This week’s posts have focused on reluctant readers and three factors that teachers might consider in their efforts to hook kids on books. I’ve shared my own experiences with providing choice to young readers and carving out class time for pleasure reading. Today, I wanted to share some ideas and resources that might help you get great books into the hands of the kids you hope to inspire. Books are a treat. They are gifts.…
Nurturing a passion for reading begins with providing choice, but making space within the school day for kids to read the books that they choose can be a challenge as well. Many schools build DEAR time into the daily or weekly schedule by using time during homeroom or lunch or revamping the schedule to make space for reading. As an English teacher, I was a huge proponent of reading workshop. These days, I get to…
Provide Choice. Provide Time. Provide Access to Books. Sounds easy, I guess. I know from experience that it isn’t though. Consider the first factor: providing kids choice in terms of what they read. Few people would question the logic that suggests kids who are allowed to choose their own reading material are more likely to actually read it. Yet, many teachers are still making MOST of the reading choices for their students and finding themselves frustrated when kids…
Teachers spend a good amount of time focused on struggling readers. We analyze standardized tests, keep running records, and monitor progress in an attempt to diagnose and respond to the needs of students who require added support in order to be successful. So much so, I speculate, that we sometimes find ourselves with little time to attend to one of our other responsibilities: helping kids fall in love with reading. What are your earliest experiences with books and reading?…
A whole lot of money is often spent on district-wide professional development days. Often, these events occur two or three times a year, feature an inspiring speaker (or one that was supposed to be), and supply teachers with a fistful of great ideas that evaporate upon contact with the realities of the classroom…particularly when little follow-up support is provided in the aftermath. This year, schools are facing an even larger challenge: cuts in funding. Last…
That’s what the research process is truly about, wouldn’t you agree? So much of what we hope to teach can begin with what kids are passionate about, and many of the teachers I work with know from experience that when new learning journeys are fueled by passionate inquiry the rewards are great. How do we help kids define and begin chasing their passions as researchers? How do we help them integrate what they love with what we want them…
There is so much to be said for the beginner who is willing to share. Over the last month, various teachers have asked me to help them take their first steps toward blogging, using wikis, building a personal learning network on Twitter, annotating the findings from their formative assesment processes, and using the 6+1 Traits of Writing. Each time I’m asked to share what I know about any of these processes, I’m tempted to direct people toward the…
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people…
I observed an *amazing* lesson today. Lisa Hoeflich, a middle school teacher that I’ve become acquainted with this year, pushed into a sixth grade classroom to help students build background knowledge of paleontology and identify main ideas in different text types. She led with a think aloud, targeting key words in a piece of poetry to expand upon her understanding of what a paleontologist did. I loved the fact that she focused on the words that…
There are a lot of difficult conversations going on around me lately, in every school that I am working in. Everyone is calling for meaningful change, which is never an easy call to answer, and as we begin treading those very deep waters, the threat of drowning in an ocean of need becomes very real. This week, I’m appreciating the fact that the work I’m involved with has been guided by a clear purpose. Much thought went into defining what teachers…