Evatt- November Focus Group Conferencing

     Several years ago if you asked me about conferencing, I would have said "Yes, I do writing conferences all the time." But I never did reading conferences.  Yes, my students read to me, but it wasn't a deliberate time of instruction with a small group of kids or individuals.  My entire reading instruction has evolved so much through the years.  Now I thoroughly enjoy my reading conference times with my kids.  We conference so much for a variety of reasons, that we made an anchor chart about rules for conference time. Not only do I conference in my guided reading group for READ WELL but I also do conferencing during literacy centers when they read with me and during independent reading time.  My students who are in my focus group go to RTI.  They are fortunate to get several small group reading times throughout the day. One of my students in my focus group is also in my READ WELL group, so I get to conference with him about 4 times a week.  I like to conference with my focus group about 3 times a week in different settings. I have really been able to get to know them as readers but also as great little people:) One of the main things I  see in all of the students in my focus group is that they desperately want to read high interest text. But as we all know that is hard finding high interest books for struggling readers.  But I feel that I have been able to do that.  By getting to know them, I know their interests and have searched high and low for books for them.  So now they love our conferencing time whether it is in small group or individually.  So now that they have books that they enjoy reading, I can target the skills they really need to work on. 
    All of the kids in my focus group have a great sight word vocabulary, but if you add a suffix to  a sight word, they had no idea what to do.  So I have been spending time with them discussing the "chunking" strategy where they find a word they know inside of another word (like in likes). This has helped them tremendously.  Prior to that small group instruction, they would either make up a nonsense word or just skip it.  They were unable to see the relationship of base words and suffixes.  Being able to "chunk" a word has helped their fluency as well.  We will continue working on chunking and our next step is looking at ending punctuation.  They read every sentence the same way, not paying attention to the ending.  So we are practicing reading all kinds of different sentences with different expressions and body movements!!
   Some days are more frustrating than others.  But just recently as I was doing a miscue analysis with a little girl in my focus group, I knew all the hard work had been worth it.  She picked a high interest book to read to me.  I thought it was probably a little harder of a text than what she could read, but it was her choice.  She read it to me without one error or self-correction!! She even read the labels on the food dishes and told me that they were called labels and it said who the dish belonged to.  I could have cried.  She amazed me.  It was an high interest text for her,but she also put into place everything she learned during conference time and other small group reading times.  Conferencing time is a critical time in my classroom that guides my instruction for all my students.

Blog #4 Nicole Ashley Conferencing With Focus Group November

Conferencing with my focus group students has been a positive experience for me.  Not only has it provided me with the information I needed to guide my instruction, it has also given me some extra time to spend with these students and really get to know them as readers.  One particular skill I have noticed that most of them struggle with is of course decoding new words.  They seem to come to a word and not know how to attack.  When they attempt to sound out that word, they break each and every sound apart, so that by the time they reach the last sound, they have forgotten the previous ones.  So....I have been reviewing blends in my small group sessions for those that need them and I've already seen an improvement in their decoding ability.  We also talk about finding words "inside" of words that they already know to speed up the decoding process. They can now take small chunks of a word and figure them out so much more efficiently.  I have also been working with other reading strategies that I've noticed as a whole they are struggling with.  We've been looking at picture clues, rereading, skipping the unknown word and reading the rest of the sentence, etc.  I'm trying to get them to decide the strategy to use instead of my prompting them to use a particular one.  It's slow-go, but I think we are making progress.  Their RTI scores are continuing to improve as well, so I think with the extra instruction in the classroom and the small group instruction in RTI they are making gains in their reading.  YAY!!!  I really enjoy conference time.  It's the one time of the day that I feel like I really get to connect with my students.  I think and hope they enjoy it too.

Ashley Skow - August Blog

Routman - Chapter 3

     I absolutely LOVE reading! But that hasn't always been the case. I've got about 5 times more books than I have space on my bookshelves (though that's not really saying much because my bookshelves, like my apartment, are very small). And even though I haven't read all the books I own I still usually go to the library to check out something I don't have.

     However, I haven't always loved reading. One thing that this chapter really stresses is that we, as teachers, should share our enthusiasm for and struggles with reading. One of my biggest struggles was finding books that I actually liked to read. I loved listening to my mom read me stories that were fun and interesting, but in school the books always seemed dull and pointless. These books were, of course, some sort of leveled readers...which really makes me wonder: if I, having grown up in a print-rich home learning that books can tell interesting stories, could learn to hate reading because of low-interest books used in instruction then what about our students who don't live in homes where books are readily available and where they are not often read interesting stories? Will those student ever learn that reading is anything short of torture if we do not surround them with high-interest reading material and show them that stories can be magical?

     During my first few years of elementary school I can't really remember reading anything else. However, a few years after the leveled reader incident I discovered the Mandie mystery series. I had FINALLY found books that I loved! I read a book, took an AR test, got a 100%, repeat. I loved the books so of course I was paying attention and understanding what I was reading. That's the goal, right? After three consecutive perfect scores I was told I could no longer read my favorite series and had to choose something more difficult. End of excitement. Two things stand out to me about this point in my reading development. 1) No one ever tried to get me to read DIFFERENT things, just harder. 2) AR didn't tell me what I COULD read, it told me what I COULDN'T. Either way, despite the fact that I have moved away from mystery books I still have an undying love for really long series which was first kindled by these books.

     In middle school I hit my next reading struggle, but one that I often feel uncomfortable sharing. By this point I practically lived my entire life inside books. I read books for school, yes. But most of the time I read my own books or books from the public library, and I didn't care what level they were on. With so much reading experience my AR level had risen to the point where it became difficult to find books on my level. At the beginning of seventh grade I scoured the library for a book that was supposed to be challenging enough for me. I still remember the book I found (the selection was pitiful), Giants in the Earth. As it happens, the book had absolutely nothing to do with giants. Everybody had the same name and the highlight of the first five chapters was that there was a storm. It was one of the few books I have ever walked away from. Again, I am struck by how AR detracted greatly from my reading experience.

     In high school and college I fell into a fairly common independent reading slump. We read SO much in EVERY class that by the time I was done with reading all of my homework assignments I was exhausted and wanted to do anything EXCEPT crack open another book. I'm still working on getting back into reading for pleasure. I've found that audiobooks are great because I can still experience a story while I'm driving, cooking, or cleaning. Sitting down to actually read a book is more difficult, but it's a work in progress.

Chapter Take-Aways

• Don't keep your private reading life private: share your enthusiasm for reading outside the classroom IN the classroom
• Hold yourself accountable for reading and show students how to hold themselves accountable for reading
• Don't just teach how to read words: share the process of HOW you think as a reader and interact with a text

Jinger Willard Blog Post 4 (Nov.): Routman Chapter 4: Teach with a Sense of Urgency

In this chapter, Routman stressed the need to use every moment for meaningful and relevant instruction.  Routman further went on to discuss the need for explicit and intentional demonstration teaching. This reinforced, for me, the importance of deliberate and careful planning.  This includes planning for teacher demonstration and shared demonstration that is authentic for students.  Often times, teacher demonstration and modeling are rushed because we feel the need to get students “actively engaged” in their learning.  However, when we rush through the modeling, this does not allow students to gain the competence and confidence needed to be actively engaged with minimal teacher assistance.  The importance of modeling and demonstration often gets overlooked in our rush to get the students working independently. 

The last part of this chapter spoke of raising expectations.  Students will only rise to the level of expectations to which they are held. When we set students up for success, they will succeed.  When we don’t expect students to achieve based on their socio-economic status or background, they will not achieve. By setting students up for success through explicit instruction, teacher demonstration and shared demonstration, we can prepare all levels of learners from all different backgrounds to achieve. 

This chapter made me re-examine some of my own habits and practices.  When I reflect on lessons that did not go as I had expected, it most often boils down to my own planning and lack of modeling, and not the ability of my students.  I am reminded to hold all of my students to high expectations and to be sure I am planning with a “sense of urgency” so that I can teach that way as well.

Allison Parliament's Blog Post 4: Garcia, Facilitating the Reading Process

I enjoyed how Garcia, had related how she had used CBM and MA interchangeably within her special education classroom, and how it showed significant results. As a special education teacher, I have been using CBMs as a form of progress monitoring for all my years in teaching, as a way to show growth within my students. I honestly have never used an MA, I only use a running record when it comes time for a students annual review IEP meeting. I always have enjoyed CBM, I have a baseline, to be able to pair my students based on similar instructional levels, and where they need intensive instruction. CBM's look at three things in which my students have struggled in one if not all of these three areas: fluency, accuracy, and automaticity. On a weekly basis, I measure my students fluency, and now with the same passage I can conduct an MA. Where it will evaluate the students on their letter reversals, misread words, and be able to see how the reader identifies an unknown word. In being aware what an MA is, I can know do that with them in their weekly fluency readings, be able to guide my lessons according to their needs.

Dawn Mitchell's Blog Post 4: Conferencing Experiences and Regie Routman's Chapter 7 – Make Assessment Instruction’s Working Partner

Dawn Mitchell's Conferencing Experiences and Regie Routman's Chapter 7 – Make Assessment Instruction’s Working Partner

During the month of November  our application of formative assessments such as analysis of miscues, conferencing, kidwatching, reading response and more to guide our instruction and provide valuable feedback to our students.  

In November’s blendspace you will find a variety of resources including examples of using msv to analyze running records, yyn to analyze miscues, conferencing questions to guide both peer and teacher- student conferencing, excerpts of articles, suggestions for strategies to use with students after analysis, and relevant activities to help you to apply authentic reading assessments with your students.

This month I worked to apply the informal conferencing strategies that I learned about from Routman’s chapter 7 Make Assessment Instruction’s Working Partner.  In last month’s blog post I shared Routman’s Framework for informal reading conferences she outlined on page 104.  I loved how she began by asking students to bring her a book that they could read pretty well. 

Last week I met with my focus group of second grade students before school and we had a group reading conference.  I wanted to share that transcript with you and then share what I learned about my students from it. 

Favorite Book Conferencing

11/5/2015

7:15-8:15

Student I:

Book chosen: “Miss Fox’s Class Goes Green by Eileen Spinelli”

Why did you choose this book:  “Because her whole class had to take care of the school.

What did they do:  “They helped pick up trash.”

What else did they do? Can you give me some more details?:  “They all saw the principal and the teacher riding a bicycle.  Then they tried to ride a bicycle too.”

Would you recommend this book to someone:  “Because it’s helpful.”

What did you learn:  “Always try to help your school.”

Can you point to your favorite part and tell us a little bit about it?:  (Turns to page 26 and 27).   “They pick up trash without the teachers telling them to and they have a surprise party for the teacher because it is her birthday.”

Will you read this favorite part for us?  “Yes.”

*reads with accuracy and fluency

Would you like to write a book review?: “No, I want to write my best friend a letter about this book instead.  She will want to read it then.”

Okay, Let’s talk about what you could put into your letter?:  “I want to tell her how this book will make you want to take care of your school!” 

Student K:

Book Chosen:  “Meekats by Kari Schuetz”

Why did you choose this book:  “Because they stand on two legs.” 

What did you want to learn about Meerkats: “They dig holes.”

Why did they dig holes?  “They need homes.”

What did Meerkats make you think about:  “They have black eyes.”

Okay, I want to model/show you how to do a nonfiction book talk.

*I modeled how to do a book talk on Sharks. Student P engaged and discussed what he learned about sharks and student I chimed in and we had a shark talk.

What did I do in my book talk about sharks that you could do in your book talk about Meerkats?:

“You told us cool things about sharks and you told us that Eli used to be scared of sharks and wouldn’t get in the water but now that he has learned about them he likes learning about them and he knows they probably want eat him in the ocean because they like fat seals.”

Okay, so can you try out looking through your Meerkat book and decide what you want to tell us about Meerkats?”  “Yes!”

*After Student P shared with us about Henry and Mudge, Student K said he was ready to share with us about Meerkats.

“Meerkats live in groups of mobs.  One mob can have 40 meerkats.” He asked, “What is a mob?”  We talked about how a mob is a large group and how meerkats live together in big families.

Next, student K said, “They eat scorpions and insects, and bird eggs!”  Student C said, “What! That’s crazy!”

Student K shows us a grasshopper!  Student C says, “They have a stinger in it and they could sting the meerkats!” 

“How do you think the meerkat keeps from getting stung?” Palmer said, “I think they bite the tail off.” Student C says, “I think they use their teeth to crunch it up.”

Student C said he could learn more about them on direct tv on called Nat Geo Wild!  “I watch it with my dad sometimes!  They show us about meerkats sometimes.”

Who do you want to recommend your book to a friend?:  “Yes!”

Student P said, “Pick me!  I want to read this one.  I want to learn about animals and I like that scorpion page!”

Student K began writing his letter of recommendation to Palmer.

Student P:

What book did you choose:?  “Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All by Cynthia Rylant

Why did you choose this book:  “Because the dog is so big and he jumps all around and he licks a little boy.”

What is the little boy’s name:  “Henry, but what I don’t like about it is that they don’t they don’t tell you Henry’s mom and dad’s name.  They just tell us Henry’s mom and Henry’s dad.”

Student P can you give us a book talk?”  “Henry has a birthday and they have a piñata and they have it outside.  They bring a fish birthday cake! (He shows us the picture! Student K laughs and says, I love this book too).  They have these three games that they made.  They had ring toss, go fishing, and a potato sack race.  The winner got rings and baby goldfish.  The winner of the potato sack race got potato chips.

Who would you recommend this book to?:  “My friend Will B.”

Why:  “He’s your friend and he goes to my church and he was in first grade with me last year.”

Why do you think he would love this book?:  “He has animals at his house too. I think he has a kitty.”

What is your favorite part that you want to read to us?”  “He chooses page 24 -26 where they hit the piñata.

He read fluently and Student K began reading with him. They both proceeded to read together through page 29.

Student K asked, “What is taffy?”  (Taffy was in the piñata)  We discussed what taffy is.

Student P began writing a letter like Student I to his friend Will to recommend this Henry and Mudge book.

Student C:

What book did you choose?:  “Big Max by Kin Platt

Why did you choose this book?:  “Because it’s about a detective who is helping people find their missing stuff.”

Can you do a book talk on this book and tell me your favorite parts?”  Student C begins to read it out loud.

*One thing I noticed is that Student C substituted cell phone for telephone in the text. J

Student C said, “I already took an A.R. test on this and I made a 100 on it.”

What is your favorite part?:  “My favorite part is when the elephants dance.”  He turns to page 54 and begins to read with expression.  He paused for punctuation.

Tell me why you loved this part?”  “I loved this part because it’s about a birthday cake and my birthday just passed.  I turned 8.  I had birthday cake too.”

Student C would you recommend this book to someone?:  “Yes, I think they might like it because they might like detectives too.”

Who do you think would like it?:  “Haden because he probably likes detectives like me.”

Would you like to write him a letter too?:  “Yes.”

On page 107 Routman reminds us to teach intentionally.  She says, “Any time we spend with a child is an opportunity to teach.  If we make an assessment and don’t use it to move teaching and learning forward, the assessment is largely a waste of time.  Use your informal reading evaluations to do need-based teaching.  Ask yourself “What’s most important to teach in this moment for this child to move him forward?”

In conferencing with my small group I noticed that our students were re-telling their books or starting from the beginning to read the book without really engaging in a conversation. After “I”s conference I asked her if she wanted to do a book review because she seemed to really love her book and she said that she’d like to write a letter to her friend K instead.  We went with this and I saw it as a teachable moment.  While she was starting on her letter, student “K” began his conference and while he told us random facts he really struggled to engage us in the book or to cohesively really explain why he chose the text and what he got out of it.  I saw this as an opportunity to introduce the concept of a book talk. 

The book talk mini-lesson provided students with a model for talking about their books and it served to inspire the rest of our focus group to consider writing a letter to a friend to recommend a book. After modeling a book talk about an animal Eli and I loved learning about, “sharks”, we discussed how a book talk allows you to really share not only what you read but what you learned, why you loved it, and how to engage others in wanting to read it to, kind of like “I”’s letter only in person.  It worked and inspired “P”’s book talk, “K”s book talk, and “C”’s and it led us to want to use the same language and purpose in our book talks in our letters to our friends recommending the book to them.

I enjoyed my conferencing time with my small focus group this past week.  That time was valuable for us to share books of choice that we’d read about topics or characters that we were interested in.  I learned a lot about my students which by itself was a valuable outcome of our time.  Having the opportunity to connect a real world experience of sharing our love of a good book with our peers through a letter (which wasn’t even my idea but “I’s”!) made me thankful for the reciprocity of reading and writing and for the teachable moments our students provide us. 

Sincerely,

Dawn

Kemper Blog Post#2 The Habit of Kidwatching

The Habit of Kidwatching: by O’Keefe

In the study referred as Kidwatching, collecting multiple forms of data can help drive the lessons that are formed in the classroom. As a special education teacher I am constantly updating data on each student to track growth and to ensure their goals in their IEP are appropriate and are being met. Having different techniques of kids watching can only expand the information that can be obtained on each individual student. It is important to collect data both directly and indirectly. This will show how the student does when they are working with a teacher and when they are working independently. If you are able to sit and observe the student on their own you can pick up more things that the student is interested in and what you need to do to ensure your teaching strategies are playing with the strengths the student already possess. When you are “coaching” you are able to meet with each student and observe them closely. Overall, kidwatching can be very benefical for both the student and the teacher to gain important information and allow the student to feel comfortable with their independent time given.