Re: [MOSAIC] elementary writing programs
Two other persuastive books that are good are Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type (Cows try to convince farmer to give them electric blankets) Can I have a Stegasaurus, Mom? Can I, Please? - I think that this is worded correctly (boy tries to convince his mom to let him get a Stegasaurus - final reason is he finds an egg in the woods - there is a twist at the end which could be a good taking off point for writing) Lisa On Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 6:51 PM, Kelly Alexander mandkalexan...@yahoo.comwrote: I Want An Iguana.persuasive picture book. --- On Mon, 1/9/12, Sally Thomas sally.thom...@verizon.net wrote: From: Sally Thomas sally.thom...@verizon.net Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] elementary writing programs To: mosaic listserve mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Date: Monday, January 9, 2012, 7:21 PM Hate to sound snarky but shouldn't the administration be able to describe what they mean by appropriate persuasive and analytical for these age levels? And also tell you why? Just bugs the heck out of me when people throw out ideas which they often don't know anything about. That said, I would think about the kinds of things kids would be interested in persuading people about and go from there. Find mentor texts. An example that we used at our school: every year kids have the opportunity to vote for the California Young Readers Medal. They are given 3 books at primary, intermediate etc. to choose from. They have to have read (individually or as class) each book to vote. We had our students write persuasive essays (we actually used letters) to convince others of their choice. It was great.(My kids read samples of persuasive texts and came up with a rubric. I taught 5/6. Isn't there a great picture book where a child tries to persuad his mother to get a certain kind of pet? (I forget the title but it was a good one!) I would check James Moffett's classic work on genres and writing - the kinds of authentic writing we do in the world and connected to developmental levels. I know we spent many years on the state language arts assessment committee in California exploring the kinds of writing that it was appropriate to assess and how to formulate authentic type tasks and so on. Moffet's work informed some of the decisions about the types of writing to assess at various levels.We found for example that when we tried to assess information type writing, most of what we got was pretty bad writing - stiff and boring. And kids who didn't have background on whatever the topic (which happens in testing situations often) were especially disadvantaged. I am disgusted by much of what goes for writing assessment currently. We've lost so much ground in writing over the last more than decade. In short, I am not against persuasive or analytic as long as the writing experience is authentic and meaningful to children's lives. Be careful. Calkins work (along with the great teachers who helped her) is probably most meaningful to developing students as writers for the long run. Just IMOl!!! Sally On 1/9/12 8:50 AM, Beth OConnor ocon...@norfolk.k12.ma.us wrote: Hello, I am looking for suggestions on writing programs that could complement Lucy Calkins in grades K-5. Because of the Common Core, our administration would like us to focus more on persuasive and analytical writing and less on personal narratives. Does anyone use anything for this type of writing that they would recommend? Thank you, Beth ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive -- Lisa Glos Kindergarten Patterson Park Public Charter School Baltimore, MD ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
Re: [MOSAIC] Synthesis in 1st grade
ideas and what we know in our schema. I told her I hadn't thought of that before...but she is right...sometimes we have the wrong idea in our schema, and as we read, we have to change that as well. I told her how smart her thinking was!!! Her smile could light the room!!! Another student--one who used to sing and hum through readers workshop- compared synthesis to adding details to your writing. As you read, you are adding to your schema-the details that make the story bigger-so your thinking gets bigger. And when you use your schema-you get smarter! A 3rd student said when you synthesize...your schema gets bigger, too. Another student (1 of the 24 I had on intervention plans) drew a picture of a person growing from a baby to an adult...just stick figures, but you could clearly see the progression. She said synthesis is like growing up. You change as you grow and learn and as you synthesize, your thinking gets bigger and bigger. Finally, one student compared synthesis to planting a seed. Your first thinking is like planting the seed. Then just like the seed begins to grow, so does you 2nd thinking (her words)then your 3rd thinking (her words) she compared it to the flower that the seed grew into. She drew a picture of the seed...the seedlingthe full plant...and labeled it with the synthesis stages. So.with 1 more week to gotoday made it all worthwhile. Through it all, I guess I was reaching them. I just wanted to share because we had some behavior issues in the afternoon that really brought me down...and I wanted to end my day...remembering the great things they can do. Why we persevere-it makes it all worthwhile! Sandi Elgin, IL And I'm going to sign my name for the first time as: National Board Certified Teacher-Literacy; 2010 (Hey...I never get to do that---so humor me!) ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. -- Lisa Glos Kindergarten Patterson Park Public Charter School Baltimore, MD ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
[MOSAIC] documentation about effectiveness of Houghton Mifflin Reading Program
I am sure that this has been answered before and I apologize for the repeat, but I was wondering if someone could help me find documentation about the effectiveness of Houghton Mifflin's Reading Program. The programming committee at my school is looking at programs for next year and beyond. The problem is, they chose two teachers to be on the committee and they have 3 years experience between them (all at this school). When I expressed my concerns to the primary teacher on the committee she mentioned that they are thinking of keeping HM. I know that I have a problem with 'boxed' programs because I don't believe that any one program meets all of the needs of our students, but I want to come with documentation to support my opinion; and my principal takes research over anecdotal information about how a program works in our classrooms. Thanks Lisa Lisa Glos Instructional Support Teacher Patterson Park Public Charter School Baltimore, MD waver...@comcast.net ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
Re: [MOSAIC] Put Thinking to the Test book review
Put Thinking to the Test was a great way for me to begin the year as a support teacher. I have always struggled with the contradiciton of giving students the tools to be decision makers as learners and then taking that control away during the already stressful time of assessment. By helping students transfer the skills that they are already mastering (visualizing, making connections, etc.) and then applying those skills to released sample items you are able to help students transfer their learning when they need to work independently. The Stories from the Classroom sections help to see how to use what is discussed on a variety of grade levels. Working with a variety of grade levels (and with teachers that have a range of experiences and background knowledge on best practices) I need to be to move between concepts and reading levels (as well as working on other content areas) and this book will be an essential tool for me to do this. The craft lessons included in the chapters allow teachers to apply what is being covered in their classroom and the anchor charts/figures included help to clear up any confusion. This text will definitely be one of my major resources when I am supporting instruction in the classrooms throughout my school. I am also recommending it to friends who are now teaching in other schools. Lisa -- Original message -- From: Beverlee Paul [EMAIL PROTECTED] Once again, I'm reminded of worksheets (such as some phonics or math practice worksheets) and how we just tend to look through what they're actually doing, forgetting to examine what they *are* doing (as compared to what we wish they'd do or what we think they do at first glance). Filling in sample items alone serves only 1 purpose: assessment. Scoring the sample items shows the teacher who can take that particular test. It doesn't, however, do anything to TEACH kids to take tests, which is what taking sample tests is purported to do. This is exactly what many phonics worksheets do and what all math computation worksheets do: test whether given children can do whatever phonics skill or comput ation skill you need kids to do. If the teachers and students actually teach/learn those skills, it will have to be done outside of the worksheet, then it can be tested by the worksheet. But let's not confuse assessing with teaching. Same with sample tests. If you administer them and score them, you'll probably know how each of your kids do at taking that test. But SOMETHING will have to be done to teach them if we want to raise performance on tests. Discussing sample items, discussing why one choice was eliminated and how one item is a better answer than another - modeling mental processes - think alouds - guided practice ...all these have the potential to teach test taking, which is an altogether different skill than assessing test-taking which administering sample item pre-tests does. I'm glad to read these reviews. Thanks to those who do this for us. Bev On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 9:34 AM, Katie Stover wrote: First of all, everything I've read in this book affirms my belief about teaching and test preparation. I do not feel that preparing for tests means getting out sample released items and answering them. That is just busy work. Besides, what good does that do for students? How is that teaching them anything? This book however demonstrates how to incorporate test preparation in an authentic way by encouraging students to use thinking strategies and by pointing out (both explicitly and implicitly) how test formats may vary from other genres. I too liked how the authors connected to various content areas. I love the example on pg. 75 of how Mathematicians... Create Sensory Images. Extending students thinking in their work as test takers can be an easy transition if students are already familiar with making inferences as scientists, mathematicians, readers, historians, etc. The Stories From the Classroom were a great way to see how it can be put into practice in the classroom. I enjoyed reading about what the authors have done with real students. If this book interests you, I may also recommend, Test Talk by Greene Melton. Katie Stover - Original Message - From: gina nunley To: Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 2:00 PM Subject: [MOSAIC] Put Thinking to the Test book review This is the first post from the Mosaic Professional Book Review Team on thebook Put Thinking to the Test by Lori L. Conrad, Missy Matthews, CherylZimmerman, Patrick A. Allen. Foreword by Ellin Oliver Keene. The book ispublished by Stenhouse: http://www.stenhouse.com/0731.asp. Since the day high stakes testing darkened the door of my classroom Iconsidered totally ignoring the test, and simply clinging to the notion that goodteaching would prove itself on test
Re: [MOSAIC] Magnetic Letter Trays
I've used the Steps to Literacy catalog before to get these. They have a ton of materials for word work and have some of the best customer service that I've encountered in quite a while. Lisa -- Lisa Glos Instructional Support Teacher Patterson Park Public Charter School Baltimore, MD [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Original message -- From: Melanie Bocarro [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi Lori, I don't know if she has what you are looking for, but I've ordered from here before... http://www.boxstamps.com/ Hope it helps! Melanie :) On Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 8:51 AM, ljackson wrote: I have been trying to locate a source for the approximately 8 x 8 white metal trays with a lip used in reading recovery for magnetic letter work and word building. Although we have checked several catalog sources, including one commonly used by R.R., I have been unable to locate them. If any one has a source, please share. Thanks! Lori ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
Re: [MOSAIC] Amanda Posting
One thing that I remember from the Fat City video is that he mentioned giving a shy student a signal about when you are going to call on him/her. I think that the signal in the video was he would only call on the student when he stood directly in front of her. The reason was that if the student is so worried about being called on, it is difficult to concentrate on content. Could that system work? Another option that I can think of is making arrangements with the student that s/he needs to reply a specific number of times in a set time (such as twice a period or five times a week). The student could make the decision of when to participate, and you could gradually shift to you choose/he chooses then you choose... Lisa -- Lisa Glos Instructional Support Teacher Patterson Park Public Charter School Baltimore, MD [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Original message -- From: Kristin Mitchell [EMAIL PROTECTED] Amanda, there are lots of ways, but one of my favorites is to give them a heads up. I let them know that I will be calling on them in the near future (next person, after I've read the next section...just somehow give them fair warning that you will call on them so they have time to get their response ready. This might also be a student that you nudge during a conference and ask them to share their thinking at the wrap up lesson (or whatever you call the end of your lesson, when you bring back your students to synthesize their learning/thinking) Kristin Mitchell 6th-soon-to-be-4th/CO Be the change you want to see in the world -Ghandi - Original Message From: amanda qandah I was curious about what steps I can take towards getting a shy student to become more involved in class discussions when he/she refuses to participate? ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
Re: [MOSAIC] Leveled books
This chart has a comparison of some of the main leveling systems. Hopefully it can help with some of the confusion of the different levels. http://www.leveledreading.com/ -- Lisa Glos Patterson Park Public Charter School Kindergarten/Baltimore, MD [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Original message -- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] One of the tricky things we've found is that so many people have their own leveling systems: F P, Reading Recover, DRA, Wright Group, Calkins, so you have to be on the alert!? I guess the key is being sure the children understand about that 'just right book' and that what's 'just right' in one genre, might not be the same in another.? -martha -Original Message- From: Beverlee Paul To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group Sent: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 2:04 am Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Leveled books A Field Guide to the Classroom Library (sold by level) is a new Lucy Calkins resource sold by Heinemann that I hope to order in my requisition. That should fit the bill quite nicely if it's all it seems to be. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
Re: [MOSAIC] Question from student teacher
To help with schema, see if your district has access to United Streaming. It has a huge library of video clips that are catagorized by target audience and topic. It has some sort of partnership with Discover, because there are a ton of Discovery channel shows included. Lisa -- Lisa Glos Patterson Park Public Charter School Kindergarten/Baltimore, MD [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Original message -- From: ljackson [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have to respectfully take exception to this. It rankles me from head to toe, and I know it was not meant to do so, so please do not take that personally. However, there is something you can do, there are lots of things you can do... Taking the example of a child who has never been to a farm... Find a short educational video about life on a farm. Read to them abut farm life. Find photographs and do a gallery walk--what do you notice? Invite someone to come talk to the kiddos about farming. Create a bit of a farm in the classroom (we created a barn out of appliance boxes and the hayloft opening became the theatre for puppet play. Use music about farms as shared reading. Find a class expert and encourage some talk. As an adult, there are lots of things I don't have strong schema for BUT part of teaching anyone about schema is letting them know that happens--and that it happens with proficient readers as well. Then we hand them some tools so that they can begin to accommodate, expand, develop their schema. Lori On 7/26/07 10:32 PM, Debbie Goodis wrote: One of the unfortunate things about some populations of children is that they DO NOT have background knowledge for many things and if they do not, there is nothing you can do about it. -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute July 17-20. 2008 Tucson, Arizona ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
Re: [MOSAIC] time to check in
I think that the irony is sometimes they work against this, hopefully unintentionally. Our area office was in today and gave a fourth grade teacher at my school the comment that they liked what they saw, but wished that she had taught deeper. She replied that the program the city bought for us does not allow the teachers to teach deeper, so we do our best. She did leave out the fact that she only does the bare minimum of the program on normal days so she can do the deeper teaching, and kept fidelity to the manual today since they were coming in to observe. Lisa If they wanted us to do quality teaching, why buy and mandate a program that skims the surface? -- Lisa Glos K/Baltimore, MD [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Original message -- From: Horvath, Kathy [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wow!!! -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carrie Cahill Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 2:44 PM To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Subject: [MOSAIC] time to check in I, too, am inspired when Ginger posts her thoughts and experiences with her students. I wish everyone posted more of these types of messages! I will say, in response to Laura's interaction with her Supt., that Superintendents are faced with the stark reality of test scores and reporting to the public. I believe (at least in my case/ my district) that Supt.'s would LOVE to not have that burden to deal with - but laws and bureaucracy make it so! Unfortunately communities are judging schools based on numbers --- test scores. I work in a district where one of our schools in judged in just this way through the media, school report card, and in all of our interactions with ISBE. It's unfair. This school is incredible and none of that is noted. It's like paddling upstream! Parents do come to our schools on a regular basis and they SEE the great things our teachers are doing with their children - it's the community at-large (state) that doesn't know or care about those things. There really has to be a balance between the time we devote to testing -and how we report to the community - and the time we spend nurturing professional development and the great work we do for kids. Laura - I DO believe administrators can do both! It might mean that we end up spending more late nights in our offices - but we can still be in classrooms to see that spark in the students' eyes when they've made a connection or just read a great book - and we can have meaningful conversations with teachers about how to make those events happen on a regular basis and not just happy coincidences as Ellin Keene puts it!! The thing is we might not get all of our paperwork done that day. Hopefully we're all lucky enough to have bosses who understand that balance. I just think it's totally unrealistic to say that Superintendents should not be overly concerned with test scoresthey are a reality and they're here to stay! I hope you don't get out of administration because of it - it's the exact place we need to be if we are ever going to make systemic change. Carrie ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. 29/1/2007 Disclaimer: This email message is intended only for mosaic@literacyworkshop.org and contains information that may be confidential and/or copyright. If you are not the intended recipient please notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete this email. Use, disclosure or reproduction of this email by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly prohibited. No representation is made that this email or any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
