Six Alternatives to Reading Logs

Six Alternatives to Reading Logs  by Shaelynn Farnsworth

Ready to spice up and excite students about reading? Here are 6 alternatives to reading logs that might do just that.

1.                   1.  BookSnaps – Have your students share what they are reading on Seesaw or Canvas. Students can snap              a picture of the books they read and annotate about them then post on Seesaw or Canvas.

 2.  Book Blogs – Have students read and share what they read with a global audience. Book Blogs can 

      help promote reading and writing using a digital resource.

 3.  Vlogs – Along with Book Blogs, students can create Vlogs and share what they read. Through short 

      videos, a student’s demonstration of understanding and progress can be clearly illustrated.

        4.  Passage, Connection, Illustration – Make reading social again with PCI! Have students choose a 

             powerful passage from a book that caught their attention, move them or made them wonder. Next, 

             have them think about a connection from that part then have them explain how they personally 

             connected to the text, how it reminded them of something, or how it was similar to another text. 

             Finally, have the students draw or create a picture or infographic that represents this book.

         5. Give Me 5 – Have students choose 5 quotes from the book that best illustrated the author’s message, 

              insight into a character, or the conceptual understanding. These quotes will lead to reflection and 

              discussion in the classroom.

         6. Concept Mapping –Give students the opportunity to make their thinking visible. Concept Mapping 

              allows readers to connect characters and events to larger concepts by synthesizing, evaluating, and 

              organizing their thought. This activity moves students past the surface-level comprehension to 

              digging deeper into text.

Lifelong readers are not made my minute tracking; lifelong readers are cultivated through social experiences with the stories they read!

On Demand Writing Has a Purpose

I wanted to share Mindy Hoffar’s ideas about “On Demands” with you. She reaffirms the importance of using them to learn what your students are already doing in their writing and to plan instruction that will move them forward.                                                                                                                                         

I don’t know if you have ever watched a group of six-year old children play soccer for the first time, but it’s a little like watching bees swarm around the hive. Everywhere the soccer ball goes, the kids swarm to the ball falling all over each other trying to get to it. And here’s what we know. With the help of a coach and lots of practice learning the skills of soccer, these youngsters will learn to play the game, but for that first time no one expects them to know what to do. It’s just a joy to see WHAT they can do!

As teachers, we need to have that same attitude about giving pre-writes or “on demand” writing when we begin a new unit of study in writing. Time is a legitimate concern, but what do we lose if we choose to skip the prompt? Last year around February I had the FUN of being in a kindergarten class when they began a unit of study on “how to” writing. They were doing the “on demand” writing prompt that day. The only instruction given to them before they began writing was to show them a big book that was a “how to” text.  They were told that they were now going to write books that teach people how to do things. They were asked to think of something they could teach someone how to do and then they were given a blank book. Off they went to write!

Out of 20 kids, some kids actually wrote “how to” books. Some wrote personal stories (which is what they had just finished learning) about a time when they learned how to do something, and some just wrote stories that were not related to “How to” writing at all. It was interesting to see that some writers used transitions words that signal this kind of writing. We could see which students got to work right away, which took some time but then got going, and which wrote very little or drew nothing.

This was wonderful information for the teacher to begin the new unit: Who might need more help with structure of text, who might need help getting started, who might need guidance on elaboration since they already had the structure down. So even though we may fear that a pre-writing prompt seems like a waste of time, it isn’t. And the best part of the pre-writing prompt is that we can save it. When we finish the unit, the students can do a post unit prompt or use their current writing in the genre to compare how their writing has grown. Not only can the teacher assess growth at the end of the study, but the young writers can do that as well. They love comparing the two writings to see how much more they know.

So, just like when we watch young inexperienced soccer players, we need to stop worrying about what our writers don’t know yet and instead be surprised and delighted by what they do know. 

Poems to Use With Notice and Note

This week on the Notice and Note Book Club found on Facebook, Kylene Beers asked teachers to post some of their favorite poems they use with the Signposts. Here are some of the favorites. These come directly from other teachers and can be found online.

·         “Children’s Rhymes” by Langston Hughes ends in an important and powerful Tough Question as the narrator wonders if liberty and justice are truly for all.

·         Another poem by Langston Hughes, “I, Too” illustrates a Contrast and Contradiction. The narrator, a black person, is sent into the kitchen to eat while the white people gather around the table. So, one group of Americans are treated one way while another are treated another. Stopping to ask, “Why would this person be treated this way?” is critical.

·         And Hughes’s “Mother to Son” is nothing but Words of the Wiser.

·         At a lighter level, Judith Viorst’s “Some Things Don’t Make Any Sense at All” ends with a Tough Question as the child wonders why if he’s so perfect his mom is having another baby.

·         Maya Angelou’s “Still, I Rise” offers examples of Tough Questions and Again and Again. And her “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” offers an extended example of Contrasts and Contradictions.

·         “Forgive My Guilt” by Robert Coffin offers an example of a Memory Moment as the narrator, an adult, reflects on a moment he spent as a boy.

·         “Elana” by Pat Mora begins with a Memory Moment and then offers a wonderful Contrast and Contradiction as a mom decides to learn to speak English.

·         Her poem “Sonrisas” is an amazing poem of Contrasts and Contradictions. That one also offers powerful Again and Again lines as “coffee” and “smiles” are both used—in very different ways—in both stanzas. I like using this poem with kids because this is a great example of Again and Again that is also Contrasts and Contradictions.

·         Shel Silverstein’s “Listen to the Mustn’ts” offers children a great look at Contrasts and Contradictions. When I shared this with third graders, they immediately began talking about “why would some people act this way” meaning always telling kids what they can’t do. It was an amazing conversation.

·         “Morgan’s Curse” by Silverstein offers Tough Questions.

A LOT of the Shel Silverstein poems are all about Aha Moments, though the character doesn’t say “I realize” or “I understand.” They are moments (usually the last line) in which the character figures out something. For instance, in “I cannot go to school today” the little girl gives a long list illnesses she is feeling and therefore must stay in bed and not go to school. In the last line, she realizes it is Saturday and runs out to play. It’s a perfect Aha Moment! In the same way, Viorst’s “Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog” is humorous and one of the best examples of an Aha Moments that the mother is about to have that I’ve seen!

A Pre-Reading Strategy: Tea Party by Kylene Beers

This strategy gets students to consider parts of a text before reading it. The teacher takes actual phrases from the text about to be read, and writes one on each index card to hand out to each student. Several students can have the same phrase. When students receive their cards, they walk around the classroom, share their cards, listen to others, and discuss how the cards might be connected and make inferences as to what the text might be about. After this, they get into smaller groups to discuss what they’ve learned from the cards and what they think are possibilities for setting, characters, and problems in the text. We need to remind dependent readers that comprehension begins before they read a text. It is not simply a set of comprehension questions that one completes after the reading is done. The meaning-making needs to occur even before they start the text.

What Doesn't Work: Literacy Practices We Should Abandon

JUNE 3, 2016

By Nell Duke

The number one concern that I hear from educators is lack of time, particularly lack of instructional time with students. It's not surprising that we feel a press for time. Our expectations for students have increased dramatically, but our actual class time with students has not. Although we can't entirely solve the time problem, we can mitigate it by carefully analyzing our use of class time, looking for what Beth Brinkerhoff and Alysia Roehrig (2014) call "time wasters."

Consider the example of calendar time. In many U.S. early elementary classrooms, this practice eats up 15-20 minutes daily, often in a coveted early-morning slot when students are fresh and attentive. Some calendar time activities may be worthwhile. For example, teachers might use this time for important teaching around grouping and place value. But other activities are questionable at best. For example, is the following routine still effective if it's already February and your students still don't know:

Yesterday was _______.
Today is _______.
Tomorrow will be _______,

Does dressing a teddy bear for the weather each day make optimal use of instructional time? Some teachers respond, "But we love our teddy bear, and it only takes a few minutes!" But three minutes a day for 180 days adds up to nine hours. Children would also love engineering design projects, deep discussions of texts they've read, or math games.

5 Less-Than-Optimal Practices

To help us analyze and maximize use of instructional time, here are five common literacy practices in U.S. schools that research suggests are not optimal use of instructional time:

1. "Look Up the List" Vocabulary Instruction

Students are given a list of words to look up in the dictionary. They write the definition and perhaps a sentence that uses the word. What's the problem?

We have long known that this practice doesn't build vocabulary as well as techniques that actively engage students in discussing and relating new words to known words, for example through semantic mapping (Bos & Anders, 1990). As Charlene Cobb and Camille Blachowicz (2014) document, research has revealed so many effective techniques for teaching vocabulary that a big challenge now is deciding among them.

2. Giving Students Prizes for Reading

From March is Reading Month to year-long reading incentive programs, it's common practice in the U.S. to give students prizes (such as stickers, bracelets, and fast food coupons) for reading. What's the problem?

Unless these prizes are directly related to reading (e.g., books), this practice actually makes students less likely to choose reading as an activity in the future (Marinak & Gambrell, 2008). It actually undermines reading motivation. Opportunities to interact with peers around books, teacher "book blessings," special places to read, and many other strategies are much more likely to foster long-term reading motivation (Marinak & Gambrell, 2016).

3. Weekly Spelling Tests

Generally, all students in a class receive a single list of words on Monday and are expected to study the words for a test on Friday. Distribution of the words, in-class study time, and the test itself use class time. What’s the problem?

You've all seen it -- students who got the words right on Friday misspell those same words in their writing the following Monday! Research suggests that the whole-class weekly spelling test is much less effective than an approach in which different students have different sets of words depending on their stage of spelling development, and emphasis is placed on analyzing and using the words rather than taking a test on them (see Palmer & Invernizzi, 2015 for a review).

4. Unsupported Independent Reading

DEAR (Drop Everything and Read), SSR (Sustained Silent Reading), and similar approaches provide a block of time in which the teacher and students read books of their choice independently. Sounds like a great idea, right?

Studies have found that this doesn't actually foster reading achievement. To make independent reading worthy of class time, it must include instruction and coaching from the teacher on text selection and reading strategies, feedback to students on their reading, and text discussion or other post-reading response activities (for example, Kamil, 2008; Reutzel, Fawson, & Smith, 2008; see Miller & Moss, 2013 for extensive guidance on supporting independent reading).

5. Taking Away Recess as Punishment

What is this doing on a list of literacy practices unworthy of instructional time? Well, taking away recess as a punishment likely reduces students' ability to benefit from literacy instruction. How?

There is a considerable body of research linking physical activity to academic learning. For example, one action research study found that recess breaks before or after academic lessons led to students being more on task (Fagerstrom & Mahoney, 2006). Students with ADHD experience reduced symptoms when they engage in physical exercise (Pontifex et al., 2012) -- ironic given that students with ADHD are probably among the most likely to have their recess taken away. There are alternatives to taking away recess that are much more effective and don't run the risk of reducing students' attention to important literacy instruction (Cassetta & Sawyer, 2013).

Measure of Success

Whether or not you engage in these specific activities, they provide a sense that there are opportunities to make better use of instructional time in U.S. schools. I encourage you to scrutinize your use of instructional time minute by minute. If a practice is used because we've always done it that way or because parents expect it, it's especially worthy of a hard look. At the same time, if a practice consistently gets results in an efficient and engaging way, protect it at all costs. Together we can rid U.S. classrooms of what does notwork.

Notes

• Bos, C.S. & Anders, P.L. (1990). "Effects of interactive vocabulary instruction on the vocabulary learning and reading comprehension of junior-high learning-disabled students." Learning Disability Quarterly, 13, pp.31-42.
• Brinkerhoff, E.H. & Roehrig, A.D. (2014). No more sharpening pencils during work time and other time wasters. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Cassetta, G. & Sawyer, B. (2013). No more taking away recess and other problematic discipline practices. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Cobb, C. & Blachowicz, C. (2014). No more "look up the list" vocabulary instruction. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Fagerstrom, T. & Mahoney, K. (2006). "Give me a break! Can strategic recess scheduling increase on-task behaviour for first graders?" Ontario Action Researcher, 9(2).
• Kamil, M.L. (2008). "How to get recreational reading to increase reading achievement." In 57th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, pp.31-40. Oak Creek, WI: National Reading Conference.
• Marinak, B.A. & Gambrell, L. (2016). No more reading for junk: Best practices for motivating readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Miller, D. & Moss, B. (2013). No more independent reading without support. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Palmer, J.L. & Invernizzi, M. (2015). No more spelling and phonics worksheets. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Pontifex, M.B., Saliba, B.J., Raine, L.B., Picchietti, D.L., & Hillman, C.H. (2012). "Exercise improves behavioral, neurocognitive, and scholastic performance in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder." The Journal of Pediatrics, 162(3), pp.543-551.
• Reutzel, D.R., Fawson, P., & Smith, J. (2008). "Reconsidering silent sustained reading: An exploratory study of scaffolded silent reading." Journal of Educational Research, 102, pp.37–50.

Modeling Writing

How do we teach children to become better writers? Model. Model with your writing, student writing, writing from other classrooms, models from Lucy Calkins books… Just Model.

Maybe you’re a great writer, but you are uncertain how to show your students. Maybe you’re uncomfortable because you don’t feel you learned to be a good writer. Believe it or not, you know more than your kids and modeling is the best way to teach your students.

It’s unfair to ask kids to do something that hasn’t been demonstrated for them.

Writers are the best writing teachers. The only way to become better at something is to practice. It’s important to practice what you preach. If you want your students to publish one writing piece a month, then consider publishing one of your own every month. Model your writing in front of your students, using your own writer’s notebook. Let them know what you have written, want to add next, and will be working on before the next writing lesson.

Student models are also important. Have students share their writing daily. Don’t just ask kids to share, ask for students to share things that fit the lesson or models a technique they have learned. When items like this are shared, other students in the class will strive to meet the model.

Sometimes you need to look other places to find student models. Don’t be afraid to ask other teachers to share student writing that demonstrates a skill you are working toward. There are also student exemplars in the Lucy Calkins writing units.

Ask your coach if you need help getting started!

Best Practices for 

Displaying Print in Your Classroom

Creating effective anchor charts  with your students and incorporating them into daily instruction is very powerful.  Using authentic print is definitely meaningful to the children. It is exciting to watch students learn to use the anchor charts to develop and extend their literacy and mathematical practices. 

Examples of Commercial Print

Examples of Authentic Anchor Charts

“When information is presented only in spoken form, 10 percent is recalled after seventy-two hours.  Add visuals and 65 percent is recalled in that same time period. (Medina, 2008)”      Brain Rules    

Does the print displayed in your classroom on charts and displays:

• build a sense of individual and group ownership over the classroom?

• model teacher and student handwriting versus store bought commercial print?

• acknowledge and celebrate every child’s effort?

• have a meaningful connection to current learning?

• serve as a teaching tool for students to utilize during their independent work?

• highlight authentic reading and writing tasks and strategies- those that are purposeful and meaningful in real life?

• generate excitement about learning?

Yes? No? Sometimes?

Not sure how to accomplish this?

Directions: Click the link by The Children's Literacy Initiative below and check the strategies under the following effective practices that you'd like to implement in your classroom.

Plan how and when you will implement these strategies with a colleague or coach.

https://www.cli.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Best-Practices-for-Displaying-Print-in-My-Classroom.pdf