IRA 57th Annual Convention-Chicago

I had an amazing time attending the International Reading Association convention in Chicago this year!  The theme was Celebrating Teachers... I left the conference motivated, excited and ready to share all the great learning experiences I had.  (Unfortunately, I have not shared with anyone yet...no time!)   The atmosphere and the teaching professionals that came from all over the world were motivating beyond anything I had experienced.

I arrived on Sunday to attend an Institute: Developing Literacy Leadership: Key to School Improvement.  It was an all day workshop and the speakers were educators I have followed and read much of their research work or published articles.  Monday's workshop was Using RTI to Promote Whole-School Change in Literacy that followed the theme from Sunday.  Both sessions were filled with information, research and handouts that I could bring back and use with my work at H-D.  Each day I was nodding saying "yes! we are doing that"  and "yes! we will get there".  Mr. Speake traveled with me and he was so good to listen to my endless jabbering after each day.  My only disappointment was that all of the H-D elementary teachers couldn't be there.


Workshop Presenters:  Rita Bean, Susan L'Allier & Laurie Elish-Piper, Michael McKenna, Mary Ellen Vogt and Sharon Walpole, Judy Wallis, Nancy Allison, Nancy McLean, & Joan Jennings  among several others.

Other famous people I heard:
Timothy Rasinski, Frank Serafini, the infamous duo of Fountas & Pinnel throughout mini-sessions in the exhibition hall.  I stood by Richard Allington in the Starbucks line....I was so star struck and of course I couldn't think of anything intelligent to say!

The authors I saw:
Jerry Pallotta, Mem Fox, Kate Messner, Annie Borrows, Nicholas Sparks (well his brother but it was amazing to visit with him about his brother's books which my daughters love to read!)   The moments were priceless.  Well, if you live in the educational world of literacy!

The overall lesson I learned....
Motivating readers and making students life-long readers must be our ultimate goal using a reader's workshop model (gradual release) and explicitly teaching skills in all five literacy areas.  WOO HOO!!  Independent reading is the most powerful tool a teacher can implement in their classroom.  This was just the encouragement and motivation I needed as I try to continue to help our teachers at H-D transform their classrooms to workshop model with an emphasis on independent reading.

Reading is the cornerstone of student success in school.  Many of our students today do not receive any reading support at home for a wide-variety of reasons.  It must be our job to share our passion and love for reading which will be a life skill that will help students in all they do.

Happy Reading!  Mrs. Speake

What the Teacher Wants!: F...l....u....e.....n.....c.....y

I love following so many blogs!  If you don't follow blogs or have a blog you have no idea what you are missing.

It truly allows you to visit many AMAZING classrooms and see what EXCELLENT teachers are doing in the world of education.  I am still amazed at the many items teachers create and readily share.  THANK YOU to What the Teacher Wants....  These two gals have amazing ideas and they share many things for free.  They have over 5000 followers for a reason!  WOW!

Following and reading blogs motivate me and encourage me to strive for excellence and quality. Teaching is a passion and a way of life!! :)  That is a good thing- we need to be surrounded by fellow teachers that believe in our kiddos and have high expectations for their success!!

Check out their fluency charts and the rubric. (click on link below)  LOVE IT!!  I have been in several classrooms this past week teaching fluency mini-lessons and its been so much fun.  These items will work perfect in our K-3 classrooms.   I hope to post my mini-lessons and ideas this week.


What the Teacher Wants!: F...l....u....e.....n.....c.....y

Happy Reading!  ENJOY THE WEATHER!   70s in Iowa on March 17th- WOOHOO!
Mrs. Speake

Technology

I had the pleasure of attending our district's technology meeting this afternoon.  Truthfully, I admit I was not looking forward to being gone.  My to-do list was much too long and I felt I needed to stay and intentionally plan a unit for another meeting I have on Friday afternoon with 5th grade not to mention the Kindergarteners I needed to finish assessing for reading levels.

 I have been on the tech meeting since I started with our district in 1993 (OM-has it been that long already??)  I was just thinking it was time to step down from the committee, but the meeting was MOTIVATING!  I love technology and I love learning new things with technology.   We had the pleasure of hearing the following teachers present.  These gals are providing great learning opportunities through technology for our H-D students.

*Mrs. Krull -Middle school tech teacher has done great things with keyboarding, researching, discovering and investigating many software programs and internet uses with her 400+ students!  Check out her fusion pages.  As a parent I loved seeing the resumes the 8th graders created-real life skills.

*Mrs. Johnson- a 6th grade math and reading teacher, check out her fusion pages-very impressive!

*Mrs. Hoegh- High School Consumer Science teacher began, The Bulldog Cafe, which is a wonderful business & learning opportunity for our students.  Check it out-she is doing wonderful things for our students.

*Mrs.  Aalbers- 1st grade teacher shared the many uses of Kidspiration- wonderful software for every elementary teacher to use in every content area!

*Leanne Tucker and Alicia Clark- Preschool teachers shared the sites Starfall and BookFlix.  Our students must be surrounded with technology.

My new learning via Mrs. Johnson:   What should I read next?   (Check out this website)

As literacy coach I hear this question from teachers, students and parents.  I am great at recommendations for young learners  but I struggle with older students as I have been a first grade teacher for the last 12 years.  This site allows you to enter the title of the last book read and it generates a list of ideas for your next read.  Check it out- AWESOME!  Can't wait to use it and share with my teachers I work with.

My personal wish for technology is to get an Ipad.  Oh the things I could do at school!!   The latest incentive is a new app coming out this spring- Fountas & Pinnell BAS Leveling Kit!  We could do all running records digitally- record, save and share teacher to teacher.   I guess I can wish- and maybe if Mr. Speake is reading this (as he is one of my four followers) he will know just what to buy me for my birthday. ;)

Thanks to all the teachers that regularly use technology-our students do not know a world without it!  Thanks to Mr. Morton, Mrs. Fridley and Mrs. Peterson our dedicated H-D tech team!

Happy Reading!  Mrs. Speake

The Fluent Reader

I absolutely love Mr. Rasinski's book,  The Fluent Reader.  Last week I had the opportunity to present a Fluency Session for our literacy professional development.  This is the time of year students fall behind their peers in regards to fluency and independent reading fluency. 

What is Fluency? The ability to read the words in a text with sufficient accuracy, automaticity, and prosody to lead to good comprehension.
This book is a must have for any elementary teacher!  Mr. Rasinski presents the latest research and shares many effective fluency strategies that are easy to integrate in a balanced literacy program.  He also includes a DVD with video samples and many downloads to get you started.  I read the book in just a few days and I was so excited to get a chance to share my findings with our PreK-5 teachers.  
Highlights from the book:
Read Aloud-motivating readers & modeling
Assisted Reading-scaffolding for your developing & struggling readers
Repeated Reading- ways to implement this strategy in fun & engaging ways
  great ideas to use assistants, volunteers, parents, older student tutors
Performance Reading- fun!  poetry, songs, chants, Reader's Theater
   many ideas, and ways to start instantly
Synergy- how to make lessons engaging, fun & powerful
Content Areas- integrate fluency throughout the day in many content areas
Assessment- how to best assess, rubrics, don't over rely on DIBELS! 


Video: Tim Rasinski on teaching reading fluency

Happy Reading! Mrs. Speake

Making Meaning & Vocabulary

What a great week!  The elementary teachers just completed team work days for literacy.  The literacy committee put together core beliefs for a comprehensive literacy program for our school district-LOTS OF WORK, RESEARCH & DISCUSSION.  The committee defined core beliefs in the five big areas of literacy as defined by the National Reading Panel.  (Phonemic Awareness & Phonics, Fluency & Accuracy, Comprehension, Vocabulary and Writing)
What brought on this journey?  The teachers in our district have been using a Basal program for the last ten years.  With our student demographics changing over these ten years, teachers were led to the belief that....... IT'S NOT WORKING!!!  We won't mention the watch list we were on or the S.I.N.A. title we received at the middle school.

This year we decided to begin the literacy transformation with these goals in mind.......
*Bring back the love of reading through independent reading and encourage life-long learning
*Classroom libraries organized and emphasized to encourage "just right" book reading at every grade level
*Explicitly teach the seven comprehension strategies in grades 1-5, (Kindergarten- modeling) across all curriculum areas
*Writing daily through our writer's workshop (Lucy Calkins Primary Units of Study)

Teachers have spent hours writing plans, finding quality read alouds & setting up a workshop model!!  We know beyond a doubt children need to be reading daily at their "just right" level and EVERY year the students need explicit instruction on each comprehension strategy.  EVERY grade level must be unified and the gaps between grade levels MUST be connected.  With the Basal curriculum not working, teachers had to search and find materials they felt were best..... which created a chain of islands! ( YES, teachers have been feeling like they were on an island- alone and stressed with no rescue boat in sight.)  With this and our core beliefs in mind, the literacy committee looked into many curriculum ideas for purchase which led us to a program we wanted to pilot in January.  After piloting a conclusion was made.

(drum roll, please!)  MAKING MEANING with Vocabulary will be purchased and delivered to every classroom teacher by March/April 2011.  This is a comprehension program with vocabulary that relies on the gradual release model as teachers explicitly teach comprehension strategies, incorporate daily independent reading activities and teach vocabulary using Isabel Beck's research model.  The second unique goal of this program is to provide opportunities for students to work together and to develop socially and ethically.  This community building component is really what excites me the most as I have watched our committee members pilot this program in their classrooms. The majority of our children need help in learning how to think and socialize in a positive manner with positive role models.  (the links are in blue)

Check out the programs!  I LOVE that it is a non-profit, research based company, designed and operated by REAL teachers that BELIEVE in our education system.  Also check out the Caring School Community Program that we could also adopt.  Email your principal or guidance counselor if you think the Caring Community Program looks like something H-D might consider to build positive student behaviors school wide.

We still have so much work to do but for now after THE BIG REVEAL, I actually slept!  My biggest hope for the FABULOUS teachers I work with, is that they feel less stress and a renewed sense of excitement in their teaching.  
Happy Reading- Mrs. Speake

Happy New Year!!

     I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and had time to relax and enjoy family.  I love having my two older children home from college.  We were all ready for slow moving days.  Staying in my P.J.s until noon, drinking coffee and reading......can’t get much better than that!

     It's hard to believe its a new year already.  I decided to take time to challenge myself professionally.  I have made a list of books I want to read.   As I began my masters program a few years ago I realized how lazy I had gotten staying in tuned to professional readings and current research.  I get excited to read new professional books and to learn new strategies.  With my new role in literacy its nice to be able to focus on one area.  As a teacher, each year you will have different learners and you must have many strategies that work to help all of your students be successful.  Your PD time will NOT be sufficient or personalized.  YOU must be in control of your continued learning and striving to be successful. 

     What are you reading as a teacher?  What do you want to learn about?  I challenge you to re-think reading professionally.  Look at it as motivation and excitement that you can find new things to enhance your teaching. Feel good about taking time to learn!  SO join me in the reading challenge. . . . .

My Reading List: (click on the title to find out more)

Conferring: The Keystone of Reader’s Workshop (taking time to talk to readers 1:1 is so important and it can be done, hoping to learn how to do this better)

Read It Again! Revisiting Shared Reading  ( I am currently in the middle of this-quick read & great reminder to create a love of reading with our young learners!)

Developing Essential Literacy Skills: A Continuum of Lessons for Grades K-3 (this talks a lot about creating a balanced literacy approach and closing the gap grade to grade-exactly what we are trying to do at H-D)

Notebook Connections: Strategies for the Reader's Notebook   (hope to get insights how to help older readers be accountable for their reading...fits great with our workshop goals and conferring with readers)

Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer's Notebook  (fits in well with our writer's workshop model but I keep hearing how hard it is for our older students-how do we get them to write more? write freely? )

The Failure Free Reading Methodology: New Hope for Non-Readers  (I received this on my Kindle from a friend, wondering if he has ideas for our many older non-readers!!)

I also love having my Kindle!  I can download samples of the above, read the first few chapters and then decide....

I love AMAZON...... buy the books used or become an Amazon Prime member! 

Happy Reading!  Mrs. Speake

P.S.  We are actually in school tomorrow!! What happened to our holiday observation of the 1st???  Bummer! :)

Writer's Workshop Publishing Party

Publishing Parties

Our elementary classrooms have been busy publishing and celebrating their hard work as writers during the past two weeks.  Writer’s workshop has become a popular time of day in our K-3 classrooms.  Two of the 2nd grade classrooms invited parents or special guests to attend their publishing party this week.  They had just finished their first unit with realistic fiction.  Sometimes its not so easy for parents to take off work or they must stay at home with little ones.  I was thrilled when Victoria invited me as her guest.  I taught Victoria last year and I knew writing was one of her favorite activities.  

Victoria reminded me all week to come and she couldn’t stop talking about her Cinderella story and the dress she illustrated for Cinderella. I was so impressed as I attended the party and the students shared what they had been working on.....  juicy words (adjectives), exciting leads, using dialogue and interesting endings.  

The students published their stories in a book format with a cover, author page, and a story summary for the back. Or as Victoria said “no its not a summary its called a BLURB”!   It was a great blurb about Cinderella on the back!  :) 

The students were real authors that made real books and they had a real audience to celebrate with.  It is so important to celebrate a student’s success even when at times it seems so simple and unimportant.  Cheering a child on and showing them that their school activities are important can make a big difference to a young child!  It took 20 minutes of my time and it was the best part of my entire day.  Way to go 2nd graders -your stories were AMAZING.

CELEBRATE your child’s success!!  

Happy Reading-Mrs. Speake

Schema

Schema is the next comprehension strategy our elementary students are learning.  Most readers and teachers know schema as "background knowledge".  Schema is everything in our brains that we have experienced.  All the things I've done, all the places I've been and all the books I've read.  Good readers always use their schema before reading, during reading and after reading.

At South Side we want our readers to know how to use their schema and how to make meaningful connections.  Connections may be text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world.  With a read aloud, teachers will model how to use schema and make meaningful connections while reading.  Next readers will work with their teacher to make connections and finally they will practice making connections during their independent reading time with their "just right" books.

Some of my favorite text to use for modeling connections are from the author Kevin Henkes.  His stories have characters that children relate to easily and the text is full of rich and engaging vocabulary.  To share a few of his characters..... Chrysanthemum is teased about her long flower name, Lilly is quite a unique individual and takes her purse to school and learns a valuable lesson when she gets in trouble, Wendell is a wild child that "wears" most of his friends out and Chester is best friends with Wilson.  They are "two peas in a pod" doing everything together until Lily moves into the neighborhood.

These books can be read over and over pulling many valuable lessons, rich vocabulary and meaningful connections that help our readers become successful with using comprehension strategies independently.

Reading should always be meaningful and engaging.  Our elementary students (1-5 grades) will hopefully tell you, "making connections and using our schema helps us to better understand the story" !
Happy Reading- Mrs. Speake

Literacy Kick-Off

Today we launched our literacy kick-off for our Prep Kindergarten-5th grade!  Our school district is in the beginning stages of revising and renewing our balanced literacy programs and aligning this with the Iowa Core and making sure we are teaching 21st century skills.

Our first goal this academic year is to improve our independent reading piece, bringing back our own personal love of reading and sharing this love with our students.  We want to create students who CAN read, WANT to read and CHOOSE to read.  A second goal is reviewing all of the comprehension strategies and making sure these skills are explicitly taught and modeled.

A few highlights:

• Awakening our inner reader & helping our students find the joy in reading:   The Book Whisperer, Donalyn Miller  
• Leveling & organizing the classroom library (our summertime project) 
• Procedures and routines to help build reading stamina
• Scheduling time into the daily schedule-what can we give up
• What is the latest research regarding independent reading
• Fountas & Pinnell Assessment Benchmark Kits- how will we assess

Together we are going to take small steps (some might say giant leaps)

to strengthen and bring our literacy programs into the 21st century.  I know we will have many moments of great success and times of stress and frustration BUT what is so awesome about our group of teachers is that we are all ready to face this challenge together.  

Happy Reading!! Ronna