Guided Reading Fountas & Pinnell: Thoughts/Ideas

I made it! It's summertime and I'm alive! I miss my kids, BUT I DO NOT miss driving an hour one way to get to school! Overall reflecting on the year, I've grown a lot as a teacher and learned a lot thanks to Spring ISD putting Professional Development as a priority!
 I have a lot of books to read this summer and I've chosen to read Fountas & Pinnell's Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Students. I went to a training last summer that was based on this book so check out my old posts to read my reaction/thoughts about the training.

After Reading Ch.1 (What is Guided Reading?), I was reminded about some ideas from the training I went to. I also took note of some important concepts as well (I might even make an anchor chart for myself!).

• Write notes about students on notecards, then store them in a plastic recipe box for easy browsing.
• Since the goal in GR is to expose students to as many texts as possible in meaningful ways, have a basket of books that have been previously read in small groups so students can reread them independently (not in small group) and practice for fluency.
• It is alright to SOMETIMES do word work or an extension activity (drama, art, etc). However, it should not take up the time meant for kids to read. A large portion of time during a GR Small Group lesson should be the students reading, not the teacher talking or doing activities.
• GR Small Group lessons are meant to be based on problem-solving to increase comprehension and encourage deeper questioning and thinking.
• Objectives of lessons in a Small Group should be kept to a minimum (1 to 2).
• dynamic grouping, Dynamic Grouping, DYNAMIC GROUPING!!!!!
• Use big books and poems ALL week long! Now that STAAR is including poetry on the reading test, it is IMPERATIVE that lower level teacher introduce and expose the kids to poetry VERY OFTEN.

Summer Professional Literature Reading Homework!

During the summer to keep busy, I enjoy reading professional literature that will benefit my classroom management, planning, and methods of teaching. So this summer my plan it to conquer 5 books! We'll see how much I get through, considering that I'm planning my wedding that is 6 weeks away (GASP!). Next year, I will be teaching FIRST GRADE AGAIN!!!!!! Woohoo! Can you tell I'm super excited?! So I'm turning my gaze back on Guided Reading and all that comes along with First Grade Fun! Here are the books I'm PLANNING on reading:

Hmmm now which to choose first? I'm thinking I'll put the PEAK book on hold until I'm ready to plan later this summer. I guess to get my brain back on track with the littles, I'll start with Guided Reading, then Word Matters (Oh Fountas and Pinnell, you guys are gifts from heaven!).

A PEAK Way to do Vocabulary!

When I was introduced to PEAK, I was introduced to a cool new way to do vocabulary! It reminds me of Marzano, but it's a little bit different. On one side of the card, the student copies the definition or paraphrases the one given and draws a significant picture that reminds that student of what the word means. Every student might have a different picture since each student has a different life experience or thought that reminds them. First the student will write the word, then the paraphrased definition, and then draw the significant picture after learning more about the subject. Here are some examples of the front, note the vocabulary word in the hill!

On the back, the kids draw a T leaving a bit of space at the top. In the T on the Left, students will write examples, comparisons or synonyms, and on the right non-examples, contrasts, or antonyms. This would be the next step in the process of completing a vocabulary card. Lastly, the student will write a sentence using the word correctly in context in the space above the T. And THIS, my friends, is a vocabulary word studied the PEAK way! Here are some pics of the back of vocabulary cards.

PEAK: Lesson Design-Clouding

So, I created a bulletin board to put all of my "Clouding" posters on! I'm going to see if my kids notice it!

PEAK: Designing Lessons

Well, I've decided to start early on my planning for the last 6 weeks of school after STAAR! I wanted to try it the PEAK way so I started using some of the templates provided in the book, Teaching for Excellence by Spence Rogers. I decided to do a zoo theme for 3 weeks. So I've thought of some math concepts that would bridge 3rd and 4th grade together to expose the students (since there is NOTHING on the scope and sequence). Using the PEAK method, I've first decided on the clouding posters I will create (since those posters need to be up 2-3 weeks before the unit starts). As I'm looking over the template for ideas, I have no clue what half of the activities for Sprinkle and Shower are! I've come to the conclusion that my next chapter that I must read to complete my lesson planning is Chapter 9: Teaching and Learning Tools. I have been exposed to some throughout the year by my awesome team members, but there are several I am not aware of. I'm excited to learn some new, engaging activities to teach the content to my students. This little unit will be a trial for planning the PEAK way :).

PEAK: Designing Effective Units, cont'd

So I went to some other colleagues classrooms and took pictures of their posters for clouding, etc. for more examples of how to set it up! I think the clouding needs to be based on how it works for you teaching wise. Some teachers had it everywhere around the room, some had it on a certain bulletin board.

PEAK: Curriculum Alignment: Designing Effective Units

For Week 2 of my Book Study, I decided to read and learn more about lesson planning the PEAK way! I heard my coworkers talking about Cloud, Sprinkle, Shower, Soak, and Drips but I only heard the surface.  Since I have a long weekend, I was hoping to finish my lesson plans for the rest of the school year (6-weeks worth!) thus calling for the need to read this chapter.

OK, so let's get on with the explanation! The PEAKsters uses the metaphor of a rain shower to describe the theory and process of planning and teaching. Most teachers teach what is on the scope and sequence when it is scheduled to be taught for the district. However, PEAK masterminds believe people, especially children, can learn multiple things at one time. When a teacher present new information and only teaches a certain objective, they compare it to a Flash Flood! Flash Floods are dangerous, destructive, and distressing to the land. Just as FLOODs of information puts students in danger of becoming frustrated, give up, and maybe even quit altogether. So by filtering in information slowly, students are prepared and ready to learn new information.

The levels of planning/exposure are Cloud, Sprinkle, Shower, Soak, and drip, Drip, DRIP. I'll explain one level at a time.

Clouds: Posters, pictures, vocabulary words, etc. hung in a certain spot in a classroom to present the "Biggest Idea" of each upcoming unit. Normally hung 2-4 weeks prior to the actual unit, students are able to observe and dwell on the information. Don't bring special attention necessarily to them, just let the students be sponges and absorb any thoughts or information presented.

Sprinkle: Just as it begins to sprinkle before a good rain, a "sprinkle" of the Biggest Ideas present by the Clouds are briefly mentioned and discussed between students. These activities should last 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Very brief, food for thought type deal. Some examples of activities for sprinkling provided from the book are:
1. Work in groups to observe everything they notice about the "clouds."
2. Choral Repetition
3. Generate list of information of what the THINK they know about the topic.
4.What might this idea be used for?
5. Look at a Word Splash (I have no idea what this is, but it's in Chapter 9, may be my next  choice of study.

This week I'm going to focus and "Plan with the end in mind!" So I'll work on deciding what the objectives are for the last few weeks of school and creating posters for them.

PEAK: Questioning Do's and Don'ts

I am wishy-washy on my feelings about the Do's and Don'ts presented in the book. Mostly because I feel it goes against all of the years I spent in the education system and how I was trained. Remember, all of these are taken from the book Teach for Excellence by Spence Rogers. There are NOT my own words (thoughts...yes).

Do:
1. Start having students develop answers in groups.
2. Include everyone by asking deflected questions.
3. Ask open-ended questions.
4. Have students Share, Compare, and Repair answers using groups/support systems (I need to read more on the Share, Compare, and Repair...will blog about it later).
5. "I heard someone say...."
6. Ask questions after every important point.
7. Require Complete Sentence Answers!

Don't:
1. Ask a question, pause, then call on one student.
2. Call on a student then as a question.
3. Ask for volunteers to answer a question.
4. Ask another student to ADD to an answer.
5. Ask if anyone has another or a better answer.
6.  Draw a name or throw an object to determine who answers the question (THIS one threw me for a loop!)
7. Ask a question of a student that you KNOW is not paying attention (DARN! I'm totally guilty of this).
8. OVERALL, stop making students feel uncomfortable, potentially setting them up to fail, and maybe publicly announcing they are wrong.

My thoughts? HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO QUICKLY SEE IF A STUDENT KNOWS THEIR STUFF?!?! Or has been paying attention? You can't call on people? WHAT!?!!?!? Does this make anyone else uncomfortable? Definitely makes me feel uncomfortable. Change is good though, right?

ANOTHER thought. Did we all not grow up for decades with this kind of questioning? We turned out alright...Is this kind of questioning creating a society of pansies where everyone is the winner and nobody is wrong? Just food for thought. I truly like the DOs section, the DON'Ts is what got me a little fired up! Your thoughts? It's Hump Day!!!!

PEAK Questioning Strategies Day 3

Well, I totally forgot to require the kids to answer in complete sentences today. We took a practice reading test which took up most of the day. The kids worked so hard! I'm so proud of them! Anyway, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the TRQ (Total Response Questioning). I need to inquire one of my teacher mates to explain it to me in a little more detail. The gist I get from it is that all students say the correct answer in a complete sentence. Well, I set up a Solution Station (independent aid for students in need of a hint or help) with hints to figure out the correct answer on our Math practice test that we just took. That way TOMORROW when I have time to check it all together, all of the students can agree, say, and learn the correct answer for each question. We will see how it goes.

 For my Solution Station, students are not allowed to take their paper with them, or hang around too long. If I see it being overused, it's a sign that I need to meet with that student and reteach. The students moved silently up to the station and back to their desks without distracting the other students. I'm also proud of them for being patient while another friend is looking at the Solution Station. Here are some pics!

PEAK: "Questioning Strategies"

Magic 3: Magic 3 is choral repetition of complete sentence answers that not everyone knows and needs more practice. Have the kids repeat the sentence after you. Then two more times in different voices (whisper, monster, opera, high, low, quiet, loud, British, Australian, Mexican, French, Spanish, etc). I'm proud to say that I have already been doing this! Hooray!!

Mirror Questioning: Mirror questioning is perfect for your unfocused children to keep them engaged and "tuned in" to the lesson. So the teacher asks a question, and the students answer with a complete sentence. Then you repeat the question, and the students respond with the answer again. For example, "The black cat is the main character." "Who is the main character?" "The black cat is the main character." Pretty simple to incorporate! And once again, I have been doing this without even knowing it! Woohoo!

Total Response Questioning: Every student finds, records, learns, and says the complete, correct answer! So while answering questions, make sure every student has a writing utensil, paper or white board. Make sure every student has some kind of support that they can use in the classroom to help them come to the correct solution. "If a question is worth asking, then it is important for all learners to know their answers."

4 Critical Components of TRQ: (1) Students have writing utensils. (2) Teacher asks questions frequently, after each point made, or step completed. (3) Teacher deliberately provides correct answers in places students can go and learn them or uses students that can spread correct answer. (4) Every student records or chorally responds the CORRECT answers to important questions.

Prompts:
"How might knowing _________ be important to people?"
"How can knowing this be helpful or beneficial to you?"
"Say what I just said in a different way."
"How might ______ be best used?"

Most of the information I write is paraphrased or taken directly from Teaching for Excellence  by Spence Rogers.

Today my goal was to share with a neighbor before calling on a student. Went pretty well, however, I think I need to model/practice how to properly respond and listen.  My goal for tomorrow is to work on Complete Sentence Answer choices.

Teaching for Excellence PEAK Book Study

Alright, all year long I have been learning bits and pieces of PEAK strategies and theories. If you are unfamiliar with PEAK, it stands for Performing Excellence for All Kids. Spence Rogers, the mastermind behind it all, has come up with several amazing teaching strategies for content, classroom management, and more to help teachers teach the generation of today! If you like classrooms that are student-centered, moving, buzzing with curiosity and excitement, then you need to research PEAK a bit more! I have been blessed to have a co-teacher lend me her huge PEAK manual of all manuals to do my book study.

So, for week 1 I'm focusing on Questioning Strategies. The main underlying theory is that you want everyone to be engaged and to feel "safe." So, Accountable Questioning guidelines are as follows:

1. Use open-ended questions.

2. Use deflected questions, such as, "How might Ms. _________ class  answer this question?"

3. Accept only complete sentence answers.

4. Make sure all students agree, say, and write the correct responses.

Some effective question keywords may include: Might, Could, Be, What, If, Someone Else, An Expert

Examples of questions/answers that you can use are:

"I heard someone say...."

"How might _______ be explained better?"

"What questions might someone need to have answered?"

"What questions will someone probably have about...?"

"Explain in a better way what I just tried to say or do."

REMEMBER! Always have students share with a partner first! That way everyone has either said, heard, or had more time to think of possible answers. For example, "When I say, 'go' (Launch Button will get to that another week), turn to your neighbor and tell them one interesting fact you learned during today's lesson." Kids chat excitedly, then teacher says, "May I have your help please? (Wait for everyone to stop talking, raise their hands, and look at you) Now that everyone has heard, said, or thought about an interesting fact, everyone should have an answer. Start your answer with, 'I heard someone say that an interesting fact was....' " Pull a stick or call on a student to answer. And Voila! Everyone has an answer, and everyone was engaged! Students may be hesitant to talk at first, but with proper modeling and plenty of opportunities, they will warm up and become excited to participate! One of my teacher friends said, "You know you didn't ask enough engaging questions when your voice is tired at the end of the day." So let your kids take control! Let them all be responsible for answering AND listening, since both skills are important. Here is a little sign I made to remind myself to ask engaging questions!!!

Next post will be about types of questioning strategies! Happy Monday!

Debbie Diller: Making the Most of Small Groups

I finally finished this book about a week ago...and loved it! I cannot wait to use her ideas, but mostly the lesson planning techniques I learned from the book.
5 Things I Learned from this Book:
1. Have an alphabetized box for anecdotal notes taken on students during small group to look back on.
2. Group students according to criteria chosen (Thankfully she provides criteria in an appendix!)
3. There are all kinds of lesson subjects you can choose to teach during small group (NOT just phonics...I know it seems obvious, but I just couldn't think of anything else to do with my kiddos in First Grade!)
4. Reflect on each small group lesson as soon as it's over! (So you don't forget!)
5. Actually write a lesson plan or guideline for a small group. Don't just wing it! (Is what you're doing REALLY driving mastery of the chosen objective?)

5 Things I LOVE About this Book:
1. She provides plenty of pictures to depict exactly what she means by a "small group folder" or "organized small group space."
2. A lesson plan template for each of the "five essential reading elements" is provided. (!!!!!!!!!!)
3. She has a table that has what to look for if a student needs support, prompts to ask students if they get hung up, and literacy work stations to help students apply their knowledge of a certain reading element. (Can it get any better or easier than that?????)
4. She provides research from SEVERAL sources of why each element is essential.
5. Very easy to read and understand, and LOVE the professional questions to think about at the end of each chapter!

I definitely would recommend this book to all teachers to refresh their memories or learn some new ideas to better educate their students!

NOW my dilemma: to read Debbie Miller's Reading with Meaning or Teaching with Intention. OR Debbie Diller's Literacy Work Stations...hmm....

The Daily 5

I'm dedicating the month of June to reading Professional Literature and going to LOTS of Workshops to get a base of how I want to run my classroom. In July, I'll start writing my lesson plans for the semester (since I already cleaned my room for the most part and arranged it the way I wanted the last 3 weeks of school!).  I just finished the book The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades by the Sisters, and it was awesome!!! I definitely am going to implement this structure in my classroom next year.
My reflections on the book:

• Easy to read and follow
• Gives EXPLICIT instruction on how to implement, although reading the exact words of the teacher gets redundant, however, it's necessary!
• Is achievable ONLY IF you are committed to it.
• LOVE the Daily 5 components: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Word Work, Work on Writing
• LOVE the table in the appendix which breaks down the first 5 weeks of implementing the Daily 5.
• When placing students around the room, what are the other students doing?
• When letting each child tell you what s/he wants to do first, how is bad behavior avoided?
• Do I HAVE to do all 5? I'm thinking three 20 minute sessions? Does that ruin the whole thing?
• Students choose where to sit in room, who to work with, when they want to do each component.
• I REALLY enjoy whole group teaching and grand discussions, still doable in the whole group time in between each session?

Some of the questions I'll think about as the summer moves on. Overall I really enjoyed the book and learned a WHOLE BUNCH of new information and management ideas I didn't know before!

Next book on the list,  Making the Most of Small Groups: Differentiation for All by Debbie Diller. After reflecting, I decided small groups and stations is where I need to gain more expertise! So here goes!