Poetry Friday -- Teaching

TEACHING

I teach,

I watch.

They fall,

I catch.

I lift,

they soar.

I brood,

they hatch.

They spread,

I gather.

I pair,

I match.

I teach,

I watch.

They fall,

I catch.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Robyn has the roundup today at Read, Write, Howl.

Nonfiction Notetaking Part 2

I wrote last week about the ways in which I was rethinking nonfiction and my plans for December. This week was a good one in terms of nonfiction and kids are coming around to enjoying it a bit more than they used to.

We started the week with what I call a "Check It Out! Circle". Kids sit in a circle and I hand each one a book (this time a nonfiction picture book).  For one minute, the child previews the book in their hand and then (when the timer goes off) passes it on to the person on their left. This continues until all students have seen all books. So by the end of 25 minutes, every child has previewed 25 books.  I insist that kids are quiet during this time and that they do this independently because I want them to really immerse in the book for a minute. I want them to find books that they just aren't ready to pass on to the next person, books they want to go back to.

We also spent time on web reading. Just having time to check out all that is available on websites like Wonderopolis and The Weather Channel was worthwhile for the kids. Navigating a site takes strategy and they learned this. They wrote a blog post about their favorite nonfiction sites (classroom blog).

After the Check It Out! Circle, we talked about a few things. We talked about books we wanted to revisit and we talked about things that surprised them. They were surprised at how many times they thought a book was not interesting when it was handed to them, and then they realized that it was interesting. They were also surprised that some nonfiction sounded like a story.  A bit more nonfiction reading is happening because of this and kids are realizing that these books are often worth reading beyond skimming.

The other big thing I started this week was a nonfiction read aloud. My hope was to take our note taking routine from our regular read aloud time and give kids time to think about note taking in nonfiction. My kids are comfortable taking notes on their thinking when it comes to fiction so I figured nonfiction read aloud would help them transfer these skills and ideas.

I had planned on reading The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity (Scientists in the Field Series) but I decided to start with something a little shorter to see how it went. I started with the first section of the book Extreme Scientists: Exploring Nature's Mysteries from Perilous Places (Scientists in the Field Series) from the same Scientists in the Field series. We are learning about weather and Hurricane Hunter seemed like a perfect read aloud. I am so glad i stared with something a bit shorter. In 2 days, we've only read 5 pages but the talk has been fabulous.  The talk is around the content, the vocabulary, our reading strategies and their note taking.  I started by showing them examples of various kinds of notes and we are using the document camera to share the kinds of notes kids are taking. Since drawing is huge in the classroom, we focused on a few paragraphs and really thought about what a good drawing might look like--what would we include?

The kids moaned earlier this week when I told them we'd be reading aloud a nonfiction book but they are totally glued to the book already and the questions they have about weather and clouds because of the talk are going to lead them right into the content of our standards.

Really, I learned so much from Kate and Chris in their NCTE session on note taking that my whole stance was different. I learned a lot about my thinking and the ways I might record it right along with my students. I am thrilled with the conversations we've had in only a few days. I am excited to see where our next week goes!

Staring a New Trimester-Goal Setting in 4th Grade

This week seemed like a perfect time to set goals, revamp a few things and move forward in our workshop.  Our elementary schools works on trimesters so our first set of report cards went home this week and we are at the beginning of our second trimester.

My class is filled with readers. They read lots, talk about books, etc. But many seem stuck in a genre or series right now. This is typical and not necessarily a bad thing but I wanted to talk to kids about expanding their lives as readers. So we had a few conversations about ways readers can expand their reading lives a bit. My thinking was that we'd have the conversation and it would revolve around tastes as readers and it would get some kids thinking beyond the kinds of books they had been reading since August.

Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. The kids definitely talked about tastes as readers and the need to find more authors and series they loved. But they also decided that finding one author or series and knowing it well was a way to expand your life as a reader. Then the conversation turned a bit and they started talking about the ways in which they think when they read. They decided that one way to grow your life as a reader was to change the ways you think while you read. They also talked about changing the habits of your reading life.  It was a fascinating conversation.

The next day, after kids did a quick write of their personal goals, they summarized a goal in a talking bubble that is posted in our room for the next several weeks. One thing I have learned as I started my life as a runner, was how important it was to make my goals public.  They seemed bigger once I did so I thought posting them in a semi-formal way made sense. (And the self-portraits make me happy:-)

We also formed reading groups based on goals.  We had groups set based on goals and kids chose the groups they thought met their goals. Then I looked at assessments and decided on some groups. I met individually with each student this week looking at the groups they had signed up for as well as the new ones I put together. I shared some general assessment information and the things I thought they could use some support with. Then together, we decided on a few groups and they signed up. These conversations were great and the kids were so smart about themselves.  It is always amazing to the kids that I have noticed what they are doing. I also love the conversations that happen after I meet with a child. Sometimes hours or days later, a child approaches me and says, "I was thinking about the groups I signed up for and I think I want to add one. I could really use help on finding evidence in the text to support my thinking. Can I sign up for that one too?".

So we are set for the next several weeks. We have great things in place and great places to go. I love the time of year when the conversations become honest because trust is part of it.

December -- A Month of Nonfiction

When I looked over all of my fall assessments and I added that to observations of students over the last month or two, I knew that I needed to spend time on Nonfiction Reading. Even by 4th grade, my students have not really found nonfiction that they love. They read nonfiction only when they have to.  I have spent years building a decent collection of nonfiction books--books that are not connected to any content unit that we study, but just great nonfiction books. Even though I've tried to incorporate lots of nonfiction since August, I knew December would be the month that we really dug in.

Then I went to hear Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts at NCTE.  And I was reminded, as I was often at the convention, that I need to SLOW DOWN.  I have somehow pressured myself with a teaching pace this year that I know is not good for kids. So, in December, I am taking lots of time to help kids fall in love with nonfiction reading and to think about the kinds of writing that might go along with that.  Kate mentioned a yearlong study of notetaking and that idea was so freeing for me.  I am going to spend reading workshop minilesson time, writing workshop time and content time, really discovering all that nonfiction reading and writing has to offer.  A study on writing around nonfiction (notetaking and more without any finished product) will be part of this month's work.

Some goals for the month include:
-falling in love with nonfiction as a genre
-noticing different ways that authors approach nonfiction writing
-finding nonfiction authors and series to love
-developing tastes as nonfiction readers
-playing with notetaking with nonfiction--taking notes on thinking
-trying out various notetaking techniques and discovering how/when it makes sense to use them
-discovering nonfiction beyond text (websites, videos, slideshows, etc.)
-finding topics of interest (new and old)
-how we approach assigned reading differently from choice reading

As part of this study, I have decided to read aloud/think aloud a book from a series I love.  I love the Scientists in the Field series and I recently purchased The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity (Scientists in the Field Series) by Elizabeth Rusch.  I know almost nothing about the Mars Rovers but loved that this was the topic of a new book in this series.  So, I've decided to read aloud this book over the next week or two, without having really looked at it much at all.  I want my students to see my true thinking when reading a book that is interesting to me (a little) --one that I have very little background knowledge with.  This is a longer book so I am thinking my thinking, my notetaking, my questions, the resources I look to for more information will be authentic. This will be just one piece of our week but one that will be interesting for all of us, I think. This is also a longer nonfiction book so I am thinking the whole idea of stamina with a topic will come up---reading beyond short articles for more information. This is probably not the best place to start with my reading on a new topic.  So I may pull up some articles --Wonderopolis has a few related articles that might help.  (I'm also revisiting Chris Lehman's new book ENERGIZE RESEARCH READING AND WRITING--it is good to revisit it after I heard him speak at the convention.)

Another part of this week will be exploring lots of nonfiction books--getting their hands on books that have been sitting on the classroom shelves. I am hoping by the end of the week, they have discovered the genius of Steve Jenkins and Nic Bishop. I am hoping that a few kids have fallen in love with the Face to Face series.  I am hoping that we build some baskets around certain topics of interest.

This week is all about rediscovering nonfiction as readers.  I don't think it will be hard--there is lots of great nonfiction to fall in love with. I just need to give kids time to dig in with some minilesson support along the way.

Below are some tweets from Chris and Kate's session. Lots to think about.

18 NovKellee Moye ‏@kelleemoye

@kelleemoye: Chris is writing a nonfiction paragraph teaching about sharks... in his PBS voice #L16 #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

 Retweeted by Franki Sibberson

Expand

18 NovCindy Minnich ‏@CBethM

Mentor text show how the author teaches. More options - but now about how to use those notes purposefully in writing.@iChrisLehman #ncte12

 Retweeted by Franki Sibberson

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

@iChrisLehman & @teachkate doing an amazing job of helping us rethink the teaching needed for strong research reading and writing. #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Am anxious to revisit Energize Research Reading and Writing by @iChrisLehman after hearing session at #ncte12.

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Am loving this idea on unit of notetaking outside of research project/units. So smart. Great way to end #ncte12. @iChrisLehman@teachkate

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

@teachkate is talking about ways to teach kids how to annotate drawings. #ncte12

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Probably the most important skill my kids needs as notetakers, is to make a choice. @teachkate #ncte12 Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

RT @budtheteacher: "Do better things, not things better" says@skajder I like it. #reportsfromcyberspace #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Across the ages, people have tracked their thinking and learning in notebooks. @teachkate #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Think about doing a study of note taking in a unit outside of the research unit. Think about a yearlong study. @teachkate #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

If they've not taken notes before, they are not going to be very good at it. @teachkate #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

When am I going to teach my kids to be strong note taking in the midst of all of this? @teachkate #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

I like the idea of one person in mind when thinking about audience for research. @ichrislehman #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

What does your audience (individual person) need to know, or what is audience interested in knowing about the topic.@ichrislehman #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

It's important that a writer has a particular person in mind when thinking about audience. @ichrislehman #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

We have to help our kids deal with the texts they have for research. What's my first text (highly readable)? @ichrislehman#ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

When we hand kids resources, we take away part of the process. #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

We could just hand kids sources. Instead, we can think about how sources guide us. #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

You start with what you know and help yourself finds slants or angles--what you want to work on. #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Instead of writing to PROVE that he read, let's have writing to teach. @ichrislehman #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Right now, kids are taking notes from text. Instead, take notes from your learning. @ichrislehman #ncte12

Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

We're handing a lot us. Instead, let's start where research actually starts. @ichrislehman #ncte12

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

We are trying to humanize research. Research can be as wonderful as it should be. #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

Expand