Schoolwide Blog

Richard Peck On The Schoolwide Blog

This month we're thrilled to announce that Newberry Medalist and National Book Award Finalist Richard Peck will be participating in our blog community.   

Last month I had the privilege of sitting down with Richard in his Upper East Side apartment to discuss not only his esteemed work but also his experience as a teacher for thirty years.  Informed, insightful, and always interesting Richard and I discussed a myriad of topics as they pertain to reading, literacy, and the education system today.  I have begun transcribing More...

Testing as a Genre Study - I’m not so sure!

I’ve been working with a group of teachers putting together a curriculum map comprised of units of study for reading workshop. One of the units that came up was a “Testing - Genre Study”. I’ve come across this in other curriculum maps as well, but I never had an opportunity until now to have a conversation around what exactly that genre study would look like. If the unit includes having students examine the structure and format of the Language Arts test they are expected to take, or have students learn to pace themselves during a timed-testing session, or even using a scan tron sheet, then I see the importance of putting testing into a curriculum map.  If however, for example, it involves teaching students how to possibly recognize and then answer certain types of questions, or how to figure out an unknown word in a reading passage by using context clues, then I don’t see a “Testing- Genre Study” being placed as a unit of study for a month or so in a yearlong curriculum calendar. To me, it would be like putting a “Thinking – Genre Study” in a reading workshop curriculum map.  The skills and strategies that kids need in order to be effective test takers are linked to the skills and strategies needed to be an effective reader. If we agree with this thinking then test taking strategies and skills need to be taught alongside all the reading strategies and skills units we introduce across the year. For example, if you are modeling which clues in a read aloud text helped you to determine the main idea of a text, or what the author wanted us to know the text was mostly about, then it is a great time to say, “If I was answering a test question about main idea which asked me what the passage was mainly about I would use the same strategies and skills I use as a reader to answer the question.  I would look at the clues in the passage and decide if what I think the main idea of this passage is matches one of the choices.” I’m thinking that the essential elements necessary for getting kids ready for a test may be embedded in the great teaching we do, but I think it needs to be extracted and the application of that thinking needs to be explicitly taught during all the units of study. This philosophy is the backbone of the Testing Fundamentals units of study. The lessons in the units explicitly teach kids how to become effective test takers by applying what they are learning in reading workshop to test taking situations. Becoming an effective test taker is not about answering the question correctly, but about knowing and being able to explain how you derived at the answer. This kind of thinking can’t be neatly wrapped up in a month long unit called a “Testing- Genre Study”

What Makes a Good Author Study?

I presented at Schoolwide’s Literacy Workshop yesterday in Islandia, NY.  The topic was Author Study. We looked at Donald Crew, Mem Fox, Gail Gibbons and Patricia Polacco. The k-3 teachers were great. 

  “What makes a good author study?” was the BIG question.    This is what was determined…  

A good author to study need to:

Be accessible. We want students to have many books to read and explore, both through text and illustrations. When the author is the illustrator as in the case of Donald Crews, Gail Gibbons and Patricia Polacco, we learn so much more about them!

Be age appropriate.

Have a lot of autobiographical information available, so students get to know the author well.

Incorporate many different crafts, structure and language.

Make students feel that “they can do it”…I can write just like Donald Crews when I use bold font or environmental print, or I can label my diagrams just like Gail Gibbons, or end my stories with a happy ending/reflection like Patricia Polacco.

Write about topics or themes the students can relate to, and can make text to text connections to as well.

 

 

 What are some of your favorite authors to study?

Vocabulary and Poetry?

Vocabulary study is an important part of any language arts block.  We know that when vocabulary increases, students reap the benefits in a number of ways - fluency tends to increase, as does reading comprehension.  In addition, students have a greater bank of words from which to draw as they write their own texts. 

 
Poet Michael Salinger has given students (and teachers) a fresh way to think about vocabulary words in his new book, Well Defined: Vocabulary in Rhyme.  This small volume from Wordsong places words such as capricious, chaos, and novice in a whole new light.  For example:

 
Novice hasn’t quite figured things out yet

you see he’s just been sent into the game

doesn’t have much experience

but he’s more than willing to try just the same

it’s not his fault, everyone has to start

somewhere at sometime

and I’m sure he’s gonna

get the hang of things

I’m just saying…

I’m glad he’s your surgeon

and not mine

 

Salinger, Michael.  (2009).  Well defined: Vocabulary in rhyme.  Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.    (page 43)

 

Can’t you just see the wonderful shared writing possibilities with this book?  Math vocabulary watch out!  Science and social studies words take cover!  Words like addend, hypothesis, and peninsula just might be a whole lot of fun (and make a lot of sense) when viewed from a more “personal” perspective.  Gather your students around some chart paper and give it a try!   We plan to use it with our graduate students as well - we'll let you know how it works.

How many Writing Units of Study should I do in a year?

Teachers often feel they are given writing curriculum calendars that are unrealistic.

 

This week a teacher shared with me, "Sometimes my kids are just starting to get the feel of it, and I want to stick with it, but I know a new month is coming and I need to move on to the next unit".

 

Another teacher pointed out, "Doing a unit of study a month doesn't work because some months are much shorter and busier than others."

 

A unit of study in writing workshop should allow for deep, sustained thinking about a particular genre and the decisions writers make, while giving students opportunities to produce pieces of writing under the influence of the study.

Just because you don’t do 10 Units of Study, does not mean you don’t have a rigorous writing workshop.  I believe in quality over quantity.

Biography Genre Study

We know from working with teachers in our area and surrounding states that they are being asked to teach biographies to their students, and in turn, have them write biographies.  Yet, when we ask teachers what they want their students to know as a result of reading and studying this genre, teachers themselves are unclear.  What is biography and whyshould students read and discuss them?

In actuality, here’s where the real work begins.  Biographies can take several different formats and structures.  For example, a biography may contain a number of chapters and chronicle an individual’s life from birth to death.  Other biographies may only focus on one or two main events in the person’s life and present the information in a picture book format.  Some recently published biographies convey information through verse or poetry. In fact, when the American Library Association announced its 2009 book and media award winners last week, biographies written in a variety of styles were among the winners.

If students are going to be asked to write in this genre, it’s imperative that they be exposed to a number of biographies written in different formats.  Teachers need to know that biographies take many “shapes and sizes” and are appropriate as well as engaging for students of all ages and reading levels.  Through exposure and study of the many presentation forms of biographies, students come to understand that they have choices when developing their own biographical text. Check out these amazing titles as you prepare for your own biography genre study.  If you and your students have a favorite biography or two, let us know.  We’d like to hear what texts you are using in your biography genre study.

 

Barretta, Gene. (2006).  Now and Ben: The modern inventions ofBenjamin Franklin.  New York:Henry Holt and Company. (picture book – prose)

Bryan, Jen. (2008).  A river of words: The story of WilliamCarlos Williams.  Illus. byMelissa Sweet.  Grand Rapids, MI:Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. (picture book – prose)

*This was named a 2009 Caldecott Honor Book. 

Kerley, Barbara. (2008).  What to do about Alice?: How Alice Rooseveltbroke the rules, charmed the world, and drove her father Teddy crazy.  Illus. by Edwin Fotheringham.  New York: Scholastic Press.  (picture book – prose)

*This was named a 2009 Sibert Honor Book.

Krull, Kathleen. (2003).  Harvesting hope: The story of Cesar Chavez.  Illus. by Yuyi Morales.  San Diego: Harcourt. (picture book –prose)

*This was named a 2004 Pura Belpre Honor Book.

Stone, Tanya Lee, & Gibbon, Rebecca.  (2008).  Elizabeth leads theway: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the right to vote.  New York: Henry Holt and Company.(picture book – prose)

Weatherford, Carole Boston.  (2008).  Becoming Billie Holiday.  Illus. by Floyd Cooper.  Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.  (poetry – older readers)

*This was named a 2009 Coretta Scott King Honor Book forAuthor.

Weatherford, Carole Boston.  (2008).  Before John was a jazz giant: A song of JohnColtrane.  Illus. by SeanQualls.  New York: Henry Holt andCompany. (picture book – prose)

*This book was named a 2009 Coretta Scott King Honor Bookfor Illustration.

Weatherford, Carole Boston.  (2008).  I, Matthew Henson.  Illus. by Eric Velasquez. New York:Walker and Company. (picture book – prose)