Tips, Titles and Tools for Teachers
Instructional Resources for Engaging and Inspiring Readers
It's hard to believe that we've reached the end of the first trimester! Valerie recently shared a blog post from Pernille Ripp that perfectly captures this chaotic time of year. I highly encourage you to take a minute to read One Small Thing and determine the one small thing that you can do today that will make a difference.
In this newsletter, I'm sharing resources and blog posts to stretch your thinking about reading workshop. At Atwood, we've been talking about our new Who's Doing the Work lesson sets and how to foster opportunities for our students to navigate a productive struggle. In this newsletter, I have some great tips from Burkins and Yaris to support your instruction.
At Williams, our monthly booktalk this year is From Striving to Thriving: How to Grow Confident, Capable Readers. In this book, Stephanie Harvey reminds us that a good book can be an intervention! I've collected a few blog posts and resources that support independent reading time as one of our most sacred instructional times in the day to engage all readers.
One small thing that we can do to inspire our readers is sign up for World Read Aloud Day on February 1st. I know February seems far away but if you don't act soon, you will miss the chance for a FREE Skype visit with an author! Check out Kate Messner's blog for more information on FREE Skype visits with amazing authors!
As always, I also have some new book recommendations to share. Happy Reading!
Shelly
This blogpost is a must read for all teachers! I must admit that I often find myself more like Luke as I support readers by suggesting strategies or providing tips to solve their problems. Burkins and Yaris remind us to "... channel our inner Jedi Master to help us help students become the heroes of their learning stories. Instead of thinking that we must solve whatever problems children face, we think instead, How do I support this young Jedi in figuring out how to help him-or herself? By saying things like "What can you try?" or "What can you figure out?" we help children harness "the force" that empowers them to defeat whatever obstacle they encounter, giving them the strength to manage text independent of us." Take a minute to read this blogpost on how to be more like Yoda in your teaching.
How To Teach So the Learning Sticks
Burkins and Yaris explain three factors that are pivotal to transfer: text selection, opportunities to practice and teacher language. Check out this blogpost for more tips to help the learning stick!
I have extra copies of Who's Doing the Work? available if you would like to borrow one!
I am enjoying the messages in From Striving to Thriving: How to Grow Confident, Capable Readers. Stephanie replaced "the dooming label 'struggling reader' with the dynamic, effort-based term 'striving reader' because it connotes energy, action and progress." Stephanie Harvey has Ten Tip videos on YouTube that highlight the key points in the book if you want to check them out!
As we move into the second trimester, it's the perfect time to stop and reflect on what's really essential. These questions from Pernille Ripp helped me to think about what's most essential to me.
Finding the Time for Independent Reading - Every Day, Every Kid
Pernille RIpp shares great suggestions for how to structure your daily schedule to prioritize the power and impact of independent reading time.
You Are the Kind of Reader Who
I love the ideas in this blogpost about how we can talk to students during our reading conferences. When we say "You are the kind of reader who..." we help each child build his or her reading identity. What kind of reader are you?
What's in My Stack?
Just Finished ~ Bob
From Goodreads:
It’s been five years since Livy and her family have visited Livy’s grandmother in Australia. Now that she’s back, Livy has the feeling she’s forgotten something really, really important about Gran’s house.
It turns out she’s right.
Bob, a short, greenish creature dressed in a chicken suit, didn’t forget Livy, or her promise. He’s been waiting five years for her to come back, hiding in a closet like she told him to. He can’t remember who—or what—he is, where he came from, or if he even has a family. But five years ago Livy promised she would help him find his way back home. Now it’s time to keep that promise.
Currently Reading ~ Sweep
2019 Charlotte Huck Award Winner!
I'm hooked on this book right from the beginning!
For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys"--orphans owned by chimney sweeps--to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless and brutally dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived--and a girl. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again.
But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself in an abandoned attic. And she is not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature--a golem--made from ash and coal. This is the creature that saved her from the fire.
Sweep is the story of a girl and her monster. Together, these two outcasts carve out a life together--saving one another in the process.
Up Next ~ Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go to School
I'm looking forward to checking out the first book in a new series by Maine author, Julie Falatko.
Little dog Waldo and big dog Sassy are the best at what they do. They keep out squirrels and imminent intruders. They make sure there are no stray meatballs or muffin crumbs in the kitchen. And most of all, they protect their boy, Stewart. But something is wrong. Every day Stewart trudges off to an awful place called school. The dogs know it's awful because Stewart's parents ask him what he does at school, and he says, "Nothing." And he smells like a weird mixture of boredom and anxiety. They have to save him! Plus maybe there's an evil overlord! Or a squirrel!
Waldo and Sassy hatch a plan to save Stewart by disguising themselves as a human. They can be a new student! Have they figured out any other aspect of their plan? Nope. They'll just figure it out as they go along. That's sure to work. But they find out that being a human student isn't quite what they imagined. There's gym (frisbee!), music (singing!), an alleged bully, and a teacher who is deeply suspicious of this new student. And best of all, they get lunch.
Great Read Aloud Series for Early Readers
Beatrice Zinker
From Goodreads:
Hanging from trees by her knees, doing handstands . . . for Beatrice Zinker, upside down works every time. She was definitely upside down when she and her best friend, Lenny, agreed to wear matching ninja suits on the first day of third grade. But when Beatrice shows up at school dressed in black, Lenny arrives with a cool new outfit and a cool new friend. Even worse, she seems to have forgotten all about the top-secret operation they planned!Can Beatrice use her topsy-turvy way of thinking to save the mission, mend their friendship, and flip things sunny-side up?
Charlie and Mouse
From Amazon:
Four hilarious stories, two inventive brothers, one irresistible book! Join Charlie and Mouse as they talk to lumps, take the neighborhood to a party, sell some rocks, and invent the bedtime banana. With imagination and humor, Laurel Snyder and Emily Hughes paint a lively picture of brotherhood that children will relish in a format perfect for children not quite ready for chapter books.The Dino Files
From Goodreads:
Frank’s grandma is a famous paleontologist (that’s a dinosaur scientist). But she’s also an adult who makes up rules. Rules like: no digging for dinosaur bones when you have a sunburn. That means Frank is stuck playing inside with his annoying cousin, Samantha. But then Grandma finds a fossil of an egg! And when Frank and Sam sneak into the dino lab late at night, they find something even more amazing. . . .The hilarious Dino Files chapter book series follows a nine-year-old dinosaur expert, his paleontologist grandparents, a cat named Saurus, and fossils that might not be so extinct!
Shelly Moody
Atwood Primary School
Williams Elementary School
Email: smoody@rsu18.org
Twitter: @shelmoody