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!

Teachers as Readers (and Runners...)

Mary Lee, Me, Meredith and McKenzie --(I learned about Team Sparkle Skirts at 365 Days of Awesome.)

I have always believed that teachers need to be readers. I know for myself, being a reader is important for so many reasons--I can better recommend books to kids. I know what it is like to love a book so much that it is hard to read anything afterwards. I can understand the decision-making that goes into abandoning a book. I teach differently because I am a reader and I read differently because I am a teacher of reading.  Every day, my life as a reader impacts my teaching life.

I was reminded about the importance of Teacher as Reader during my work toward running a 5K over the last few months. If you've been following my slow, but steady progress on my Reading Teachers Running blog, you know this has been a long road.  I don't consider myself a runner but I did run (mostly) a 5K on Saturday.  And, as always happens with me and fitness goals, I learned a lot about my life as a teacher in the process.

I started out wishing I was a runner as I often do when I decided to write about it in  a post for the Nerdy Book Club.  As I was writing it, I realized that I had not really given running my all.  I mean I wanted to run and I read a lot about it but I didn't really set myself up for success in running. So, after writing that post, I realized I needed to get some help. I had tried published Couch to 5K programs but they never seemed quite right. I knew I needed someone who could really help me meet my goal, someone who was a coach and a runner. Someone who could TEACH me how to be a runner.  I hired a running coach that I found online. Tonia at TMB Endurance Training who I found on a blog I love 365 Days of Awesome.  I decided to hire her to write a plan for me and to coach me for the 16 weeks.

My friends who have seen me start and stop many exercise programs over the years, were quite amused at this decision.  No one was quite sure how someone could coach me without being here. How could I learn from someone online? If she was just going to say, "Finish strong!", anyone could do that.  I couldn't really put my finger on it at the beginning but I knew that hiring Tonia was one of the best decisions I'd made.

Tonia helped me in a way that my local non-running friends could not. She did tell me things like "finish strong" but she also helped me through lots of challenges.  And I trusted her because she was a runner herself. I knew when I just needed a pep talk from my friends and I knew when I really needed information about where to go next in my running.  Before Tonia wrote my personalized plan, she sent me an extensive interview and then scheduled a 30 minute phone conference with me. She learned all she could about me and my needs, my lifestyle and my goals. Then she created a plan based on all she knew. Each week, we chatted a few times a week to check in. I asked questions, she sent reminders, etc. And I finished the 16 week training plan and ran the 5K.

I could not have done this without the many cheeerleaders I had along the way-there are too many to name because I am lucky in life to have lots of friends and cheerleaders. But, I could also not have done this without an expert to support me along the way. I have always had cheerleaders to support me, but to run, I needed someone who was a runner and also knew how to coach and how to meet the needs of me, an individual.

I realized early in the training, that Tonia was setting me up for a life of running. She was building things into my week (short runs and long runs) that seemed silly when I was only running 30 seconds at a time. But the habit of knowing there is a long run every week matters.  She knew when to tell me to listen to my body and take the day off and when to push through. She let me know about her bad runs when I had a run that just didn't work. She knew when the thing holding me back was my confidence and not my ability. She knew all of this because she was a runner and she could use her expertise as both a runner and a coach to get me to the next level.

The thing is, the people who run, and share their stories honestly have helped me get through my own challenges.  There were lots of runners who taught me lots along the way. My friend Lynsey told me early on that "the first mile is always hard". It was a hard thing to hear when I couldn't possibly run close to a mile, but her words have helped me ever since I've passed that first mile run. Now I know that the first several minutes are harder and then I get into some kind of flow. Without Lynsey, a serious runner, giving me that piece of advice, I may have just thought running was only hard for me at the beginning. Understanding that the start of runs were hard for her made a difference to me. She was also the one that suggested I get an armband for my iphone because carrying it my hand could throw off my balance and give me one more thing to worry about while running.  I trusted her to help me because she is a runner.

Jen was kind enough to teach me early on that speed doesn't matter so much and that lots of runners start slow.

I loved reading Dorothy's post about the Boston Marathon: Mile by Mile. She is one of my running idols and I knew how much the marathon meant to her because I read her blog religiously. It got me through many weeks of my running.  The thought that she could struggle with any running event and be so honest about it was huge for me.  Her story reminds me not to quit, even when I have to pause and take a breath. That my attitude is really my big problem as it was hers on that day. That I am not struggling because I am not good at this but every runner has good and bad run days, no matter where they are in their journey.  And reading an interview with Dorothy this week, I learned that she didn't love running right away.  I am amazed by this fact and it helped me this week, when I did not love running. Hearing that this runner did not love running at first gave me a bit of hope...  I was just as relieved to read Heather's post on 365 Days of Awesome this week. She has had a bad few weeks of running and she is honest about sharing.  But she isn't quitting because the running isn't going well.  I trusted these stories because these girls are runners.

And there are Sarah and Dimity at Another Mother Runner who willingly share their stories and the stories of others so that we can all find what works for us. I learn from every mother whose story they share and their two books RUN LIKE A MOTHER and TRAIN LIKE A MOTHER helped me through these 16 weeks of running. The constant support of such knowledgable people mattered. They were runners and they know the challenges of fitting running into a full life.  I trust them completely because they run.

And Meredith is just a year or two ahead of me as a runner. She ran her first 5K last year and I was there to cheer her on. But she ran next to me for the full 5K on Saturday.  When she told me to keep going, I knew that it was more than cheering--she knew from experience that I'd be happier if I didn't stop. She knew that it was hard because she had experienced her first race so recently. And my virtual running partner, Katherine, texted me throughout the week. She had worked with Tonia and had run her 5K the week before. She knew what I would experience.  I trusted them because they run.

Mary Lee's husband, A.J. gave me last minute tips on navigating the crowd and the course on the morning of the race. I listened to him and trusted him because he is a runner.

So, back to my lesson about teaching.  It definitely took a village to get me to the 5K. It took cheerleaders and friends, but more importantly, it took runners. Runners who were willing to help me, to teach me and to invite me into the world of runners.  The online bloggers who I do not "know" and probably never will were critical to my learning because they are runners. I trusted my coach because she was a runner. And all of the advice and tips I got along the way mattered because the people who gave them had at one point experienced what I was experiencing. I trusted them because they had the experience and because they understood what I was going through.

How can our students trust us as teachers of reading if we are not readers ourselves? How can we talk authentically with kids about books if we are not truly interested in reading them. How can we help them through challenges and help them move forward if we have never experienced what they are experiencing?  Yes, our kids need cheerleaders--they need people who love and support them in all that they do. But they also need teachers, teachers who read. Teachers who they can trust to teach them about reading because they are readers themselves.

It definitely took a village to get me to the 5K and I imagine the village of support will need to continue as I continue running. I DEFINITELY need cheerleaders. I could not really live my life without them. My friends are amazing people. But as a runner, I need more than cheerleaders, I needed teachers. I needed teachers who not only cheer me on but teach me what it is to be a runner.  I plan to hire Tonia again soon to help me with whatever running goal I come up with next.  I know I will need more than cheerleaders if I want to move forward again.

I stood on the sidelines of the running community for a very long time.  It wasn't until I found experts to learn from, experts who had been through what I was going through, that I could get through those first few weeks successfully.

As I wrote in my Nerdy Book Club post in January, there are so many children standing on the edges of the Nerdy Book Club, wanting to be part of this reading club. These kids deserve teachers who read.

Poetry Friday: Distractions

DISTRACTIONS

Well.
Here I am.
Left behind
yet again.

I turned to watch the shadow of a cloud
pass over the riverbank
and when I turned back
the breadcrumbs had already been tossed.

Yesterday, I was noticing
the way a seed
swirled in the current
and suddenly my siblings were nowhere to be seen.

Look,
There's an ant
climbing the crest
of that bending blade of grass.


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012


Katya has today's Poetry Friday roundup at Write. Sketch. Repeat.

LADY HAHN AND HER SEVEN FRIENDS by Yumi Heo

LADY HAHN AND HER SEVEN FRIENDS
by Yumi Heo
Henry Holt, 2012

Who can resist a book with their name in the title?!

In this Korean folktale, Lady Hahn is a seamstress. Each of her sewing tools claims to be the most important. Lady Hahn overhears them and grows angry, claims to be more important than any of the tools, and throws them into a box. The tools feel mistreated and misunderstood, so they hide from Lady Hahn, who has a miserable time trying to sew without them the next day. In the end, they realize that they all need each other to get the job done.

This Lady Hahn is more likely my mom than me, though. The Lady Hahn who raised and clothed me with hand-sewn blue-ribbon-at-the-county-fair creations made on her little black Singer worked miracles with needle and thread and fabric. She made baby dresses with smocking down the front, recital dresses from purple crepe, baton twirling costumes of velvet with sequins hand-sewn on, a dirndl from a German pattern, and even BARBIE DOLL CLOTHES with buttons so tiny I'm not sure how she didn't go blind sewing them on!

HUFF AND PUFF by Claudia Rueda

HUFF AND PUFF
by Claudia Rueda
Abrams Appleseed, 2012

Yes, this is probably a book best suited for preschool readers, but what's not to love about a new, interactive version of The Three Little Pigs?

The heavy cardboard cover has circular window cut-out, through which we see the three little pigs. The pages are heavy stock, and the text is very simple, with one line per page on the left and an illustration on the right: "First pig building a house. First pig inside the house. One wolf huffing and puffing." When we get to "One wolf huffing and puffing," the illustration page has the words "HUFF & PUFF" written really big on the texture of the corresponding house. The "belly" of the ampersand is cut out so that the reader, playing the wolf, can huff and puff and blow the house down.

Well, we all know what happens when the wolf gets to the house of bricks, but that doesn't mean you know what will happen at the end of this book!

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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Brought to you this week by Mary Lee.

Let's start with the pile that's on my nightstand.

Truth in advertising: A Hero For WondLa is the only one of these three that I've actually started reading. M.T. Anderson has moved from the TBR (To Be Read) shelf to the TBR (Teetering Bedside Reading) pile because he'll be at Cover to Cover on Monday afternoon, and I'm almost giddy about hearing him speak. I've read the first two in the Norumbegan Quartet, and The Empire of Gut and Bone will be one of my first #bookaday summer reads. The Chronicles of Harris Burdick has been on my pile since Christmas (a gift from a student), and I unburied it today and brought it up to the top part of the pile after chatting with Sally (at CTC) about Steven King's story in it (re: I finished listening to the audio of King's 11-22-63 a couple of weeks ago, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.)

Next, my audio reading.

Two reasons why I listened to will grayson, will grayson (finished last week). #1 I loveloveloved The Fault in Our Stars and realized that I need join the John Green fan club. #2 The more I listen to audio books, the more I appreciate a great reader/production. While others are reading all of the Newberys and Caldecotts, I'm thinking I might try to listen to all of the Odyssey Award winners. will grayson, will grayson was an honor book in 2011.

My current audiobook is The Art of Fielding. It and King's 11-22-63 were "follow the crowd" purchases based on "Best Books of 2011" lists on Amazon and Audible. I completely took a risk on both books and I've been pleasantly surprised by both. The Art of Fielding is a baseball book...and SO much more. I love the multiple points of view in it (so similar to will grayson, will grayson!!) and the way the author surprises me to the point of honest-to-goodness out-loud gasps at the plot turns.

Check out what other folks are reading at Teach Mentor Texts. Happy reading!

M.T. Anderson at Cover to Cover TOMORROW

National Book Award Winner

M.T. Anderson

Monday, May 14

4:30-6:00

Cover to Cover Books for Young Readers

author of The Game of Sunken Places (and its sequels), 

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Vol. I and II)

Feed,

Thirsty,

Pals in Peril series,

and the picture book Me, All Alone, At the End of the World

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

I knew ONE FOR THE MURPHYS would be my kind of book. I am all about people being changed and growing because of others.  I knew right away that this book might be a tiny bit like PICTURES OF HOLLIS WOODS by Patricia Reilly Giff, THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS by Katherine Paterson and BABY by Patricia Maclachlan--books that have lived with me for years.

This is the story of Carley Connors, a middle school girl who is placed in foster care after being hurt by her step-father.  Carley's mother is in the hospital recovering from her own injuries from her new husband.  Carley is tough and sarcastic.  She has a hard shell but is easy to get to know and love.  She is placed in foster care with the Murphys--a family who has never had a foster child and a family very different from the one she grew up in.  The Murphys take her in and help her to heal.

I don't want to give too much away but this book is about the power of love and the lasting impact of those who love us. How love can change a person.  It is a perfect middle grade novel in terms of the amount of depth and emotion that are a part of it.  The book deals with serious issues around families, abuse and love but does so in a way that is very appropriate for middle grade children. I felt like it was honest and hopeful at the same time.

I absolutely loved this book--through all of the laughing and the tears.  Carley Connors and Mrs. Murphy are two characters who will stay with me for a very, very long time. Probably forever.

(And if you love the Broadway musical WICKED, there is a even more to love about this book as there is a thread of mentions of this story throughout the story of Carley.)

Poetry Friday -- O Me! O Life!

O Me! O Life! By Walt Whitman O Me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; Of the endless trains of the faithless--of cities fill'd with the           foolish; Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish           than I, and who more faithless?) Of eyes that vainly crave the light--of the objects mean--           of the struggle ever renew'd; Of the poor results of all--of the plodding and sordid crowds           I see around me; Of the empty and useless years of the rest--with the rest           me intertwined; The question, O me! so sad, recurring--What good amid these,           O me, O life?                                   Answer. That you are here--that life exists, and identity; That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute           a verse. *    *    * Yes, that powerful play is going on, and we are careening hurtling rushing through these last days, through this last act, through this last verse of the song we've been singing since last August. Almost time for the curtains to close, for the conductor's baton to lower. What tracks will we leave in these children's lives? On these children's hearts? Irene has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Live Your Poem...