Beg, Borrow, and Steal from 4th and 1st Grade Teachers

One of the benefits of collaboration is the ability to beg, borrow, and steal!  During last week's LNW, several fourth and first grade teachers shared some of their favorite resources with us.  Check them out!

Mandy Beckler at Mathews shared a great reading response sheet with fourth grade teachers.  For each group/book she found relevant questions for the genre of book and the skills they were studying. She wrote a question on each square. Students would be given a sticky note to write the answer for each of the questions.  When they answered the question, they would cover that square with their sticky note answer.  If evidence was needed from the text, they would write the page number at the bottom of the square.  During their discussion after reading, students would compare their answers.  Of course, some questions would vary as students interpreted elements differently, but the “right there” questions should be the same or similar among all students.  It was a great conversation starter about the book at the beginning of each group.  Thanks for sharing, Mandy!  Mandy also shared a list of questions for FICTION and NONFICTION texts!

Taylor Mitchell, fourth grade teacher at Summit Intermediate, shared a site she uses when her students are studying famous Missourians.  The State Historical Society of Missouri offers lots of biographies for famous Missouri!

Jaclyn Donald, first grade teacher at Century, uses the Notability app on her iPad for conferences.  Notability is a powerful note-taker that allows you to annotate documents and forms, record conferences, and share your notes.

During our visit to Jacinda Weldy's first grade class at Century, we snapped a picture of the form she uses for anecdotal records.  Like we discussed during LNW, there are LOTS of ways to collect your data and anecdotal records.  The important thing is that you find a way that works for you that allows you to easily record and use data.  The more we share our records with each other, the more options we have for tweaking our own form until we find what works for us!

 

Josh Gasser's first grade students post their writing goals goals on their desks for as a reminder.  Students set new goals once they have mastered their current writing goal.

Beg, Borrow, and Steal from 2nd and 3rd Grade Teachers!

Reading and Writing

During our final LNW session of the year, teachers were given time to collaborate and share ideas with each other.  Here are a few of the ideas we received from our second and third grade teachers!

Have you heard of Storynory?  This online resource has tons of FREE audio stories.  All KINDS of stories!  They have books in a series, Greek, well known stories, poems, music, and more!  Thank you, Carey Davis, for sharing this resource with us! :-)

Beth Clippard shared Storybird.com with us during her LNW session.  It is "visual storytelling for everyone".  Using storybird, students can add captivating illustrations to their stories or read stories that others have created.  You need to sign up for storybird, but it is FREE!

Planning

Rachel Roach, as well as several JTSD teachers, shared planbook.com.  The planning program has a free trial, but once that expires, the cost is $12/year (although they shared with us that if several people in the same building sign up, the cost is reduced).  Online, planbook touts they make "lesson planning easy" and many of our teachers agree.  Teachers can custom develop schedules for each class, view and print lessons by the day, week, or class, connect to the standards, attach files and links to your lesson, share your plans with other teachers, and the list goes on!  If you're excited about the product, but not about spending the cash, check out the planning resource below.

Planboardapp.com is similar to the resource above, without as many bells and whistles.  The best part about this program is that it is completely FREE!  With Planboard, you can still connect to the standards, attach files and links to your lessons, and share your plans with other teachers.  Thanks again, Carey Davis!

Have fun borrowing these ideas! :-)

Conversational Moves for Literature Discussion Groups

"If we believe in the power of language for literacy learning, 

then classrooms should burst with opportunities to talk about literacy.  

One of the most powerful language experiences for students 

can occur during literature discussion groups."

                                                                              

Linda Dorn and Carla Soffos

 

Preparing for Literature Discussion Group Discussions:

• Students read assigned text.
• Students flag their thinking with sticky notes.
• Students respond to their reading and thinking in reading log.
• Teacher refers to conversational moves/speaking and listening anchor chart before the discussion begins.

Guidelines for Engaging in Literature Discussion Groups:

• Prepare for group meeting ahead of time.
• Quickly come to group meeting excited and ready to begin discussion.
• Actively participate in book discussion by sharing thinking.
• Support thinking using evidence from text.
• Stay on topic.
• Listen carefully to others' thinking.
• Make eye contact with person talking.
• Offer opinion and build on ideas at appropriate times.
• Respect the thinking of other students and react using appropriate language.
• Ask questions when needed to clarify understanding.
• Achieve deeper understanding through discussion.
• Teacher may prompt students to discuss texts at deeper levels by providing some specific higher level comprehension prompts.
• Teacher may prompt students to use conversational language while discussing the text.

More Conversational Moves to Add to an Ongoing Anchor Chart:

• I agree because...
• I disagree because...
• Say more about what you mean...
• Can you show me where that is in the book?
• What is your evidence?
• Why do you think that?

At the End of the Small Group Discussion:

Reflect on specific conversational moves made during small group discussion.  Discuss how the conversational moves helped us to understand the text?  Teacher will jot down anecdotal notes on individual students or the small group to drive future mini-lessons.

Enjoy watching the conversations happen!

Informational Texts - What Makes a Text Complex?

The Common Core State Standards/Missouri Learning Standards place a strong emphasis on the role of text complexity in evaluating student readiness for college and careers. The importance of both increasing the complexity of texts students read and the need for teachers to understand more about what makes texts challenging arose out of research that showed that the clearest differentiator in reading between students who are college ready and students who are not is the ability to comprehend complex texts. Here are some guidelines to think about when you are trying to choose complex, informational texts to use in daily instruction:

SLIGHTLY COMPLEX INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:

• PURPOSE: Explicitly stated; clear, concrete with a narrow focus
• ORGANIZATION OFMAIN IDEAS: Connections between ideas, processes or events are explicit and clear; organization of text is clear or chronological or easy to predict
• TEXT FEATURES: If used, help the reader navigate and understand content but are not essential
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, simple graphics, unnecessary to understanding the text but directly support and assist in interpreting the written text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Explicit, literal, straightforward, easy to understand
• VOCABULARY: Contemporary, familiar, conversational language
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Mainly simple sentences
• SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: Everyday, practical knowledge; simple, concrete ideas
• INTERTEXTUALITY: No references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc. 

MODERATELY COMPLEX INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:

• PURPOSE: Implied, but easy to identify based upon context or source
• ORGANIZATION OFMAIN IDEAS: Connections between some ideas or events are implicit or subtle; organization is evident and generally sequential
• TEXT FEATURES: If used, enhance the reader's understanding of content
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, graphics mostly supplementary to understanding of the text, such as indexes, glossaries, graphs, pictures, tables, and charts directly support the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Largely explicit and easy to understand with some occasions for more complex meaning
• VOCABULARY: Mostly contemporary, familiar, conversational; rarely unfamiliar or overly academic
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Simple and compound sentences, with some more complex constructions
• SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: Everyday, practical knowledge and some discipline-specific content knowledge; both simple and more complicated, abstract ideas
• INTERTEXTUALITY: A few references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc.

VERY COMPLEX INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:

• PURPOSE: Implied, but fairly easy to infer; more theoretical than concrete
• ORGANIZATION OFMAIN IDEAS: Connections between an expanded range of ideas, processes or events are deeper and often implicit or subtle; organization may contain multiple pathways and may exhibit traits common to a specific discipline
• TEXT FEATURES: If used, greatly enhance the reader's understanding of content
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, essential integrated graphics, tables, charts, etc.; may occasionally be essential to understanding the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Complex; contains some abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language
• VOCABULARY: Somewhat complex language that is sometimes unfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, or overly academic
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Many complex sentences with several subordinate phrases or clauses and transition words
• SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: Moderate levels of discipline-specific content knowledge; some theoretical knowledge may enhance understanding; range of recognizable ideas and challenging abstract concepts
• INTERTEXTUALITY: Some references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc.

EXCEEDINGLY COMPLEX INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:

• PURPOSE: Subtle, implied, difficult to determine; intricate, theoretical elements
• ORGANIZATION OF MAIN IDEAS: Connections between an expanded range of ideas or events are deep, intricate and often implicit or subtle; organization of the text is intricate or specialized for a particular discipline
• TEXT FEATURES: If used, are essential in understanding content
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, extensive, intricate, essential integrated graphics, tables, charts, etc., necessary to make meaning of text; also may provide information not otherwise conveyed in the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Dense and complex; contains abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language
• VOCABULARY: Generally unfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, or overly academic language; may be ambiguous or purposefully misleading
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Mainly complex sentences often containing multiple concepts
• SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: Extensive, perhaps specialized or even theoretical discipline-specific content knowledge; range of challenging abstract and theoretical concepts
• INTERTEXTUALITY: Many references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc.

LNW Procedures for Winter Weather

If there is a late start or a snow day, LNW will be cancelled for that day and rescheduled.

Literature - What Makes a Text Complex?

The Common Core State Standards/Missouri Learning Standards place a strong emphasis on the role of text complexity in evaluating student readiness for college and careers. The importance of both increasing the complexity of texts students read and the need for teachers to understand more about what makes texts challenging arose out of research that showed students who are college ready have the ability to comprehend complex texts. 

Text complexity will look different at each grade level.  Here are guidelines to think about when choosing complex texts in literature for read alouds, shared reading, mini-lessons, small group reading/discussions, writing about reading, and independent reading:

Level 1 - SLIGHTLY COMPLEX LITERATURE TEXTS:

• MEANING: One level of meaning; theme is obvious and revealed early in the text
• ORGANIZATION: Organization of text is clear, chronological or easy to predict
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, extensive illustrations that directly support and assist in interpreting the written text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Explicit, literal, straightforward, easy to understand
• VOCABULARY: Contemporary, familiar, conversational language
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Mainly simple sentences
• LIFE EXPERIENCES: Explores a single theme; experiences portrayed are everyday and common to most readers
• INTERTEXTUALITY AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE: No references or allusions to other texts or cultural elements

Level 2 - MODERATELY COMPLEX LITERATURE TEXTS:

• MEANING: More than one level of meaning with levels clearly distinguished from each other; theme is clear but may be conveyed with some subtlety
• ORGANIZATION: Organization may have two or more storylines and occasionally difficult to predict
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, a range of illustrations that support selected parts of the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Largely explicit and easy to understand with some occasions for more complex meaning
• VOCABULARY: Mostly contemporary, familiar, conversational; rarely unfamiliar or overly academic
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Simple and compound sentences, with some more complex constructions
• LIFE EXPERIENCES: Explores a single theme; experiences portrayed are common to many readers
• INTERTEXTUALITY AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE: A few references or allusions to other texts or cultural elements

Level 3 - VERY COMPLEX LITERATURE TEXTS:

• MEANING: Several levels of meaning that may be difficult to identify or separate; theme is implicit or subtle and may be revealed over the entirety of the text
• ORGANIZATION: Organization may include subplots, time shifts and more complex characters
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, a few illustrations that support the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Complex; contains some abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language
• VOCABULARY: Somewhat complex language that is sometimes unfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, or overly academic
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Many complex sentences with several subordinate phrases or clauses and transition words
• LIFE EXPERIENCES: Explores theme of varying levels of complexity; experiences portrayed are uncommon to most readers
• INTERTEXTUALITY AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE: Some references or allusions to other texts or cultural elements

Level 4 - EXCEEDINGLY COMPLEX LITERATURE TEXTS:

• MEANING: Several levels and competing elements of meaning that are difficult to identify, separate, and interpret; theme is implicit or subtle, often ambiguous and revealed over the entirety of the text
• ORGANIZATION: Organization is intricate with regard to elements such as narrative viewpoint, time shifts, multiple characters, storylines and details
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, minimal illustrations that support the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Dense and complex; contains abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language
• VOCABULARY: Generally unfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, or overly academic language; may be ambiguous or purposefully misleading
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Mainly complex sentences often containing multiple concepts
• LIFE EXPERIENCES: Explores complex, sophisticated themes; experiences are distinctly different from the common reader
• INTERTEXTUALITY AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE: Many references or allusions to other texts or cultural elements

Check back next week... 
and find out what makes informational text complex.