Displays 2013-2014: Reading

I'm nearly done with the displays for my classroom.  Today I laminated a lot of instructional materials.  Hopefully the printers will be hooked up to the wireless internet by tomorrow so I can print all the stuff I bought at the TpT Back to School sale.
I have some new displays for Reading and some old favorites.  Of course, I had to start with the CAFE Menu with new polka dot border and matching header.  I love the magnetic paw prints that hold the border in place.

Opposite the CAFE Menu is my primary teaching area.  I have the easel to work with the whole class on the carpet.  I can easily transition to small groups with the table right next to me.

Last year I moved away from a Math CAFE Menu and found that I really missed it.  So this year it is back.  The hardest part was dealing with the big bulletin board in the middle of the wall.  I'm still not 100% sure that I like the way it is now with fact fluency being the center of attention.  I'll have to see how it works as the year goes on.
 

This new bulletin board will support my new school year resolution to emphasize vocabulary instruction more.  Right now it's just blank with the heading "Word Nerds".  Next to the bulletin board is a list of the CCSS vocabulary standards.

The Theme Board is not new to my classroom.  The idea comes from master teacher Beth Newingham.  I use the stories that we read as a class that are part of my basal series.  After we finish a story, we debate and then vote on the theme. We put a picture of the cover of the story under the theme we decide.   The first few times it is very challenging for students to do this.  As the year progresses they get better and better.

 

This year I added "Got Character?".  The plan is to start by labeling the emotions with different synonyms to expand the students vocabulary for describing characteristics.  Then I'm going to do something very similar to the Theme Board where we will post the name of the character beside the characteristic. 

The last change was the Super Improvers Wall (see www.wholebrainteaching.com).  Previously the colored card system for misbehavior and the reward system of drawing stars in index cards were in two separate locations.  To make room for other interactive displays, I needed to combine the two systems.  For more information on each system, please download Chris Biffle's free ebook or watch his inspiring videos.  

 

One last tip/trick:  I don't know about you, but I just can't seem to get stickers to stick on my cubbies.  They have so much sticker residue built up over the years it's just not working.  My cheap trick is to cover the sticker with clear packing tape.

 

I turn down one top corner to make the tape easier to remove at the end of the year.  Voila!













CAFE Menu for Intermediate Students FREEBIE

I have been using The Daily Five and CAFE as my reading workshop structure for the past five years.  I read both books very early on and got to meet The Sisters just as they were gaining national attention.  I just love these ladies!  They have taken me from a good teacher to a great one.  Because of them, I have met so many like-minded people who have functioned as my digital mentors.  I just hope that I can given back to other teachers out there.
As one of the few pioneers with extensive experience using The Daily Five and CAFE with intermediate level students, I get lots of emails about how to adapt Daily 5 and CAFE.  So today I am sharing two adapted CAFE Menus.  One is for students transitioning from "learning to read" to "reading to learn".  It has less accuracy and fluency standards and more comprehension standards.  I use it with fourth graders.  The second menu is one I created to use with fifth graders or advanced fourth graders.  This menu is completely comprehension.  I recently recalibrated both menus to reflect the Common Core standards.   
I'd love some feedback on them.  Please leave a comment below.

One Thing Leads to Another

As this calendar year ends, I think back on all the growth I have done as an educator.  In years past, my professional development was text-based.  I would read a great book, and then find other books by that same author or mentioned by that author and read some more.  This year, however, more opportunities for growth came from internet networking.  Connecting with like-minded people through Proteacher, Yahoo groups, blogs and Pinterest has led me to more like-minded people at Teachers Pay Teachers, Teacher's Notebook, and You Tube.  My skills have increased exponentially due to the interactive nature of the internet.
So, as the new year dawns, I am taking some time to record how one idea has lead to another over the past five years.
Starting in 2008, Daily 5 led to The CAFE Book, (and many other books about conferring and the reading workshop approach) which led to the Yahoo Group of the same name.  Leading that group was scrapbunny, who introduced me to Whole Brain Teaching.  www.thedailycafe.com led me to the Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project which led me to the work of Lucy Culkins in the Writing Workshop.

Students with Poor Comprehension

Helping Students Who Lack Comprehension During Individual Conferring

It has happened to every intermediate grade teacher.  That dreaded moment when you sit down with one of your little friends... and it's obvious that he/she is not comprehending.  Your heart just sinks.  It is certainly a difficult moment and your response can either turn this student around or lead to years of problems.  But at that moment, all you feel like is a deer in the headlights.  There are so many things you could do, but which is right?
1.  Be honest... and proactive.  Say, "It looks like you are missing a lot of the important information in this book. Let's see if we can figure out what the problem is.  Are you willing to help me out or should be put aside this book for a later time?"  I know this sounds heartless, but we just can't have kids continue to read a book they are not comprehending- no matter how popular it is, no matter how much they want to read it.  The child needs to know that, if you can't figure out what the problem is and fix it together, reading this book is just not an option right now.
2.  Check the books reading level against the child's.  If the level is too high for the child, be brave and tell them they can't read it...YET.  Go over to the bin that had the book and help them find a lower level alternative.  This is why it is best to arrange your classroom library thematically, rather than by level.  I put the child's independent level on the top of my conferring page so I always know it.
3.  If the level is right, do a 1 minute fluency check.  Have the child start at the top of the page and read for one minute.  While they are reading, listen for their prosody (expression and use of punctuation).  After they are done, count the words.  I keep a piece of paper in my pensieve with all of the wpm goals for different reading levels.  If they read too slowly or with lack of prosody, go back to step 2.
4.  If the level and fluency are OK, back up and reread.  Find the part of the book where the child had good comprehension.  Mark it with a stickee.  Have the child read from there.  Make sure they commit to reading differently the second time, otherwise they will get the same result.  This means they have to verbalize a strategy.  Model if they need encouragement and write it on the stickee.  Here's the important part:  Check back with them at the end of the time period to see if comprehension has improved AND...
5.  Have the child put a second stickee when they finished and hand it to you.  Congratulations, teacher!  You now have homework.  Your homework is to figure out why this child is loosing comprehension.  Read the story (preferably from the beginning) with a critical eye and see if you can come up with one strategy the child can do to improve their comprehension.  At this point, the strategy will probably need to involve writing something down since just thinking wasn't enough. With one child, I found that the book had six completely different main characters.  I had to write them down, along with a little blurb, to remember them all!  I suggested she do the same. Once she did, she came to the conclusion on her own that the book was too hard.  Another little friend of mine was having a hard time with a historical fiction book set at the time of the Revolutionary War.  I realized he needed a better understanding of this time period to understand the events of the book.  I suggested he take a break from the book and read "If You Lived During the Revolutionary War". He did and, when he went back to the book, he found his comprehension much improved.
6.  Whether you are able to come up with some specific strategy or not, plan on meeting briefly every day with this child until their issues are resolved with this book or they choose a better book.  How do you manage this brief, but intense, support?  Have your regular reading group go to your group spot and read their choice book while they wait for you.  Do a brief check in with your targetted child.  Find out what page they are on and have them summarize the book so far.  Also have them commit to a strategy.  If all seems well, send them off to read.  Run your small group.  Check in with your targetted child once more, either during their reading or at the end of the reading time. Doing this will force them to become a more active reader because you are raising the level of accountability.  With most children, I find three days in a row is enough.  After that, gradually reduce the level of your support.
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Read to Someone

My Love-Hate Relationship With Read to Someone (And a Freebie)

     True confession time.  As much as I love Daily Five, I dread the day I introduce Read to Someone.  A big part of it is the age of the children I teach.  Younger children may love to read together and I'm sure it really works.  Older students are much more social.  They are starting to test the absolute authority of teachers and their friends become much more important.  Put two upper elementary students together and I guarantee they will be talking about things other than reading.  
     They are also hyper-aware of reading levels, no matter how well you disguise it.  Poor readers are embarrassed by their books.  They don't want to be seen with "baby books".  Intermediate level books are also longer, so the idea of "I read- you read" doesn't work because it does serious damage to comprehension.
     So how do I overcome my natural aversion to Read to Someone?  Here are a few tips and tricks I have learned.  I hope they will be helpful if you teach fourth grade and up and want to use The Daily Five. 
1.  Save RTS for last.  I save it for when the kids start to get a bit antsy with the typical choices, like around holiday time.  That makes it all the more special.  Because I make a big deal about it, I also tell them that it is a privilege.  If they can't do it well, they will lose it.  
     I tell my students (and it's the truth) that I check in and confer with partners much more often than "singles", so they better be on their "A" game! When I confer with partners I usually act like a coach for one or more of them, telling them what to say to their partner.  I will write those down on stickees for them to refer to later.
2.  Take a lot more time to model RTS.  Intermediate teachers are lucky in that we probably don't have to spend much time on the foundational skills that primary  grade teachers have to teach, such as "good fit" books, and the three different ways to read a book.  Even with Read to Self, intermediates develop stamina much more quickly.  So use that gift of extra time and spend it on Read to Someone.
     What you will need to model is the conversation part.  This is where sentence starters come in.  Copy them on a sheet or post them on the wall.  A "fishbowl" is a good way to model this.  This is where two kids do the modeling and you provide the "color" commentary.

3.  At first, assign reading material and a specific task.   Assignments can be from the basal, a chapter from your read aloud book, a webpage, or Time for Kids.  Shorter is usually better.  Tasks can be marking or writing on stickees or filling in a traditional worksheet.  Make sure students know what to do when they are done.  What? Assignments?  Isn't this what we are trying to get away from?  Yes, but assignments help you determine how successful your partnerships are.  Be consist with the rule that if they are not learning, you will separate them with a silent signal.  Remember the privilege part?  No learning- no privilege!  Try it again later in the year.
4.  Rename Read to Someone "Read with a Coach".  I know it's just semantics, but kids take their job much more seriously when you tell them they are a "coach" rather than just "someone".  Since most kids have had a sports coach in their lives, have them brainstorm what a coach does and how they do it. I have designed some Coaching Cards for this purpose.  Click the link for the freebie!
5.  Partners need to commit to reading the same book...and each have their own copy.  As I previously stated, "I read-you read" with two different books does not work with chapter books, which are too small to share.  Each child needs his/her own book and needs to be following along.  What happens if, a ways into the book, one person doesn't want to keep it up any more?  They are welcomed to separate.  The person who wants to keep reading can continue with that book or pick another.
6.  Variety is the spice of life.  Read to Self is really the best for intermediates.  That's what they should be doing the most of.  If you find a student is always picking Read with a Coach, try to determine why.  If a certain book is really popular, involve others and form a book club that meets a few days a week.  Bring in Listening to Reading, if you haven't already, for low level students to "save face" and read a more challenging and intersting book.
Me on the web:
class website:  www.4mrsjones.110mb.com
podcasts:  Http://frommrsjones.podbean.com
You Tube channel:  mrsc4jones
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First Attempts at a True RtI Model

A few weeks ago, I found this video via Pinterest.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NsyvFN8kX8&feature=youtu.be

I love how everything in the binder was organized and the strong link between assessment and instruction.  However, the binder was designed for much younger students (K-2) with reading difficulties (phonics, accuracy, fluency) that lend themselves to keeping track of data in this way.  My students are entering fifth grade, and those that I am most worried about have comprehension issues.  Comprehension, as a skill, does not lend itself to numeric data.  As I saw it, there were three barriers to implementing something like this that I needed to overcome:
1) a form to assess and graph progress weekly
2) 20-30 one-page passages, per reading level, to assess comprehension each week for twenty to thirty weeks
3) a quick, consistent, easy-to-administer comprehension check that can be converted into a number to be graphed 
4) multiple ways to teach comprehension skills
I think I have finally created this and I share my first attempt here.  Feedback welcome!
Intervention Tracking Sheet
My intervention tracking sheet is a bit more generic and doesn't contain the "digging deeper" assessments that are part of the video, since I don't have them.  I will make do with all the other data I have, which is recorded in other places.  There is a nice big space to graph weekly assessments.  Here is the link to the document in Google docs:

https://sites.google.com/a/sau61.org/mrsjones/Reading%20Progress%20Monitoring%204%20BLOG.docx?attredirects=0&d=1

"Dedicated" Passages to Assess Comprehension
I purchased Daily Reading Warm-Ups from Teacher Created Resources with 150 passages each.  I purchased a third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade version.  Expensive?  Yes, but it is worth the price to not have to create passages from scratch.  I can just hand them the book- no photocopying needed.  These book will NOT be used for instruction, only assessment.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1420634917/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i02

Numeric Value for Comprehension Check
I decided to use retells as my comprehension check.  They are consistent and easy to administer.  I created a form that assigns a numeric value for each element of a retell and put this in a chart form.  It is available on Teachers Pay Teachers via this link:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Scoring-a-Retelling

Multiple Ways to Teach Comprehension
For a long time I have been influenced by the work of Judith Irwin in reading comprehension.  I will be using her "seven dimensions" of comprehension to guide my instruction.

http://www.amazon.com/Promoting-Active-Reading-Comprehension-Strategies/dp/0137312415/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

My plan is to teach strategies for one "dimension" at a time using Irwin's resource book, assessing the results in overall comprehension weekly. If a student does not make progress for two weeks in a row, I will switch to a different "dimension" and set of strategies.  So it should take a maximum of 14 weeks (or about one trimester) to be able to find the dimension that the child is having difficulty with.
For more information about data-based decision making, read the article:  "Tier III Assessments, Data-Based Decision-Making, and Interventions" by Kristin Powers and Arpita Madal from California State University, Long Beach.

Me on the Web:
Class Webssite:  www.4mrsjones.110mb.com
Podcasts:  http://frommrsjones.podbean.com
You Tube Channel:  mrsc4jones

  

This school year isn't over, but I'm already thinking of next year.  In looking at the individual reading inventories of my students, I know that comprehension will be the main focus of my instruction.  Because of that, I want to revise The CAFE Menu that I have been using as my instructional "road map".  For those of you that aren't familiar with CAFE, it is the instructional plan of Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (known as "The Sisters") outlined in their book:  The CAFE Book. CAFE is an acronym to help students categorize and remember strategies for:  Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary.
I have already revised their CAFE Menu once before to pare down the accuracy and fluency strategies for my intermediate students.  Now I want to entire menu to be comprehension for my looping class of fifth graders.  My new CAFE acronym is:
Critical and Creative Thinking:  I am an active, engaged reader.
Author's Purpose:  I know the message the author is sending.
Facts/Details:  I remember the facts/details the author tells me.
Expand Vocabulary:  I can use interesting words the author uses.

https://sites.google.com/a/sau61.org/mrsjones/Advanced%20CAFE%20Menu.docx?attredirects=0&d=1