Here's a Bright Idea About Literature Groups

Welcome to the Bright Ideas Blog Hop! Okay, my idea is not be exactly bright. More than dim, less than blinding...

Let's back up a little. I am so (so, so, sooooooooooooooooo) excited to have been included in this blog hop! Do you know Shelley Grey from Teaching in the Early Years? Can you believe she put together a blog hop with well over a hundred participants? There are plenty of days when I can't find two socks that match and Shelley's got an entire blog hop under control! Can you hear my huge sigh of admiration?

This blog hop is a little different than some of the others. It's not about products or downloads or anything other than classroom ideas. We're all just hoping that you find this hop fun... and helpful!

Here's another thing that's neat about this hop: It's a lot of people from lots of grade levels talking about lots of different things! Hopefully every "hopper" will find at least one new idea. Look to your right! That's me hopping right beside you. I'm finding new ideas at every click!

I am sort of in a weird situation in BlogLand. While my students are sixth graders, we are at an elementary school. I am definitely not a middle school teacher. I am three billion miles from being cool enough to accomplish that. But I do teach "big kids," attitudes and all. And they are tweenagers, so I understand the middle school perspective (sometimes more than I would like to!) I teach all subjects (except PE--which is lucky for everyone involved, since I am completely lacking in coordination and I manage to trip over dust!). So I still consider myself an "upper elementary teacher." Sometimes I can't decide if I don't fit anywhere--or if I fit everywhere!

This year, I have readers working at a third grade level (and below) and I have readers working at a seventh grade level (and beyond). And most every stop in between too! We have a veritable three-ring circus going on in my room during the literacy block. In fact, it's a five-ring circus, because I have five groups with seven kids in each group!

I WISH I could do more guided reading with my groups because they need a lot of scaffolding, and encouraging, and, sometimes, just plain directing! And I want them to read real literature and have rich conversations. Alas, I am just one person with thirty five (mostly taller-than-me) friends.

Since I can't be in two (or five) places at once, I have tried to design a guided reading experience that happens... without me! Students run the groups themselves, but they follow a discussion guide that allows me to "shape" their thinking a little--without me being there with them.

In the context of Literature Groups (or Lit Circles or Book Clubs--funny how those labels seem to change periodically!), students work from prompts that I have provided as well as directing their own conversations and formulating and discussing the responses to the questions that they have written themselves.

As I said, I have five groups happening at the same time during the Literacy block... twice a day! At any given time you might see some combination of the following...

• Guided Reading
• Nonfiction Adventures
• Word Work
• Content Reading (Science and/or Social Studies texts that address our work in other areas)
• Literature Group (reading)
• Literature Group (discussion)
• Reading work on the Computer
• Writing work on the Computer
• Researching in the Computer
• ELD group work
• Poetry Analysis 
• or something new and/or unusual

Every group has a group leader. This person is responsible for getting the materials and keeping the group running smoothly. There is a score sheet to assess the time that the group meets with "call outs" at the end of that rotation.

As far as Literature Groups, my students are currently reading five different novels:

• The Mouse and the Motorcycle
• Sign of the Beaver
• Sixth Grade Nickname Game
• Tuck Everlasting
• Wolves of Willoughby Chase

During the first rotation of Literature Groups, students read the designated pages, write a response in their Literature Notebooks and add some notes to their papers aid in their discussion. They also write a question or two of their own to further the discussion. I always tell them that Book Clubs is a time when arguing is a good thing if it is done in an appropriate way. We simply agree that we will disagree...and that there is not one right answer as long as you can bolster your thinking with evidence from the text.

Here are two excerpts from one of the discussion sheets from Tuck Everlasting. The questions do push the students into discussions. And there is a consistent reminder to support their thinking with textual evidence. There are also prompts for decoding words, for looking at fugitive language, for examining text structure and literary elements... if it's in the standards, it usually pops up somewhere! It's a bit like one-stop shopping. Click on the pic below and it should become large enough for you to read.

 

The best part is that students are reading novels at their own levels. They are participating in literary discussions about texts they can read. I tend to add a novel each year to my ever-growing cache of discussion guides, so I have a few to choose from depending on the level of my readers. And, each year, I find myself adjusting the guides just a little bit to meet the needs of the particular group of readers or my District's focus for reading instruction. It has been fun to watch the students grow as readers--and as debaters!

My students aren't quite ready to take on the task by themselves yet, and there is some specific teaching I am trying to infuse, so discussion guides are working for me at this point. If you haven't read Notice and Note, you might want to check out this book. The authors of Notice and Note offer another way to code text in order to facilitate discussion. Their approach is less labor intensive than the discussion guides that I use--and their strategies can also be molded into student-selected and student-led discussions. This book is a wonderful resource.


So here's your chance to HOP the Hop. Do you know Kate at Second Grade Sparkle? She is wonderful! She just switched to teaching sixth grade which is like finding a treasure for me! Kate's talking about talking too--and I know I am going to learn some great new things! Either way, she's waiting for you to hop on in so she can share her ideas for facilitating discussion (And while you're there, I hope you will get to see a picture of her adorable baby boy. What a cutie!) Just click on her button to get there...

Thanks for joining in on the Hop. I hope that I will see you here. And there. And everywhere!

Inspirational Stories... and a Giveaway too!

A million years ago, I was in sixth grade. My teacher's name was Mrs. Shaar. She was young and new to the profession. She loved all things Snoopy. And she loved sixth grade.

At the end of the year, my teacher got married. And she invited her entire sixth grade class to her wedding! She became Mrs. Moore. And, without either of us knowing it, she became my inspiration for teaching.

Mrs. Moore made school fun! I couldn't wait to get out of bed and rush to school each morning. I have a million memories of my sixth grade year. Here are three:

• If you were a strong reader, Mrs. Moore put away your basal reader and let you choose "real" books from her cupboard. I remember I read Rascal. And Beowulf. (Almost five decades later, I still can't believe I read Beowulf! I'm not sure I could read Beowulf now!) She established a love of reading in my life that nudges me to encourage my own students to love books too...

• My friend's mother passed away in the middle of sixth grade. After that happened, Mrs. Moore took Maura and me out to breakfast once a week "to be sure that Maura drank her milk." I think all three of us knew it was much more than that. Those memories remind me that a caring heart is remembered long after everything else...

• Mrs. Moore wasn't afraid of "authority figures." Our principal was a serious man who wore a suit and tie. I don't remember him as a smiling fellow. One day, we were dancing around in class, singing a song about elephants. I'm guessing it was a spontaneous decision... We linked together like an odd sort of Conga line, danced out of the classroom, and danced THROUGH the principal's office! I remember him standing behind his desk, mouth agape as we all filed through. And I remember my teacher smiling!  I often "dance" (badly) my class to our classroom. (More than once one of my sixth graders has commented, "Perhaps you shouldn't dance in public...")

Why am I telling you all of this? Because my wonderful friend, Susan, from Middle School OCD is co-hosting a celebration for reaching the 300 follower milestone. In my opinion, she should have 3000 followers. She's a wonderful teacher and a fun-to-read blogger! Susan is celebrating with another along sweet blogger, Miss Lifesaver, who has also reached the 300 follower mark!

(Hmmm. Does this sound like the beginning of a word problem to anyone else?!)

Together, these two BloogyBuddies are hosting a giveaway and a scavenger hunt. You will have an opportunity to read about some other "favorite teachers" and the ways in which they influenced the lives of those who are teaching (and blogging) today.

It's a WONDERFUL giveaway with some really great prizes (Starbucks, anyone?!) Better than that, you have an opportunity to meet some new bloggers... and that's always my favorite part of adventures like this!

So hop on over and join in. Just click the cute graphic above. You'll have an opportunity to read some  inspirational stories and just feel GOOD about teaching.

With that, I'm wishing you a wonderful weekend--and a restful three-day for those lucky enough to have Monday off...

PS  Sorry to those who now have THREE copies of this post cluttering up your blog feed. Blogger and I aren't on speaking terms at the moment. We've been arguing all morning. Finally, at least for now, I am winning.

It's Currently January... WooHoo!

Wasn't I just talking about Currently YESTERDAY?! Oh yea... and I completed the December edition so late the "collection" had already closed?! (That's a first... and not one I'm proud of! My heart ached over that one But I've moved on! It's 2014 and I have another twelve tries to do better!

Swirly frame by Ginger Snaps Clip Art HERE on TpT!

So, for January, I am not last. And I will be "in the collection." It's like being in the in-group in high school (I wasn't, by the way. I was in the middle. Does that make sense?) Oh dear. I am digressing in paragraph two after spending twenty minutes trying to find the right shade of turquoise for the font on the Currently graphic! I am never going to get on the list this way!)

Well, if I type really, REALLY fast, I might be able to break into the first one hundred. What a great way to start out the new year. I was looking for a post from my pal, Middle School OCD, and a Currently graphic flew by! Do you know Susan? She is a true sweetie pie. And if you are an upper grade teacher, you should stop by her blog. You will love her language arts posts. She works with some struggling learners (like me!) and she always makes me feel motivated... and hopeful! Click on her button below to visit her! By the way, Susan REALLY wants to get to 300 followers on Bloglovin' so if you're reading this... Please click on the BlogLovin' botton (It's very cute!) on her site. She would be so thrilled to see that "magical number" and you could help her do that!

Which brings me back to Currently! The thought that this vacation may someday end is starting to creep into my conscious thought. I keep pushing those thoughts away, but I know in my heart that one of these many "Sundays" (during vacation, all of the days seem like Sunday to me!), it really will be a Monday and I will have to go "back." Ooooh. Big shiver.

Time out for coffee.

Mmmmmmmmm. Good pot o' Joe! (Hey! Why Joe? Why not Kim? I'm sure I drink more than my fair share!) I'm particularly pleased with this batch of goodness. I didn't have any coffee filters so I ended up using tissue paper from the Christmas wrapping box. At that last minute I decided against the red-and-green striped piece. Wouldn't THAT have been a mess!

Don't you love my cup?! I bought it during my first year of student teaching! That makes it over thirty years old! It's probably made of some toxic lead-based material that is mutating my chromosomes as we speak (heeheehee). BTW, any reports that I have a hoarding problem are absolutely UNtrue!

I know... A better photographer would not have had that funny blue blur in the middle...

Now, back to Currently. I really want to be more HOPEFUL and POSITIVE this year. I don't think those are my one two little words this year, but I was trying them out. I have been feeling a bit discouraged that my kids don't seem to be learning much this year. One day they even told me so! (Now THAT is a blog post for another day...) So, I want to go back to school BELIEVING they will learn more... and doing everything I can to make that happen! Believing. Nice word... But, no, not it.

Which brings me to another part of Currently. I am SOOOOO bad about writing my lesson plans. I always usually know what we are doing. After thirty years, I can predict where we're going, where we've been, where we could have been, and where we are not going. I just don't write things down. And I don't compress the activities into the amount of time I have, so I just keep teaching and teaching... and then June arrives too quickly. So, I am VOWING (so NOT my one little word) to be more consistent and diligent in writing down my plans and planning farther ahead.

Well, it's clear that I have wandered all over the place with this post. And I forgot to add in the Currently graphic. So here it is! (I'm rather pleased with the shade of turquoise in my favorite Christina Bainbridge font... It's called CBPlain and you can find it HERE on TpT). And, honest truth, I am going to rush and post this, since I have slipped from a possible #28 spot all the way to spot # 52. Afterwards I am going to go back and edit all of my spelling and typing mistakes. Let's hope I don't add in another paragraph or two of semi-connected thoughts!!!

With that, I am off to another cup o' Kim (Joe can get his own coffee!)

Now, remember to make Farley proud (and happy). Check into Currently. Add your lovely (filled in!) graphic and your thoughts. And then join in the party. Most importantly (and dearest to Farley's heart), leave some love for the people before you and after you in the link up. In fact, click all over the link-up. Find some new friends... you don't even have to click on the links in order! (Although some people do... because they're just that way...)

Wishing you a HAPPY New Year with many wonderful blessings in 2014!

 

PS I'm not positive--but I just think it's likely... that my one little word might be... JOY!