Literacy Now

My class and I talk a lot. We ask questions, and we answer them. We share stories with one another. We listen, contribute, and learn.

p: Kathy Cassidy via cc

For my students this is just a way to interact with one another, but as their teacher I’ve set up these opportunities specifically to help them improve their oral language skills. This past year we’ve taken all this talking and listening a step further by using video conferencing tools such as Skype, Google+ Hangouts, and FaceTime in our classroom.

When I speak of video conferencing, I am referring to the use of the webcam on a computer to bring others into our classroom via the Internet. Some computers have built-in cameras, while others require you to attach a camera to your computer. But in either case, when you start learning through video conferencing you open your students up to new and exciting authentic oral language opportunities.

According to my British Columbia prescribed curriculum I must provide opportunities for my students to show that they are able to:

• interact with others for the purposes of exchanging ideas on a topic
• ask questions for clarification and understanding to demonstrate comprehension
• take turns as speaker and listener when interacting with others
• organize thinking by following a simple framework when presenting ideas and information

The First Grade Common Core State Standards pertaining to listening and speaking are as follows:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1a Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1b Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1c Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.

Video conferencing allows me to do everything mentioned above and more.

Video conferencing allows my students to share ideas with other students in different parts of the world. During our study with CHARLOTTE’S WEB, my students were able to discuss their favourite parts of the story with a class in Toledo, Ohio. Ideas were shared back and forth and students could agree or disagree with what was being said.

While working on a collaborative project focusing on sharing our school yard with other classes around North America, we had many questions about the school yards we were seeing around the world. One school yard in particular, from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico was very intriguing to my students because it was so different than ours. By utilizing Skype we were able to ask and get answers to our questions from the children in Mexico. It was authentic and developmentally appropriate learning that promoted oral language skills.

Video conferencing also allowed my students to use their speaking skills to teach other children about Hanukkah. They shared information and answered questions. Their communication had to be clear in order to properly teach others about Hanukkah. My students have used video conferencing to talk about amphibians, community, peace, and favourite books. These are all examples of authentic oral language learning through video conferencing.

My students have also used video conferencing tools to read with adults from other parts of the world. In my classroom, twice a week we have community read, where I invite families in to read with their child. Often there are children without family members to read to. With a prearranged video conference my students read over a computer to another adult. This reading via video conference helps my students improve their oral reading fluency, and forces them to read with a clear voice at an acceptable pace.

My class has used video conferencing tools to bring experts in a field into our classroom, such as the time they talked with an app developer at Duck Duck Moose. The Duck Duck Moose developers taught my students how they make their iPad apps and then asked my students what they wanted to see added to the apps their company produces. My students, in clear voices, shared their wishes, and were equally excited to share what they had done with the app they were using. Again, the audience was real, the task engaging, and the oral language skills developed.

But how do you make this all work? To begin, you need to find someone to video conference with. I am fortunate to be very active on Twitter and so I can always find someone from my personal learning network to Skype with. But if Twitter isn’t in your comfort zone, start with someone you already know – perhaps your mother, principal, or the teacher next door. Make sure that you download Skype (or one of the other video conferencing tools) and that it works with your school district’s Internet access. (Some schools block access to one tool, but leave another one open.) This is something that you’ll need to check with the technology people in your building.

Once you have confirmed that the selected video conferencing tool will work in your classroom, do a practice run with the person you are connecting with. It’s not uncommon to have issues (that is the reality of using technology in a classroom), but knowing what issues may arise before you have your class with you will help you better deal with the issues if they occur once your students are present.

In terms of setting up the computer, it’s great if you can project what’s on the computer screen onto a bigger screen so all students can see it. Audio speakers help, too, if your projection device doesn’t include sound. I am fortunate to have Apple TV in my classroom so I can often Skype wirelessly. However, many times I need to hook up my computer (or iPad) directly to a projection device to allow it to work. When I can video conference wirelessly I have to face my students so they are clearly projected onto our friend’s computer. When I have to connect the computer to the projection device, then the class we are connecting with sees the backs of our heads, unless we turn around.

When I want one student to ask or answer a question on behalf of the entire class, I have them come up to the computer and ask their question in the camera. This allows for those on the other side of the call to clearly see and hear my students.

We typically run our video conferences in a similar manner. Each class takes turns sharing on the topic of the call. For example, when we were studying peace with a class in Northern British Columbia, we took turns sharing what peace meant to us. We would respond to their comment before providing them with information. This went back and forth until enough children had a turn to speak and share.

We almost always end our calls with curiousity questions about each other. In the case of the class in Northern British Columbia, we were curious if they had snow (which they did and we didn’t) and what time it was (they were one hour ahead of us even though we live in the same province).

Something to be aware of when video conferencing is that it is hard for young learners to listen for very long. In my grade one classroom, 15 minutes seems to be the norm, although sometimes we can last longer. My students know that if they are having trouble paying attention they are free to get up and move to another part of the classroom and do a quiet activity such as reading or writing. This helps my students learn the skill of self-regulation and for many sitting and being quiet for extended periods of time is something that is more difficult for them.

Interested in seeing how this might work in your classroom? Please check out this news video clip where Angie Harrison, a kindergarten teacher in Ontario, Canada is Skyping with my grade one class in British Columbia, Canada.

If you've haven't given video conferencing a go, think about trying it out in the upcoming year!

Karen Lirenman (@klirenman) is a grade one teacher in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. She has been teaching for 20 years and discovered Twitter for educational purposes in July 2011. Her interests include utilizing technology, improving her teaching, and sharing with others. Karen spent the 2009 school year teaching in Melbourne, Australia. She loves to travel and is a five-time Ironman finisher. Karen's professional blog can be found at LearningandSharingwithMsL.blogspot.com.



Oh, the Places They Can Go: Sharing the Journey to Destinations Unknown

The Journey from Digital Literacy to Digital Fluency

Being a teacher means embracing constant change. Yet all too often, teachers are told when, how and why to change. In this monthly column, Mrs. Mimi takes on creating change for herself by rethinking old practices and redefining teaching on her own terms.

p: micagoto via photopin cc

Recently, I have been inundated by blog posts and articles about super innovative teachers who are accomplishing all sorts of bananas goals with their children as a result of their out-of-the-box teaching methods. My first thought is, “What a rock star! I totally want to hang out in their classroom and see them in action.” My second thought is, “How did they get to be so brave?” My third thought is, “Why are most of us so paralyzed with fear?”

Then I remember what it is like to really really be a teacher in today’s climate. It is scary. Or at least it can be. With the emphasis on accountability and new teacher evaluation systems popping up all over the country, it can feel like a hard time to be a teacher. Everyone is watching—which is fine—it’s just that everyone seems out to get us, to catch us doing something that isn’t on the Approved List of Teaching Actions that was created by a non-teacher and exists in a galaxy far, far away from the realities of the classroom.

I talk to so many teachers who are paralyzed by the fear that they will “do something wrong” or that they are “not teaching the right way.” The end result is that many teachers become overly dependent on curriculum documents and essentially put aside doing what they think and know is the right thing for children.

And who loses? In my opinion, the kids lose out because they may not be getting what they actually need, they are getting what someone outside of the classroom thinks they might need because maybe they read it somewhere and it sounds fancy. Even more, though, I believe the teachers lose. The teachers lose the freedom to meet the needs of their students in ways that are creative and closely tailored to who the student and teacher are as people. The teachers lose the art and spirit of teaching, which is to take the best ideas from others, make them your own and, while you always have a plan, to constantly be thinking-on-your-feet to do what is best for your students. The teachers lose what it is to really be a teacher and to actually teach the little people sitting in front of them.

Every morning, I drive to work and listen to the same morning show on the radio. It’s your typical radio show filled with relatively funny crank phone calls, the latest gossip about famous people, and occasionally some music. However, the other day, the radio host uttered some advice that I thought was absolutely brilliant. He said, “Every day when you go to work, you should pretend you have a million dollars in the bank. That way, you won’t be so afraid to take a few chances.” Then he talked about how so many people made decisions out of fear of being caught or doing the wrong thing, which really results in many people taking fewer risks and being less innovative.

Friends, this is what is happening to us. Many of us are so afraid of doing the wrong thing or of not doing what everyone else is doing that we have lost our desire (or will?) to innovate. When, in reality, our innovations are rarely these random ideas that we pull out of our fannies and have no basis in anything besides a wing and a prayer. Typically, our best and most innovative moments come from years of experience coupled with a depth of knowledge about best practices with a sprinkling of professional reading. So let’s use this summer to free our minds and spirits from the fear that is holding us back from being our best, most rock star selves.

Let’s use this summer to think about new ways to tackle the issues that predictably pop up in your classroom. Let’s use this summer to do a little professional reading to inspire new ideas.

Let’s use this summer to pretend like we have a million dollars and remember the thrill of teaching, truly teaching, at its finest, free-est and most innovative.

Mrs. Mimi is a pseudonymous teacher who taught both first and second grades at a public elementary school in New York City. She's the author of IT'S NOT ALL FLOWERS AND SAUSAGES: MY ADVENTURES IN SECOND GRADE, which sprung from her popular blog of the same name. Mimi also has her doctorate in education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

English teachers—and writers—often talk about point of view. From whose POV is the story students are reading or writing told? Does the POV character change throughout the story?

p: kschlot1 via photopin cc

In this lesson, the POV “character” is every one of your students (and you probably have a few characters in your classroom), and it’s their POV that changes—from the big picture of what’s going on in the world to the little picture of how world events affect individuals.

Through the experiences of four young black activists, my nonfiction middle grade book WE’VE GOT A JOB (Peachtree Publishers, 2012) tells the true story of how children desegregated what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the most racially violent city in America. Many works of fiction can be used in conjunction with it, including THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM by Christopher Paul Curtis, ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY by Mildred D. Taylor, A THOUSAND NEVER EVERS by Shana Burg, and RUTH AND THE GREEN BOOK by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Gwen Strauss.

For this lesson, all of the students can read both fiction and nonfiction OR you can divide the class so that half read a novel and the other half read WE’VE GOT A JOB. With thanks to teacher extraordinaire Christa Armantrout of Round Rock (Texas) Independent School District for her inspiration, here’s how it works:

The Telescope

The point here is to help students understand the broad context of the text they’re reading. Although events may take us by surprise and seem unprecedented, in retrospect, we can see, if not a chain, then, at least an archipelago of related situations. And, just as you want your students in English class to make connections among texts and between themselves and their readings, you also want them, in social studies, to be able to compare and contrast related historical events.

To help promote these skills, have students do the following big-picture exercise:

1. Assign one year, between 1933 and 1963, to each student. (Start earlier or later, depending on the number of students in your class.)
2. Give students a limited time, say15 minutes, depending on available resources, to find at least one event related to human or civil rights that occurred that year, in either the United States or the world.
3. Ask students to write the event, including dates and locations, on a poster sheet. Post the sheets around the room for students to view.
4. Discuss the extent to which they see possible connections or trends among the events, times, and places.

Eye Glasses (OK, it doesn’t end in “scope,” but a periscope is too narrow!)

The point here is to draw the students’ vision closer to their texts by connecting what they’re reading with national or international history.

1. Have students write (1) the name of the fiction book they’re reading on the sheet with the date that is closest to the one in which the book is set and (2) a major plot event that takes place then. If the book takes place over several years, students can write on multiple sheets.
2. Using WE’VE GOT A JOB, have students write true events on at least two of the sheets that happened during those years.
3. After students have time to observe and think about the listed events, discuss possible relationships between the events listed on the sheets and their books.
4. Have them write a paragraph summarizing these potential relationships.

The Microscope

Here students beam in one person and see the world through her/his eyes.

1. If the entire class is reading both fiction and nonfiction, divide the class in half. (This step will not be necessary if students are reading either a novel or WE’VE GOT A JOB.) Have half of the students choose one of the children featured in WE’VE GOT A JOB and the other half choose a fictional character from their reading.
2. Looking at the many events, dates, people, characters, and relationships posted around the room, have students write a first-person narrative statement, from the POV of their chosen person (or character), about what she or he might say about an event.
3. Have students identify their character, read their statement, and post it on the appropriate sheet.

A final perspective: Just as astronomers shift their gaze and train their telescope on different parts of the night sky, consider moving your students’ point of view to a different perspective. The lesson above focused on civil rights. The books they’re reading probably deal with multiple themes. WE’VE GOT A JOB, for instance, addresses other issues as well, including non-violence, civil disobedience, and leadership. You might have several groups of students peer at a variety of target topics simultaneously and then share them. That way, you could address a galaxy—well, at least, a solar system—of big-picture issues and bring them right to their desks.

For additional suggestions, including curriculum guides, Common Core ELA standards connections, lesson plans, discussion questions, primary-source documents, and more for WE’VE GOT A JOB, please visit http://www.cynthialevinson.com or to http://www.wevegotajob.com/ or to http://pinterest.com/peachtreepub/weve-got-a-job-the-1963-birmingham-childrens-march/.

Cynthia Y. Levinson is the author of WE’VE GOT A JOB: THE 1963 BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN’S MARCH. She holds degrees from Wellesley College and Harvard University and also attended the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. A former teacher and educational policy consultant and researcher, she has published articles in Appleseeds, Calliope, Cobblestone, Dig, Faces, and Odyssey.

by Terry S. Atkinson

What began as a grassroots collaboration at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, MI between a 9th grade English Language Arts Lead Teacher (Kristal Jaaskelainen), an Instructional Technologist (Peter Pasque), and a Library Media Specialist (Dr. Sara Duvall) has become a school-wide movement involving students and curriculum sharing among teachers from all content areas. Comprehensive details about this work (including related links, resources, and “how-to” guides) are featured at https://sites.google.com/site/skylinecpi/. Recognized for their Google Docs/Sites online writing portfolio project with the 2011 Gale/Library Media Connection TEAMS Award (High School Winner), Jaaskelainen, Pasque, Duvall, and members of Skyline’s community discuss the project’s impact on their school in the following YouTube video (4:05).

Since its inception, Skyline’s original Google Docs/Sites online portfolio project has morphed into a Student Learning Network (SLN) Project involving teachers across the school. Instructional Technologist, Peter Pasque described its integration in a recent e-mail interview:

The 21st Century skills acquired in this 9th grade class are leveraged by many teachers across the building in different curriculum areas where the skills necessary to create and share online resources do not need to be re-taught, they at most need to be reviewed.

Our administration is very pleased and supportive of the project as they see transferrable knowledge put into action across the school.  They see students creating final projects in various classes, and students creating shared resources for the Student Action Senate, student groups, and clubs.  

Pasque describes SLNs and their potential for engaging students “such that learning becomes a byproduct of discovery and innovation” in this featured TEDx talk (15:02):

When asked about the SLN project-related changes that have taken place in Skyline’s students as readers, writers, communicators, and creators of both text-based and multimodal texts, Pasque elaborated:

This project is student-centered where the students retain ownership of each online document and resource. Every student creates a Google Website and uses it as an annotated table of contents of their mastery assessments. At the beginning of the term they share the site with the teacher and link to each new document as they are creating it. Typical online course management tools require the students to submit their assignments to the teacher by uploading it to a website. A downfall of traditional systems such as this is students are not required to organize and keep track of their digital projects and papers. If they are savvy enough to do this on their own then that’s great, but with our online writing portfolios and Student Learning Networks (SLNs) we are focused on teaching the students a methodology for organizing and sharing their digital work in a responsible sustainable way. 

Future direction for Skyline’s SLN projects focuses on development of a “Sources Rejected” component in the research process. Students will embed a page similar to the following in their SLNs: https://sites.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/sln-research-resources/.

Jaaskelainen, Pasque, and Duvall believe that integration of this component will support more critical reading among their students, an area they deem in need of improvement. While considering an increasing number of online and digital sources in upcoming projects, this additional component will help students move forward as 21st Century learners by more systematically choosing or rejecting their sources based on analysis of their credibility.

Terry S. Atkinson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.

Summer means longer days, bare feet, barbeques, suntan lotion, and great books to read. Without papers to grade and lessons to plan, we can finally kick up our feet and at long last dig into that stack of books piled up by our beds!

p: ruminatrix via photopin cc

It is important for us as educators to read—to experience firsthand not only the reading strategies we teach our students, but most importantly the joy of lifelong reading for pleasure. Donalyn Miller, sixth grade teacher and popular author of THE BOOK WHISPERER: AWAKENING THE INNER READER IN EVERY CHILD (Jossey-Bass, 2009), suggests the power of sharing your reading life with your students by explaining what you find interesting, appealing, or challenging in the books you are reading. She says it is important for students to trust us not only as their teacher but as a fellow reader.

Are you a true reader? What does it mean to “be a reader”? This past school year I decided to come clean and admit I’ve not always been a reader. Usually the students or teachers I am in front of quietly stare at me in disbelief. Then I explain that I read in school but didn’t learn to LOVE reading until, at 26 years old, I married into a reading family where books made their way into dinner table discussions. Heads nod and once in awhile a teacher will pull me aside to privately admit that he or she still doesn’t really love to read but is working on it.

Researchers point to evidence that as a group, teachers may not be reading much for enjoyment (Lesley, Watson, & Elliott, 2007). One may argue that the demands of teaching and personal lives cause teachers to do very little personal reading. The National Endowment for the Arts (2007) study “To Read or Not to Read” concluded that Americans are reading a lot less. Many adults do not read even one book a year.

Plenty of people know how to read but are not true readers. A reader reads often, talks about books with others, and passes judgment on books (Oczkus, 2012). Readers carry their treasured books in purses, backpacks, and totes, allowing the pages or digital devices to transport them at a moments notice (Oczkus, 2012).

Regie Routman (2003) suggests we keep a log of our reading as teachers and share our reading habits with students. Over the years I’ve not always been able to share every title due to the nature of the subject matter in adult novels (such as murder mysteries). However, I do report how many books I’m reading at the same time and my thoughts on reading. I am a bit behind this year as I read more nonfiction texts related to Common Core Standards. Excuses, excuses! This summer, I am ready to get lost in some great fiction and nonfiction reads. And my son (age 21) and I are reading and discussing books related to our faith (at his request!).

Here is a sampling of what is in my summer book stash. Please note that for each book I’ve included an explanation of why I want to read it and of WHO brought me to the book. This information will be important to share with students as we teach them to be part of a community of readers.

Lori’s Summer Book List

Book: BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS: LIFE, DEATH, AND HOPE IN A MUMBAI UNDERCITY by Katherine Boo (Random House, 2012)

Why I’m reading it: I’ve seen it in the reviews and am curious. Is one of the year’s best books on several lists. It takes place in India, in the Annawadi slum where the author lived for three years.

Who recommended it? My neighbor handed it to me when I was out walking the dog. Her book club loved it!

Book: LOTS OF CANDLES, PLENTY OF CAKE by Anna Quindlen (Random House, 2012)

Why I’m reading it: I am a huge Anna Quindlen fan, so when one of her books comes out I rush to read it. This is a collection of her essays, my favorite genre of hers, about friendships, solitude, family in light of a big birthday.

Who recommended it? I saw a review in the newspaper.

Book: LEAN IN: WOMEN, WORK AND THE WILL TO LEAD by Sheryl Sandberg (Random House, 2013)

Why I’m reading it: This is on the bestseller list, too, and is the topic of women and their progress. Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in America, men still hold the majority of leadership positions in government and industry. Need I say more?

Who recommended it? A friend of mine is on Sheryl’s launch team for the Lean In community. Plus Sheryl is everywhere in the news right now!

Book: UNBROKEN: A WORLD WAR II STORY OF SURVIVAL, RESILIENCE, AND REDEMPTION by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House, 2010)

Why I’m reading it: I gravitate to all WWII stories. This is a true POW inspiring account.

Who recommended it? A teacher friend who boasted that all her middle school reluctant readers (especially boys) devoured it. Just look at the Amazon reviews; most of them five-star—4,685 and counting!

Book: THE SILVER STAR by Jeannette Walls (Simon & Schuster, 2013)

Why I’m reading it: I have read GLASS HOUSES and other books by this author and I love her style. This is about a girl who challenges injustices in the adult world.

Who recommended it? Our local bookstore sent their monthly email, featuring this book.

PROFESSIONAL BOOKS

Book: CLOSE READING OF INFORMATIONAL TEXTS: ASSESSMENT-DRIVEN INSTRUCTION IN GRADES 3-8 by Sunday Cummins (Guilford Press, 2012)

Why I’m reading it: I am reading everything I can find on close reading.

Who recommended it? My friend, Joan Masaryk does book reviews for reading councils and raved about this one.

Book: SUMMER READING: CLOSING THE RICH/POOR READING ACHIEVEMENT GAP (LANGUAGE & LITERACY) by Richard Allington and Anne McGill Franzen (Teachers College Press & International Reading Association, 2013)

Why I’m reading it: We tried Dr. Allington’s idea for giving kids to read in the summer at one of my schools with great success. I want more!

Who recommended it? I heard about this one from the International Reading Association.

What’s on YOUR summer reading list? Please share!

Lori D. Oczkus is a literacy coach, author, and popular speaker across the United States. Tens of thousands of teachers have attended her motivating, fast-paced workshops and read her practical, research-based professional books. Lori has extensive experience as a bilingual elementary teacher, intervention specialist working with struggling readers, and staff developer and literacy coach. Her most recent book with IRA is BEST EVER LITERACY SURVIVAL TIPS: 72 LESSONS YOU CAN’T TEACH WITHOUT.

References

Lesley, M., Watson, P., & Elliot, S. (2007). ‘School’ reading and multiple texts: Examining the metacognitive development of secondary-level preservice teachers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(2), 150–162.

Miller, D. (2009). The book whisperer: Awakening the inner reader in every child. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

National Endowment for the Arts. (2007). To read or not to read: A question of national consequence. Washington, DC: Author.

Oczkus, L. (2012). Best ever literacy survival tips: 72 lessons you can’t teach without. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Routman, R. (2003). Reading essentials: The specifics you need to teach reading well. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.



Reflections of a Former Aliterate Reader

Summer Reading for Grownups