THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY

We are about ten days from our state's big event. I'm feeling more than a little inadequate, like my kids are never going to be ready, that I have not taught them anything, that none of them are going to be proficient, And I just need to breathe and laugh, and remember Ruth Ayres very, very wise words:

Most importantly, I understand the child matters more than a score on a test.

And so I approach test prep from this stance. I want children to face that test, with confidence and hope and a warrior’s spirit. I want them to know they know the things they need to succeed. I want them to be bold and trust themselves. I want them to believe they are the kinds of people who perform well on tests.

This happens through workshop teaching — not gimmicks or drill and practice worksheets. When students have time to write and read in authentic ways, on topics of their interest and choosing, then they develop the skills they need to succeed on standardized tests.

This week, my involvement in test prep is to help young writers realize all they know about writing — and to believe this is more than enough for them to be successful on a standardized test. We will make charts about the things we know as writers, and students will claim strategies for themselves. They’ll practice using craft and conventions. They’ll smile about the things they can do. This is our focus…the things they can do — not the ways they are falling short. And they will face the test feeling encouraged and loved.

If you have not read her post on test prep, you really need to head over to TWO WRITING TEACHERS and read the whole thing here.

Thanks, Ruth, for this oh so important, oh so true, reminder!

Thoughts for Thursday

Dr. Richard Allington, on the issue of librarians and teachers being readers:

"I’ll give you my sporting analogy. Do you think football coaches should know anything about football? Do you think football coaches should have ever played football? Would anyone ever hire a football coach that had never played the game and didn’t know anything about it?

I seriously doubt it. If you don’t know anything about the game, trying to explain it to somebody who knows nothing about it is almost impossible…

One of the things that I find most worrisome is that 53% of teachers in the first three years of teaching say that they didn’t read a single book, over half of our beginning teachers have never read a single book in the first few years of teaching, which made me go a ways in understanding why so many kids don’t read books.

If you don’t read books I don’t know how you’d ever share the joys of reading with kids who are learning to read."

Monday Musings

Between trying to get ready to move (not to mention several other life changes currently occurring), chauffeuring my sons all over Denver, and teaching son #1 to drive, I'm not feeling very eloquent (or coherent) these days. Found this quote, along with a gorgeous, gorgeous photograph on Cynthia Lord's blog yesterday (Lord's husband is a professional photographer and they live in Maine and almost every day she publishes a photo that I would love, love, love to own).

"I believe that children in this country
need a more robust literary diet
than they are getting....
It does not hurt them to read about good and evil,
love and hate,
life and death.
Nor do I think they should read only
about things that they understand....
a man’s (person's) reach should exceed his (her) grasp.
So should a child’s.
For myself, I will never talk down to—
or draw down to—children."
--Barbara Cooney

JUST RIGHT BOOKS

We're almost two weeks into school, and reading workshops are in full swing. I've spent lots of time in classrooms talking to kids about just-right books. This fall, though, I'm approaching the whole "just-right" book thing a little differently. I'm spending lots and lots and lots of time talking about how people choose books they love, and book talking books I love, and just a little time talking about how you know if a book is just-right in terms of being something a person is actually able to read. I'm not spending nearly as much time talking about books that are too hard.

Here is the criteria for just-right book that a fourth grade class developed this week:

1) You enjoy reading the book. You are glad to pick it up. You don't want to quit reading when the timer goes off (at this point in the year we are still setting a timer for independent reading). You want to take the book home and read some more.
2) It might be a book by an author you love.
3) It might be a book in a series you love.
4) It might be a book a friend recommended.
5) It might be a subject you want to learn more about.
6) You can read most of the words on each page.
7) You have pictures in your head while you are reading.
8) You can hear the characters' voices while you are reading.
9) Sometimes you "talk" to the characters while you are reading.
10) You know what the book is about.
11) You can talk to friends about the book.

The longer I teach, the more I think that a teacher's most important job is to put a just-right book into every single kid's hands. I'm working hard at doing that this year.

Thought for the day

“Any book
that helps a child
to form a habit of reading,
to make reading
one of his deep and continuing needs,
is good for him.”

Maya Angelou

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

I do think we need many kinds of books:

books that reflect us,

books that challenge us,

books that entertain us,

books that teach us,

and books that change us.

Read some of each.

I dare you

- Cynthia Lord