Larger Than Life Poem

After I read Larger-Than-Life LARA written by Dandi Daley Mackall, aloud to the class, Katie had an excellent idea in her post Lara at Laurelville.  She wondered what kind of poems Lara might assign to our students.

As I thought about her post, and looked back over some of Lara's poems, I thought this was too great of an opportunity to ignore.

Here are a couple of examples of Lara's poems:

Sara Rivers with the silvery voice,

Reach for the stars! It's still your choice.

You can do it, though it's scary.

Fear is so unnecessary.

Joey Gilbert, I'm not mad.

I just think you're very sad.

Maybe you still miss your dad?

Miss the love you never had?

Joey it will be okay,

If you try out for the play.

I could help you learn your part.

The backstage crew could use your art.

Don't pretend that you don't care.

You can do what you can dare.

Mrs. Smith, it's all okay.

Please don't worry for this play.

Things can always work out best,

Sometimes life is just a test.

I can understand--you bet!

Besides, I'll like to work on set.

So students, the assignment is to write a "Larger Than Life" poem.  Please be sure a lesson, or bit of kindly advise is given, and include interesting details.

Need some help with rhyming, check out Rhyme Zone.

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What's the Deal With Details?

Students in Reading Workshop are confused.  All year they have listened to me scream about more details.  They hear comments like, use information from the text/book, include support from the selection, tell me more, back up your point, and you need more details. In every writing assignment, whether it was a letter, a journal, or a blog post, I have constantly prodded them to help the reader visualize by including more details.

Now, as we begin to focus more on reading, and breaking down nonfiction essays, I am telling them to forget the details.  All we talked about yesterday was looking for the main points, looking for the gist, and the W's.  The message has changed and the students are giving me that dazed and confused look.

So what's the deal with details?  Do they matter or not?  Well, the answer is yes and no.  As a writer, details are your best friend.  They are how you help the reader understand.  They help you draw a picture so the reader sees and comprehends your points.  Specific details make writing great.

As a reader, fighting for understanding of difficult text, skip the details.  Don't worry about spectacular facts, or engaging opinions.  Ignore grabber introductions written to get you interested in a piece of writing.  As a reader, focus on the W's.  Find out who is the main person (or topic) of the essays.  Look for where and when the event happened.  Determine why this event took place and how it worked.

Then look for the gist.  Find the central idea.  Determine the most vital part of the piece of writing.  Once you understand this, you have successfully read the essay.

Do details matter?  Only if you need them to help you understand the W's and the gist.

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Stars Shine at Board of Education Meeting

Thank you to the Logan Elm Board of Education for allowing us to share information about the Reading Workshop during their November Board meeting.  As their rotating schedule brought them to Laurelville Elementary, they granted us the opportunity to share how technology is enhancing the education of our students.

Three Reading Workshop students shared how the use of technology affects their education.  Ian discussed how he uses his blog to share thoughts and opinions about books that he reads like in his post on Soldier's Heart.  Hadley talked about having a place  as a writer to share events in her life.  Hannah shared the opportunity she has to be a published writer and to work as an editor on Logan Elm Sports Spot.

These students did an amazing job, presenting like they had long been professional speakers.  All related the benefits of blogging from their own perspective, and used their blog to support their points.  Laurelville Elementary, Logan Elm, and The Reading Workshop can be proud of having students of this caliber to represent us.

Learning to Read, Adult Style

For the next several weeks, we will be focusing on learning how to read. I am not talking about your overused, "sound out the words, and go back and reread when you don't get it," but real skills that readers of higher level essays use to comprehend.

Learning to read is the main focus throughout elementary school. However, the style of reading must change as students enter Jr. High School and above. By sixth grade, figuring out all of the words is a small part of the reading process. Students must learn to decipher meaning, especially in difficult text. Reading for the gist, understanding the W's (who, what, when, where, why, and how), and comprehending important details becomes the focus.

Although comprehension strategies are taught in the primary grades, the techniques should change as students enter the intermediate grades. That is our objective currently in language arts class.

Over the next few weeks, students will be taught to follow these steps when reading nonfiction.

1.Skim

2.Read and Highlight

3.List W’s

4.List facts

5.Write a topic sentence/Gist Statement

Today we focused on skimming for key words.  As we move forward we will break down nonfiction articles trying to glean the most important facts and information.  In the weeks to come, we will focus on how the parts of speech help determine meaning, what to highlight, and what to ignore, pace of reading, word substitution, and several other skills that will prepare students as critical readers in the years ahead.

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Your Homophone is Out of Order

Is your writing ringing in the ear of the reader?  Have you checked for mistakes with homophones?  Since texting and IMing have become so popular, this has become the most frequent mistake in writing.  It’s also become extremely common among bloggers.

Homophone--One of two or more words, such as night and knight, that are pronounced the same but differ in meaning, origin, and sometimes spelling.

Here are three of the mistakes with homophones that show up over and over:

1. Your vs. You’re

All it takes to avoid this error is to take a second and think about what you’re trying to say. “Your” is a possessive pronoun, as in “your car” or “your blog.” “You’re” is a contraction for “you are,” as in “you’re screwing up your writing by using your when you really mean you are.”

2. It’s vs. Its
This is another common mistake. It’s also easily avoided by thinking through what you’re trying to say.  “It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” “Its” is a possessive pronoun, as in “this blog has lost its mojo.” Here’s an easy rule of thumb—repeat your sentence out loud using “it is” instead. If that sounds goofy or wrong, “its” is likely the correct choice.

3. There, They're, and Their
This one seems to trip up everyone occasionally, often as a pure typo. Make sure to watch for it when you proofread. “There” is used many ways, including as a reference to a place, “let’s go there” or as a pronoun, “there is no hope”. “Their” is a plural possessive pronoun, as in “their bags” or “their opinions.” Always do the “that’s ours!” test—are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, “their” will get you there.  "They're" is a contraction for “they are,” as in “they're going to answer the homophone."  :)

Help the reader by carefully editing.  Be sure the sounds out of your phone/blog are pleasant to the ear/eye.

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaysun/479031890/sizes/s/

Student Blog Score Sheet

Students have spent time in Reading Workshop reading and writing blogs, so their grade should reflect their efforts.  In a previous post, we looked at How to Grade Student Blogs.  However, students need an easy method to evaluate their work, and  understand the grade that it merits.   A Blog Score Sheet is an easy way to accomplish this. 

Students can easily check the areas they have completed successfully.  This also provides the opportunity to look at different blogs, and show examples of excellent writing.

Once students have evaluated their blog, then I will score their blog.  If there is a difference between their evaluation and mine, then I can explain what needs to be done to improve the blog, and help it meet expectations.

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Who Else is a Little Crazy Around Here?

The word for today is sanity. Statistics say that one of four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, it's you.

And what brings up the word for the day?  Tomorrow is the start of a five day break.  We may all be a little crazy, but I am sure when we return on Monday, after a little R & R, we will be rejuvinated, and chomping at the bit to get back in the educational saddle.

Don't eat too much at the Pumpkin Show and enjoy the break!

A Writer's Voice

When someone reads a post you wrote, do they know it's you?  Having a writer's voice and a style of your own comes from writing, writing some more, and writing some more.  Eventually, your writing will take on a style of its own.

Authors with several books published are usually easy to recognize by their style.  Gary Paulsen with his wordy, descriptive, "I have been there and done it" style is consistent in his books.  John Scieszka with his choppy sentences, constant dialogue, and wacky events amuses his readers.

Dr. Scott McLeod wrote the following on his blog, Dangerously Irrelevant:

Blogging cured me of my writing blahs. It provided me with an outlet that fits me like a glove, helped me discover my writing voice, and made me realize that I LOVE to write - indeed, maybe LIVE to write.

What about you, student bloggers?  Are you beginning to write in a consistent style?  Can your readers recognize you by your tone?  Or by the way you discuss topics?  By the end of a year of blogging, will you have found your style?
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This is Sharing Your Thoughts

As we start a new year in Reading Workshop, one of the main goals is making writing meaningful using descriptive writing with many supporting details.  It really does not matter whether the writing is a response to a question, a blog post, a journal, a letter, or any other type of writing.  Quality writing brings the reader into the mind and the heart of the writer.  Details help the reader see, and feel, and understand.

When I read Katey's blog post, it grabbed me and I knew immediately, this was a great example of what I expect in  students' writing.  This was in response to a prompt from Larger-Than-Life Lara.

My first impression of Lara was "Whoa, what in the world is she describing?" I actually didn’t know what to say about Lara, it was just like an "OMG!" moment, I was speechless. I don’t know if that was what the author wanted people to think, but that was my thought (sorry if that makes anybody mad). When Lara was first described by Laney I thought she wouldn’t be like she is. I didn’t think that Lara would be always smiling and cheerful. I was also suprised after Laney descibed her, that she was a new student.  At first I thought she was an adult, but when she said that she was a new student I was shocked.

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinhutton/
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Why Student Blogs are So Valuable

I read Cassie's blog yesterday, and thought about it several times throughout the evening.  I woke up this morning and thought about it again.  She really nailed it.   She compared the meanness in Larger-Than-Life Lara with what she sees and feels some times at school.

As we work towards improving higher level thinking, and writing that supports ideas and opinions with explicit and intricate details, she  wrote a post that was extraordinary.  However, there were many mistakes in PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling).  Her post shows how blogging will build writing skills, while pushing students to think, and reason, and consider themselves, their lives, and how people treat others.

Opinions are sometimes really mean like when someone talks about you.  When you talk about them and it is not nice but it could be nice sometimes. When people do that it is just like them talking about you. How would you feel if someone talked about you? It would not feel to good. 

That is why I don’t like it when my friends make fun of people to make them look cool. It just makes them look like a jerk.  I don’t like it when people talk about people. It is just really mean. I really think that if we don’t talk about people there would be no fights at school and for people who do talk about people need to stop.

Don’t talk about people because when people do it just gets back at them and they talk about kids. People don’t like it when you talk about them because all it does is  start a fight. So thats why I don’t but I’m not going to lie. I have talked about people but I quit.

This was a super job relating Cassie's life to the book I am reading aloud in Reading Workshop.  As her writing skills improve, great thoughts like these will be a topic for discussion and growth for her, and her classmates.
Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinhutton/86405062/in/set-72157605053379133/

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How To Grade Student Blogs

One of the challenges of having students write all of their assignments on a blog is coming up with a fair and objective way of grading.  Writing assignments in Reading Workshop are graded with a rubric that looks at several factors to come up with an overall grade.

After considering several rubrics, I created the Stair Steps to Success.  As students' writing improves and posts get better and better, they can climb the stairs to writing success.  

These questions can help certain determine their grade.

Did you spell everything correctly? I would hope so. After all, who would want to write something that is available to the whole world, and misspell words? Can the reader understand the topic because you stick to it? Following these minimal standards will earn you at least a D.

Did you use correct grammar?  Did you take time to check your PUGS?  Can the reader follow your post in an organized manner? This is still a most basic expectations for writers that want to publish their work. The skills learned in the primary grades are not too much to expect for work posted on the Internet.  A C means satisfactory and not meeting this basic criteria would surely not deserve anything higher.

Do you have interesting content presented in a well-written way? To build loyal readers, you must grab the reader.  Supporting details draw in the readers and give them understanding. If posts are written cleanly with correct PUGS, the words illustrate the meaning, and the reader can visualize your ideas, you will earn a B.

Does your writing cause the reader to pause, and think, or cause the reader to agree or disagree? Sometimes hours after reading an essay, the reader is still thinking about it. When a blog post has that something special, then the writer deserves an A.  To earn this, the majority of posts must be of exceptional quality.

What step are you on? Have you climbed the stairs to writing success?

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Rules for Blog Comments

Everyone that blogs wants readers.  And, we wish that every single person that visited our blog would comment.  In fact, almost any comment is better than none.  So, the most important rule for blog comments is to comment.  If you agree, say so.  If you disagree, or have a different opinion, say so.  But whatever you do, take a minute and let us know you were here.

As students in Reading Workshop begin to build their blogs, post by post, the need for some structure in commenting is evident.  Hopefully these guidelines will help students engage in meaningful dialogue, comment by comment.

Here are the Reading Workshop rules for Blog Comments.

1.  Be nice. No name-calling and personal abuse, please.

2.  Keep on topic.  Don't write a comment that has little or nothing to do with the subject of the article.

3.  Opposing opinions are welcome, as long as they are respectful of the views of others.  If you disagree with the opinions of the author, express it politely.

4.  Don’t issue personal attacks or insults.  Attacks against  the author, other bloggers, commenters or people will be deleted.

5.  Avoid repeating yourself.  If many people have already said something, please don’t say it again.  Once you make a point, support it, but don't keep saying the same thing over, and over, and over.

5.  Avoid repeating yourself.  If many people have already said something, please don’t say it again  (See how annoying this is).

6.  Don’t make comments like “Great post.” If you read it, say why it was great.  Add some­thing to the con­ver­sa­tion.   Add your own view, or thoughts to the topic.

7.  Don’t use incorrect grammar or mispellings. Doing this makes the blog look like a low quality blog. It makes the blogger feel like you don't care enough to take the time to do it right.

For more information about commenting, see the post Comments That Count. 

Always remember the most important rule for blog comments is to comment.

Why Do Students Give the Teacher Control?

Mrs. Scott, the principal stopped by the room as she so often does, just to see how things were going.  Up came Chomper Sue, the gum chewingest kid to hit the class in many a year.  Mrs. Scott told her to spit out the gum.  Boy, did Sue just make her teacher happy.

To this point in the year, Sue had been doing fairly well--much better than last year.  It's a shame she couldn't see that she was well on her way to wrecking her great start.  In less than a half hour, she was chomping away again, slapping her gums together and cracking her bubble gum.  That made two write-ups in one class.

After lunch, Sue came up the stairs for her afternoon class, mouth wide open, chomping on more gum.  What a day--three writeups for the same offense.  This earned her some time on the wall during recess the next day.  Sticking to her pattern of self-destruction, Sue did not stand on the wall today, so this earned her two more days.

In less than two days, Sue aggravated her favorite teacher over and over.  She showed disrespect  chewing gum, which is so trivial, but then she just kept flaunting her disregard for school rules.

In the process of all of this mess, Sue who thinks of herself as an independent young woman, gave up all control of herself at school.  She became a discipline problem, disrepecting teachers and ignoring rules.  In the process, the teachers are forced to deal with Sue's behavior, and deal with the aggravation of a student that can not do the most simple things to be successful.

I wonder if Chomper Sue knows all she lost over three sticks of gum?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93193895@N00/3714880038/
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Fake Reading, Will Smith, and Being Successful

Her homework paper said she read exactly 30 minutes a day.  She read exactly 10 pages each time.  As I looked at the paper, I thought, "another fake reader.  Why?"

The Read at Home assignment is meant to be low stress.  All students have to do to get a good grade is read.  And the more they read, the better the grade.  And they can read any book they want.  But still she chose to fake read.

I know grades do not matter that much to her.  So why did she lie about her reading?  I had already been watching her in class and could see that she does not like reading and has no interest in her book.

I wonder if she is a Will Smith fan?  I wonder if she will believe him when he says she can succeed?  I wonder if she has the guts to want  to be something and the strength to chase it?

The student's task for the day was to pick one area that Will Smith discusses in the video and write a post in their blog.  They could rewatch that piece of the video.  The times are listed in parenthesis after the area.

It Can Be That Easy (1:00)
There's No Shortcut to Success (1:38)
Lay One Brick at a Time (3:00)
Focus on Making a Difference (3:48)
Represent an Idea/Possibilities/You Can Make What You Want (4:35)
You Have to Believe (5:00)
Nothing is Unrealistic (5:45)
Our Thoughts are Physical/Make a Choice (6:47)
You Really Have to Focus (8:08)
Attack Your Fears/"I Hate Being Afraid of Anything" (8:30)
Protect Your Dream (9:17)

You can check out their thoughts, ideas, and opinions by following the links to Student Blogs in the sidebar.

Goals and Benefits of Student Blogging

As the Reading Workshop students begin to blog regularly (see links in the sidebar), one might question, what do you want the students to get out of this project? How will it help them? Are the benefits academic and or social? Listed below are the goals and benefits of student blogs.

Goals with student blogs include:

1. Students will communicate effectively.
2. Students will share thoughts, ideas, and opinions, and support them with details that make understanding easy.
3. Students will become better writers, both in content and mechanics.
4. Students will become better readers, improving comprehension and the ability to read critically.
5. Students will share great books and enter into dialogue about them.
6. Students will use Web 2.0 technology as a tool to publish their work to share with their peers, family, and friends.
7. Students will finish the year of Reading Workshop with a published portfolio of their writing projects.

In addition to the goals for learning, there are other benefits to students. These include:

1. Blogging is fun.
2. Students can improve writing in an exciting and engaging manner.
3. Students can share their work with friends.
4. Students can comment on their friend's work, sharing thoughts and ideas.
5. Students can learn about using computers and web-based tools.
6. Students can show off their work to their parents, grandparents, and other family members.
7. Students can earn good grades for doing something they like.

Get it Right, or Do Not Post

Students, as you begin blogging on a regular basis, the need to write cleanly is paramount if you want your audience to take you seriously. Readers will not follow someone they don't respect, or someone they see as unintelligent. Even a writer in sixth grade must produce good writing that makes sense, and is not filled with errors. Plus, the content must be interesting and engage the reader. But, that will not happen if the writing has basic errors that distract the reader.

Chris Pirillo discusses the need for PUGS--Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling in this video.

Student Blogs on WordPress

Student blogs this year were created and hosted at WordPress.  In the past, we used Blogger, but due to the recent changes, (like requiring an access code sent to a cell phone) The Reading Workshop student blogs went to a more user-friendly site.  Even though Google owns Blogger, and provides a great service at Google Apps, hosting a blog is not part of the service.

One of the tools provided by WordPress is a spelling and grammar checker.  Use of this tool will "clean up" student writing, while helping to teach basic writing skills.  Just go to My Account -->Edit Profile-->Proofreading and check the boxes.

Check out the sidebar for a link to all of the student blogs.

Blogging in the Classroom

Students are creating blogs to post their writing about their thoughts, ideas, opinions, and responses.  Using this Web 2.0 tool in the classroom allows students to share their work, comment on each others work, have a real audience, and lets parents view their child's work in Reading Workshop.

For more information about what a blog is, and how it works, check out this video by Lee LeFever of Common Craft. 

Just the Right Book

How does the book you are reading fit in with this list?


1) You enjoy reading the book. You are glad you picked it up. You don't want to quit reading when SSR is over. You want to take the book home and read some more.
2) You have pictures in your head while you are reading.
3) You can hear the characters' voices while you are reading.
4) You can read most of the words on each page.
5) You know what the book is about.
6) It might be a book a friend recommended.
7) It might be a subject you want to learn more about.
8) The book is by your favorite author.
9) The book is part of a series and you can't wait to read the next one.
10) You want to talk to friends about the book and/or do a book share.

Thank you to Carol's Corner, where the idea for this list originated.

Giving A Book Talk

How to give a good Book Talk:

1.  Choose a book you like, and that you feel is special enough to share.
2.  Read the book!
3.  Once you finish, ask yourself what made the book meaningful to you
4.  Don't give away the ending or any other secrets.
5.  Do Not do a retelling.
6.  Make it interesting from the start by beginning with a question, sharing a problem, discussing the setting, or a character, or telling a little bit of the plot.
7.  Don't ruin the book by telling too much. Grab the readers interest, but leave them wanting more.
8.  If you read aloud, it should be short.
9.  Prepare and practice, know what you are going to say.
10.  Concentrate on the book and your message.  Don't worry about the audience.

As we begin Book Talks in Reading Workshop, this example shares the book Turnabout by Margaret Peterson Haddix.