has been some online discussion among parents about STAR test scores and AR.  I have listed here some information from Renaissance Learning (the makers of AR tests and quizzes) and other research studies. In some cases, I lifted the text directly from online resources and have included the hyperlinks so that you can read them for yourself.

From the Renaissance Learning Group

How STAR Reading Works:

1. Student takes the test. Questions continually adjust to the student’s responses.

2. Teachers get results. Detailed reports help teachers place new students, measure reading progress, and identify those who need individual help.

3. Teachers make data-driven decisions. Match appropriate books and curricular materials to each student.

Reading Success with AR:

1. Student Reads a Book. Students choose books at their appropriate reading levels and read them at their own pace.

2. Student Takes a Quiz. Accelerated Reader Enterprise offers more than 140,000 quizzes to help motivate and monitor students’ reading performance and vocabulary growth.

3. Teacher Gets Information. Teacher gets immediate feedback on the reading and vocabulary progress of each student.

Teacher  Expertise:

Teachers and librarians allow students to select books on topics that interest them.  We help children pick “just right books” which usually falls within their reading level – as determined by AR.  Each teacher probably has a different way of determining children’s reading level.  Sometimes (as the parents mentioned) the “test” is wrong.  The test times out quickly if the student is taking too long to answer the question.  The test is one measurement of reading ability not the only one. 

From California and Loudon County Public Schools (both include AR in their reading programs):

1. Interest level is not necessarily readability level

2.  Parents know their child best. Parents can take a variety of important factors into consideration. These factors include your child’s:

• particular interests
• independent reading ability
• motivation
• level of maturity

Loudon County Public Schools uses AR and a media specialist has uploaded an informative Power Point about AR Written by Renaissance Learning (the people who make AR/STAR)– might be useful to watch.  This hyperlink should take you directly there:

http://cmsweb1.loudoun.k12.va.us/509926121274/lib/509926121274/STAR&ARPowerPoint.pdf

Final points:

1.  Gifted children (and prolific readers) often read way above their interest level and should not miss out on wonderful books by Mary Downing Hahn, Kate DiCamillo, Susan Collins, and Nancy Farmer (which are all in the 4.0-7.0 range).  In addition, some of these books have content that may not be appropriate for second/third grade readers who read well above grade level.  I encourage parents to read the same books their children read so that they can discuss them and enjoy them together.  Visit this website for a links to book lists: http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/SEMR/booklist%20index2.html

2. I do not really encourage my sixth graders to read from the young adult (YA) section at the library.  The topics explored are not always appropriate for their maturity level.  Be cautious with graphic novels.  These are great – but they also have content that is sometimes inappropriate for younger readers.  Example – Bone – a popular graphic novel at our school has an AR rating of 2.6.  However, the books has a very intense plot.  Visit the excellent website at: http://www.boneville.com/bone/.  Read it yourself and decide.

3. It would be a sad event if readers missed out on picture books which address important topics and are beautifully illustrated which increases comprehension. 

4.  Sometimes children like to “carry around” big books – as part of their image as a reader.  Self-image and reading is very important – kids who believe they can read often do read.  However, it’s good to try and work them out of this stage and into the stage of selecting books for interest and enjoyment – not size.

Finally, a personal experience:

An important consideration here – books are leveled by word difficulty and vocabulary only – the AR Level does not take into consideration the content of the book.  For example:

In sixth grade we are doing a shared reading of the book Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen.  The reading level on this book is 4.2.  However this true story is about a young slave girl named Sarny who is risking her life to learn to read and write and the older slave named Nightjohn who is risking his life to teach her and other slaves.  Gary Paulsen does not water down the facts; therefore the brutal realities of slave ownership are discussed honestly.  Middle school students struggle with the images Paulsen creates with his words, and I would not recommend this book for younger children.  Even at sixth grade it is best used as a text we read and discuss together as we discuss slavery in the context of United States history.

Last but not least…

I have not sent home FAST or STAR reading scores yet either.  We’re still reviewing FAST scores as a team and the STAR scores just got printed and placed in my mailbox yesterday.  The FAST assessments are new and we’ve not yet perfected a way of getting those results to students and parents.  Lisa Holinsworth shared her process with the staff and I intend to implement that in the future. 

beth

A Letter of Concern:

  Our State and County are in a budget crisis.  We lack millions of dollars required to balance the budget.  Parents, educators, and politicians are scrambling to find the ways and means to keep schools functioning and progressing.  In addition, school employees do not want to lose their jobs.  In a recent Power Point presentation our superintendent listed possible ways of saving money.  One way was to reduce the number of media specialists in our schools by ninety.  The suggestion includes media specialists splitting their time between two schools (.5).

 Like many, I find the suggestion of cutting 90 media specialist positions as a way of managing the budget troubling. When I read that this was a possibility, I wondered to myself: Where will I take my students every Thursday to check out new books?  Who will make sure my students have access to current and interesting literature? As a concerned educator, avid reader, and thirty year tax paying member of the Prince George’s County community I ask others to thoughtfully consider the following nine points:

As an educator:

1.  I teach reading – I know that students are motivated to read when they have access to a wide range of texts about topics and issues that interest them.  School librarians skillfully research new material and update their inventory to meet the needs of their young clients. 

2.  How will our youth have access to ideas that go beyond those presented to them by their teachers, families, friends, and social media?  Will we “grow” critical thinkers in PGCPS?

3.  In schools, media specialists are often our technology specialists – can we really afford a decline in the area of technology literacy?  It is unlikely that, our children will be able to compete in a global market if we make this choice.

4.  Are there very many young adults at Harvard, Yale, Howard University, Princeton, University of Maryland, or any of the other prestigious colleges in the United States who attended a public school that did not have a well-stocked and well-managed library?

5. “Literacy is not for the fortunate few. It is the right of EVERY child. Teaching children is not the responsibility of a chosen few. It is the responsibility of every teacher, administrator and every parent.”  (David Bouchard)

 As an avid reader:

6. When I was a teenager, it was my own exposure to authors like Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Mildred Taylor that alerted me to the fact that many individuals in the United States had neither equal rights nor equal access.  Closing school libraries takes away access to information for our youth.

As a tax paying member of the Prince George’s County community:  

7. I encourage you to read a study done by Keith Curry Lance, Ph.D (Director of Library Research Service at Colorado State Library http://www.laurabushfoundation.org/Lance.pdf  which found that the size of the library in terms of its staff and its collection is a direct predictor of reading scores.

8.  According to the salary information presented in the Gazette - out of 44 people in Prince George’s County who earn between $150,000 and 250,000 – twenty five of them are in PGCPS. This is over 4 million dollars in base salary. None of these people are teachers or media specialists

9.  My grandchildren live in Prince George’s County and I will not allow them to attend schools that do not have a well-stocked library which children visit on a weekly basis.  How many other families will make this decision?  Can we afford to lose these students to private schools or schools in other counties?

I leave you with this final question:

Are the salary costs of ninety media specialists greater or less than the cost of an illiterate society?

I trust you will make the right decision on behalf of the children in our community.

Beth Novick, NBCT

In his book, Reading Instruction That Works: The Case for Balanced Teaching Michael Pressley describes the importance of motivation in learning to read. On page 371 he describes the findings of the National Reading Research Center (Atlanta, Georgia) about academic motivation.

Some of the factors that influence student motivation and can effect reading include the following:

• Believing that one can read well
• The level of challenge the book provides – “Can I read the book/text?”
• Students are more likely to read about topics that interest them
• Recognizing the importance of reading can affect motivation to read and be a good reader
• Being recognized as a good reader can affect motivation to read
• Grades earned for reading can affect motivation to read
• Opportunities to read with family and friends can affect motivation to read

In my sixth grade classes, I have students with a wide range of reading abilities, interests, and levels of motivation. We work together to create a pleasant and literate learning environment.

I would like to add my own “flavor” to the National Reading Research Center’s list:

• Use conferences, book talks, strategy lessons to teach students to read well (or better)
• Teach students to select “just right” books for independent reading and scaffold (graphic organizers, shared reading, before, during and after discussions, partner reading, etc.) more difficult texts so that all students can access the material.
• Have a classroom and school library that is filled with books on a variety of topics and allow children frequent access to the books.
• Recognize: achievement, effort, challenge, interest, improvement, organization, enthusiasm, creativity, critical thinking, wonder, wisdom, and the WoW factor!
• Make scoring requirements evident through the use of rubrics, conversations, and examples – don’t keep how to score 100% a secret.
• Reading quietly and independently every day is a priority, but make sure there are opportunities for partner and group readings as well

A few things that have worked with my sixth graders:

• Books on tape for small groups of students (4). Materials: post-its, pencils, character trait charts, strategy cards (predict, summarize, connect, question, clarify). Reading Captain turns the CD player on and everyone reads along. Take notes for discussion (silently) at the end and then meet with the teacher to discuss the day’s reading. (More advanced groups can do this without teacher supervision).
• Seat students of like abilities near each other so they can share interesting books 
• Guide students of similar abilities to read the same book, make notes on post-its and then meet with you during conference time for an informal book group.
• Book groups/Literature Circles - try Harvey Daniel’s model.
• Small groups who need instruction – meet with this students every day for a few minutes.  Improve small group lessons - by reading Richard Allington and Patricia Cunningham’s books.
• In middle school shared read-aloud works well with some groups- not so well with others – the stories have to be highly engaging and faced-paced.
• Non-fiction is popular with boys.
• Get comfortable with graphic novels because a lot of kids like them.
• Smile a lot so that your classroom is joyful and encouraging.
• Avoid assignments that require students to sit at a desk for more than twenty minutes at a time.
• Keep the pace of the classroom efficient and orderly – students like to know the routine because it reduces the daily learning curve.
• Speak to every child every day – they need to know they are welcome and cared about. They can’t learn until they feel this basic question is answered: Does it matter that I came today? Yes, it does.

Working, thinking, writing, and learning together!

Paperwork that students use to show what they know.

Local businesses donate "tools for learning" to support our work.

Time, effort, motivation = outstanding work to be shared with others.

Active learning means getting up and moving around the room to work.

Some students finish quickly so that they can read "the next book".

Use the Ipod to upload music that fits the theme!

Twenty-eight students share six computers and their knowledge about PowerPoint.

Referencing the text.

Attention to detail to create a map of the setting in Maze Runner.

What we’re listening to… Never Can Say Good-bye by Michael Jackson.  We selected this song because in the book we read-aloud, Edward never gets to say good-bye to the people he cares for.   This particular version of the song is popular – of course- because there are many images of Michael Jackson and his family.  MJ is still very popular with my students.  In addition, the mood of this particular version is rather haunting because of the echo and the fact that he sings it a capella.

Note to parents:

 Students have two projects to work on this week. The science fair project is a great opportunity for students to practice the scientific method which involves using higher-level thinking skills to solve a problem.  The reading/language arts Narrative Unit Final Assessment offers students a chance to work on their area of strength: kinesthetic, visual, linguistic, naturalist, mathematical/logical, spatial, musical/rhythmic and use their critical and creative thinking skills.  

 Both the science and reading assignments are project-based assessments.  Project-based assessments are student-centered activities that require students to use multiple skills to show that they have mastered the objectives of the unit.  Kids usually really enjoy these assessments because they get to choose according to their interests and abilities.  As a result,  their final projects often exceed our expectations.  Some students struggle with managing time and materials.  As a result, they will need support from both home and school.  

Online access to the Narrative Unit Final Assessment[1]ent is available by clicking on this link. Information about the reading project is available online at www.rela6.blogspot.com .

 If I have done my teacher job during this narrative unit, students have learned vocabulary related to reading narrative text.  Some students will certainly weave in words like: plot, mood, tone, theme, etc… especially in a school setting.  However, I rarely use those terms when I describe a book I like to my mother, sister, friend, husband or my own children. 

At the end of the read aloud The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane I asked the students to rate the book (scale of 1-10) and then explain why they rated it that way.  They wrote their responses on a post-it (a different color for each of my three classes) and I used these as a formative assessment.  In addition, I got important feedback about the overall success of this book – so that I know if it is a good choice for the next year. Students overwhelmingly loved this book for the second year in a row.  Kudos to Kate DiCamillo!  In the particular sixth grade class represented here I teach:

• Ten Talented and Gifted Students (TAG) who read above grade level (AGL)
• Seven English Language Learners (ELL) who read both on and below grade level (OGL and (BGL)
• Ten students who read at a variety of levels (no acronym here)

What the teacher likes about this book:

• Each chapter stands on its own and can be used to teach mini-lessons on a variety of topics related to narrative text
• Kate DiCamillo uses rich vocabulary that is deep and full of meaning – my ELL students encounter “words in action”. 
• The themes are eternal and evident to students from a variety of cultures and backgrounds 
• The pictures are beautiful and encourage students to use art to express their own ideas as well as to interpret the text
• Once students understand the flow of the text, most students can read and comprehend a chapter on their own – allowing for assessment opportunities using meaningful text.
• Reading Rockets has a great video of an interview with Kate DiCamillo that I use for a brief author study.
• Kate DiCamillo has written lots of other wonderful books. 
• It’s fun to read aloud.

Students’ ratings and what they liked about this book:

• 10 – It had a lot of adventure, romance, and sadness and it didn’t make me feel boring it me me feel like, “Oh, wow!  I wonder what’s going to happen next.”
• 10 – Because it was a bold story it had a lot of drama and action in the book.  Also it was a caring book.
• 9 – I thought the overall book had good characters and settings but the ending left you hanging.
• 9 – Because I wanted to know what would happen when Abilene took him home again.  What if she loses him this time?
• 10- I love how each chapter leaves you hanging so you can predict what’s going to happen next.
• 9 – There were lots of surprises in the story but at the end I wanted to know what happened after Abiliene saw Edward.
• 8 – It made me wonder if he would ever see Abilene which is what I liked about the story.  What I don’t like is that the ending is a cliff hanger.
• 5 – I thought the ending was powerful but it was depressing and there was little action.
• 10 – The author worked really hard and spelled every word correctly and had a perfect ending.
• 10- It was a story that showed love and happiness.
• 10 – I rated this fantastic book a t 10 because through the story I manged to connect me to Edward to find some similar things we have.  For example, I have a sorrowful life while Edward goes through a timeline of despair and anger.
• 10,000 – I loved this book and I want to read it over and over again!  The ending was very happy but also had a message.
• 10 – It has different emotions in the story and it is a traveling story. 

Bravo Kate! 

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