Tuesday, July 22, 2014

I'm back...

An Announcement...

I have yet to officially announce that I have decided to return to the world of Literacy Collaborative. As you may or may not remember, my district suffered from HUGE budget cuts last school year and with those cuts the majority of LC coaches lost their positions. It also caused the model of a coach to change drastically with only 2 primary LC's coaching 4 elementary schools. They would no longer be in a classroom for 2 1/2 hours a day and PD would only be offered (primarily) after school with limited participants due to many limiting factors. With all of this happening you are probably wondering...what about intermediate? Well, it fell to the back burner. Without a coach, the majority of teachers did what they felt comfortable doing. Some tried their best implementing what they knew or what they thought they knew, while others abandoned best practices and did what was easiest for them. By no means am I pointing fingers....no that's not it at all. I want people to understand the importance of having a coach. A coach helps to push you to do your best, be reflective, think about best practices, think about different possibilities, think about your students individually and what they need, help to think of ways to improve student achievement, provide you with the newest research and resources, and the list goes on. So you can only imagine what was happening to 3-5.

It frustrated me that people were saying that 3-5 teachers were "doing" LC without a coach. Well, if they fully understood LC, they would know that it is NOT something that you just DO. It is a model of best practices supported by research. The model has to include a coach and professional development...both of which were now nonexistent. So...no, LC was not happening.

I spent a great deal of time deciding what to do. I had endless conversations with my fellow coaches, colleagues, my mother, boyfriend, principals, superintendents, and friends. I knew that something had to change. Someone had to step up. I knew that many of my fellow coaches didn't want to do it and I fully understood their reasons, as many of them were my cons, as well. I was not happy with the validity of the program. A coach needs to practice their craft. While, I can model for teachers, to me it's not the same. And 4 schools? How would this work? In the end,  I've decided I have to do what I can and hopefully it will help and make a difference.




With all of this being said...I think that it is time to announce that for the 2014-15 school year, I will be the Intermediate Literacy Collaborative Coach (3-5) for my district (4 elementary schools).




Here is our school's webpage...a work in progress:
http://www.vcsd.k12.ny.us/Page/9293

For more information about LC visit:

http://www.literacycollaborative.org/index.php

Monday, July 21, 2014

Summer Reading!

Good Morning! I was just thinking about the books that I am planning to read this summer and it got me thinking. What are your child(ren) reading this summer? I know I've blogged about this before (last summer). However, being that I've taught struggling readers for six years now, I can tell you that it is imperative that they read over the summer. Kids that don't read over the summer vacation can lose from 1/2 a year to a full year  of achievement. Think of it as a sport...how do you get better at basketball, football, etc? PRACTICE. And if you don't practice, you're rusty. The same thing happens with reading.

What can you do as a parent? Make reading a priority, NOT a chore!

  • Set aside a designated time for reading
  • Find fun, comfy places to read
  • Make reading a family activity
  • Make sure your kids see that you read and enjoy it
  • Read with your child
  • Talk about their reading, ask questions, have a conversation about their reading
  • Share the book
  • Start a book club
  • Take a trip to your local library (they often have fun events planned)
  • Take a trip to your local bookstore
  • Read anything! Songs, poems, digital books, magazines, comics, recipes, menus, etc.
  • Try Reader's Theater
  • Play reading games
  • Visit reading websites and apps 
Once reading becomes a part of your family's every day events...you will create a ❤ for reading and it will no longer be viewed as something your kids have to do and instead will be what they WANT to do.




Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Assessment to Drive Instruction



Typically when we think of assessment, we moan and sigh because we don't want to give our students another meaningless test. Especially when the data is not helpful or doesn't give us any insight into our students. Instead, we must use meaningful assessment tools to help us drive our instruction to meet the needs of our students.



At our conference day this past May, we presented the 6+ 1 Writing Traits from the work of Ruth Culham. Through the use of assessment, we can determine the traits in which we need to focus our instruction to help meet the NEEDS of our students!

Assessment helps to...
  • create a shared vocabulary
  • determine what "good" writing looks like
  • assess with consistency and accuracy
  • provides meaningful feedback
  • students begin to be self-evaluators
  • aligns assessments with instruction and writers' needs 
                                                                                                                (Culham, 13)

In September, give your students the 6 Traits Writing Assessment (Spandel).  Score each student in each trait using the 6 Trait Rubric (In our district we have opted to use our own district rubric that is similar to the 6 traits).  Look for commonalities. In what area do the majority of your students need instruction? Start there! This will help determine your writing minilessons for September. Then, you can begin creating small guided writing groups and individual conferences around the other areas you notice.

Keep your data! Make a spreadsheet for each trait. This will help to guide your instruction throughout the school year. 

Things to keep in mind:
  • Traits can spiral
  • You can teach specific traits for different genres
  • You don't have to focus on all the traits at once 

Assessment should be meaningful, informative, and worthwhile.

Have you tried teaching the 6 Traits in your classroom? How has assessment helped you in Writer's Workshop?

-Launa Kruithof

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Dr. Seuss' Birthday

 Celebrating Dr. Seuss



    How are you celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday with your students?  Even though March 2nd is on Sunday this year, you can still celebrate with your students. In the intermediate classroom you can incorporate one of my favorite biographies, The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss, as a read aloud. Your students will learn about the many different obstacles Ted Geisel overcame to become one of the most famous authors for children. Note: The timeline in the back of the book is highly informative and your students will love to hear about the many accomplishments of this author!


You could also do an author study with Dr. Seuss! Read aloud many of his books and keep a classroom list of things that you notice about the author's style. Students can jot down this down in their writer's notebook in case they would like to try some of his "style" in their writing. In writer's workshop, writers can then try out his style in their writing. They can write their own short story, poem, or add onto one of his stories. What would happen next if the story were to continue? Don't forget to encourage and incorporate illustrations! Dr. Seuss is well known for his unique characters in his texts. The ideas are endless! Remember have fun with it and try to make it authentic! Throw out the worksheets!


Here are some other websites that you may be interested in visiting:

http://www.seussville.com/
http://www.biography.com/people/dr-seuss-9479638
http://drseussart.com/

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Accountability in Writer's Workshop




When you are setting up your room for your literacy framework, there are many things that you want to keep in mind. It is essential that you have a designated place for materials and supplies that your students are able to access. This will help your students become more independent in that they aren't always asking you for things...they know where to find them. Of course, in the beginning of the year you will want to have many management minilessons to help ensure that they understand routine.

How you want to organize things is up to you...just remember child friendly organization is the key. Here are some suggestions of what you will want to include in this area of your room:
  • pencils
  • pencil sharpener electric and a few hand held for when it needs to be "silent" in the room
  • erasers
  • highlighters
  • red pens (editing)
  • blue pens (revision)
  • stapler and staples
  • staple remover
  • paper clips
  • tape dispenser and tape
  • stamp and stamp pad
  • discovery draft paper (yellow)
  • revision paper (blue)
  • final draft paper (white)
  • various different types of publishing paper
  • sticky notes-  A LOT OF THEM!
  • rubrics 
  • graphic organizers
  • scissors
  • glue sticks
  • dictionaries
  • thesauruses
  • **Also, I like to have a file holder box where there is a hanging folder for each student where they put their drafts after they have made it to the final draft and/or publishing stage. Students are able to take their work home once it has been graded, so that parents can see their work; however, they are to return it, so that they can see the progress that they make as a writer throughout the school year. 
If you can think of any other supplies that would be beneficial to your room and your students, feel free to add them to this list. 



Something else that MUST be included in this area is a WRITING PROCESS BOARD. This is essential for accountability purposes and to help students better understand the steps in the process. The Writing Process that I adopted in my room was from Fountas and Pinnell:
Explore, Discovery Draft, Revise, Edit, Final Draft Conference, Final Draft, and Publish. 

In the past, I took over my chalkboard (something that I no longer use) to display the process. I made sure to explain each step in the process on the board, so that my writers have a clear visual in case they forget what a certain step means. I also included what materials (i.e. type of paper and writing instrument they should be using). Under the "Editing" and "Revision" steps, there is a list of the editing & revision symbols that they should be using (they have this in their writing folder, too).

Now, the accountability part. Students are taught in the beginning of the year that it is their job to move their name (laminated and magnetic- not shown in pictures) through the writing process. This also helps me to see a quick visual of where the majority of my writers are, who is ready for a conference, and who needs extra support.




There are many other ways to hold your writers accountable during the writing workshop. Here are some suggestions and I may explore with you more later:
  • Writer's Notebook
  • Minilessons
  • Writing conferences
  • Guided writing groups
  • Shares
  • Rubrics
  • "What I Learned as a Writer Today" 
  • "List of Writing Projects (with start and completion dates)
Let me know if you have any questions/concerns or anything you would like me to discuss more...

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Professional Resources





Are you looking for a quick and beneficial professional read that you can actually implement in your daily routine? I cannot express enough how much I loved reading Aimee Buckner's new book, Nonfiction Notebooks. This book is essential for your Writer's Workshop. It gives you great lessons and strategies to help you incorporate nonfiction writing into your workshop. This is very important to think about since the Common Core wants more nonfiction implemented. Your students may know how to read nonfiction since you have been adding more to your reading workshop, but can they write in the genre and for different purposes? This type of writing is imperative for our students as the majority of the reading and writing they will be doing as adults is nonfiction.

As I was reading Aimee's text, I was happy to know that I have in fact done some of the things that she has suggested in my own work with nonfiction. I quickly patted myself on the back a few times and said, "Hey, see you know what you're doing!" Other times I was thinking, "Hmm...now why didn't I think of that?"

I don't want to give away any of Aimee's strategies because I do feel as though her book is worth the money. But, I have to say, if you are familiar with the "Heart Map" to use in your poetry launch, you'd love to hear how she uses something similar with nonfiction and brainstorming. I also really enjoyed reading on how she had her students research using sticky notes (a strategy we are all familiar with) but then the mini lessons she did to have her students decide if the information was relevant to their angle. Brilliant!

Pick up Aimee Buckner's book and her others at Barnes and Noble or Amazon!
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nonfiction-notebooks-aimee-buckner/1116261335?ean=9781571109521

http://www.amazon.com/Nonfiction-Notebooks-Strategies-Informational-Writing/dp/1571109528/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388880096&sr=1-1&keywords=nonfiction+notebooks

Also, check out some of her other books:
Notebook Know-How and Notebook Connections (this is on my desk at work...wish I brought it home over break!)