Writing and State Assessments

We recently hosted a two-day session with Lois Easton on Powerful Designs for Professional Learning. She is one of my favorite consultants to bring in as she really adapts to meet the needs of the group and has so much knowledge that she can do it on the fly!!

We engaged in a protocol that I use pretty regularly - the Tuning Protocol. I was in a group where a very brave local teacher brought in student work to share. Specifically, reader response journals. She wanted feedback on how she could comments in their journals to promote deeper thinking and writing beyond retell. As an aside - she wondered whether she should do something differently to promote the skills that might be needed on the NYS English Language Arts assessment.

These journals were amazing!! Students were to reflect upon what they had read each night and mark how long they had read (20 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.). The teacher provided a list of open ended prompts in the beginning of the notebook and also asked for a drawing/quick sketch page as she believed that the pictures would help to generate details in the writing (I agree!). And in several of these journals - I could really see the growth of some reluctant readers/writers over time. Isn't that the best part of having kids keep journals?

As we started to give feedback, the members of our group who came from a local charter school began to hone in on the piece of her questions about state assessments. They made some suggestions that I think were really good: practice some timed writing so that students can gauge how long they write and the quality they produce, exchange journals with students to practice editing passages. But then, the conversation turned to prompts. "Provide the students with writing prompts that more closely mirror the state assessment" was the advice.

This was where I really began to struggle. I don't enjoy prompt writing but recognize the need (due to assessments) that we need to practice them. But as I listened to the teachers talk, I thought about all the creativity and voice we had seen in the student journals. And in my heart - I knew that we would lose that if we forced prompt writing at this juncture. The reading the students were doing and the reflection afterwards would become another routine in a class where assessment is a four-letter word and soon, it would no longer be enjoyable for anyone: student or teacher.

So I try to practice caution when it comes to writing - I love to write and I want students to love to write. It isn't punishment and they should always have an outlet to be creative and give their opinions - in short, stretch their wings. We can't always make it be prompt or assessment driven or the heart of the writing will disappear. As Susan Ohanian said (with apologies to Carl Sandberg):

"Ordering a child to write a CTB/McGraw-Hill writing prompt in the narrative, informative, or persuasive mode is like commanding a pregnant woman to give birth to a red-headed child."

Visual Writing

It's April - it's freezing - and my furnace broke!

Normally I would be a bit more upset but since my beloved Sabres begin their quest for Lord Stanley's Cup today and I begin my quest for peace, quiet and a tan on Sunday - things could be worse!!

So I am catching up on some Bloglines and have lost myself creating a Scrapblog. This free site allows you to take pictures and create virtual scrapbooks (complete with stickers and voice bubbles) that can be posted online. My sample page using two of the books I have mentioned on this blog is below.



The site is pretty simple to use and it made me think about students who need to visually map out a story before they write. Imagine them taking photos from their own collection or from Flickr and using the scrapbook pages to create a storyboard! Then sharing that story board and getting comments on it!! It would teach them organization and voice!! They would have fun!! They would still be writing!!

iPod Grammar

I've been investigating the use of podcasts lately and was thrilled to stumble across the Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, again via Choice Literacy.

Now - grammar is not my forte, and in all honesty, neither is auditory learning. I found that I needed to write as Grammar Girl was talking in order to see the grammar piece (I was listening to a lesson on run-on sentences.) But -the tone of her voice was friendly and easy to listen to, as was the content. I could see this being a nice library for mini-lessons or an opener for class. (Oh! And I found out at the end that a transcript of the podcast is available!!)

But more than that....I think it is a great model for the podcasts that some of the great writing teachers I work with could write.

Check out Grammar Girl - free from iTunes!!

(Chocolate comma shown above available at Chocolate Lady Treats!!)

Let Go of the Rice!!

I have a million posts running around in my head - but not a one has made it to my blog. Some are on scraps of paper, others just notes jotted in the margins of what I have read. I have tried to set up a schedule for blog writing but somehow my own internal deadlines have not helped.


I've learned recently, through some team building exercises, that I am a "Gold" - practical, sensible, organized, dependable. Not a news flash to those who know me for more than an hour. But something I have come recently to doubt about myself. These are my strengths - I should not apologize for them, nor should they be my crutch. It is me and I must know it and embrace it. Orange - risk taking - was my lowest color.



I think this internal color spectrum represents what prohibits me from writing - or at least writing as often as I would like. I do like to take sensible risks - and I certainly have opinions about writing. But I use this blog with my workshops and in those cases my role is different. I am a facilitator, a trainer, a guide on the side. Members of my organization read this blog on occaision - do I need to be mindful of what I say? Where do my provocative questions fall?


My weekly email from Choice Literacy arrived and it has me thinking about this quandry. Brenda Power writes about a metaphor from one of my writing mentors, Ralph Fletcher:

"If you're scrambling to find time for what needs to be done, consider
the story of the monkey's hand. Writer Ralph Fletcher uses a wonderful
metaphor to describe how we get trapped in certain ways of working or
thinking. In South America, monkeys are caught by an ingenious means. The
traps used to capture them are filled with rice. In order to get the rice,
the monkey places her hand through a small opening in the box. Once she
grasps the rice, her hand can no longer fit through the opening. She is
trapped, because she doesn't think to let go of some of the rice so that she
can free her hand...

The monkey holds on because what's in her hand has value. But if you
free up just a bit of your time by giving away something of value, you may
discover new uses for your time, or new ways of thinking about your time, that
are even more valuable."

I've always had a strange affinity for monkey analogies - just ask my students! - but this one in particular has hit home. I think you'll be seeing some changes around this blog - ones that I hope of are of value. Not sure what they are quite yet - but Easter seems to have brought about a renewal in me as a writer and an educator. So, dear readers, hold on!!

Vacation Reading

Spring Break is upon many of us - if not this week, then next. For me - in addition to seeking sun and a beach, break has been about a suitcase full of books to read. It seems to be the only time I have to tune out work and lose myself in a good book anymore!!

So I thought I would share a book that I just finished and won't be accompanying me on my trip to Aruba - but it might be one you want with you. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield has been the first book in a long time that I could lose myself in. A ghost story, a mystery, a riddle wrapped in an enigma.....this book was fantastic!!

It starts with a young bookseller's daughter who has been lost in books her entire life - and has been living in the shadow of a twin who died when she was young, but who has never been spoken about by the family. She makes her living as a biographer of persons from literary history. She is invited by Vida Winter, a world-famous author, to complete her biography. A daunting task as Ms. Winter has told at least 19 versions of her life story.

In telling the tale of these two women and the mystery of a publication missing the last story - the author's remarkable style draws you in and makes the book hard to put down. Here are two of my favorite excerpts:

"I never read without making sure I am in a secure position. I have been
like this ever since the age of seven when, sitting on a high wall and reading
The Water Babies, I was so seduced by the descriptions of underwater life that I
unconsciously relaxed my muscles. Instead of being held buoyant by the
water that so vividly surrounded me in my mind, I plummeted to the ground and
knocked myself out. I can still feel the scar under my fringe now.
Reading can be dangerous."

"I used to think that I loved rain, but in fact I hardly knew it. The
rain I loved was genteel town rain, made soft by all the obstacles the skyline
put in its path, and warmed by the rising heat of the town itself. On the
moors, enraged by the wind and embittered by the chill, the rain was
vicious. Needles of ice stung my face and, behind me, vessels of freezing
water burst against my shoulders.

Happy birthday."

Not a beach read - but certainly one you can get lost in!! What are you reading this break?

Crawl Before You Walk

An interesting thing came up as we scored math assessments these past two weeks. Time and again, we saw that the good teaching practices we all use to help students learn the vocabulary in our content areas was working. Students are able to provide the witty sayings or the clever acronyms we teach them to remember the vocab - but they don't know it.

For example, in working with a graph where students were asked to give the coordinates of a point - most of them got it. When they were then asked to explain how they got that answer - things went downhill quickly. The students could repeat "crawl before you walk" or "throw up" but they couldn't give additional details to describe HOW they arrived at their answer in a way that showed they understood the concept. Without showing that understanding, students could not receive full credit.

It made me think about Mr. Bloom and his taxonomy of thinking. If we teach students to find the way to get the right answers - and it always works - do they need to understand WHY it works? I think the math teachers in the room would say "YES!!" And I think I agree.

This is where writing is so important in all content areas. Writing - and having the correct words to convey your thoughts and feelings - is powerful. Without knowing the vocabulary or being able to explain yourself well - no one will really know what it is you know. So it follows that those who write well are powerful and those who cannot write well are not.

Teaching writing is the responsibility of every teacher - not just English Language Arts teachers. In fact - writing is the responsibility of every teacher. If we are not practicing and modeling our writing with our students - how will they learn that no one creates a perfect draft the first time. That we need to play with our words and the order of our words before we publish our work. That there are glimmers of ideas for our writing everywhere - it is up to us to give them the unique slant and perspective that create our voice.

In a random sampling of asking teachers during scoring how many were teaching their students to write out the explanations to many of the problems we saw on the assessments - few were pushing their kids to do so. Those who were taught other subjects beyond math and were primarily elementary school teachers. We know these are the types of things on our assessments - why are we surprised that our students do poorly on them if we are not asking them to provide the same work in class?

Perhaps we need to all practice the writing crawl - introduce writing in small bits that the teacher and the student are comfortable with - so that we can model for students that writing has power and should be used in every subject. Teachers won't need a degree in writing but can learn these writing strategies from colleagues - which will open the door to the collegiality that our profession desperately needs. And slowly - they'll begin to toddle, then walk, then run with writing in their classrooms. And so will our students.

Curses and Verses

We have spent this week scoring the NYS Math assessments and I look forward to another weekend of scoring DVDs so that we can complete the scoring next week. Now - I have to admit that this is one of my least favorite times of the year. First of all, I am terrible at math. I don't balance my checkbook and know that I am horribly ill-prepared for the retirement that awaits me in the year 2031. (At least I know that number!) Second, while I love a challenge, understanding why some things are mathematically correct is one that I wouldn't mind skipping. Fortunately, I have a colleague who is just passionate about it, so I only have to keep the peace at scoring. Finally, there is no creatively in math (see my second reason!). Don't get me wrong - the students are very creative in how they approach some problems, but generally the answer is very black and white. So unlike writing!!

Following closely on the heels of math is science. I appreciate folks whose minds can work in ways that do these subjects justice. Mine is just not one of them - and the big, fat F that haunts my colleage transcipt in Organic Chemisty is the proof!! (Hey - at least I tried! And bless that tutor who tried as well!)

However, I took GREAT delight in the two books I recently purchsed that focus on these subjects. Of course, it doesn't hurt that they are by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (Stinky Cheese Man, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, and of course my favorite, Squids Will be Squids). The first, Math Curse, actually reminds me a bit of what happens to my brain during regional scoring: "You know, you can think of almost everything as a math problem." Those words from her teacher creates a curse with the narrator in which she cannot escape math - from simple problems like how many quarts are in a gallon to the funniest multiple choice question on fractions I have yet to see ("What is another way to say 1/2 of an apple pie? a. 2/6. b. 3/6. c. la moitie d'une tarte aux pommes") this book helps make math relevant, and dare I say it, FUN!!

And of course, since Mr. Newton observes at the end of the book that "You know, you can think of almost everything as a science experiment" it only goes to follow that the Science Verse is equally amusing. In this case, there is poetry to be found in science. From evolution to the water cycle to the scientific method - these are great rhymes to help students remember some tricky parts of science. However, my absolute all-time favorite is "Dino-Sore." this little ditty tells the tale of Dinosaurs - often retold year after year after year. In short a curriculum nightmare:

"It's still a mystery, scientists say,

Why the dinosaur went away.

But I know why they couldn't stay

(And it wasn't meteors).

It was creatures - yes, those teachers -

Who did the work of fifty wars

And bored to death - DINOSAURS."

Mr. Scieszka does a fine job ending the book with his "Observations and Conclusions" in which he honors the great poets and poetry that his work is based upon. All in all - not a bad curse to have!!

Van Gogh Cafe

We had a brief (too brief!) glimpse of spring this week. Two near 60 degree days in a row - then snow again. I'm used to it living in Western New York - but it was just enough to remind me that this world is full of miracles. The snow melts away and exposes the earth and flower buds to sunshine, which stretch and awaken brightening the dull colors of mud. Before long, the branches that have been weighted down with snow will be uplifted with glorious blooms. The air smells cleaner, fresher, newer. And people emerge from their homes to walk dogs, jog, bike. We see our neighbors again and stop to talk. In general, everyone just seems happier.

The Van Gogh Cafe reminds me of these miracles. A somewhat lesser known book by Cynthia Rylant, it tells the story of a small cafe in Flowers, Kansas run by Marc and his 10-year-old daughter Clara. The cafe is the site of a former theatre - which is what makes the cafe magical. The story of a possum, the power of a lightening strike, magic muffins that feed children in a snowstorm, and wayward seagulls are among the stories that give life to the Van Gogh cafe. Each tale weaves into the next, with the mystery revealing itself in the last chapter.

This is a wonderful book to teach about ideas - but more importantly to remember the magic that surrounds us.

Some musings on voice!

Not thinking, I called a friend a bit late the other day. Normally - she is quite the night owl, so it never crossed my mind that she would be sleeping!! Her voice was groggy (as was her mind I am sure) but she gave it a minute and then boom!! There was the upbeat tone and laugh in her "Hi!!" that I have come to rely on.

I have another friend who has some interesting voice inflections - ones that we tend to unconsciously mimic at work whenever we want to respond to a situation as she would. We can even make our facial expressions match hers - much to our delight. But today, she received upsetting news and her tone was very different as were her facial expressions. She spoke much faster and in the same tone, speaking so fast that she often chose words that she wasn't sure she wanted to use.

Voice is an amazing thing - and it is even more amazing when we can hear it in writing. But voice is difficult to teach without many, many examples. Reading a variety of authors and styles is the best way to help writers find their voice. One of my favorite authors for this is Sandra Cisneros - you can practically imagine yourself in the scenes she writes!! I think that is why I have come to over-rely on "Eleven" each time that I teach voice in a workshop.

I have had the pleasure of working with an amazing fifth grade teacher and blogs lately. She has hooked her students on mysteries with her very first blog. Her most recent post asks students to share their "peaceful corner of the world" and boy can you hear their voices!! Even more importantly - you can hear her voice (as well as her powerful teaching) in the comments. Unlike any other blog I have read (and I read a lot!), Mrs. Sager responds to each and every comment, often subtly pointing out the edits that would make their written work even better. I continue to be amazed by this class - be sure to check it out and comment on their work!!

This teacher embraces and encourages voice in her student's writing. However, I have often had teachers tell me that voice belongs in stories and not in the content areas, and certainly not on state assessments. Of course- I disagree!! I have participated in regional scoring of ELA and Social Studies assessments and in all instances, those papers that were engaging and had a sense of voice scored higher than those that did not. The content could have been exactly the same - but voice puts it over the top each and every time. The trick is to teach that the voice needs to be appropriate to the audience. For this - I loved using RAFTS in my classroom. The students became engaged in their writing, really learned the content and more importantly learned the importance of knowing their audience. It was fun for them - and honestly, much more fun for me to grade as well!!

It is amazing the voice in those around us. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "A man's style is his mind's voice. Wooden minds, wooden voices. " We just need to take the time to listen to them.

Engaging History

I love history. I'm not sure why but reading about how people lived and what motivated them has always been my passion. I always hoped that when I taught Social Studies, I could inspire my students to see the same. So it is always refreshing when someone writes a book to inspire children. John, Paul, George, and Ben by Lane Smith is just such a book.





Beatles fans will love the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) references to the Fab Four embedded in the book - with good old Tom (Jefferson) as the fifth lad who was "always off doing his OWN thing." History fans will love the history woven into the very entertaining character sketches of these founding fathers - although some liberties have been taken with the past. These liberties are nicely cleared up with the humorous "ye olde True or False section" in the back. And writing fans will love the voice and word choice provided in the book.





Each of the five lads are described with gripping adjectives and stories to support those descriptions: John is bold, Paul is noisy, George is honest (of course!), Ben is clever and Tom is independent. After describing each in their "youth," the book wraps up with how these character traits led to the men to historic actions.





The book is also organized in such a way that using it to help students with two-column notes would also work. You would have to take some time to separate the fact from fiction - but again, that goes towards the organization of the book and it serves as a nice mentor text for organization.





If you are looking to inject voice into the social studies classroom - this book is a hit. In addition to the stories, the illustrations and fonts used support this engaging tale. The book is written on parchment-like paper which lends a nice historical touch.





Overall - the book will entertain adults and students alike. It won't be your founding father's social studies class!!

Nobody Knows.....

Been having trouble with Blogger lately - or maybe it is just my computer and the Internet connection at home. No matter - I'm just posting Friday's book post a bit late and hoping for the best this time!!

I've been spending a great deal of time in local districts with writing. Some are Step Up trainings, some are Six Traits, and some are a magical combination of both. I don't think there really is one right answer with respect to writing - there are so many variables to deal with!! First and foremost seems to be the comfort level of teachers with teaching writing. In fact, so much has to do with whether or not teachers view themselves as writers!!

But the bottom line is that we need to start pulling together and working with our students on writing. There is power in the ability to express your thoughts clearly - and we have an obligation to teach our students how to be successful in writing. Some are naturally gifted and will buck at the thought of constraints - others need to have very specific guidance to write well and may never progress beyond basic organization and word choice. But we need to teach them.

Curriculum Design for Writing Instruction by Kathy Tuchman Glass provides a nice key for districts looking to develop a writing curriculum. While it is grounded in the Six Traits, it is the process that is key in this book.

In a nutshell, here are her curriculum design elements:

1. Identify grade level content standards for writing: What do I want my students to know and be able to do?
2. Create a teacher rubric witha clear set of criteria for
writing assessment: What are the key criteria for achieving these
standards and assessing students?
3. Craft a student checklist to guide students through the unit and
help them state objectives and self-assess: What do students needs
to know and learn as they progress through the unit and how will they be
assessed?
4. Design lesons to achieve standards: How do I guide
and assist students to achieve the criteria?
(p. 4)

Now - these may seem simple and obvious to some, but I have yet to work in the district that has done this and used it across all grade levels. Note that many have tried to accomplish this but actually using the rubrics and sharing them openly with students and using them as guide for lessons in writing is not something that I have seen. (If you are doing it - please comment and tell us what is working!!)

I am excited because I have been working with a district that I think is on the cusp of developing just this. They have a solid plan and they have extremely dedicated teachers - I guess only time will tell but I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Story Squared

Starting a story is probably the most difficult thing for me to sit down and do. I have many pages in several notebooks of story pieces but having to actually sit down and weave them together is something that I try to avoid. When it comes to writing I have great ideas (at least I think so!) but it seems that I can't string together 800 words that would matter to anyone.

I am now hooked on Story Squared but I need friends who will play along. I picked on my friend Jenn because I have faith that she will humor my new found technology and will allow me to play a bit with this new site. But I see a real application for writing in our classrooms.

You see - while I was in middle school, I co-wrote a serial drama with my friend Mary. It was called Dr. Mare's Hospital and it featured players loosely based upon our own social life. Of course, Dr. Mary and Dr. Theresa had throngs of men available to them and we found ourselves in many prediciments that bested those of many soap operas. It was all in good fun - although I do recall a time or two that it got us into some hot water. We wrote the notes when we should have been paying attention in class and passed them in the hallway. I found a small stash the other day - and laughed out loud at how simple our life seemed then. I didn't throw them away - but I don't think they'll be published soon!!

So I guess I have always been a better social writer than a solitary one. This is where Story Squared comes in!! This wonderful site allows you to start a story and invite friends to join in to continue it. You can limit entries to a sentence, paragraph, or page and even set a time limit for friends to respond. There are even pubic stories that anyone can add to.

Try it out! And don't forget to invite me!!

Whew! The vacation that wasn't!!

As you can probably tell by the date of my last post, the snow and my life finally caught up to me. I owe you all two great books to feed the writer within you and many, many thoughts on writing!! But I took some downtime - which really wasn't!!

You see - I spent the past week caring for my 84 year old grandmother while my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in Florida. In her prime, my grandmother was a tough Polish woman who proudly survived the Great Depression and saved every scrap of tin foil that entered her house. She told you how it was and there were no arguments. At least we always knew where we stood!!

Three years ago, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. For those of you who have experienced it, this disease is the most devestating thing that I have ever come up against. Her body remains healthy - her mind does not. And the worst part is that she can sense that her mind is failing her.

What is interesting is that my grandmother has always done those things that the doctors will tell you will help ward off this disease: she plays cards, used to do word puzzles, read everything she could get her hands on and walked almost two miles a day. Her mind was always stimulated!! Instead, I think the disease snuck in when she was her most vulnerable - right after my grandfather passed. Ironically - eleven years ago this week.

So, I have been off of work and away from my blogs, but hardly on a vacation. And what does this have to do with writing? EVERYTHING!!

In teaching social studies, I always encouraged my students to interview their relatives as a means of getting their family history. What personal stories did they have about the events we were studying? Few took me up on this extra credit offer!! But I was reinvigorated by reading a recent Will Richardson post on how his daughter made some YouTube videos by interviewing some older relatives. Imagine the history we could preserve by engaging students in the new technologies available to us: podcasting, streaming video!!

It seems that the Internet and social networking spaces are preserving the present - how can we help to preserve the past? In the spirit of capturing the wisdom of our fathers and mothers, some links for oral history projects:

What did you do in the war, Grandma? is an oral history of Rhode Island women in World War II conducted by a high school honors English class.

The Oral History Project: A Culture and Heritage Exchange Initiative is a streaming media project in partnership with the Library of Congress that captures the histories of Vietnam Veterans, Native Americans, and African Americans.

Tell Me Your Stories contains an oral history curriculum which is fairly comprehensive in providing resources for developing an oral history project for your classroom.

And of course, American Memory has a remarkable set of materials for teachers and students interested in preserving our social history. These are sets of DBQ like resources using oral history as references and can help spark the historian in most students. (A personal bias here as I used this site often in the classroom.)

These stories are important - how can you help to capture them?

Two Heads are Better than One!!

As I look out my window, it seems that the snow will never stop. Shovel every night, wake up to a new blanket of snow the next morning. But despite Mother Nature and her lake effect, two flat tires, and white out conditions - we finally completed the scoring of the Grades 3-8 ELA assessments this week.

Not that it was without controversy!! It never fails that despite the precautions we put into place, we get complaints from teachers that "their district" was treated unfairly. And of course, the inevitable complaints about the assessment itself. But in the end - everyone is collegial and the evaluations always indicate that they have walked away learning something.

But I worry each year that this is the last time the teachers will come together collaboratively to look at student work. We have to score these assessments - but there is so much more to see than the number that has been assigned and even the final score. Are our writing programs working? What are my instructional next steps? Do I need to get out those grammar books? What happened to those graphic organizers I have been teaching for the past 4 months? Those questions aren't answered with a number!!

So the book for this week veers from the traditional picture or chapter book to a professional book that has helped open my eyes to the power of what students write. I had the privilege of attending a pre-conference session at NSDC several years ago which was facilitated by Georgea Langer and Amy Colton, who with Loretta Goff authored Collaborative Analysis of Student Work: Improving Teaching and Learning. It was during this session, and in reading the book, that I began to develop my own protocols for working with teachers to mine the rich data that comes from analysis of student work.

While I have not been able to have as sustained a project as is described in the book, the times that I have worked with teachers to analyze student work have followed essentially the same model and provided powerful information. Tapping into the wealth of experience and expertise sitting around the table discussing what we see in student work, sharing what has worked in our classrooms, bringing fresh perspectives to how we teach writing - all valuable by-product. Why by-products? Because without fail, teachers report that the most powerful result of these meetings has been the increase in student writing skills that they see!!!

So, within the next few weeks, we'll relax a bit about the assessments. That's the time to bring those student papers out again and review them with new eyes!

Duck for President

At last count there are ten candidates for President in 2008 from the Democratic Party alone. Why not let Duck throw his hat into the ring?

In the amusing Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, Duck gets tired of having to do chores around the farm and decides to hold an election to replace Farmer Brown. He rallies the support of his fellow farm animals and wins!!

Soon, he tires of the hard work of running a farm and runs for higher office again. And again. And again. Eventually - after running a campaign kissing babies and playing his sax on late night television - Duck wins the highest office in the land. PRESIDENT!!

We don't get to experience much of his presidency as Duck soon decides that this job is also a bit much and he retires to the farm to do his chores and write his autobiography. A presidential library can't be too far behind!!

I use this amusing story (with wonderful illustrations that adults will love) to teach about the structure of stories: beginning, middle, end. Students will be exposed to having to take notes for the ELA assessment from stories and this structure seems to help students to take better notes during the listening passage. Whether they take notes by drawing and adding text later or use text immediately - teaching students what to listen for seems to be the first step. I like to share various plot diagrams and story maps, as well as a modification of a basic Step Up to Writing organizer to help students make connections and predict what might happen next with teachers to assist with this process.

Oh! And the book fits nicely into Social Studies as well!! It takes students through the various levels of government and can serve as a nice springboard to elections and campaign activities. I ran into this very clever and funny blog that highlights Duck's campaign. After all, what is a campaign without a blog these days?!?!

If you'd like to see the story - check out this link to YouTube.

Zen Shorts

Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth is a nice reminder this time of year of what matters. Resolutions for the New Year have long fallen by the wayside, teachers (and students)are caught up in the assessment craze, and everyone seems a little on edge.

This story - of three children meeting a giant panda - contains within three Zen meditations told by the giant Panda to the children and that relate to their individual stories. Uncle Ry and the Moon helps to remind us of what really matters in life and The Farmer's Luck reminds us that sometimes, it's all a matter of perspective. But my favorite is A Heavy Load - which serves as a reminder that in order to move forward, sometimes we need to let some things go.

Also by the same author is one of my favorite books - The Three Questions. I have given this book to people who mean a great deal to me, most recently to a friend who is going through a particularly rough time with work and family medical issues, yet somehow remembers to do things for others!! The Three Questions is based upon a short story by Leo Tolstoy and has Nickolai searching for the answers to three questions, which he believes will help him to always be a good person: What's the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? The answers to these questions don't come to Nickolai from his friends, but from wihin himself.

Both stories are a great way to show writers that stories can have an important meaning and message to send. And both stories are strangely calming to read and reflect upon.

Musings on Writings

NPR never fails me - particulary on a Monday morning!! Here are two gems I thought I'd pass along!

Well - at least she is writing!!
A 25 year old hotel employee actually wrote herself out of a job by keeping a journal. Seems when her supervisor told her to stop writing on company time, she switched over to the computer. When her supervisor found the new journal on the work computer - she was fired for misuse of company time. Last week, a judge denied her request for unemployment benefits.

The topic of her journal? How to avoid work!! Listen to the podcast!



Writing for the future.
It seems there is a website out there called Future Me that allows you to create an email for anyone (yourself included) and send it to them at any point between tomorrow and the year 2037. Future Me will deliver the contents on the specified date.

This intrigues me!! As of this moment, there have been 365,722 letters written to the future and counting... I know I sent myself a birthday message for next year!!

Which Way? Sunday Funny

So Few of Me!

In my current line of work, this is the busiest time that we have. We have distributed assessments, answered questions, and begun to prepare for regional scoring of ELA assessments. Now we have the pleasure of watching scoring DVDs to prepare for three straight weeks of training and scoring the ELAs. We'll catch our breathe for a few weeks and start all over again with Math.

On top of that - life still must go on and districts still want trainings in writing and data and curriculum mapping. And I am still trying to keep my New Year's resolutions of no work email after 5 pm and hitting the gym at least 5 times a week. (Keeping the first and falling behind on the latter.) No small wonder that I wish sometimes I could clone myself (only thinner!)

And that is exactly what Peter H. Reynolds does with Leo in So Few of Me. This creator of The Dot and Ish is among my favorites - I'd line up for his grocery list if he published it!!! I never fail to find inspiration in the simple stories and wonderful illustrations. (See my previous posts on his work for more about this wonderful author.)

In this tale, Leo is a busy lad. Like most of us, no matter how hard he worked there was always more to do. So he makes a list. That list grows and grows and grows. So he thinks "If only there were two of me." (Sound familiar?)

Lo and behold - there is a knock at the door and another Leo appears. But as the two Leos work, there is still more to do. And eventually two Leos becomes three, becomes four, becomes TEN!! And still there is work to be done.

The original Leo is exhausted and takes a nap. He awakens to find the other nine Leos staring at him asking "What are you doing?" He smiles and answers "Dreaming" and slowly the other nine disappear. And Leo wonders, "What if I did less, but did my BEST?" One Leo would work - and he would have time to dream.

I think in our rush to make sure that we "cover" our course materials and ensure that students are prepped for tests, we forget that they are still just kids (even in high school!) There is life outside of school. And that is exactly why this book is so important - we need to decide what is really important, and teach that. We need to encourage our students to dream - to be creative - to explore and take risks. That is all part of learning too.

The message is simple but the writing is powerful - a great mentor text for us all in our multi-tasking world!!

Write for Your Life

The death of my grandfather almost 11 years ago is one of the moments in my life that has left an indelible mark. I knew instantly when my mother was finally able to reach me at work that something horrible had happened, although she never really said what. A giant black hole opened in my heart, that honestly has never healed.

My grandfather was a rock in my life - someone who encouraged me to be anything I wanted, who knew to just hold me when I had "that look" on my face, who loved me so much that he separated out the orange, yellow and green jellybeans into a separate container because I liked them least. Some people called me spoiled, I knew I was loved; absolutely and unconditionally.

But he left my life suddenly - fell over from a massive heart attack while sitting and reading in his chair. My grandmother had gone into the basement to do laundry and came up to find him on the ground - already gone. We didn't get to say good-bye, we didn't get to say "I love you," we didn't get to say anything.

That's when I started writing again. I was convinced that no one knew the pain that I felt, the sense of loss, the anger. So I wrote to get it out of me, to try to move through the stages of grief that everyone said was "natural." And after I wrote for me - I tried to write for others. To tell them what they meant to me or if they hurt me, to say I was sorry or to say "I love you."

The hole began to heal with the birth of my first niece six years ago. This amazing creature came into my life, with a middle name to honor my grandfather, and suddenly not much else mattered. Being able to see her grow and to experience life anew with her (and Sydney and Zoe and Brody who followed) has given me new reason to write.

So Anna Quindlen's column in Newsweek this week has ripped at my heartstrings. It covers the movie "Freedom Writers" (that I have yet to see but have it on my list!) but more importantly it talks about why we write: "writing can make pain tolerable, confusion clearer and the self stronger."

But we lose something in translation with writing - email gets misconstrued, people write in code and never say what they mean. People are afraid to put something in writing because it could be used against them. We write (or don't write) for all the wrong reasons.

Quindlen leaves us with a powerful message:

Think of all those people inside the World Trade Center saying goodbye by phone. If only, in the blizzard of paper that followed the collapse of the buildings, a letter had fallen from the sky for every family member and friend, something to hold on to, something to read and reread. Something real. Words on paper confer a kind of immortality. Wouldn't all of us love to have a journal, a memoir, a letter, from those we have loved and lost? Shouldn't all of us leave a bit of that behind?

Amelia writes every day. This thrills me beyond belief and I hope that she never loses that joy for putting her thoughts to paper. In the meantime, I write for her and Sydney and Zoe and Brody each and every day as well. They are not spoiled - they are loved.

What kind of English do you speak?

I never knew that I had an accent until I went to college in central NY. Growing up in western NY, everyone around me sounded just like me. Imagine my surprise when classmates made fun of the fact that I liked to drink "pop!"

Words can be funny.......take this test over at Blogthings so see what kind of American English you speak!!


Here are my results:

Writing Framework's Linguistic Profile:

40% General American English

30% Yankee

20% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

0% Dixie

Sunday Funny: What's the caption for this one?

Image and story from Engadget.

History of Writing

The book for this week combines my two great loves - history and writing.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is set in nineteenth century China and is told from the perspective of Lily, a peasant girl from the remote Hunan county. Lily becomes a laotong ("old same") with Snow Flower, a very metropolitan girl by comparison, and by tradition the two are bound together in a life-long friendship. The story follows the girls as they grow into women - which includes footbinding and arranged marriage, motherhood and loss.

While the story itself is compelling and at time heart wrenching (it amazes me the pain that women endured to have their feet bound), it is the little know nu shu that I found fascinating. Nu shu was a secret Chinese writing form, believed to have been invented by an emporer's concubine to speak truthfully about the lonliness that surrounded her to her family at home. It grew into a method for women to find consolation from each other and was hidden in embroidery, weaving, and in paintings on fans. The author shares how she discovered and researched this remarkable language, long with great photos, on her website and also provides a sample chapter.

I know it sounds strange - but in many ways, thinking about nu shu made me think about the IM language that we all complain about showing up in our student writing. Chinese women were forbidden from using the written language of men and in a desperate need to communicate with family and friends, invented a code that they ingeniously hid within "women's work." Kids aren't forbidden from writing - but they have invented a language to find their sense of self and to keep things away from parents and teachers. We've all heard the stories about the trouble with social networking and parents everywhere seem to be afraid of IM'ing - but if we took a step back, perhaps we'd find that it's not so bad to have them writing in their own "language" (once in a while.)

An Even Better Contest

Via a Year of Reading, found the Lisa Yee's Bodacious Book Title Contest!!

Rules are simple:

1. Think of a title from a children's/middle grade/young adult book.

2. Change the FIRST LETTER of ONE of the words to make it into a whole new title.

3. Then add a sentence describing the new book.

I'm no celebrity judge but there are some great ideas in the comments section (I accidentally copied one of the first - so much for my close reading!!) Here's one of my favorites:

Fear Mr. Henshaw: After years of writing about his personal problems in letters to his favorite author, Leigh’s name winds up in Mr. Henshaw’s latest novel: The Stalker. (From Jay over at Disco Mermaids - another great blog!)

Enjoy!

Sunday Funnies

ELA season officially opens next week and kids all over NYS will be reminded to eat a good breakfast, go to sleep early and have the required No. 2 pencils sharpened and ready to go. In our region - erasers have become optional as students need only cross out the incorrect answer on the answer sheets. But I digress.....

In looking at the assessment data from last year, many districts in our region have started to notice that kids at all grade levels missed questions that required them to select the "best" answer. This is a question that requires some critical thinking and the bad news is that our students aren't doing too well.



When I think back to asking my students to brainstorm answers in class, I realized that all answers were accepted and written down on our graphic organizer. And I mean ALL answers - the ones that made me cringe, the ones that were duplicates, the ones that were literal, and the really good ones. I never made a point of distinguishing between the good and great answers - so that I could preserve their self-esteem of course!



So I have been discussing with the teachers in our region how we could start to have students determine the best answer. One strategy that we have come up with is to share pictures with the class and ask the students to brainstorm discriptor words or a caption. ALL answers would be listed - but then we would go the next step in asking students which suggestion was the best. Of course - any answer would have to be supported with details, details, details.



It seems simple but it might have some interesting results. Anyway - I thought I might share some of the funny photos I have collected over time each Sunday in order to help those who might want to try this strategy. And - as a means of getting teachers to write!!



I'll post the picture each Sunday - if anyone is reading, feel free to provide the caption in the comments section!!! Here's the first one:

Photo reference: http://www.comedy-zone.net/pictures/index.htm

Teaching with Fire!

As we all slowly ease back into our routines after the holidays, I thought I would share a book that not only inspires other writers but involves teachers writing about their inspiration from poetry.

I was first introduced to Teaching with Fire (edited by Sam M. Intrator and Megan Scribner) at a Step Up to Writing trainers conference in Fort Collins, Colorado about three years ago. Two wonderful teachers from California befriended me in that brief time and shared things with me that I have never been able to repay. One, Linda Toren, is featured in this book (page 204). She and a colleague email each other haiku and tanka once a week "to keep each other inspired and hopeful - to celebrate and commiserate."

They continue to inspire me (we have long since gone our separate ways) through this book they shared with me as it sits on my coffee table full of post-it notes and dog-eared. It is a poetry book - but each poem is accompanied by a brief story from a teacher explaining the significance of that poem in their life's work. You will hear throughout the book talk of writer's notebooks and poetry reads, of students and families, of joy and heartache. I promise you it will be a fresh read every time!!

I could go on and on about how this book could be used in the classroom, instead, I'll just share this:

You Reading This, Be Ready

Starting here, what do you want to remember?

How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?

What scent of old wood hovers, what softened

sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world

than the breathing respect that you carry

wherever your go right now? Are you waiting

for time you show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this

new glimpse that you found; carry into evening

all that you want from this day. This interval you spent

reading or hearing this, keep it for life--

What can anyone give you greater than now,

starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

- William Stafford

Reference: Teaching with Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach. Intrator, Sam and Scribner, Megan (editors). Jossey-Bass, Inc, 2003.

New Year's Resolution

It has been a rough December. First a serious bout with a stomach virus - which ironically struck in the middle of a writing workshop. (How many different words can we use for the color green?) Then the mad dash thru the holidays - balancing family and sanity and high caloric foods. Through it all - I decided that I work too much. I can't say work too hard because I truly love what I do (most days!) but it has become all consuming.

However - having unburied myself from 563 work emails and over 265 personal emails (mostly listservs on this one - I'm just not that popular!) I realized that completely shutting down is not the answer. And I missed my blog!!

I don't make New Year Resolutions - I think they just set me up for ultimate failure. I mean ultimately - I fail to keep them. But I do make Previous Year Reflections. Here are some of mine:


1. Teachers who really care about kids are the ones I want my kids to have. No real news flash there but I have been honored to work with some great teachers this past year (and so far this year!) Ones who really push themselves to reach their kids for the right reasons. I miss my classroom - but I love when I am surrounded by these people! So thanks to Karen and Dana and Melodee and Sue and Nina and Lisa and Donna and Maria and yes, you Gene!! And to the countless others that I have forgotten to mention here!

2. Writing is risky business. And hard. And very, very scary. I know because my comfort zone is in teaching writing to others - and in coming up with ways to engage others in writing. But when pushed to write something meaningful of my own - I suddenly find cleaning my bathroom a most desirous chore!! And so....

3. I better start to practice what I preach. I teach writing - therefore I should be writing!! So I will be writing and submitting articles to educational publications and entering the writing competition in our local newspaper (historical fiction - that's me!!)

4. There is nothing that should come before friends and family. No matter the petty things we do to each other or say in moments of anger/stress/confusion/hurt - those people that we can count on in times of need are the golden threads that hold us together. You all know who you are and I can't thank you enough for all that you do and are to me!!

So have a wonderful 2007 everyone - let bygones be bygones - and don't work too much!

Live Writing

Normally on Fridays I share a piece of literature that I have used as a mentor text to work in developing student writing. What I want to share today is a book that can be used as a mentor text, but is also something that every writer should own. Ralph Fletcher's Live Writing: Breathing Life into Your Words.

I was introduced to the work of Mr. Fletcher via a listserv of "RealWriting Teachers" and it is because of him that I now keep my own writer's notebook. But this book is particularly special because it follows the philosophy that I have that words are powerful tools. In Live Writing the focus is on the craft of writing and how to choose words that lift off the page (as opposed to YAWN! most textbooks). What follows are some tips that I love:

• "Here's the good news: most of us are not born writers. We were not born with a pencil in our tiny fingers. And very rarely do the words flow clear and sparkling the first time we try to write them down. Most of us have to work at our writing."

Imagine how powerful that would be to share with our students - that writing is work!! That it is OK to revise and revise and revise. And that WE (teachers) struggle with it too!! And imagine if we showed them that by sharing our own writing!!

• READ like a writer!!If you want to improve your writing, you have to apprentice yourself to the best writers you can find - writers that you can learn from......and reread the writing to find out how the writer pulled off the effect!

How many times have you heard me say this about mentor texts!! It has ruined some of my reading - as I am always looking to see how someone said something or the details they used to paint the picture I drew in my head. But I think it has helped me understand the craft of writing better - and more importantly what I want my writing to be like.

• "Write low on the food chain...Most people, adults as well as kids, tend to write too high on the food chain. They write about big ideas - jealousy, love, nuclear war - instead of seeking out small details to suggest the larger issue." (p. 100)

Details, details, details. I've even noticed this when people talk - they speak about lofty ideas but when you press them for examples or to provide more details they can't give you anything!! Do they really know what they are talking about? Have they thought about it? Could you communicate your big ideas in writing?

I don't think that this book is intended to be read alone - meaning that someone should be writing along with reading it. The tips and strategies for the craft of writing, if just read, are meaningless. If you are going to read about being a writer, you better be writing as well. If you need a "textbook" to make better writers - I suggest this one!

Tags:

• writing
• books
• instruction
• strategies

Email Tips

Email has become one of the most common means for me to communicate these days. (I might have said cell phone in the past but I have this new Bluetooth that is causing me problems!!Is there a dentist for a Bluetooth problem?) However, email is one of the worst ways to communicate as well as it seems to always get misinterpreted. Even when you use a smiley face :-) or a frowny face :-( or a confused face :-s the emotion can be lost or mistranslated.

Email, and it's cousin instant messaging, have also led to a brand new dictionary of "words" - things like LOL, POP, and CYA that somehow work themselves into student writing. I recently led a scoring training where I asked teachers to list their "pet peeve" in student writing before we scored any test papers so that they would not get distracted when those pet peeves appeared. You would be amazed at the elementary teachers who had IM codes on their list!!!

Via Lifehacker, I came across "Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War." Tom Wheeler, the author, has a great post there on the lessons of Mr. Lincoln and how we could use them in our own electronic communication. Here are the highlights:

• Hierarchy of Communications : Electronic messages were Lincoln's least preferred means of communicating. First on his hierarchy were direct, in person exchanges...I have become more aware that emails are not a substitute for walking down the hall or picking up the phone
• Words are Important - When he used an electronic message Lincoln maximized its impact by using carefully chosen words. His August 1864 telegram to General Grant, "Hold on with a bull-dog grip, and chew and choke" could not have been more explicitly expressed. Emails, on the other hand, have tended to become the communications equivalent of casual Fridays, substituting comfort and ease for discipline and rigor.
• Less is More - Whereas many saw the blank telegraph form as an invitation to an essay, Lincoln's telegrams were short and to the point. "Your long despatch of yesterday just received," Lincoln chided General George McClellan about a 10-page telegram sent in May 1863. Then the president required only three additional sentences to reply to the general's endless essay.
• Message Candor - Honest Abe was frank and direct in his communications. "If you and he would use the same frankness to one another, and to me, that I use to both of you, there would be no difficulty," Lincoln wrote General Joseph Hooker in June 1863 regarding the ongoing feud between Hooker and General-in-Chief Henry Halleck.
• Take a Breath - If frankness and candor are a virtue, they also require judicious application in electronic messages. Just because it is possible to instantaneously send a message doesn't mean it is appropriate to do so...Responding to a September 1863 telegram from General Ambrose Burnside, Lincoln wrote in a reply telegram, "it makes me doubt whether I am awake or dreaming. I have been struggling for ten days...to get you to go assist Gen. Rosecrans...and yet you steadily move the other way." After fully venting his frustrations Lincoln turned the page over and wrote, "Not sent." Hitting the "Send" button on an email is an easy, but irreparable, action.
• Reading Other People's Mail - Abraham Lincoln's habit was to walk into the War Department telegraph office, open the drawer containing copies of all the telegrams received, and read them all, regardless of to whom they were addressed. Through this procedure Lincoln had a keyhole into the thinking of his generals and activities in the field. The "cc" and "Reply All" function of email provides a similar opportunity for us to stay informed.
• The Value of a Hand-Written Note - Lincoln's appreciation of the telegraph was because of its ability to instantaneously communicate over great distances. Where a face-to-face meeting was not possible he preferred a well thought out letter. In such letters he would cogently lay out his thoughts as well as respond to issues he imaged the recipient would raise. Something handwritten is also more physically and emotionally powerful than an impersonal message over the wires. When for instance, Lincoln congratulated General Grant for his Vicksburg victory in July 1863 his statement, "I now wish to make the personal acknowledgement that you were right, and I was wrong" was made all the more significant by coming direct from the president's hand.

Because email is so commonly used, I think that we have an obligation to teach our students (and colleagues) how to use it appropriately. This site has some other great examples that are worth checking out.

IMHO, good old Abe still has a great deal to teach us! :-)

Tags:

• writing

Waking Up from Thanksgiving

I finally have some downtime this holiday weekend - the Bills game is blacked out, Pittsburgh is losing miserably (WAHOO!!)and my beloved Sabres don't play until tonight! I use my Friday posts for sharing a book to help in teaching about writing - but I must admit that despite the stack of books on my coffee table to be read, I read mostly sales fliers this weekend!! Not that this is a bad thing - I have all my shopping done, the rest is just icing on the cake!!

Although I shopped and ate my way through most of the weekend, I still had some time to reflect on writing. (Sad, I know, but it is my passion!) I've been thinking a great deal about the "new literacies" of the Web 2.0 and the possibilities that it holds for education. I have specifically not posted on this topic on this blog because I maintain another (Grand Rounds) with a colleague for that type of thing. But the lines have started to cross...

I began blogging as a way to create a community of learners around teaching writing. I have the honor of facilitating many workshops on writing in our region and I say honor most sincerely. I am passionate about teaching writing and the power of writing and am grateful to the teachers who spend time with me reflecting on and investigating their own writing practice. My hope is to continue that learning via this blog, long after the designated day of my visit has passed. I believe that we must be learners if we are to teach - otherwise, we are not good models for our students.

But a recent post by Will Richardson has me thinking. Will writes about a discussion with a high school English teacher who has begun to use Web 2.0 tools in the classroom:

We talked at some length as to whether reading for our students is much different than reading was to us. Whether they are reading in different ways, specifically through video or other media, and whether those reading literacies are equally as important as text literacy. Whether we are just chained to our old definitions of what reading should be because that’s how we’ve experienced it. Whether now that we can connect to so many different texts we shouldn’t be surprised that most students find Of Mice and Men irrelevant and uninteresting. Whether we should be rethinking what reading literacy means.

WOW!! It brings me back to an inservice day in my district where I led a group of teachers to investigate what literacy means in their content area. You see - I believe that each content area has it's own literacy components, that to simply teach a student to read or to write means nothing if we don't expose them to multiple types of text. Classic literature, graphic novels, technical writing, primary sources - all contain words but to decipher their meaning takes a bit of a different skill. And to emulate that writing - to write like a scientist, a historian, an engineer - those take another set of skills. It is out obligation (or moral imperative as Kim Moritz writes about) to teach this literacy to our students in order for them to be successful. But on that inservice day - I was informed by some of the teachers (well, two to be exact!) that students haven't changed in 37 years (i.e. they are lazy.)

I heartily disagree - students have changed tremendously! The students I taught were not the same type of student that I was and I was not the same as my parents. The folks who haven't changed in those 37 years are the teachers - those who believe that some can learn, and some cannot. Those teachers who are there to impart their knowledge, rather than to grow and nurture the knowledge of others. I don't think Of Mice and Men is irrelevant or uninteresting in this day and age - but those who are teaching it might be!!

Don't get me wrong - I am not bashing teachers! I am one!! Instead, I think it is time that we open up our doors, see the world that awaits our students, and start preparing them for the future. We don't know exactly what that looks like - but we can at least start using tools from this century!! Lots of folks I talk to lately aren't sure what that looks like, but I recently found this from a 16 year old student who might help frame it for us(Thank you think:lab!):

So here is what I am proposing. The way classes are taught should be split into three sections: Teaching of Information and Methods, Thinking, Discussing, and Re-working, and then Producing Content and Spreading your Knowledge to others. In more detail below.

Teaching of Information and Methods
This is what you think of when you think of school. Textbooks, sitting behind desks, taking notes, and being sent home to memorize the information, only to come back and take a test. This is necessary for the next two parts.
Thinking, Discussing, and Re-working
Talking about what you learned. Focusing on current events and news. And looking to the future. This part could have a little unconference feel to it.
Producing Content and Spreading your Knowledge to others.
This is the part that the internet enables. Creating videos, podcasts, blog posts is at the heart of this part of the class. Being able to publish books through LuLu. This allows students to spread knowledge that was learned in the first part and the new ideas that were generated in the second part.

I think Will's right - it's time to rethink literacy....but let's start doing it with kids!

Tags:

• writing
• reading
• learning

What are YOU so grumpy about?

When my pre-K niece is upset with the smallest of slights – from holding a different niece to not allowing her to have chips before dinner – she puts her nose in the air, crosses her arms high on her chest, and turns away. Of course, she then keeps peeking at you to see if you are watching……

Kids are funny that way. They give you obvious signs when they are upset and you can immediately apply any of the cures – hugs and tickles work best.

What Are YOU so Grumpy About? by Tom Lichtenheld is full of great illustrations and runs through about 13 different “causes” of grumpiness from receiving a gift you don’t like to having to eat “adult” cereal. The illustrations add to the text by having little cartoon comments and great details. This is a book that is a great read-aloud!! Additionally, inside the front cover are many things to do to “cure” grumpiness – this is a book that literally can be devoured cover to cover!!

A group of teachers I have been working with lately have been using this book at the elementary level to work on Two-Column Notes from Step Up to Writing. Here are three different ways we used them as we tried to perfect our lessons.

The first teacher practiced reading the book aloud and having the students take notes on the left hand side of the paper for causes of grumpiness – adding details in the right hand column from both the illustrations and the their own experience. She found that 13 different causes was too many for kids to handle, so the second time she did it – she provided the students with papers that had 5 stars already placed on the left hand side. This was intended to guide the students to listen for at least five things and focus on those. A third grade teacher followed a similar model by reading the book aloud, then creating the notes together as a class using the two-column note method.

I shared the work of these teachers with another group while we were discussing the listening passage on our state ELA assessments. The common concern was that in these instances, students are asked to take notes without knowing the questions that they are going to be asked. As a result, analysis of student note taking pages indicates that they are taking pure script notes, despite the strategies that we are teaching them. Having this book conveniently in my bag – we tried an experiment.

I read the book aloud to the teachers, highlighting and drawing their attention to the pictures. They listened and watched, taking no notes. I then asked them to listen a second time and take note in any format that would work for them. After they took notes, we then worked to categorize them using two column notes. For example – Were the causes of grumpiness home or school? A person or an event? The teachers then completed the two column notes using their original versions.

We haven’t tried the second version with students yet…but have come to realize that providing an organizational structure for notes or enabling students to create their own is critical!!

Tags:

• writing
• books
• notetaking

Lest we forget...

In Flanders Fields poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

There is power in the written and spoken word. If there wasn’t – people wouldn’t die to preserve our fundamental right to speak/write our opinions. We have a responsibility to remind our students that we owe our tremendous freedoms to many people who have died for it. It’s Veteran’s Day – so I thought it appropriate to remind everyone of the now famous poem that was written to capture the horrors of World War I.

We are engaged in another war at this moment, but unless we have been personally touched by a loss, it still seems far removed from our lives. Perhaps we have been numbed by constant media exposure of the conflict or perhaps violence in our lives have become commonplace. Perhaps there are too many causes for us to wear ribbons for that they yellow gets lost amongst the rainbow of colors.

I love what the folks over at Just One More Book! have done with their freedom of expression. (Thanks Technospud for the link!) Gathering in a coffee shop – they discuss the children’s books they love and why they love them. The most recent? A Poppy is to Remember – based upon the poem that opened this blog. Listen to the podcast to hear them describe the book and how their children loved it – as well as the connections to learning about war (and peace!) Podcasting is a great way for students to express their freedom of speech!


I also think my students would be amazed to learn that one of their favorites, Captain Underpants, made the Top Ten List of Most Challenged Books in 2005 for “anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence.” Of the list that same year are the classics “Of Mice and Men” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Banned Book Week , designated by the American Library Association as the last week in September, took on new irony as a display of banned books was banned! What better way to demonstrate the freedom of speech (and develop critical thinking skills) than to have students read a “Banned Book” and blog as they read their thoughts on why it might have been banned. Is it language? Content? Something else? Authentic and engaging: what kid won’t be drawn to something banned?

Times like these I miss having my own classroom! Every day should be Veteran’s Day!

Tags:

• writing
• freedom
• blog

I picked up Stanley from the breeder four years ago this New Year’s Eve. He was a tiny bundle of white fluff, full of energy and wanting to play. I’d never trained a dog by myself before so we went to “Puppy School.” Stanley was a stellar student. We gained a “Canine Good Citizens Award” and we contemplated having him trained as a therapy dog. Of course, my friends and family never believed me because he didn’t exhibit those traits at home. Four years later – he still doesn’t.

I know when Stanley is upset with me for working too much – he’ll pee on my computer bag. He knows when I will be traveling again – so he steals pantyhose and undergarments from my suitcase as I pack. And he has lately decided that he is enough a member of the family to join us for dinner – on the table of course. He’s a smart dog – probably smarter than me!! And at the end of the day when he is curled up next to me snoring softly in my ear, it’s hard to be angry with his antics.

So you can see that I have a real connection with Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School, written and illustrate by Mark Teague. In fact, I do believe that I hear Stanley’s voice in Ike, who is sent to Brotweiler Obedience School by his owner Mrs. LaRue after several disturbing incidences at home including eating chicken pie, howling while she is away, and ripping her camel hair coat.

In addition to using Ike’s letters to teach about voice, this picture book is ideal to teach about persuasion and the art of exaggeration. For example, as Ike paints a picture of the “warden” and his “severe” punishment for not sitting and staying (shown in black and white), reality is a comfortable environment of happy dogs and a caring teacher shown in color. Students will get a clear picture of how to provide facts to support their particular opinion, as well as how to pull apart the editorials of others to ask additional questions.

The Writing Fix provides interactive activities for students and Scholastic you provides some additional ideas for using Dear Mrs. LaRue with students but a piece you will certainly want to share with students is how the author gets ideas for his stories:

“For Mark Teague, a story starts from his "notebooks full of sketches and scribbles, strange little drawings and phrases…" His inspiration for the character of Ike in Dear Mrs. LaRue came from two dogs in his life. His own dog, Earl, was a master food thief, and his brother's dog, Ali, actually limped when he wanted attention!”

The more we can have students use writers notebooks and write about things that are important to them, the more engaged they will be as writers. And they’ll keep on writing!!


So - what's your pet been up to lately?

This I Believe...

Monday mornings are rough for me. I never accomplish what I want to over the weekend: my house is a minor disaster, I didn't rake leaves, and work seems to pile up rather than dwindle. Plus, anyone who know me knows I am not a morning person.

But I listen to NPR to get my news fix in and have become hooked on Monday mornings in order to get my "This I Believe" fix. According to it's website, This I Believe "is a national media project engaging millions of people in writing, sharing, and discussing the core values and beliefs that guide their daily lives." Based on a radio program from the 1950's hosted by Edward R. Murrow, the NPR program allows anyone to write the essay and submit it to the site. Original essays from the 1950's program are also available.

In researching the NPR site, I found an incredible blog with podcasts of "This I Believe" statements from ninth grade students. The student's voices are rich and many are very emotional - it is powerful to here these statements and I wonder how those statements will change in the years to come. This is an incredible writing challenge - and these students rose to the occaision.

In a recent workshop on writing, I asked the participants to write their own "This I Believe" statements about writing. My intent was to have them frame their thinking about writing BEFORE we started looking into the 6 Traits and Step Up to Writing. My intent was to have them capture their passions about teaching writing- so that voice did not get lost as we became immersed in strategies.

I am not sure how I did. I did not have them share their statements - I felt they were a little too personal, too intimate to share with the peers. I might have been wrong...

In any event, "This I Believe" statements are powerful writing. I am still crafting mine about writing. When it is done, and meets the requirements of NPR, I will post it here. And I just might submit it to NPR as well!

What do you believe?

Mentor-Mentee Relationship

Fridays are about mentor text. Up to this point, I have shared picture books and chapter books that can be read aloud as examples of good writing for students. Read alouds work with every age group(even adults!). Listening to the ebb and flow of words, the voice of the author paints pictures for us and inspires us to write.

But I’ve come to realize that many teachers of writing aren’t sure what I mean when I talk about mentor text. I’ve written about it before and from my conversations with teachers I started this whole Friday gig, but folks don’t seem to know what do to with the information. I’ve been following NYC Teachersince she kindly visited me and left me feverishly searching Amazon for a book on disconnecting(still watching the mailman for that delivery!!)

Here is a sample of how mentor texts work in her classroom:

A.So. couldn't believe that "My Side of the Story" was from a book called FIRST FRENCH KISS. She almost fell over in disgust.

Anyway, when we got past that, I started typing as she read her piece "The Throw-Away Cereal" to me aloud. There was so much that sounded like Bagdasarian in her piece. She included the smacks, just like Bagdasarian did in his story. The style was extremely conversational. I loved her piece.

I showed her my most recent personal narrative. She decided to emulate me and write in italics for her internal thinking.

She used * * * * * to show time passing like Patricia MacLachlan, instead of using a long ------------------ like Bagdasarian.

One thing I have to help A.So. with is writing her personal narratives in a consistent tense, like past tense. I need to find some mentor texts to help me do that.

Now this is powerful use of writing! Yes – you too can write mentor text for students!! Yes – you should be writing!! Yes - you will need to keep reading and find mentor text to meet the needs of your of your classroom!! Writing teachers, we have some hard work in front of us!! But the result is worth the effort.

Thanks NYC Teacher for being our mentor this week!

Tags:

• mentortext
• writing