Still Learning to Read: So Much More than a Single Test Score

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016.


I love getting to know my students early in the school year.  There is so much to learn and so many things to get to know about each child. The first six weeks of school is definitely not easy, but taking the time to get to know each student as a person and as a learner is so important.

In Ohio, we have a 3rd Grade Guarantee Law. No matter where you live, you are most likely living with some mandates that require an emphasis on standardized tests. When you are dealing with mandates and laws like these, it is easy to forget all of the things we know and understand about literacy and learning and to go through the motions of the paperwork required and to rely on standardized test scores alone.  The test scores tell us something about a child, but they do not tell us everything we need to know to plan good instruction.  I decided a few years ago that I had a choice as a classroom teacher. I try to do the best I can to meet the requirements of the law while working in ways that make sense for young children. It takes a bit of extra time and intentional planning but I know that meeting a child's needs requires more than a single test score.

In Ohio we give a state reading test in the fall and the spring.  Districts also have the option to give alternate tests for kids to show what they know. Our district provides each teacher with the Developmental Reading Assessment and I always sit down with every child to chat about their reading in an informal Reading Interview. I also spend the first weeks of school taking anecdotal notes about things I notice during independent reading time, mini lesson time, and read aloud time.

Each time I assess a child (with a standardized or more informal assessment), I try to pull out the most important things from the assessment-the things that seems to be the most important thing to know about that child right now. Then I look across all of the assessments to notice patterns and ask myself questions like:

• Are there any outliers in the assessments? Something that doesn't fit the rest of the information?
• Does the child do better with long text or shorter text? Can he/she hold onto a story/idea of time?
• Are there patterns across strengths and weaknesses across assessments?
• How does this child define reading?
• Is this child an engaged reader?
• What strengths does this child have that can be built on?
• What is the one thing that seems to be most critical for this child to move forward as a reader?

To do this I use what I call an Assessment Web.  I want to look across several pieces of information about my students in order to plan for instruction that matters for them. I can't look at a level or a test score or an area of weakness and know what to do or how best to support a young reader. Instead I need to look hard at all types of data and information to determine what is the most important next step for a child. In our book Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop, I shared the way that I create an Assessment Web for each child.  The Assessment Web lets me think about all the pieces of information I gather about a child as a learner during the first few weeks of school and for me, the web allows me to see how they all work together, without one being more important than the other. I often use this web to share with parents at conference time. My categories change a bit based on the assessments we are required to give or the patterns I see but overall my web usually looks something like this:

Some years, instead of an assessment web, I compile the data on a form that is on page 83 in the second edition of Still Learning to Read.  This one is a bit easier and allows me to more easily look across grouping of students and patterns across the class.  But it doesn't give me a single page on each student that I can use as the year progresses and add changes, updates, etc.

Of course, the form doesn't matter--it just helps me make it easier for me to look across multiple pieces of information on a child.  In order 'to move forward with targeted instructional planning after these first few weeks of school, this step has always been critical for me. Since I started using a form like this over a decade ago, we've had new standards, new tests and new mandates. But the idea of the form continues to work for me as I try to look at all the data and information I have on a child in order to make the best instructional decisions possible for a child.

(You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLficuciaryTRead or you can join us for a book chat on Facebook that began this week by joining our group here.)

Our new edition of Still Learning to Read was released last week!  

You can order it online at Stenhouse!

Early-in-the-Year Messages About Learning

There is no rushing the first few weeks of the school year. No matter how much I'd love to be in Week 8 right now with routines set and thoughtful conversations happening every day, I know that you can't rush community building. As hard as it is to establish routines, there is nothing like these first few weeks of school--getting to know students, watching them get to know each other,  and listening in on these beginning conversations.

I can never quite pinpoint exactly how things evolve in the classroom--how kids get from where they are at the beginning of the year to where they are at the end of the year.  I don't really have a set of lesson plans that helps to build talk early in the year.  I don't really believe in those "First 20 Day" planning guides. But I am very intentional about my planning and try to be responsive to each new group of students.  Each group comes in with different expectations as learners and I usually take my cue from them on where to do.  By May, I am always so amazed by my students' thinking and growth but they are not as comfortable talking and sharing early in the year so I spend a lot of time planning things that give them important messages and experiences about learning.

The thing is, lots of these things don't happen in Reading Workshop. In Read Aloud and in minilessons, we are learning to have conversations around books. But it seems to be that it is the conversations that we are having during other times in the day that also help build the conversations we have as readers.  In a self-contained classroom, nothing stands alone.  Somehow, conversations in reading are possible because we spend time throughout each day thinking about learning and thinking and talking.  The conversations overlap and talk starts to get better each day in the classroom in all areas.

Learning Happens Everywhere and in Many Different Ways

For the last few years, we've watched Caine's Arcade on the first day of school to talk about Caine as a learner.  I want my kids to know that learning happens in lots of ways and that lots of learning will happen in and out of school. I want them to know that the kind of learning Caine shares in his story will be valued in our classroom. Some years we've created a chart or had a conversation discussing the ways Caine is a learner or how we know Caine is a learner.

We Learn When We Think Together

We mention in our book the idea of Thinking Partners.  A board in the front of our classroom has a heading "Who Are You Thinking With Today?". Below are 2 sets of individual photos of the students in our class.  I use this to quickly assign partners for various things when needed. Early in the year we talk about how you learn different things when you think with different people.  We've done partner talk in all areas learning how to turn and talk, sit "knee-to-knee, eye-to-eye", keep a conversation going for a short amount of time, etc.

Thinking and Talking about Our Own Learning (and others' learning) Helps Us Grow

I invite adults in the school to come in and share their lives as readers with us during the first several weeks of school.  This helps students learn about others which in turn helps them reflect on their own reading.  As they learn about different readers and see connections and differences, they begin to ask questions and learn to talk about reading habits and behaviors in new ways.

Mrs. Phifer, our reading teacher, sharing things about her life as a reader last week in our classroom.

A Learning Community Gives Feedback to Help Other's Grow

Austin's Butterfly is one of my favorite clips to show early in the year.  I think the idea of specific feedback and supporting each other as we all learn and grow is fascinating to students as they watch this clip.

Austin's Butterfly: Building Excellence in Student Work from EL Education on Vimeo.

Our Brain Grows

This year, I shared one of Jo Boaler's videos on Youcubed. "Four Boosting Math Messages from Jo and Her Students" invited powerful conversations about the brain, making mistakes, and other myths about learning (math and beyond).

We Learn When We Are in the Role of Teacher AND When We Are in the Role of Learner

In our classroom, we have Wonder Workshop daily. This is the way I make sense of Genius Hour and Makerspace ideas and bring them together to give kids a time each day to take total charge of their learning.To kick off Wonder Workshop, each child shares something they love or are good at with classmates.  This is an informal presentation done at tables with small groups.  This joyful time helps us get to know each others' interests and also helps everyone discover things they may want to learn or try during Wonder Workshop. By the end of the week, we'll have 23 new things are possibilities for Wonder Workshop. And we'll have experienced the power of learning from each other over and over again.

We talk about being an active participant in a session and this is easy for them to do and understand when they are in both roles. We don't do a typical presentation--instead kids teach at a table to an audience of 3-5 kids several times until all kids rotate through. This keeps kids engaged and gives kids lots of experiences as both a teacher and and audience. We reflect on our roles each day and we also discover what we appreciated about the ways different people taught and learned. This conversation will carry on throughout the year.

We Can Learn from Others Through Technology

I made it a point to share resources from online sources so kids know quickly that we learn from lots of people and technology allows that. (They know this of course, but I want them to know that this will happen lots in our classroom.)  I also want them to know that there are people out there who create things to share to TEACH others. (This will be good when they learn to research and it also serves as an invitation to create resources for others online.)

We've learned from Ruth Ayres (A Peek Inside My Writer's Notebook), Jess Keating (Write With Jess Keating), Amy Vanderwater (Sharing Our Notebooks) and Mr. Stadel at Estimation 180. The variety of videos, blog posts, activities created for learning all show that there are so many ways to learn from others.

None of these things can stand alone but together they work magic when it comes to evolving messages about what it means to be a learning community.

Poetry Friday -- The Fifties

The Fifties

Trees feel the fifties
in their tip-top leaves --
ever so slightly not as green.

Bees feel the fifties
in their crystal wings --
buzz-uzz-uzzing sluggishly.

Runners feel the fifties
in groups of twos and threes --
comfortable in shirt-sleeves, breathing easily.

I feel the fifties
slightly differently --
cycling along...they're in my knees!


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016



This is a poem I "jotted" in my digital writer's notebook (aka my phone) last Saturday morning. As I cycled along, enjoying the crisp (temporary) 55 degree weather, bits of a poem began coming to mind. I stopped a couple of times to capture key phrases in voice memos. When I got home, I wrote out a draft in my paper-pencil writer's notebook and worked on it throughout the weekend. The verse about the crickets chirping with greater urgency didn't make the cut.

The poem is true and untrue in a couple of ways -- I felt the fifties in my knees because they got cold in the first few blocks, but (thankfully) I don't feel the fifties (years) in my knees (knock wood and I'm not even going to say yet) while I'm cycling!

Happy Poetry Friday! Amy has the roundup this week at The Poem Farm.

Listening to Podcasts

If you don't listen to podcasts yet, it's time to get started. Since you already love children's books, you should start with The Yarn, by Colby Sharp and Travis Jonker.

The Yarn "unravels" a book through an interview with the author or illustrator. Each episode is between 8 and 28 minutes long -- perfect for listening on a short commute or as a break in your work.

Franki wrote about The Yarn when it was brand new, just over a year ago. Colby and Travis have really come into their own over the course of a year, and they have some incredible episodes that will be worth going back to.

Take the episodes #26 and #27, for example, in which Travis and Colby talk to Kate DiCamillo at ALA. She talks about why she writes for children. I love her words so much, I'm going to use them to describe why I teach.

I teach because of the "necessity of hope." You can't show up every day and work with 10 year-olds if you don't possess more than the normal amount of hope. Teachers traffic in hope. It keeps us going; it keeps our students going; it keeps our schools afloat when the rest of the world would sink us without a second thought. And then there's the "peripheral magic." Like Kate's stories, we don't utilize literal magic, but you can't deny that there's some kind of magic going on when you see a child's eyes light up with understanding. 

In Kate's books, and in classrooms around the country, "Things are still possible." 

That's why you write, Kate? That's why I teach.

 

My New Favorite Nonfiction Series

Welcome to my new favorite nonfiction series, the Disgusting Critters series, or, as originally published in French, Les petits dégoûtants.

You can see that I tagged these books "nonfiction should be fun." Along with information about the critters' bodies, eating habits, and all the nasty things they do, each book also contains off-the-wall comments by the narrator and the critter, and delightfully goofy illustrations.

Franki texted me, "Your nonfiction post that I sneaked a peek at just cost me $37.00." These books are perfect for third grade. I checked out the whole series from the library and will read one to my fifth graders for #classroombookaday (the one they vote as the most disgusting critter), and then I will keep them in the room for a couple of weeks.

That's what I'm thinking right now, but based on my students' response, this post might cost ME $37.00, too!

Still Learning to Read: Book Preview

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016.

Read Aloud is one of my most important teaching times. It is comfortable and joyful with great stories and great talk. My role is to find books that invite conversations that I know will help my students grow as readers.  My plan before school started was to begin our read aloud with 4-5 short chapter books and then to move to something longer. But after reading Lulu and the Brontosaurus and Mercy Watson to the Rescue, I decided this group needed a bit more to talk about in order for them to learn to talk deeply around books. So I changed my plans a bit and moved to a longer, more complex series book.  Last week we started Dog Days (a book in The Carver Chronicles Series) by Karen English.

Why I Chose This Book:

I chose this as our next read aloud for several reasons. I thought the kids were ready for a book with more to talk about. Many are in the transitional stage of reading and they struggle a bit with keeping track of a story, keeping track of characters and sticking with books. This book is probably beyond what many of my kids could read on their own but the teaching focus I have for this book will support readers at a variety of levels. The book will invite conversations about characters and characters who change across the book. I also liked that this book had lots of good features like a Table of Contents, a back blurb that sets up the story, etc. that will help us begin conversations about previewing books before you read.

Setting Up the Preview:

I am a strong believer that transitional readers must learn to "introduce themselves" to a book.  I think to be able to chose the right books, a preview is critical. As a reader, I need to know lots about a book before I decide it's the book I want to read next.  But previewing is about more than choosing books. Previewing a book sets the reader up for more engagement.  Kids are always amazed at how much you can learn BEFORE you even start the book if you take the time to preview a bit.  So, on the day we were to begin Dog Days, I had this chart ready in our read aloud area. I set it out before the school day began knowing a few curious kids would give it a look and start thinking about and wondering what it was.

Then during our read aloud time last Thursday, we previewed the book.  We have a 25 minute read aloud time each day and the whole class preview took the entire read aloud time on Thursday.  Tougher we looked at the cover, read the back cover, read the table of contents and read the first page of the first chapter.  After each feature, we stopped to talk about the things we knew, the things we predicted and most importantly the questions we had.  The kids were amazed (as they usually are the first time we do this) that they had so much thinking before we even started the book!   I have learned that kids won't instantly begin previewing the books they read independently after a few read aloud previews but my goal is for them to eventually see the power of a preview in their reading.

We actually began reading the book on Friday and before we started a student mentioned that he'd been thinking about the book. Several kids agreed.  Such a great way to start a read aloud with kids thinking about the book between readings. Throughout the first day's reading, we referred back to things we had read in the preview--thinking that was confirmed, thinking that we changed with new information and questions that were answered. Every time we went back to a feature we had previewed, we found the exact line that we were thinking about which always raises the level of talk. I can tell this is going to be a great read aloud! I am anxious to see where the talk goes.

(You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead or you can join us for a book chat on Facebook that began this week by joining our group here.)

Our new edition of Still Learning to Read was released last week!  You can order it online at Stenhouse!

#DigLitSunday -- My Digital Writer's Notebook

Because my phone is with me most all the time, it is my most reliable writer's notebook. I use the notes and voice memo to capture fleeting ideas, and my photos constitute hundreds of seed ideas.

Just this morning, I took advantage of the cool, crisp (temporary) fall-like weather to take a quick bike ride before we hit the farmers' markets for tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, apples, and French pastries. The very tip-top leaves in the trees look like they are feeling the shift of the seasons. I started getting lines of a poem, and pulled over to record a few words before I lost them. I continued to compose in my head as I rode, and I pulled over one more time before I headed up the long hill towards home and recorded the key words I'd come up with. As soon as I got home, I sat down to my paper/pencil writer's notebook, and captured the first draft of my poem. I've tinkered with it several more times throughout the day, and I think it will be ready for Poetry Friday next week!

Thank goodness for my digital writer's notebook!


Margaret gathers the #DigLitSunday posts at Reflections on the Teche.

Poetry Friday -- Three Things to Remember

image via Unsplash

Three Things to Remember
by Mary Oliver


As long as you're dancing, you can
     break the rules.
Sometimes breaking the rules is just
     extending the rules.


Sometimes there are no rules.



Penny has the roundup this week at Penny and Her Jots.

Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan

Matt Phelan is an amazing graphic novelist. He does so much with so little: gestures, facial expressions, cinematic pacing and effects (zoom in, zoom out, film noir).

His version of Snow White is set just after WWI in New York City. If you want to analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text, or compare and contrast different versions of a story, or even study the impact of the setting (both time and place) or the telling of a story, this is the book for you. If you always wished for the witch to get what she deserves, Matt Phelan delivers. And the way he handles the seven dwarfs? You'll love it.

Snow White: A Graphic Novel

by Matt Phelan

Candlewick Press, due out September 13, 2016

review ARC provided by the publisher

Still Learning to Read: Reading Notebooks Early in the Year

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016.

I am never quite sure if I am doing the right thing early in the year when it comes to reading notebooks. When I taught 4th and 5th grades, reading notebooks were such an important tool to my students' understanding around their reading. The things they were able to discover and understand and the high levels of talk around text were supported with the notebook. I've never been strict about a notebook--it is really a tool that my readers can use if it helps them understand. When I moved to 3rd grade a few years ago, I realized early on that most kids needed more time to build talk and oral language around books so the notebooks became a bit less important early in the year.

This year, I did the same thing that I did last year--I started read aloud off with a very tiny spiral notebook and an invitation to stop and jot several times each day during read aloud. I found last year that the tiny spiral notebook was inviting and much less intimidating than a regular notebook. and that it was a good tool to introduce the idea of writing around reading.

A Word About Modeling

I almost never model something right off for my students.  My thinking is that modeling right off gives them the message that I don't think they know how to do it and that is not an assumption I want to have about my students.  So I wait and watch. Instead of modeling, I pay attention to what it is they can do and build on that. Then if needed, I'll model something new later--once I know they need modeling.

Starting Reading Notebooks

So, when it comes to Reading Notebooks, handing out notebooks to record thinking during read aloud was all I did before we started Lulu and the Brontosaurus last week.  Then I listened and watched.  When we stopped to talk during read aloud, I paid attention to the ways kids were comfortable talking, thinking and writing about books. At the end of the week, as we were almost finished with the book, kids looked through their notebooks and we talked about the kinds of entries we had-the kinds of thinking we did. This year, kids writing included writing about characters, predictions, visualizing and wonderings. (This changes every year.)

I scanned the notebooks for examples of each and we built the following chart about the ways we think, talk and write about books in our reading.

As we started our 2nd read aloud (Mercy Watson to the Rescue), we looked at the chart and reflected on new kinds of thinking we could each try as we read.   We talked about the fact that we might add new ways of thinking to the chart over the next few weeks. And kids seem excited to try new thing.  One thing that you may not be able to see on the chart is a student sample that is divided into columns. A student made 2 columns labeled W and S to stand for Wonders and Surprises. The idea of a 2 column table to track different kinds of thinking appealed to a few students.

As we move forward over the next several weeks of read aloud, I know this list will grow as we notice new ways of thinking. As we move to different kinds of books, we'll see that different books invite different kinds of thinking and the conversation will continue to grow.  I've found that building  slowly from where children are is key to making this kind of writing purposeful and powerful for students. 

(You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead or you can join us for a book chat on Facebook starting September 1 by joining our group here.)

Our new edition of Still Learning to Read was released last week!  You can preview it online at Stenhouse!

88 Instruments by Chris Barton

I loved getting a copy of Chris Barton's new 88 Instruments last week (direct from the author himself!) I got the package on Monday and read it for our #classroombookaday on Tuesday!  It was definitely a hit as a read aloud.

The book is simple and different from many of Chris Barton's other books. I love when an author has a variety of books as it will make for interesting conversation and study.  

The story is about a boy going into a store trying to choose an instrument that he wants to learn to play. There is quite a bit of humor in the decision as the parents give him a few limitation. Kids chuckled at some of the dialogue.  It made for a fun read aloud because Chris Barton created lots of original words to describe the instruments as the boy in the story tried them out. They were fun to read and fun to hear.  

The thing I loved most about this story is how it tied into the things we've been talking about these first few days of school.  We've been talking about so many things connected to learning, including growth mindset. This book is perfect for talking about growth mindset in a fun way--the last few pages of the book that include the decision of instrument and the plan for learning are simple yet powerful for conversations around learning and growth mindset.

This is a fun read and was a great #classroombookaday. I imagine it will be one that kids revisit often and one that they have fun reading together.

Poetry Friday -- Heat

Image via Unsplash

Heat
by H. D.

O wind, rend open the heat, 

cut apart the heat, 

rend it to tatters. 

Fruit cannot drop 

through this thick air-- 

fruit cannot fall into heat 

that presses up and blunts 

the points of pears 

and rounds the grapes. 

Cut the heat-- 

plough through it, 

turning it on either side 

of your path.

I know I have no right to complain. A tornado hasn't ripped through my neighborhood, floods haven't crept to my doorstep, there's no tropical storm headed my way, and even though it's not working very well, my school has some semblance of air conditioning. 

But DANG it's been hot. And sweaty, sweaty humid. I'm SO ready for fall...

Heidi has the roundup this week at her juicy little universe.

A Child of Books

A Child of Books
by Oliver Jeffers
illustrated by Sam Winston
Candlewick Press, September 2016
review copy (thankyouthankyouthankyou!) provided by the publisher

This is a book you'll want to savor.

Start with the dust jacket. Look at both the front and the back. Feel the texture of the foil stamped parts -- the keyhole and the names of the author and illustrator on the spine of the book in the illustration. Think about the key you see on the back. Study the shadow of the book. Notice the words that make up the shadow. Begin to make predictions about what you'll find when you open the cover.

Open the book. Gasp when you see the way the endpapers are decorated. Check the endpapers in the back -- same thing back there. You're distracted, but take the jacket off and go back to the cover of the book. Feel the cloth binding. Notice the blind stamps on the front cover and the back cover. Nice touch, eh?

Before you go back to the endpapers, read the flaps on the dust jacket and learn the term "typographical landscapes."

Now, the endpapers. Oh, my. Look long enough until you notice that there's something else there besides titles and authors. I won't tell you what. You find it. Think about it as you read the story, then go back to the endpapers in amazement when you have come to the end of the story. Go back and forth between the story and the endpapers. Wow.

Don't ignore the dedication page.

Read the book about twelve times. First, just look at the illustrations. Then, just read the main text. Do that thing I mentioned with the endpapers, and the savoring I started out with.

As soon as possible after your twelve times, read this book to and with children of all ages. Then get started reading all the books in the endpapers, one at a time, for the rest of your long, rich, imagination-filled life.







Bibliography for this review:

How to Read a Picture Book
Terms for parts of a book

Louise and Andie by Kelly Light

I love the first Louise book, Louise Loves Art and our class LOVES the song Emily Arrow created to go along with it.  This book invites lots of talk and thinking around art and creativity and making.

This month, Kelly Light has a new book. Louise and Andie: The Art of Friendship is being released and I am so happy about it. In this story, Louise gets a new neighbor named Andie. She is excited to meet her new neighbor and even more excited to find out that she loves art too. But Louise and Andie have different styles and ideas and that causes some problems.

This book will invite conversations around creativity, friendship and differences. I think I may use it to start a conversation about the power of collaboration and bringing people with different ideas together to create and problem solve. The book is simple and the characters are fabulous which is an amazing combination for opening conversations I think.

Also, not sure if you know about the Ready Set Draw! video series on Youtube but Kelly Light teaches readers how to draw the cat from the Louise books.  I love this take on "How to Draw" videos from KidLitTV!

Still Learning to Read: 100 Things About Me as a Reader Revisited

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016.

In 2010, I wrote a post about a lesson I did that I called 100 Things About Me as a Reader.  

A few years later Scholastic included it in their amazing collection, Open a World of Possible and repurposed it on their blog.  I've always shared lots about myself as a reader and  this week I started by sharing my 100 Things About Me as a Reader list. I shared the one from my blog that I had printed off.  Then I sent the kids off to begin to create their own lists.

Here are some of the lists that they started:

Starting Conversations

When we pulled back together to share, kids had pencils in hand. I let them know that when someone shared a list and it reminded them something that they didn't think to write down yet, that they could add it to their list. So sharing helped us learn about each other and think about things in our reading lives that we may not have thought about before.  I know that this is the first day of a yearlong conversation about who we are as readers and the conversation opened up so many possibilities.

Thinking About Ourselves as Readers

The conversation was casual and fun. When one child shared that she liked to read on her Kindle, another asked her what a kindle was and why she liked it. When a child mentioned her favorite chair for reading, another mentioned a little reading loft area that he had created to have a quiet spot for his books and reading.  My goal in this conversation is for kids to begin thinking about themselves as readers, knowing classmates as readers and beginning to build on one another's conversations.

Readers Grow and Change

I took a turn to share and shared a few things I had added to my list. I wanted my students to know that as an adult reader, I am always changing and growing.  I want them to know that all readers change and grow throughout their lives.  I shared the new things I realized about myself as a reader.  Some things I added to my list on this day were:

• I read on my Kindle and there are certain kinds of books that I read on my Kindle.
• I read the news on my phone daily. I have 2 apps (CNN, Local News) and I subscribe to The Skimm.
• I keep track of my reading on Goodreads.
• I read lots of online reviews when deciding on what to read next.
• I am on the Charlotte Huck Award committee and love reading with that lens.
• I tend to buy more than one copy of books I like.
• I reserve books with my Columbus Library app and pick them up weekly.
• I LOVE to tell others about great books I've read recently.

Then I revisited my old list with my students and told them how much I had changed and that I am constantly revising my list.  

I quickly talked to my kids about the things that I realized had changed about me as a reader and that I knew this list would continue to grow and change:

• I've realized that I love fantasy and some of my favorite books are dystopia fiction and rewrites of fairy tales.
• I'm getting better at enjoying audiobooks and paying attention better. My friend, Teri has helped me find narrators that I enjoy and I know how to choose audiobooks better now so that I can enjoy them on long car trips.
• I get recommendations from friends but I also pay attention to recommendations that I see on Twitter or Goodreads.
• I love to share my favorite books, even though my friends know that my very favorites need to be read quickly--I don't like to be without them for long!
• I have learned to love Graphic Novels and they aren't hard for me once I understood how they worked.

Seeing Patterns: What Did I Notice That Would Help Me in my Teaching?

As a teacher, this is one of my favorite beginning-of-the-year mini lessons. Although it takes a long time, it sets the stage for talk about Reader Identity for the whole year. It sets us up to talk to other readers and to continually reflect on our own reading. It gives kids the message that readers always change and grow and that things that are hard or boring for readers one day might be different for them in a few weeks. 

This time also gives me the opportunity to listen for patterns and to find out what I can learn about the class as a whole.  I saw several patterns in the talk last week. I discovered that:

• Several students had favorite authors whose names they knew. I want to help them build the number of authors they know and love and that now seems like something I can do starting soon.
• Several kids have experience reading on Kindles or tablets.  Others are interested in giving that a try. Once our BYOD policy is explained to parents, I'll be able to support kids reading ebooks.
• A few kids stated that they did not enjoy poetry and others agreed verbally.  That will inform how I introduce poetry this year.
• Graphic novels are popular although most students who loved graphic novels couldn't name authors or series that they enjoyed.  We read Beekle on Friday so I took that as an opportunity to intro Dan Santat and his amazing graphic novel, Sidekicks.
• No one had trouble thinking of a few things about himself/herself. Some years I have a few kids who are hesitant to write anything. This group seems confident in this kind of thinking.
• Most kids enjoy fiction over nonfiction. Very few students mentioned nonfiction books, authors or topics. That will be something I need to address soon.  I'll build in more nonfiction early.
• Many kids had something on their list that implied that they talked to others about books ("I read to my little brother." "I borrow books from my friend." etc.)
• Very few (if any) mentioned any online reading that they do. (Luckily, that was already in the plans for next week-I'll begin introducing reading sites on our classroom website.)

Next Steps

We talk a lot in the book about having other adults come in to talk about their lives as readers. Next week, adults from our school will be starting to come in to talk to our class about their reading lives with us. We have 3 adults coming in this week and a few more after that. Later this fall, I'll invite parents from our classroom to do the same. I'll be listening in to see the kinds of questions the kids ask, the connections they make, and the new ideas that the readers bring into our conversation.  As readers visit, kids will sit on the floor with lists and pencils in hand in case they have something new to add to their list.  

I have found that agency and identity are two of the most important things for readers in grades 3-6.  When a child does not see him/herself as a reader, it is hard to engage and to grow. So I spend a great deal of time throughout the year helping children know themselves as readers and to see the ways they are changing. These first steps are so important.   As Peter Johnston says in his book Choice Words, "Building an identity means coming to see in ourselves the characteristics of particular categories (and roles) of people and developing a sense of what it feels like to be that sort of person and belong in certain social situations."

Even though to an outsider, this "100 Things" list might look like  a "cute" getting to know you activity,  we know that it is far more than that. It is a powerful activity that begins a yearlong conversation around reader identity.

*For more ways to nurture Reader Identity, read Paula Bourque's recent post at Nerdy Book Club.

(You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead or you can join us for a book chat on Facebook starting September 1 by joining our group here.)

Our new edition of Still Learning to Read was released this week!  You can preview it online at Stenhouse!

Quotable Mo

Mo Willems was in town last Friday night. He spoke for free! (Thank you The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and the Wexner Center for the Arts.)

I took this picture of Mo Willems just as he was telling the audience to put away all our devices and just BE THERE for the experience. I followed directions...mostly. I kept my notebook open and my pencil ready.

He told the story of his childhood Charles Schultz fandom. How he loved that the characters were easy to draw (so are his) and how Charlie Brown had it worse than he did. He even wrote and asked Charles Schultz, "Can I have your job when you're dead?"

We heard about his early cartooning jobs. "Anonymous or semi-anonymous failure on a regular basis is a great way to get started."

He was part of a standup comedy duo with a dynamic much like that of Elephant and Piggie. He also taught improv, which was evident especially during the Q/A session.

"If you're the smartest guy in the room, you're in the wrong room."

"I'm constantly failing."

In discussing why he reads primarily nonfiction, he said, "Books are the questions I don't know the answers to." and "I love the truth -- it's so messy."

His goal for his own writing? "I want a book to not look written." and "I need to be terrified to do my best work."

In the Q/A part, a woman asked how he felt about the possibility that people changed up his stories when they read them aloud to their children. He said, "The book is just a suggestion! It's a dialogue! I only bring 49% of the story -- readers bring the rest!"

About Elephant and Piggies names, "Elephant Gerald is my favorite singer." Elephant hides behind his name and his glasses. Gerald is neurotic. "That's a big person word for alive." Piggie is Piggie.

Just about the funniest moment of all was when a kid came to the mic and asked, "Can I have your job when you're dead?"

"Writing is really fun lying."

Which is your favorite book? "My books are like my children, which means some of them grow up to be disappointments."

How do you get your ideas? "I grow them in my notebook."

"My favorite book is my next book."

Then he read aloud his next book, from the F/Gs (F'in' Gs -- "Not as nasty as it sounds, it stands for folded and gathered").

You will want this book. You will want to read it aloud to children. You will never be as funny reading it aloud to children as Mo was reading it aloud to us. (See improv and standup comedy notes above.)

"I don't want to be this generation's Dr. Seuss, I want to be this generation's Mo Willems."

Mission accomplished, Mo.

Poetry Friday -- Any Morning

Photo via Unsplash

Any Morning
by William Stafford

Just lying on the couch and being happy.
Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head.
Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment, it has
so much to do in the world.

People who might judge are mostly asleep; they can't
monitor you all the time, and sometimes they forget.
When dawn flows over the hedge you can
get up and act busy.

Little corners like this, pieces of Heaven
left lying around, can be picked up and saved.
People won't even see that you have them,
they are so light and easy to hide.

Later in the day you can act like the others.
You can shake your head. You can frown.

I'm looking forward to a morning like this. Maybe tomorrow. Add in a trip around the Poetry Friday roundup, and you've got another little piece of Heaven to "be picked up and saved."

Speaking of the roundup, Dori is our hostess this week at Dori Reads.

Still Learning to Read: Filling Book Bins on the First Day of School

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016.

Reading Workshop is one of the first things I want to have up and going by the end of the first week of school.  We get started with Reading Workshop on the first day of school and I want every child to have books for independent reading time. I want them to know right away that they own their reading.  

Our Reading Workshop is in the afternoon, so sometime before that time, we'll build our book bins.  I have empty 24 book bins set up in a few places around the room. (I purposely do not put them all in the same area to help with traffic.)  These bins are waiting to be filled!

I make sure that the first day of school is fun, slow and happy.  I want kids to have time to know the room, know each other and play a bit to transition into the routine. So for the first few days of school we have about an hour to explore various things in the classroom--Legos, Math Games, Straws and Connectors, Apps on iPads, Pixie on Laptops, etc.  During this exploration time, I meet with 3-5 kids at a time at a table to build book bins.  Each child finds a book bin in the room that they'd like to claim for their own.  We label it with a sticky note--knowing that our photo will be printed to label it later in the week.

Then we do a quick tour of the library--just to get the basics--picture books, series books, nonfiction, graphic novels, author baskets, etc  Kids often see a familiar book to add into their bins, others seem to have a specific book in mind that they'd like to read. Still others have no idea where to begin when it comes to choosing a book to read.

I take time with each group of children, pointing out books, asking about old favorites and what they read in the summer, suggesting titles. I suggest that kids have a variety of books in their bins--short books, long books, fiction, nonfiction, familiar books, new authors, etc.  My hope is that each child has 3-4 books in their book bin before our first Reading Workshop.  I'll take a picture of the child and their books to keep as our first piece of assessment.

This is a great time for me to listen in. It is my first conversation with individual readers and their first time talking to me about books. It is an important time. I know that every child will not have the right books in their bins--that is all part of the process.  My big goal is for them to know that they choose the books--that they are in charge of their own reading and that I will support them along the way.

As the week goes on, we'll have lots of reflection about our book choices. Many of our share sessions during those first few weeks of school will be about the books they are choosing. We'll reflect on questions like:

Did you have enough books to keep you reading the whole time?

Which book had you hooked?

Which book didn't seem right for your right now?

What kind of book did you wish you had in your bin today?

Did you find yourself sticking with one book or moving between books?

Is there a new book or author you discovered today that you are excited about?

Did anyone read a new book by a familiar author?

My rule for the independent reading portion of the Reading Workshop those first few days is that everyone Stays Quiet and Stays Put. It sounds a bit harsh but it starts as only a 10-15 minute time period. I want kids to feel what it is like to find a spot with books. I want them to determine how many books they might need. I want them to get used to not getting up and down for drinks or restroom breaks or even new books during this time. (Later I loosen up but these first few days are important to establish a routine that we can build on.

This means that kids can trade out books when they arrive in the morning. I'll also have many mini lessons around book choice and they'll be able to switch out books between the mini lesson and independent reading time. I'll confer with kids during this time to help them refill their book bins.  

I'll also be keeping an eye on kids who are comfortable with the books they chose.  I'll watch their engagement and behaviors with the books they have.  I'll ask them how it is going? I'll do a lot of observations during this time.

Throughout the year, the student book bins remain critical. Kids have their daily reading in these bins but they also have books they hope to read next. The book bin becomes a visual reminder of each child's current life as a reader.  After the first few weeks, readers change out their book bins whenever needed. After the first few weeks of learning what a 30 minute independent reading period feels like, reflecting on which books keep us engaged, meeting with me about the books in their bins and mini lessons around book choice, kids choose books very naturally. The lessons on book choice are critical and the book bin helps so much with this learning.

(You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead or you can join us for a book chat on Facebook starting September 1 by joining our group here.)

Our new edition of Still Learning to Read will be released on August 15 but you can preview the entire book online at Stenhouse!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Go to Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers

for the It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Round-Up!

Much of the reading I did was catching up on the amazing #PB10for10 booklists.  WOW! Cathy and Mandy have created quite an amazing event. Even though I did not create a list this year, I have been reading so many lists. I have been amazed at the ideas some people had for organizing. And of course, I've discovered new books!  No matter how much I try to keep up with children's books, there are always so many that I don't know.  A good problem to have for sure!  If you have not followed the #PB10for10 hashtag or visited their Google Community, you might want to block off a day or two to check it out!

I haven't done a ton of reading this week. I've done a lot of getting-ready-for-school stuff!  But I found 2 books that I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE! It is not often that I find a book that is perfect for a transitional reader AND might make a good read aloud. Well, this year I found 2 amazing books for 3rd graders and I am so excited about adding them to our classroom library. These book might work for primary grades and I think because of what the visuals have to offer, they would be popular in 4th and 5th grade classrooms too.

Lucy by Randy Cecil is a sweet story about a dog, a girl and her father. Lucy is a small, homeless dog who the little girl feeds every day. This is a sweet story with lots going on and one that would make a good read aloud with a document camera.  Each page has a bit of text and a black and white illustration.  There is lots to see in the illustrations. There is also a lot to think about as to how the storylines work together.  I loved falling in love with this book and can't wait to share it with my students.

Juana and Lucas by Juana Medina is another book that will be released in September.  Another perfect book for 3rd graders! And I read somewhere that it is the first in a series. WOOOHOOO!  Juana lives in Columbia and speaks Spanish.  Lucas, her dog is her best friend.  When Juana has to learn English in school, she is not happy. But she works hard to be successful. Juana is a great new character. The pages are filled with colorful illustrations, some fun changes in font and some amusing diagrams like the one below. 

This is a fantastic new series that is PERFECT for 3rd graders!!

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Poetry Friday -- Beginning...again

Photo by Mary Lee Hahn

A Teacher Turns the Calendar Page From July to August

It's the same feeling you get

just after you've nudged the sled 

over the shoulder 

of the hill.

Movement becomes momentum

and quickly shifts 

to catapulting and careening.

You relinquish control

and hold on 

for the ride.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

Next week is the official start of school in our district -- teachers on Monday, students on Wednesday.

And so we begin...again.

Julianne has the roundup at To Read To Write To Be.