MATH EXCHANGES: GUIDING YOUNG MATHEMATICIANS IN SMALL-GROUP MEETINGS

I also read Math Exchanges: Guiding Young Mathematicians in Small Group Meetings by Kassia Omohundro Wedekind and published by Stenhouse.  I'm not getting as much professional reading in as I had hoped but I am really committed to reading the math stuff on my list. NUMBER TALKS was an amazing read earlier this summer and I took MATH EXCHANGES with me on my flights this week.  I had read bits and pieces of this one when it was released and I had the chance to talk to Kassia for a Choice Literacy podcast. But this time, I read it cover to cover, knowing that I will be teaching math this year.  It is a funny thing--people know me as a literacy teacher but I am really a math person--math is far easier for me as a "subject". I think in numbers and logic.  I love problem solving  And I love to teach math. One of the reasons I love a self-contained classroom is because of the conversations that are similar across subject areas. I've been lucky in my career to teach with a few brilliant math teachers who taught me early on how to make math meaningful for kids.  So, I am excited to get back to math teaching and excited to read the newest thinking out there as I plan my year with a new group of 4th graders.

MATH EXCHANGES is written about young children. The examples are from K-3 classrooms and the focus is really on very young (K-1) children.  But the implications for all teachers is huge.  Kassia's understanding of not only mathematics, but of how children develop, how she looks at student work, the strategic ways in which she builds problems and scaffolds for children, taught me a great deal.

One thing I love about Kassia's message is her message of "joyful rigor". She says, "Community, rigor, and joy are at the heart of the workshop approach to teaching and learning."  She connects much of her workshop to what she has learned from Peter Johnston in Choice Words as she talks about the importance of identity and agency in mathematics.

Kassia is honest in admitting that math workshop is hard work. She says, "Math workshop is not the easiest path to take. We have plenty of outside resources willing to tell us exactly what, when and how to teach our students. And yet, none of these resources has the intimate knowledge of our community of mathematicians that you have.  Math workshop communities create empowered learners-both students and teachers-who question, wonder, explore and make conjectures.  Rigorous joy in math is within the realm of the possible-it is, in fact, what makes math workshop worth it!"

Kassia shares her knowledge about math, types of problems, intentional planning and how she learns about a child's understanding. Kassia includes story after story to help us see what this looks and sounds like in a real classroom. The student samples help us begin to see the ways that she learns from student work.  And she includes tools and forms that will help us as we try to implement some of her ideas.

Some of my favorite lines from this book include:

We will work to become experts on the development of each of our young mathematicians.


Regardless of the math program or curriculum you are using, working to understand each individual child's math development and how to responsively guide children to deeper understanding through small-group work remains the strongest way in which we, as teachers, can promote a strong mathematical foundation for our learners. p. 22


Math exchanges emphasize change. This may sound simple, but the purpose of meeting with small groups of mathematicians is to produce change and growth in their thinking....Math exchanges put the focus on planned, purposeful exchanges between mathematicians of different abilities. . 33


In Teaching Essentials, Regie Routman writes about "teaching with a sense of urgency". Before reading her words, I had always associated urgency with a feeling of anxiety. However, after reading and thinking further I found that "the expectation that there is not a minute to lose, that every moment must be used for purposeful instruction" rings true not just within the context of teaching literacy, which Routman writes about, but throughout the entire day as teachers. p. 36


Purposeful and effective planning does not begin by focusing on what a student does not know. p.63


Problem solving, with carefully chosen problem types and numbers, is one of the best ways to help children build strong understandings of the number system. p. 137


I strive to achieve balance between two kinds of reflections during math workshop: content reflection....and process reflection.  Content reflection focuses on a specific math concept or strategy that you and your class have been discussing and working on...Process reflection on the other hand, focuses on developing practices and behaviors of strong mathematicians.  p. 177


I cannot possibly include all that I loved about this book. I cannot possibly share all that I learned or all that I came away thinking with. What I do know is that this book will impact my teaching of math to better match what I believe about students and learning.

(If you are interested in hearing more from Kassia about math teaching, you can access her Choice Literacy podcast here.)

Cyber PD -- Week 2

Last week for Cyber PD, in response to chapters 1-3 of Peter H. Johnston's book, Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives, I offered a graphic and a single word as my response.

For chapters 4-6, I offer this picture book as my text-to-text connection to Johnston's book:

Nora the Mind Reader
by Orit Gidali
illustrated by Aya Gordon-Noy
Enchanted Lion Books, on shelves September 3, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

JOHNSTON, Page 69: "The problem with apprenticing children into humanity -- the intellectual and social life of society -- is that much of the action we want them to understand takes place inside people's heads. We have to help them learn to imagine what goes on inside heads, and not just the cognitive strategies being used to solve problems, but the complex social-emotional logic that lies behind their behavior." Page 70: "...students who are not very good at reading faces will cause more disruptions in class because of their social behavior." Page 80: "Developing social imagination is a big deal and should be a curricular goal."

Nora gets her feelings hurt because a boy in her Kindergarten class tells her, "You have flamingo legs!" But Nora's mom gives her a magic wand that allows her to "see what people were saying as well as what they were really thinking." Even though Nora comes to realize that the other children don't always intend for what they say to be hurtful, it's best just to say what you really mean. When Nora's dog gets ahold of the magic wand, the moral of the story is translated into Wag More, Bark Less.



Jill Fisch has the roundup for today's Cyber PD posts at My Primary Passion.

I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN by Steve Moline

I have been thinking a lot about 21st Century Literacies over the last several years. I know that the definition of literacy has expanded and I have been trying to work through what this means for our work with kids in school. How do we help kids be successful with reading that is becoming more complex. And, with the Common Core, I have been thinking about how to really include more nonfiction into the classroom in a way that really supports deep reading. A book I read recently that helped me think more about both of these important issues was I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN: VISUAL LITERACY K-8 by Steve Moline. This is a Stenhouse book that was first published a long time ago--before anyone was really talking about Visual Literacy. It was a book I loved long ago and one I love again with Moline's fresh thinking.

This book seems even more important now than it was years ago when I first fell in love with it. I've been working
working with elementary children for years and have really been observing the ways they are approaching information that is both text and visual.  I have seen lots of skimming and scanning and a huge need for teaching around how to putting information together in a way that builds deep understanding.

This book really helped me think through how to better support students in their reading of all things visual.  On page 1, Moline states, "Visual literacy is not a cute new toy for children to play with; it is the means by which we manage in the every day world."

The book is organized into chapters based on the different kinds of visual texts that make the most sense in the classroom. It is by no means comprehensive but the way in which Moline talks about each one of these, helped me see a new way to look at visual texts as a whole. There are chapters on simple diagrams, maps, analytic diagrams, process diagrams, structure diagrams, graphs and graphic design. I learned a lot of important vocabulary that helped me learn about the differences in the way information is shared. Moline takes some time to help us see the difference between analytic diagrams and process diagrams. I'm not thinking that our kids need to understand these words but for us to understand visual texts in a deeper way, we will be better able to teach our students to read with meaning.

I love that there are whole chapters on things like maps and graphs. It was easy for me to dig in and to see where this teaching might fit in across content areas.  But even more than the specifics around the types of visual texts our students should be able to read and understand, Moline made big points that will really help me throughout all of my work in visual literacy.

One point that Moline makes over and over is the importance of creating visual texts.  He says, "There is a big difference between asking students to label a preexisting diagram (on a worksheet, for example) and asking them to draw the diagram themselves as well as to label it. This is because a large part of the understanding that students gain from these texts lies in reconstructing the pictorial elements of the diagram."

Moline also makes the point about purpose--what is the purpose of the visual. When do readers need to read the entire piece and when might they skim and scan for certain information.  Moline talks a lot about this understanding of the reader as a teaching point--if we want our students to be creators of visual texts, we must help them understand how the reader will make sense of it. He says, "Instead, by focusing students on matching form to purpose, we can show them that writing is above all communication with a reader who will expect our text to be accessible, memorable, concise and clear."

As I was reading, I was constantly jotting notes in the margins--ideas I could use in Social Studies, ways I could incorporate things like Google Maps, a good minilesson idea, etc. There are lots of clear examples throughout--published pieces as well as student samples. A website is also included that has color images of the images throughout the book.

One more point--Moline gives us clear guidelines about assessment, helping us to think about what it is we'd be looking for if we asked students to create their own map or diagram.  Each section helps us think through the visual texts, their purpose and possibilities for assessment.

This seems like a must read book and one that will cross lots of professional circles. It seems important for classroom teachers and librarians who are working on visual texts and thinking about 21st Century Learning. It seems important for people digging into the nonfiction components of Common Core. It would be a good read for content specialists and visual texts are so important to science, social studies and math. And I can see technology specialists wanting to read this book as there are huge implications for their work with children and teachers.

I am really excited about this book and plan to return to it over and over throughout the school year. I know that I need to make the visual piece of information more important in my teaching and this book has helped me think about how that will be possible.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

(Thanks to Jen and Kellee at TEACH MENTOR TEXTS for creating this great tradition and for rounding up the week's reading!)

It was a good reading week. I started #bookaday and am excited about having a little more time to catch up on reading.  I finished GRACELING by Kristin Cashore which I loved. I love a good fairy tale/fantasy and will probably read the next two in the series too. Definitely as good as Jen and Kellee told me it was when they convinced me to read it!

My #bookaday choices have been mostly short books as the days are already busy. But I created a stack of quick reads for this purpose.  This week I read two graphic novels. FANGBONE by Michael Rex is one I heard about on a few Twitter chats. It is a fun story of a Barbarian who travels forward in time to a school in order to protect an important treasure. It was a fun read and one that middle graders will love. I also had the chance to read the new SQUISH (The Power of the Parasite). This might be my favorite of the three. I like that I can come to expect certain things from these books and the humor has a sophistication that I love.

I also finished my first professional read of the summer:  PUBLIC TEACHING: ONE KID AT A TIME by Penny Kittle. This was one that I just recently discovered. I am a huge fan of Penny Kittle and her work and had somehow missed this book. It was the PERFECT book for summer and one to re- energize teachers. Even though it was written in 2003, it is very timely.  It is really a reminder of who we are and why we teach. Penny shares story after story of students --the stories are genuine and honest.  It is a book of both reflection and celebration and one that helped reground me.

Next up:
CAPTURE THE FLAG by Kate Messner
KEEPING SAFE THE STARS by Sheila O'Connor

IT'S MONDAY! What Are You Reading?

I haven't read a lot this week but I with the last day of school quickly approaching, I am thinking ahead to my summer reading. Going back into the classroom, I want to catch up on some professional reading and do some focused thinking over the summer. So today's post is not so much about what I'm reading but more about what I WILL be reading soon:-)

I love to teach math. People know me as a literacy person but math is kind of more my thing. I am really a math girl--love math and love to watch kids make sense of it.  So, I am excited to get back to teaching math.  I have three books on my list related to math teaching.

NUMBER TALKS by Sherry Parish is one that lots of teachers in our district are talking about. It is new to me and it looks fabulous. Looking forward to thinking about new ways to help kids make sense of number.

MATH EXCHANGES by Kassia Omohundro Wedekind is one I skimmed when it came out but didn't dig into like I will this summer. Even though this book is focused on primary math instruction, I know it has lots of implications for older kids.  I interviewed Kassia for a Choice Literacy podcast and was so inspired by all she had to say. Really excited to revisit this book with a classroom in mind.

SMALL STEPS, BIG CHANGES by Chris Confer and Marco Ramirez is one I just happened to see on the Stenhouse website. It looks to be one with important insights for transforming math instruction. Love that kind of thinking. (You can preview this entire text online at Stenhouse.)

I want to reread OPENING MINDS by Peter Johnston. I loved this book when I read it earlier this year but I want to start the school year off with it fresh in my mind.

MANY TEXTS, MANY VOICES by Penny Silvers and Mary Shorey is one that I am extra excited about.  Literacy, Social Justice, Digital Age--love the way these three things come together in the description of this book. I can't wait to read the stories of this teacher and her students. You can preview this entire book online at Stenhouse.

PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES from the Buck Institute is one I want to read to think about how to better think about projects in a standards-based age. I was hoping to take a workshop in our district on the topic but really didn't have the time so I thought I'd fit the book into my summer reading.

I read the first edition of I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN by Steve Moline that was published YEARS ago--before anyone was really talking about visual literacy. And it was brilliant.  So I am excited to read this new edition and Moline's new thinking around a topic that has become even more important in the last few years. I think this will help me think through visual literacy across content areas.

I also want to read the new edition of LIVING THE QUESTIONS by Ruth Shagoury and Brenda Miller Power. I loved the first edition of this book and can't wait to read their new thinking on the ways we live in our classrooms.

I'm a huge Penny Kittle fan and have not read her book, PUBLIC TEACHING: ONE KID AT A TIME. I keep hearing about it a a great summer read and it looks like one that will energize me to start the year grounded.

Finally, I'd like to do some reading around Common Core and PATHWAYS TO THE COMMON CORE by Lucy Calkins seems perfect. I like Calkins' thinking around the CC issues and am looking forward to reading her ideas about how best to implement.

Hmmmm. That's a lot of books.  But I am hoping to dig into each of them sometime this summer!

Thanks for Jen and Kellee at Teach Mentor Texts for hosting IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING! Visit their blog to see what others are reading this week:-)

WHAT READERS REALLY DO: TEACHING THE PROCESS OF MEANING MAKING

I read the book WHAT READERS REALLY DO by Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicki Vinton a few weeks ago. It was a great read and one that I highly recommend as a summer professional read.  This is one of those books I wish I had written. The premise of the book is that we need to teach young readers the process of thinking deeply about a text--not teach them to think what we think about a book.

A big part of the book is that as teachers, we need to be readers ourselves. That being a reader is the biggest thing that will impact our teaching because it will allow us to make our process of meaning making visible for our students.  The authors say, "What's needed is a willingness to peer into the recesses of our own reader's mind, attending to the work we do internally that frequently goes unnoticed or happens so quickly that it feels automatic." The rest of the book really tries to make visible, the things we do as readers that help us make meaning along the way and to think about how to make that visible to children.

The beginning of the book focuses on the importance of helping students achieve agency and independence. There is a section I love on Reframing Strategies as Tools, Not Products.  And they talk about the importance and noticing and naming for students.

Here are some favorite ideas from the book:

"We Build the Lessons Around our Assessment of the Demands of the Text."

"We Enter Stories Knowing that the Particulars Will Yield Universal Understandings"

"What these students have taught us is that when they are assured that a teacher is not looking for a particular answer but rather looking for thinking--when they come to trust that we are not hoarding the answers, waiting to spring them on the students like a trap, but instead truly valuing their thinking--they will rise to the occasion. Teaching students the power of constructing something with what they notice teaches students to be strategic.  In turn, we, as teachers, need to be strategic, making sure that the reading opportunities we provide give students the time and space they need to develop and grow their thinking." (p. 132)

"We try to scaffold deep thinking rather than prompt it."  (p. 132)

"We know there is not a single way to build a final understanding."  (p. 150)

"Rather than teach students to identify literary elements, we help them see how writers and readers use those elements to apprehend meaning."  (p. 167)

The book shares student conversations, lesson ideas and other thinking about how to really empower students to make meaning. The authors show us tools to help students do that so it is a great combination of the thinking as well as the practice needed.

This book brought a lot of my thinking together--thinking that I hadn't quite been able to articulate.  It was the perfect book for me as I get ready to go back to the classroom--thinking about building agency and independence in readers.  I think this book also helped me think through the Common Core talk about close reading and text complexity. One of my favorite new books on literacy instruction!

What's On My Kindle?

About a month ago, Franki wrote about her Kindle reading. Recently, I've gotten a little download happy, so I thought it might behoove me to look through what I've got on my Kindle so I can make a plan to get it all read. Heaven forbid that I become a Kindle hoarder!!

KINDLE DAILY DEAL
If you have a Kindle/Kindle app, I suggest that you sign up for the Kindle Daily Deal email from Amazon. I rarely buy the deal, but when it's a good deal, it's a REALLY good deal. Because of Winn Dixie was the Kindle Daily Deal a couple of weeks back, and so for 99 cents, I got a copy with my school account and loaded it on the 6 school iPads, and for another 99 cents, I got it for all of my own devices. I LOVE reading Because of Winn Dixie as a read aloud, and the movie is one of the few children's book-to-movie adaptations that I really love. Whole sections of text are in the movie verbatim. So I'm reading it aloud, and while most of the children are reading along in the book, eight each day are getting the experience of Kindle reading on the school's and my iPads and on our classroom Kindle. Very fun!

It's getting to be that time in my career when people are starting to ask, "So...how many years do YOU have left before you retire?" The freedom of retirement is starting to sound REALLY appealing to me, but the financial piece scares me witless. When 7 Money Rules for Life by Molly Hunt came up on the Kindle Daily Deal recently...click...purchased.

I can't remember which was the Daily Deal, but both How We Decide and Imagine--How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer are both on my Kindle shelf. I've started Imagine. It's fascinating.

The Best American Short Stories, edited by Geraldine Brooks was an easy sell -- I love Geraldine Brooks, and reading a collection of short stories edited by her seems like a way to read over the shoulder of an author I love. The Best American Sampler will be a fun way to graze the Best American series.

POETRY
Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell opened my eyes to poetry e-books with Poetry Tag Time, Gift Tag and P*Tag. Through Poetry Friday recommendations, I now also carry David L. Harrison's Goose Lake, Diane Lockward's Twelve for the Record, Irene Latham's The Color of Lost Rooms, and Greg Pincus' The Late Bird with me wherever my iPad goes. That lifts Keep A Poem in Your Pocket to a whole new level, I think! Who knows whose poetry might show up self-published in an e-book someday!! (...heh, heh...)

PROFESSIONAL BOOKS
I can't bear to get rid of any of the professional books that fill an entire bookcase at home and a shelf at school. At the same time, I have exactly ZERO room to fit another professional book anywhere... except my Kindle! Here are the professional e-books I have so far. I love having them at my fingertips so that when I am planning a lesson or a unit, I can turn to them for ideas no matter where I am, rather than waiting until I can get to one of my physical shelves.

Opening Minds by Peter H. Johnston
Living the Questions by Ruth Shagoury and Brenda Power
Inside Words by Janet Allen
Everyday Editing by Jeff Anderson
Small Steps, Big Changes by Chris Confer and Marco Ramirez

Nerdy Book Club Post

I have a new post up at THE NERDY BOOK CLUB about the 10 Classic Professional Books I can't live without.  I am cross posting the piece here:-)

Well-Worn and Well-Loved:  Ten Classic Professional Books I Cannot Live Without

One wall in my “office” is filled with professional books.  From floor to ceiling, the shelves are filled with the books that have helped me learn to teach thoughtfully. I have been reading professional books throughout my career. I have hundreds and hundreds of books that have impacted my thinking. I have been lucky to learn from amazing people over the years and I learn something new every time I revisit an old favorite.

In the last several years, I have noticed I’ve purchased fewer professional books. I am reading more professionally, but much of my professional reading is online. So in a cleaning frenzy a few weeks ago, I decided to weed out some of my oldest professional books.   I have been teaching for twenty-five years so I figured I could weed almost every book published before 2000 to keep my professional library current.  I have so many books and so many that I read years and years ago, I figured that this would be an easy job.

But, the job was not so easy.  While browsing the shelves, certain books triggered a feeling of transformation-books that changed who I was as a teacher   Below are ten classics that I could not part with, even though they were all published prior to the year 2000. Even though I have newer editions of most off the titles, it was the original reading that made a difference for me.  These classics set the stage for what we understand about literacy learning and teaching.  So many of my big understandings come from these foundational books. These are the books that reground me, reenergize me and remind me of all the reasons I became a teacher to begin with.

This is in no way a conclusive list.  But it is an important one to me. Consider this my “oldies” playlist of professional books—the learning that is playing around in my head every time I work with children.

1983

 Writing: Teachers and Children at Work by Donald Graves was one of the first books that took teachers inside classrooms to let us know what was possible. I didn’t read this until I graduated from college but Graves’ work was the work that created huge changes in classroom writing programs.  It was a great time to start teaching and this book laid the groundwork for my thinking about writing process.

1987

I had been teaching 1^st grade for three years when I asked to be moved to 4^th grade.  I was excited about the change and had heard about the book (first edition) In the Middle by Nancie Atwell and was excited about the whole idea of workshop. The summer before I started teaching 4^th grade, I was pregnant with our first daughter. My husband had a summer job delivering pizzas. I remember laying on the couch with a bag of Doritos and reading In the Middle over and over.  That summer, I created a vision of an intermediate workshop classroom all because of this book.

1988

I was able to attend the Teacher’s College Writing Project and learn from Lucy Calkins for ten days in 1991. But I was a total fan by the time I attended, having read everything she wrote cover to cover, over and over again. Lucy’s work helped us listen to children and to be thoughtful about everything we did.  The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy Calkins was packed with new thinking.

1990

Ralph Peterson was a huge influence for me. His book Grand Conversations was one that helped me see the power of books and student conversations. It was one of the first books that helped me to see what could happen if students were in charge of their own understandings and conversations. It was a short book, but packed with thinking about the importance of talk and ownership.

1992

I learned a great deal from the staff at The Manhattan New School. I learned through visits, workshops and their writing. The schoolwas amazing and the staff was generous in sharing all that they learned.  A book that changed my teaching was Shelley Harwayne’s Lasting Impressions: Weaving Literature Into the Writing Workshop.  I have always been a huge children’s literature person and this book helped me see the power of children’s literature for writers.

1992

 What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher is a book that opened up so many possibilities for me as a teacher of writing. The ways that Fletcher showed us, as readers, how to look at text with a writer’s eye was key to what we do today.  This was the first book that that helped me “read like a writer”.

1993

The work of Howard Gardner and Harvard’s Project Zero has been instrumental in who I am as a teacher today. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. As with all of Gardner’s work, this book taught me strategies for getting to know the whole child and to build on each child’s strengths.

1996

A Workshop of the Possible: Nurturing Children’s Creative Development by Ruth Shagoury Hubbard is one of my favorite books ever. It takes a look at the creative process with young children and takes us into a classroom where children’s thinking is the key to the way in which the community works.  I learned how much you could learn and how much better you can teach if you really listen to children and their thinking.

1996

In the Company of Children by Joanne Hindley was another book from the staff at the Manhattan New School that showed us the daily life in a workshop classroom. In this book, Hindley shared the routines and structures that made her reading and writing workshops so successful. This was one of the first books I read that focused solely on those transitional readers in Grades 3 and 4.

1999

 Living the Questions by Brenda Power and Ruth Shagory taught me to teach, as with questions in mind and that the research I did in my classroom mattered. This book help to make clear for me that a research-based stance to teaching was important for me.

So, .  I wasn’t totally successful at weeding my shelves.  But the process was an enlightening one. I could see, on one wall, the influences of my teaching life. I could see the power of professional reading and the power of learning from others.  My professional reading over the last 25 years has definitely impacted my practice.

Looking Forward to These Books

I have been having lots of conversations with students about thinking ahead as readers.  My stack of to-be-read titles never ends. And that is a good thing.  As I think head to my fall reading, I am going to try to make some more time for my personal and professional reading.  These are the books I am anxious to read.

I always learn so much from Kelly Gallagher.  His teaching and writing have had a huge impact o my teaching life. I am excited about his upcoming book Write Like This.  I have done a pretty good preview of the book on Stenhouse's site but I want to wait until I have a "real" copy to read it cover to cover.



I did a podcast interview with Kelly for Choice Literacy a while ago where he talks a bit more about mentor texts.

I came across the book Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield and ordered it right away. I am pretty sure my oldest daughter will "borrow" it from me when I finish.



I feel like I haven't taught math in a long time. For the last 4 years of my professional life, I have been in the library and for the two years prior to that, I taught Literacy 1/2 day and coached literacy 1/2 day. So I was excited to see this book--Math Exchanges by Kassia Omohundro Wedekind one that will help me see the possibilities for math classrooms.  Love the connections she makes to workshop.


Another professional book I am anxious to read is The Ten Things Every Writer Needs to Know by Jeff Anderson.  I heard Jeff speak about this book at the All Write Summer institute and I have been waiting to pick this one up since then!


I had the opportunity to hear Rae Carson at Cover to Cover last week. She is the author of the brand new YA novel, Girl of Fire and Thorns.  My 12 year old insisted on reading the book first and devoured it (said she maybe liked it better than The Hunger Games and Gone!). It is now my turn to read the book and I can't wait.


Another book that caught my eye is The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka. I'm not sure where I first heard about the book but it looks like one I'd enjoy so I've added it to my list.  A review in the New York Times was posted about a month ago.

MAKING LEARNING WHOLE by David Perkins

It's just incredible to me, the way my professional learning has changed in the past 25 years. I've always gone to conferences and read professional books, but this blog and Twitter have changed the playing field dramatically.

I was in a booktalk this week that was born on Twitter -- a tweet went out from the All Write conference (during Jeff Anderson's keynote, as best I remember) about this book:



Making Learning Whole by David Perkins
Jossey-Bass, 2001

Maria (@mariacaplin and Teaching in the 21st Century) was "attending" All Write long-distance by following the tweets, and she suggested that we get together and discuss this book. I dropped it into my Amazon cart using the Amazon app I downloaded (I think this was also during Jeff's keynote -- Jeff, I PROMISE I was listening!!), we read the book, invited others, and wound up spending a delightful morning with Cathy (@CathyMere and Reflect & Refine) chatting about the book, teaching, workshop model, and technology tools.

Here are a few of my take-aways:

1.  Perkins frames his thinking around the game of baseball and these seven principles:
• Play the whole game.
• Make the game worth playing.
• Work on the hard parts.
• Play out of town.
• Uncover the hidden game,
• Learn from the team...and the other team.
• Learn the game of learning.

2.  Our booktalk fit his principles exactly:
• We played the whole game, from the conference, to the tweets, to the reading, to the meeting, to the discussing, and now, to the blogging.
• We made the game worth playing by playing together. It's worth playing because we will use our new thinking and learning in our classrooms in the coming year.
• We played out of town. We met at Maria's house (and if you know where Maria lives, you are laughing out loud right now -- she takes out of town to a new level), hoping to sit on the dock of her pond to chat. It was too hot and humid, so we enjoyed the comfort of her kitchen table.
• As I write this post, I'm uncovering bits and pieces of the hidden game of our booktalk. Part of the hidden game was that we were doing what the book suggests without having to think hard about it. Our own learning is whole. We just need to make sure we figure out lots of ways to do this for our 1st, 4th, and 5th graders. I'll share more of what I saw as the hidden game in a minute. On to the next principle.
• Learn from the team. We did that by meeting -- three people from two districts and three different buildings and levels. We'll learn from other teams as we take our learning back to our grade levels, and from the comments here and on Twitter.
• The last point -- learn the game of learning -- wraps back around, for me, to the one about the hidden game. Read on...

3.  Here's what I learned about the game of learning:

• We didn't get started right away talking about the book. We needed time to socialize (and enjoy the fabulous cranberry coffee cake). THE SOCIAL PIECE IS HUGE.
• Our conversation was not sequential and organized.  AN EXACT AGENDA IS NOT NECESSARY.
• Almost as important as our conversation about the book was our talk and play with Evernote, and our sharing about how we keep track of anecdotal information about our students (conference notes, reading status, artifacts, etc). UNEXPECTED LEARNING IS AS VALUABLE AS WHAT'S IN THE LESSON PLAN.


It's a great book and I highly recommend it, but as you can see, the journey of the booktalk is a large part of what made the book so valuable for me...and it will likely stay anchored in my thinking more than other books that I've read on my own and that have no bigger story attached. (Yet another example of the hidden game/the learning about learning!)

INQUIRY CIRCLES IN ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS

It is so nice to have extra time on a long winter break to catch up on some professional learning. I had received a copy of INQUIRY CIRCLES IN ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS. This is a DVD companion to the book INQUIRY CIRCLES IN ACTION by Steph Harvey and Smokey Daniels. I am so glad that I made time to watch this DVD today!

I read the book, INQUIRY CIRCLES, when it first came out but I read it rather quickly. I revisited it recently because so many librarians are talking about the implications of this book for libraries. I am still hoping to take part in the Teacher Librarian Ning booktalk on the book. This book is definitely one that has implications for classroom teachers, librarians, related arts teachers, resources specialists, coaches, etc. I think anyone who works in schools can benefit from the work of Harvey and Daniels. I have been reading so much about 21st Century Literacy and Learning but I think sometimes, we forget that the key to all of the good thinking people are doing about learning is anchored in students' curiosities. And without inquiry, creativity and student ownership of learning students really can't have the learning experiences we hope for them. This book and DVD series reminds us of that and brings us into classrooms where inquiry around curriculum is happening.

For me, I love professional reading. I learn so much from this. But I also like to see and hear the way kids and teachers talk when involved in the kinds of things I read about. So, this was great for me. The DVD is about an hour in length. The first half of the DVD takes us into a first grade classroom where students are learning about African Animals. The independence and brilliance of these 6 and 7 year olds is interesting to watch--they are learning not only about African Animals but about research, information, and collaboration. In the intermediate section of the DVD, a 4th graders are exploring Ancient Egypt. Again, it is inspiring to see such independent thinkers who are so committed to their learning. It also helped me to see the teacher talking to students about her own research notebook and to see her work in small groups. The key for me was the decision-making on the part of the student. It was clear in every part of the study.

To me, Inquiry Circles, as shared by Harvey and Daniels makes sense for classrooms and libraries. It seems the perfect vehicle to help kids truly become information literate and to support their learning of 21st Century skills. This book and DVD helped me rethink some ways to expand the options for kids in the library.

And what about technology? It was interesting to me that in both the book and the DVD, tools of technology were mentioned but they were mentioned along with many other tools for learning. Technology was definitely a part of student learning throughout research and as they shared their learning but Inquiry Circles certainly don't rely on technology. For example, when students were asked to share their new learning publicly, they brainstormed ideas for doing this. Some built models, others performed, used art, etc. Such a great reminder that giving kids lots of options to research and share learning is key to 21st Century Learning.

(There is a second DVD to this set--It is called INQUIRY CIRCLES IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOMS. I didn't have a chance to watch it but hope to do so soon. It looks to be just as good as the elementary DVD. From the Table of Contents, it looks like the next DVD focuses on a 6th grade inquiry on Civil Rights and high school Literature Circles. Even though they are geared toward older kid, it looks like I will learn lots that I can apply to elementary.

WHAT TO READ WHEN by Pam Allyn

I just got a copy of Pam Allyn's new book on choosing books for kids called WHAT TO READ WHEN: THE BOOKS AND STORIES TO READ WITH YOUR CHILD AND ALL THE BEST TIMES TO READ THEM. I came home from my perfect beach vacation and was thrilled to see this book in my pile of mail. I spent hours with the book last night--instead of doing the laundry I should have been doing from the trip! This book couldn't come at a better time for the Kidlitosphere with the Share a Story Campaign-Shape a Future having just happened! Jen Robinson and others have been busy working to encourage read aloud.

In Pam Allyn's introduction to WHAT TO READ WHEN, she says, "The same way we choose foods to suit our moods--hot soup on a cold winter's night, spicy ribs for a family picnic--we long to choose the 'just right' books that will match the moments we find ourselves in with our children."

Pam talks about the important role books played in her childhood and the important place reading and sharing books has in her relationship with her daughters.

When I think back to my own childhood and the books that have been saved, I know my mother had the same thinking--I have a book about moving day, one about bad days, one about becoming a big sister. My mother-a teacher-also knows the power of story and conversation --the right book at the right time. As a mother, I find myself looking for books that will help my daughters make sense of the things they are working through. Books have been critical to me in the way I see the world and I want that for kids. That is one of the reasons I am thrilled to see this book.

So often, the only way that "just right" books are defined is by reading level. For so long, we have almost forgotten other reasons that a book can be "just right" and in this book, Pam Allyn reminds us that books are about more than reading development.

The book covers a lot for parents. Part I of the book is dedicated to "The Power of Read Aloud"--why we need to read aloud to our kids and how to do it well. Part II focuses on great read alouds for every age. Pam shares her understanding of child development and the kinds of books kids love at different ages and stages.

Finally, Part III is titled, "The Emotional 'When': Fifty Essential Themes". In it are booklists that match so many moments in life--both big and small. Included themes are Birthdays, Being Yourself, Falling Asleep, Death, Loneliness, Adoption, Bath Time, and more. For each of these themes, Pam gives us a great list of books--including old favorites as well as great new titles. She gives us summaries of the books as well as talking points and questions to start discussions with our kids. I can't begin to tell you what a resource this is.

One of my favorite pieces of the book is Pam's answers to Parents' Frequently Asked Questions. She answers the important questions we hear over and over, including:
"Should I still be reading aloud to my child after he or she is reading independently?"
"Should I give rewards to my child for reading?"
"I know my child can read Harry Potter because he can sound out alll the words on the page. So why does he seem unable to finish the book?"

This book will be a must-have resource for parents, teachers and librarians. I am very excited to have it--after owning it for less than 24 hours, it already looks a bit worn--tabs, notes and post-its everywhere! I will be going back to this one often!

BLOG TOUR: Kelly Gallagher Joins Us Discussing His New Book READICIDE

Today, Kelly Gallagher begins his Blog Tour with a stop at A YEAR OF READING to discuss his new book READICIDE: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It. We reviewed the book here last week and hope that many of you had a chance to check it out at Stenhouse. A much needed book at a time when testing seems to be controlling so much of what we do in our schools.

We had a chance to talk with Kelly about his new book. And many of you had additional questions that you sent in after we reviewed READICIDE last week.

What made you write this book? How did you get to the point that you felt that you needed to write?
The idea for Readicide came out of my own classroom, where I have noticed that the number of students who like to read dwindles with each passing year. The only reading many of my students do is school-mandated reading—and frankly they don’t do academic reading very well. For the most part, my students can read text on a literal level, but when you ask them to think a bit deeper—to evaluate, to analyze, to synthesize—they really struggle. My current seniors have been under the NCLB testing gun for six years now, and beyond struggling when it comes to reading academic texts, they have lost their desire to read recreationally. In chasing test scores, we are killing the love of reading. We may succeed in raising our test scores, but we pay a large price to do so. The sad part, of course, is we have spent $1 billion on Reading First programs, and the students in this program did not score any better in comprehension than students who did not participate in the program at all.

Readicide is also influenced by the number of great teachers across this country who have shared their horror stories with me. The elimination of novels. Drowning students in worksheets. Scripted programs. Think about it. If you had to do what our students have to do, would you like reading?

What are you hoping that this book will accomplish?
To raise the consciousness of curriculum directors, administrators, and teachers. Most educators I know have a genuine desire to do what is best for our children. I am hoping that this book will start a conversation—a conversation about what the latest research has to say about developing the critical thinking regions of our brains, a conversation about how shallow assessments drive shallow thinking from our students, a conversation about how our classroom practices may actually be contributing to the role of readicide.

I want educators to ask themselves an important question: In the quest to raise test scores, am I damaging the long-term prospects of my students becoming lifelong readers? I hope the book generates hard talk between educators.

How would you prioritize the work we have to do?
First, the evidence is very clear: our students are simply not reading and writing enough. The National Commission on Writing recently noted that our students should be writing twice as much as they are currently writing, across all content areas. A number of studies have indicated that students are simply not getting enough reading practice. You have to play a lot of piano before you can play the piano, and you have to do a lot of reading and writing before you can read and write. Let’s put this question on the front burner: are our students reading and writing enough?

Second, the cliché is true: if you teach students to read and write well, they will do fine on tests. However, if you only teach students to take tests, they will never read and write well. We need to challenge them with the kind of reading and writing experiences that foster deeper thinking. As teachers, we need to move beyond being information dispensers and focus on getting our kids to be thinkers. This is not possible in a sea of worksheets.

Another thought: we cannot lose sight of the value of recreational reading (the kind of reading we want students to do the rest of their lives). Academic reading is important, but when schools emphasize only academic reading, recreational reading gets lost. Students need much larger doses of light reading, stupid reading, amusing reading—the kinds of reading that we, as adults, do when we are not at school. Schools who graduate good test takers who never read again are not doing anyone any favors.

How do you get these conversations going with teachers you work with?
Someone has to be the discussion director on your campus and in your district. I am fortunate in that I am in my 23rd year at my school, and I have a strong professional relationship with the staff on my campus. To be honest, however, I have not done as much as I would like with my own staff. This is due in large part, frankly, to having an administration that has not been real interested in doing the hard work required to implement authentic reading and writing. Fortunately, I have a new principal this year, so I am hoping this sets the table for real dialogue.

What do you suggest for teachers who feel like they are the one person who is carrying the flag for authentic reading?
Arm yourself with the research found in Readicide and in other places (see Kellygallagher.org for some of these studies). Make it your mission to get one other teacher to see the light. Start a “school-within-a-school” movement. Ask to share some of the research on staff development days. Share your concerns with administrators, board members, and newspaper editorial staffs.
If you really are the Lone Ranger at your site, never lose site of what is best for your students. Resist the political in favor of the authentic.

What are the most important things you could do with teachers in a very short period of time (at staff meeting)?
Discuss the importance that assessment plays in developing deeper readers and writers. Earlier in my career, Jim Cox, who is a guru in assessment, heavily influenced me. Jim reminds teachers to never forget WYTIWYG (pronounced “witty-wig”), which stands for What You Test Is What You Get. If your assessment is shallow, it will drive shallow thinking. If your assessment is rich, it will drive richer thinking.

I always teach to a test. The key is teaching to a test that drives deeper thinking. When teachers spend hour upon hour preparing students for shallow tests, the effects are devastating. Test scores may rise, but in the process we are denying students the opportunity to develop the regions of their brains that are crucial to them becoming deeper thinkers. I would ask teachers to carefully consider their assessments. Do they drive deeper thinking? Let’s start there and work backwards.

QUESTIONS FROM READERS
From Dani in NC: Accelerated Reader program made me feel validated as a parent. I have seen firsthand how it has negatively affected each of my kids' opinions of reading over the years. Although AR is strongly emphasized here, it isn't part of their grade so I finally gave my kids permission to forget about it. Three of them have a renewed passion for books, but I still have one daughter who has become a reluctant reader and I don't know if I can change that.

Kelly:  Regarding AR, I think the first thing parents can do is challenge the school’s decision to use the program. Ask to see justification—studies that indicate that there is a long-term benefit from using the program. Share the McQuillan study (and others) cited in Readicide. Ask administrators what we are really teaching kids about reading when we tie all their reading activity to earning points from shallow multiple-choice assessments.
That said, both of my daughters were subjected to AR in school and survived as readers. However, they were already avid readers before being subjected, and they were surrounded by high-interest reading materials at home. This is not the case for many of the students under the AR treatment.

From Kathy:  I do have a question for him, even though I have not read the book, I would love to know his opinion on a school having a well stocked (and that also means have a certified media specialist in there) media center and if he thinks that has an impact on students reading.

Kelly:  It is critical that every campus has a well-stocked library with a librarian/media specialist. I know there have been studies that have found a correlation between the quality of a school’s library collection and its test scores. Libraries, and librarians, are the core of any school. My librarian is particularly helpful when it comes to finding books for my students that fit a particular theme or unit. She also helps by doing a number of book talks.
That said, I have also found that establishing a classroom library—where students have daily access to interesting books—may be the most important thing I have done as a teacher. Students need to be surrounded by books every day. It has been my experience that it is extraordinarily difficult to turn my reluctant readers on to reading by taking periodical trips to the library. For maximum effectiveness, I have found it better to bring the books to the students.


Kelly has a busy week--touring at several blogs for the next several days.
Just like band groupies, we know that some of us will follow Kelly to each of the spots on his blog tour.
1/22 - THE TEMPERED RADICAL
1/23 - THE DREAM TEACHER
1/26 - THE READING ZONE
1/28 - THE BOOK WHISPERER

Readicide -- by Kelly Gallagher

Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It

by Kelly Gallagher

Stenhouse, February 2009

Kelly Gallagher is a full-time high school teacher in Anaheim, CA. His message about how schools are killing reading is one that every teacher and administrator at EVERY level needs to read. After every teacher and administrator reads this book, they need to put his suggestions about what we can do to prevent or reverse this trend into action.

Gallagher defines readicide this way: "Read-i-cide n: The systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools." He outlines four factors that are primarily responsible for readicide:

• schools value the development of test takers more than the development of readers
  
• schools limit authentic reading experiences
  
• teachers are overteaching books
  
• teachers are underteaching books
  

On the first point: amen. We are lucky to teach in a district where it is still possible to focus on the development of readers. Teachers like us are not always popular for focusing more on the readers than on the tests, and teachers like us are not always in the majority in our buildings or our grade levels, but there have been no district mandates that make it impossible for us to stay true to our belief in the fact that, as Gallagher puts it,

"If students are taught to read and write well, they will do fine on the mandated reading tests. But if they are only taught to be test-takers, they will never learn to read and write well."

On the second point: we've made it our life work to surround children with the best books and give them big chunks of time in the school day to learn to become real readers: readers who choose books, read widely, talk and write about their reading, and belong to a community of readers. We believe, as Gallagher does:

"Children grow into the intellectual life of those around them." --Vygotsky

And again, we are lucky to teach in a district that supports these values.

His next two points, about teachers who either over- or underteach books takes a little more introspection. When does breaking into a read aloud for discussion or teaching become overteaching? What kind of support does that fourth grader need to read The Giver, or will she realize on her own that she's over her head and abandon it? When do we need to use role sheets for literature circles, and if we use them, how soon should we abandon them?

One of the things that makes this book so powerful is the amount of research that Gallagher weaves into the book. With every issue he discusses, he reminds of us several research studies that point to giving our kids more authentic reading experiences and providing time for their own personal reading. The research we need to back the argument is embedded throughout the book.

READICIDE is due out soon. In the meantime, Stenhouse has posted the entire book on its website for your enjoyment! We'd suggest you take a look.

And, Kelly will be doing a Blog Tour starting here next week. During his visit, he will do an interview with us and answer questions from blog readers. So, if you'd like to take a look at the book and ask Kelly a question, post it in the comment section of this post before 1/20/09 and the answer will be part of his stop here on the 22nd.

Throughout next week, Kelly will be stopping at some other blogs too!
Kelly's Blog Tour Schedule
1/20 - Here at A YEAR OF READING!
1/22 - THE TEMPERED RADICAL
1/23 - THE DREAM TEACHER
1/26 - THE READING ZONE
1/28 - THE BOOK WHISPERER

READICIDE gives us lots to think about. We think it is one of those books that can start a national conversation about how to give students the reading experiences they need and giving them the skills they need to do more than pass a test.

New KELLY GALLAGHER website

For those of you who are Kelly Gallagher fans, he has a new website that is up and running this week. Included on this site is a list of books that Kelly's staff is reading as part of their book club as well as an "Article of the Week" feature that Kelly uses. The site just became live so checking back often for new stuff will probably be worth it.

For those of you who are not familiar with Kelly Gallagher and his work, his expertise is mostly middle school/high school literacy. As an upper elementary teacher, I have always learned so much from his books and workshops. He has written professional books such as READING REASONS, DEEPER READING, and TEACHING ADOLESCENT WRITERS.

On a related note, Kelly Gallagher will be doing a workshop in Columbus as part of the professional development provided by The Literacy Connection. He will be here for that workshop on Saturday, October 11.

COMING SOON: A NEW BOOK FOR TEACHERS BY DEBBIE MILLER!

Well, I totally lucked out. I received an advanced copy of Debbie Miller’s upcoming professional book TEACHING WITH INTENTION: DEFINING BELIEFS, ALIGNING PRACTICE TAKING ACTION. (I know that you are all very jealous and I do feel a bit guilty that I have had a chance to read this book before it is released. So, I thought I’d at least share some highlights with you and let you know that this is another amazing read from Debbie Miller.)

You can also get a Sneak Peek at the book at the Stenhouse site. Looks like the sneak peek includes an excerpt as well as some of the gorgeous color insert.

Debbie Miler’s book READING WITH MEANING changed classrooms everywhere. Debbie invited us into her classroom to see her own work and her children’s thinking. In this new book, Debbie does the same. Since she retired as a classroom teacher five years ago, she has been working in classrooms across the country. In this new book, she again invites us to be part of her teaching—to see the thinking behind all that she does and to hear the brilliant thinking of the students she works with.

Debbie starts the book off, with a conversation about defining our beliefs as teachers. She says, “I’m convinced that success in the classroom depends less on which beliefs we hold and more on simply having a set of beliefs that guides us in our day to day work with children. Once we know who we are and what we’re about in the classroom, we become intentional in our teaching; we do what we do on purpose, with good reason.”

The book follows this line of thinking. Instead of believing in test scores to tell us all we know and following scripted lessons and pacing guides to meet the needs of our students, Debbie helps us thinking about think through the ways that our practices line up with the beliefs we hold about teaching and learning.

The first chapter in the book is called “Picture Perfect: How Does Your Ideal Classroom Look, Sound, and Feel”. In this chapter, she shares with us that by having a vision of what we want for our kids in March, April, and May, helps us set up a classroom that allows that to happen. She knows the right environment is critical to student learning.

Debbie continues on, sharing with readers her thinking on aligning practice, teaching for engagement, designing lessons based on your beliefs, assessment and the best use of time.

The honesty with which Debbie Miller writes and her willingness to share her own challenges in creating beliefs and aligning those to practice are helpful. She is honest about things she let go of in her teaching when she realized they didn’t match her beliefs. It is a glimpse into Debbie’s brilliant teaching and the steps she has taken to get there. She shares her own beliefs as well as honest reflections of her own growth as a teacher---times when her practice did not always align with her beliefs. She shares stories from her own teaching and stories from teachers she has worked with.

With all that she packs in, you would think that this would be a 500-page book. But the book is a short, thoughtful and reflective look at teaching and learning. This would be the PERFECT book for staff book talks, helping us as teams and schools define what it is we believe and beginning to align those beliefs to our practices.

This book is due out in late August. I would schedule time on your calendar now so that you have time to read it right away. It is thoughtful and very hopeful. It is an energizing read—reminding us why it is that we became teachers in the first place. As always, Debbie writes in a way that celebrates the joy of teaching. Just as she creates classrooms for children. 

Debbie believes in classrooms in which a “can-do” spirit permeates the room. “Children seem to breathe in, ‘I/We can do this,’’ and breathe out, ‘Here’s how.’ These children sense that they have the capacity to roll up their sleeves, take action, and get things done.” In her newest book, Debbie Miller again does the same for teachers. She gives us the words we need to roll up our own sleeves with a can-do attitude.

A Great Book to Support Test-Taking

PUT THINKING TO THE TEST is a new book coming out with Stenhouse this month. I was going to wait to review it until I had a hard copy but with test season upon us, I thought it was important to get the word out about this great book. It is due out on April 10, but you can read the entire book online now to get a sense of it and to get started thinking through tests with your students. (I love that Stenhouse lets me read bits of the book online while I am waiting for it to arrive. I am not a big fan of reading off of the computer but it helps me shop for books more effectively. When you read this one online, I imagine it will be one that you want to order so that you get it the minute that it becomes available!)

The authors took an inquiry stance to test taking and found effective ways to help their students think through the test genre. The authors are a group of teachers connected with the PEBC--the group that has done so much amazing research about the comprehension strategies. In this book, they have taken what they know about those same strategies and have worked with students to help them make sense of the test.

They begin the book by sharing their own experience--thinking through their own behaviors as test takers. Then they take you into classrooms to show how their own understanding helped them think through testing with their students, by looking at it as a specific genre.

There are not many books about testing that stay true to our beliefs about teaching. But PUT THINKING TO THE TEST does! For teachers who are committed to reading/writing workshops, for teachers who value the power of inquiry, this book is perfect for helping kids work through test taking skills in ways that are authentic and effective.

I started reading at the beginning. If you read the book online, I suggest doing the same. The first chapter explains the process that the authors went through in their own thinking about the genre of tests. Then, I read Chapter 2: Tests as A Genre. This chapter leads us through the introductory pieces of this unit in a classroom-helping kids notice things and learn about the test genre. I figure I will begin there this week and read as I teach. And hopefully, I will have my own copy of the book by the time that I get through a week or so of test prep stuff.

This book is one of the best I have seen on the topic recently. It is up to date in terms of the issues we are facing as teachers. And it takes the research that we know well--comprehension research--and uses it to help students make sense of test-taking. In a workshop classroom, this book makes sense. And the timing is perfect!