Chapter+13


 * Chapter 13 **

// On p. 264 Lucy reflects on her own growth in understanding the conceptual work of reading by describing what she used to think about emergent readers like Amaury. In re-reading that paragraph, do you have any connections to your past thinking or the past thinking of other adults you have encountered regarding the value of emergent reading skills? //
 * #1 - Our growth in viewing emergent readers (like Amaury) **

// Emergent readers come to us with "something". Seasoned teachers, most, will not dispair if the child appears to not be on the path an inexperienced teacher thinks they need to be on. Each year we start there is(are) children fall into this bracket. As I prepare for this year being more researched based I will view the strengths of my charges. The first month is critical as I observe and develop curriculum that meets the needs of the child(ren). The time I take will help me "do the right thing". // // Margaret Fox ﻿ // //﻿// Well parents and newer teachers don’t always see the progress. Know the concept ofprint theories and using the MLPP assessments makes one more aware of growth instudents. On pg 265 it was interesting how she broke down Amaury ‘s development.

This is the 1st year in may that I have taught Reading & Writing with Lucy Caulkins. I was not necessary looking a the writing as an association. But clearly the first week when we did writing my strong writers were my strong readers.

KDN

I think that I might tend to fall into the same situation as Lucy did at the beginning. I think that if we spend one-on- one time with each student and listen to them share "what they know" about the text at hand it gives us a good insight for where they are with their reading. I feel it is very important to use our read aloud time to get them to understand the basics of reading and coach them through the strategies that they can use when they attempt to read on their own. Ronda

I, too, would have thought like Lucy (and Ronda). I failed to see that there was more to reading than the "sound letter" correspondences. However, now I know that Amaury was well on his way. Many of my students are like him and continue to make seemingly slow progress, but they are progressing just the same. I need to keep that in mind. I Kari Bonnema

Chapter 13 from Bobbi Friend #1 – I think that many teachers and many parents miss the aspects of emergent reading and dismiss what Amaury was doing, just as Lucy did when she was a beginning teacher. Having had experience with Readiness Kindergarten, I can see that what Amaury was doing was truly the beginning of reading and not just looking at pictures. He understands that words have meaning, pictures match the words on the page, and books are read in a certain order. There are so many things that he is doing right that we need to celebrate the process of becoming a reader. As teachers, we sometimes are so worried about letters, sounds, and words, we forget that the purpose of reading is to make meaning. All parts of a text help us make that meaning, including pictures.

After reading Amaury's reading of the text on pages 263 and 264, I agree with Bobbi in that he is not just looking at pictures, **he understands that words have meaning, pictures match the words on the page**. Futhermore, I can see that Amaury's reading of the text is related to his point of reference and understanding. As for my connections to past thinking, I never taught reading before and am only aware of what it was like when my own children were learning to read and how different instructional strategies affected them. M.J.

As a long ago first grade teacher I remember trying to make sense of what my readers were doing. I had a great mentor who told me that there were "bigger" clues to reading than just sound/ letter reading. She convinced me that you really needed to see where that student was at, what they could do, and what they were ready to do next. Some came better prepared or more ready to acquire those beginning skills. On the flip side of that, I remember my student teaching experience where I was so proud that the class had progressed further in the second half of the year with me, a beginner, than they had the first half with the seasoned veteran. Her response" Don't you think maybe it had to do with the learning that was happening all year long, wouldn't you expect them to do better in the second half." I know now that sometimes we need to do our best and just let "it" happen naturally with our best guidance. Mike

Have you ever watched a chick peck its way out of an egg? The first time I did I just about went nuts wanting to reach into the incubator and pluck the shell apart to free the chick but I had to step back and realize that this is a natural process that has been occurring for centuries without any intrusions from me. It is a process that takes time. I can watch, cheer and give encouragement but it is ultimately up to the chick. Watching a reader "hatch" is the same. I cannot do it for them. I can watch (research), cheer (praise), and encourage (confer) but ultimately it is up to the chick (student). I love the idea of focusing on what a reader can do as Lucy pointed out in her observation of Amaury on page 265. Sometimes it seems easier to focus on what is not happening, I need to focus on what is happening and plan my instruction from there. --Jodee Tuttle

**#2 Amaury teaches us further** // And/or, in reading further, do you notice that Randy Bomer looked to the Amaury’s writing as strong evidence for where he was with print and sound-letter skills? Do you also use student writing as strong clues for reading assessment? When you have questions about a reader, do you immediately look at writing samples, or is it sometimes more of an afterthought? How did these examples in the text speak to you? //

// I have not thought of the writing skills as insight to my child(ren)'s reading. This is another way of bringing tthe invisible to the visible of a child's thought process. Stephanie, Your bullits are right on. Rhonda, that's why we are having this dialogue. Our childen will develop at their own pace, not the pace that we feel we should dictate. I will be using their writing to get a better understanding and as you support them on this journey. // // Margaret Fox ﻿ //

I cannot honestly say that I have used students’ writing as clues to their reading very often in the past. I believe this will be a great year to try this, especially having younger students. The example on page 265 stuck out to me as basic things to look for when I check a student’s writing. I plan to include many of the thoughts from that page on a quick reference chart, such as: Stephanie Cooper
 * “Does he read his own writing with one-to-one matching, pointing somewhat correctly at the print?”
 * What kinds of inventive spellings are being used? Is the beginning/middle/ending sound represented? What area of the word is most troublesome for the child to hear and record?

I don't use their writing as much as I should. It is more of just an extra step that I don't always think their is time to do. During writing working, I have been able to see if their story (either written or verbal) goes with their illustrations. This is a good step to see if their story (made up or not) goes hand in hand with the illustrations of their books. Each child develops at their own pace with many factors leading up to their success or lack of it. I feel the text want us to realize at teachers we need to let students grow at their own pace and be a support to them on their journey. Ronda

I have used students’ writing only to some extent in the past, especially when reviewing the work of a student who is struggling. When a whole team of us get together to find strengths in the child’s work and where the challenges are, I am better about seeing the connections. On a more regular basis, I haven’t done that as much. I look at writing in connection to reading as more of an after-thought. However, I’d like to be more proactive with this analysis, bringing in a colleague or two for more support (before waiting until a team of interventionists collaborate). I appreciate the list of “conditions that support all forms of language learning” page 260. When Calkins felt like Amaury wasn’t reading she didn’t realize that he was engaged and approximating and these conditions are essential to learning reading, like any form of language (page 264). I feel reassured when I see readers and writers at least attempting to read and write conventionally. These examples remind me of the importance of the different conditions needed to foster language learning.

Sara Sabouin Chapter13 from Bobbi Friend #2 – It does make sense as a next step to look at Amaury’s writing to see what the next steps should be for him with his reading. I think that I would look at what he was writing to see if he was making any sound/letter correspondence and look at his invented spelling. Amaury needs to understand that specific letters have sounds and those sounds together make words. He is ready to begin to develop some conventional reading; using his writing will help to see what the first lessons need to be. In my classroom, with older students, I often use writing samples to help me understand why students are making mistakes and miscues in their reading. There is so much value in analyzing writing to help aid in reading instruction.

I can honestly say I have NOT used writing to give me clues into their reading in the past. Shame on me! How could I not do that???? Go figure. I always explain to parents at conference time how reading and writing go hand-in-hand, so it would only make sense to use writing as an indicator. How embarrassing!!! Well, you can bet that from here on out I DO use my students' writing as an assessment tool for reading. Something so simple. Huh!? As I continue through the process of the Reading Workshop, I see how the Reading and Writing Workshop could overlap in a classroom. Keri Cooper

**I also, have not used my students writing as an insight into their reading, although, in many cases, I've noticed my struggling readers were** also struggling writers. As I read this section I thought how I could use some of the information from running records in a similar way with their writing. Are they making meaning, are they using the correct word substitutions, and does it look right? Why couldn't I springboard from their writing to some coaching on reading strategies that fit these needs? Mike
 * I like Donald Holdaway's example of shared reading on page 266. With that said, for the first 8 years of teaching, I worked with students with Autism. This pre-adolescent group of emergent readers delighted in reading from Big Books, Graphs, computer screens and much more. We always did a picture walk first, and then I would read the story. The next day I would ask them to join me in reading the story. The third day, we would read the story again and the by the fourth day, some of my students would read the words they knew while telling what the story was about. I always felt it was important to have them point to each and every word we read and sometimes had a hard time convincing my staff to help them point. UGH! Sometimes we would look for familiar words in the text that were on our Word Wall, or I might say on page 2, I am looking at a word that begins with..... f and ends with an x. Raise your hand if you have found it. As far as using a writing assessment, most of my students are very poor writers, so I encouraged them to copy text and/or write a journal about the book we were reading. I saw a lot of phonetic spelling and word substitutions, but they were able to make some sense of the story. However, I now work with students ages 18-26 and one student thinks he can write like a doctor. I ask him; Can you read this? He tries,but cannot read the scribble. I then tell him; "My sister is a doctor and she doesn't write like that. I would really like you to write like (student's name)." This chapter speaks volumes to the importance of taking a reading/writing sample periodically to truly see where each student is functioning as a reader and writer. **
 * M.J. **

I have used the writing folders when thinking about assessing reading with my students. I usually notice a direct correlation between their writing and their reading. It is also helpful for me at the beginning of the year to have a couple of writing pieces to research prior to doing a benchmark DRA. Their writing helps give me a starting point for DRAing if I am unsure where to start the testing. Their writing gives clues as to what they can usually also do as a reader. --Jodee Tuttle

**#3 What did you hear?** //This is the first in a set of chapters that get grade level specific. If you do not work with K-1st grade level students, what did you find in the chapter that was still informative for you at your specific level? What did you hear that was new and helpful?// //If you do work with K-1st grade level students, what were some pieces that you want to hold on to from this chapter?//

One of the major things I want to hold came from page 257: “Instead of thirty words, we’d be wiser to slow down, to post just three or four words on the word wall at the start of the year.” In my fourth and second grade classrooms I posted all of the words at the start of the year, adding content related words throughout. I am excited about having students brainstorm the words they already know how to read and write and posting this handful. We will then add three to five new words each week, which students will then be held accountable for reading and writing correctly.

A second idea I plan to use comes from page 274 where it talks about reading aloud “a few favorite, carefully chosen books” and reading these “beloved books many times within even just a week or two, and then…leave the books out during reading time.” Very rarely have I read a book aloud more than once. I typically leave read aloud books on the whiteboard ledge when I am not reading them and allow students to borrow them at any time.

Another idea I highlighted from this chapter came from page 278 where it recommends having students “sit at their tables for both private and partner reading time.” I am still wrestling with this idea as I have always given my students choices on where to sit from day one. Last year, I very quickly placed students in a spot at various places around the classroom for the first few weeks so they learned where it was, and was not appropriate to sit. I would love to hear what others have done or plan to do with their first grade students.

Stephanie Cooper Stephanie, first of all, to answer your question about where first graders would sit.... I taught first grade for seven years and I usually did it this way. I would have them start the year sitting in their chairs, at their desks, to read. As the year continued, I would let them choose a spot to read. However, if their spot caused them to "goof around" and not read, then they would have to go back to their chair and read. It seemed to work well. It was interesting to see where kids would pick to go, too. Some chose their desks all the time, and others would be in one spot one day, and a different one the next day. I didn't mind, as long as they were reading.

And now that I teach Kindergarten, I found a TON of great ideas in this chapter. In fact, I tried to soak up as much as possible! Here are some of the highlights I found: - p. 260 and 261 teachers say to their students "You are writers!" and "You are readers!" I loved that! I often say to my students, "You can do it! I know you can!" But I don't think I said those specific words. They are very encouraging! - p. 263- Reading favorite storybooks over and over is a good thing! Like Stephanie, I don't often read a book outloud more than once. I didn't see the need. I thought that they might prefer to hear a different story. However, like the book said, too, kids at home choose the same book over and over. In fact, my almost two year old twins, LOVE hearing the same books read to them several times each day! - p. 271- list of what the classroom library would hold- very helpful!! - p. 281-283- talking about how to help kids compose "richly literate lives" by reading as much and as often as possible- like while waiting in line to get their eyes checked or at the doctor's office. Kari Bonnema

Like Kari mentioned, telling the kids that they are readers and writers or simply referring to students as readers and writers (such as “Readers, I’d like to…” or “Writers, I see…”) seems to shape their identity. Those simple words let kids know our expectations (page 260). I find that just carrying the expectation that students will do something, children begin to rise to the occasion. Like Calkins said on page 261, “Their engagement comes in part because we convey the expectation that they can do this.” I believe that holding a positive view of my students is one of the most important pieces for me to hold onto.

Sara Sabourin

What's interesting to me is that I do not teach Kindergarten, yet I highlighted almost all the same ideas that Kari did. Calling my students readers and writers helps them think of themselves as readers and writers. Reading a story multiple times is another note I made. It was easy to incorporate this last year for the interactive read alouds. There would be multiple reads and re-reads throughout the week as we looked at the story more closely or differently each time. The list provided on page 271 was helpful no matter what grade you teach. Even though I am a second grade teacher, I almost always have students performing one or two grades below that and one or two grades above. It is a developmental spectrum and most teachers have in their classrooms. This is one reason differentiating instruction is so important. And finally, encouraging our students and their families to have rich literate lives where reading is embedded into all that they do, is greatly important. Keri Cooper

I like how on p261 the author reminded us about Sulzby’s work. I have encountered non or beginning reader at all levels. This reminds us how to guide these students. P271 has so many tips—I bookmark could be made for parents to remind them also. KDN


 * // Here is a place to post other ideas and burning questions from chapter thirteen, if any. (Remember, a high-quality comment in this bottom section does still count toward your total comments. So anytime the posts for a certain chapter don't speak to you and your thinking, feel free to share your own ideas from the text here...) //**