Following the Map...

From kindergarten, I traveled to fourth grade.  Students in fourth grade are more fluent readers and read harder texts, but they still work on activities that transcend grade levels.  All students, regardless of age, need to spend time analyzing what they are reading and thinking critically about the information a text presents to you as a reader.  Some times it is about the structure of the text that requires analyzing, some times it is the characters or setting or other element of the story.  Any time a student analyzes or compares story elements, they are moving in to areas that are important to build higher level thinking skills that can be used across the curriculum.

In fourth grade, this analyzing skill came at the end of reading The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischmann.  It is the story of two boys and the way their lives intertwined and adventures the boys went on.  Once the story was finished, the students analyzed the characters.  They looked at the change of the character from the beginning to the end.  Once they knew what had changed, they created a map that showed how the character changed from beginning to end, sorting out events and sharing about what they each learned about the character.  These were then put in to large maps that tell the story of The Whipping Boy.  Take a look at their art work and examine how they analyzed the character.

So the next time you read together at home, talk with your student about how the character changed from beginning to end.  Why would the author write about that?  What about the character made the story interesting or uninteresting and why?  Challenge them to think critically about the story they just read!

Visiting Kindergarten

For many of us, learning to read is one of those pieces we just can't explain.  How do you learn to read?  What are the pieces that need to be in place and then come together to make that 'magic moment' occur?  For some students, the puzzle of words is easy.  For other students, words are a hard puzzle to crack.  The foundation of learning to read begins in kindergarten.  Reading and literacy don't just occur by having students look at books over and over in the hopes that it will just 'magically' click.  Certainly, hearing and looking at books is a part of learning to read.  Literacy in kindergarten involves more than just books - it involves the whole body and mind and all kinds of stepping stones.

An example of this is clearly found in Mr. Becker's kindergarten room.  I stopped by to see literacy in action and saw all kinds of work happening, challenging different senses and abilities.  One of the stations was students practicing writing their letters on white boards.  The students worked individually and chanted letters of the alphabet as they carefully wrote on the lines.  This is the basis for literacy - knowing letters and their sounds regardless of how and where they appear.

But writing is not the only way to practice letters and their sounds.  I moved on to visit with another table who were making letters from pattern blocks.  They were matching shapes and letters.  Part of building their literacy was them sharing with each other and talking about the process they were using.

Students also worked with sight words.  They were matching tiles to words and when I asked were able to identify a few words on each board.  Why are sight words important?  These are words that are chosen based on their frequency of appearance in text.  Look through my post.  Which words are used the most often?  Chances are you picked out words like: is and the are to I.  These words cannot be sounded out and require us to memorize them to make reading easier and more fluid.  Students begin working with these in kindergarten at the start of the year.  By the end of the year, memorizing at least 80 is a goal for every student.  With these known, more and more books open up before them.

The final step, and a part of every classroom focusing on literacy, is a chance to read a book at their level.  These students are reading a book with basic sounds, such as short a, and many sight words, such as can.  The students read the book aloud and by themselves, examine the pictures, and answer questions - just like any student would regardless of grade level.  As early as kindergarten, students begin to not only read to comprehend what happens in a story, but also read to understand how stories are told as well as what the story means to them.  These students took a moment to discuss where the main character was a girl or a boy and used pictures to infer the answer.

 Kindergarten is an important literate building block.  Without exposure and exploration of letters and sight words, students cannot hope to begin to read.  Learning to read isn't magic, it's hard work and practice!

Reading is Thinking in Third Grade

Continuing along the literacy travels, I journeyed to third grade this week.  Third grade is often considered a turning point in the reading journey.  Within this year, students become more independent readers, their reading skills and ability to comprehend move to a deeper level and reading to learn on their own becomes a very important part of the curriculum.  This is not to say that reading is not important in any other grade, nor that what each grade does is not critical to building a life long reader, but it is this grade where students often learn to become independent readers and using thinking strategies on their own as they read.  The State of Minnesota has recognized this as they required districts and schools to create and post Literacy Plans that address having students read at grade level by the end of third grade.  You can read about Aspen's Local Literacy Plan here.

This means, that the beginning of the year requires very important teaching so that students gain the skills they need to work towards that independence.  Modeling, practicing and coaching students are all a part of this kind of instruction.  I was excited to watch all of third grade instruct students in a skill critical to thinking as you read - group discussion.  The best way to investigate your own thinking about a text is to talk to others about it.  How many of you read a book and then want to find someone who has also read it to share your enthusiasm and discuss the plot, etc.?  It's the best part of reading!  But how to share and what to share need to be taught.

Below you can see how Ms. Johnson is listening to one group and aiding their discussion, while the rest of the students work in their own small groups - talking about specific questions about a story and recording the conclusions they reach.

While Ms. Johnson might be listening to one group, all of the other students are busy working on their questions for their group, sharing with enthusiasm and fun.

This group raised thumbs when they wanted to share an answer and the recorder wrote down what was said, as well as asking clarifying questions about the answer that was given.  Students have learned to look at the speaker and how to answer in complete sentences.  They will continue to practice these key skills all year with texts that are at their level of instruction - adding in new kinds of questions as they learn additional skills.  Each of them learned something new as they talked and discussions will get even more lively as the texts become more complex and intricate and require more thinking as they read.

Keep working hard third grade!  And I hope you take some time this weekend to read a book and share it with someone else.  You never know what you might learn!

Literacy at Aspen Academy

The Mission and Vision of Aspen Academy calls for an emphasis on creating students who are literate and have a love of literature.  This emphasis is a key to building life long learners who participate in the global society in which we live.

Literacy is a big and broad topic for any one to wrap their head around, especially considering how fundamental it is to all that we do.  Over the next few weeks and months, I will take my blog through a journey of literacy to show that literature and reading is about more than just books and words on a page - it is an exciting adventure that engages students, no matter their age, ability or skill, in higher levels of thinking.  Literacy is not about progressing up a ladder of levels, but instead is a focus on understanding how reading is thinking.

For more on literacy in general and links to how literacy standards and skills are organized, please check out my webpage at Aspen's website.

I did get to see a great literacy lesson today in second grade.  Mrs. Abney was teaching her reading friends about the importance of words and pictures.  This is a skill commonly called 'visualization' and its why we love the book and hate its movie.  Every good reader, from small to big, makes pictures in their mind of what is happening in a story.  We pick out words and phrases to connect with ideas in our mind that paint fabulous pictures.

You can see Mrs. Abney reading and the students hanging on every word in the picture below.  She's created a demonstration of what to do on the SmartBoard and hidden any pictures from the book, especially the cover, from the students so that they make their own pictures.

Here two students discuss the words that made pictures for them.  They wrote down the important words that were so exciting in their minds and then added pictures to show what they saw in their mind's eye.

While these skills may help advance students up the 'levels' of reading, most importantly they are skills that will make them life-long readers and learners with a love of literacy. 

Tonight, take a moment to read with your son or daughter and ask them about the pictures they make in their head.

Visiting Fourth Grade

This week I stopped by Fourth grade to see what was happening.  Students were busy working on a really interesting project.  I had three ladies help fill me in on why there was tinfoil, toothpicks and playdough laying out on their table.

The trio instructed me in the fact that there are two hemispheres to our world - the northern and southern.  On their tinfoil, they had created two different circles with continent lines drawn in them.  They had labeled their toothpicks with the names of continents and oceans.  With help from two different pictures and a globe, they were placing their labels to match the outlines that had been drawn in to the playdough.

It is fascinating what we can make hands on and interesting for students here at Aspen!  Just think about what we can do to take the abstract idea of hemispheres and make it concrete with toothpicks, foil and playdough.

Tonight, be sure to ask a fourth grader to tell you all about the hemispheres they mapped out!

A Peek in to Aspen Academy - Day 2

Last week the teachers at Aspen Academy learned and now we are busy passing on our knowledge to the students who eagerly come through our doors.  Every day presents a new opportunity to think and learn and grow - whether you are a student or a teacher.  It is the best part of coming to Aspen Academy - hearing the sound of excited student and teacher voices, watching eyes eagerly follow instruction, testing out science theories, learning where we live and even just spending quality time learning to work together as a community.

What does learning look like this week?

In third grade, I stopped by to see a fun lesson on finding our place in the world.  Students discussed the city where they lived and how it might differ from where Aspen Academy is located.  They worked together to remember their state and country and more about where they can find themselves.  But more than that concrete knowledge, they began to understand the importance of listening and following directions so that learning can always occur.

In fifth grade, learning is quiet and individual.  Students explore through writing.  But they also learn that learning doesn't always have to happen at a desk, even as it might seem in this picture.  Throughout the room, I saw students scattered at different spots on the floor, each learning and working where they were comfortable.

In middle school Science, learning means taking a risk to be the first to try an experiment and demonstrate the understanding that it offers.  Students are learning that Science is more than just a  passive subject full of knowledge to absorb, but in reality is a hands on try and fail activities that require one to create, research and support hypotheses of all kinds.

Venturing over to middle school Social Studies, we see that learning needs some demonstration.  How can you know what to try if you don't have a model to work from?  Students absorb information, ponder answers to questions and attempt activities so that they too can learn to generate a map that shows all that they learned.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!  Stay tuned to see what more is learned throughout this exciting year!

Teaching Teachers

During the last week of August, one my key roles come in to play - teaching teachers.  Together with Ms. Mellgren, I plan, teach and bring together staff development for all of our staff and paraprofessionals.  This time is important because teachers never stop learning and growing so we can offer the best education to Aspen students as possible.

What did we learn about this year?  All kinds of things!  My favorite topic was teaching and sharing about the literacy we bring to students.  We talked about books we choose, how we work to bring every student what they need, watched dvds of master teachers and practiced how to assess students authentically.  Every teacher learned something new or reinforced a skill to bring to their classroom.

Most importantly, the week brings together our teaching community, helping us all remember why we love working together at Aspen Academy.

Here's to a great year!