Reading for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Fall, 2011

I just finished reading the Conceptual Framework of the Reich College of Education at ASU. I found it to be very straightforward; easy reading; that described how the RCOE likes to teach their students. I tried to list (in my head) all of the Community of Practice(s) to which I may belong. In my mind, not all of the CoPs have to be educational. I would consider our class, in general, and our book clubs to be CoPs. We all had a job to do; we all did that job; we all learned something in the process; we had to discuss what we wanted others to learn; and we each used our knowledge and talents to perform our jobs. But, I would also consider my group of friends to be a CoP. We get together; share ideas; and work on projects. We each have different talents; come from different family backgrounds; and bring various personalities to our group. Some members may be known for their humor; others for their quietness; some for their quick wit; others for their conversation abilities. We all bring something different, but we all have the same goal ~ to learn from each other while having fun. I appreciate that the RCOE does view their department as having input into each student's learning while realizing that teachers can also be taught. I love the statement ~ "We know that healthy disagreement is crucial to CoPs". Being able to regard each person as essential and worthy, will allow for that "healthy disagreement".

I chose a lesson for 7-8 graders titled: Accountable Book Clubs: Focused Discussions. The teacher has established four student objectives for all eight of her lessons designated for the book clubs. The teacher has taken an extra step to ensure that her students stay focused and on topic by using a Critical Thinking Map that correlates with group discussions starting with lesson #2. The critical thinking map allows students to organize their thoughts, discussion and focus on the most important social issue (which supports one of the teachers objectives) in the book and the focused reading for that section. The teacher does a great job during the first session of establishing the criteria and expectations so that lessons 2-8 will run smoothly. She does give homework that includes reading the designated section, they are to use sticky notes or journals to record questions about what they have read and they are to use the wiki to post about the social issues their group discussed using the critical thinking map. After the students have completed all eight lessons, the teacher has extension activites the students can use to lead into the next group read. I chose this lesson because I would like to venture into Middleschool Language arts and I felt this lesson was well organized and appropriate for the grade level. I have read the book Esperanza Rising, and found myself thinking about the important events in the book and how I could apply what I read into her daily lesson plan, homework plan and the critical thinking map. I could visualize how this lesson could work in a "real" classroom setting! I felt like all the objectives were covered in all lessons and that the groups would be more focused with the structure the teacher used!
I felt like the teacher did a great job and I would like to keep this in my save pile for later use. Tonya Isenhour

Analysis of Read Write Think lesson, Word Study with Henry and Mudge. This is a standard lesson geared to grades K-3. After reviewing the lesson, I think it is appropriate for second graders through struggling third graders.

The lessons are built around the Fountas and Pinnell guided reading format. The guided reading lessons are straightforward: pre-reading, word work, read aloud, and re-reading for fluency and accuracy. I did not see anything new or unique in these guided reading lessons. The connection to Henry and Mudge is vague, any book could easily be substituted in this lesson.

One aspect of the guided reading lesson is using the Henry and Mudge book to build a sight vocabulary word bank. The author built this around Beverly Tyner’s work (she is a graduate of the ASU reading program!). I found it puzzling that late second graders and struggling third graders would be working on building a basic sight word vocabulary. The author has the children reading a chapter from the book independently and then playing a game where they guess a covered basic sight word.

I was drawn to this ReadWriteThink because it utilized the comic creator. I explored the tool. It would be sufficient, but I prefer to use Kidspiration. With the Kidspiration program, the students are able to do everything that the Comic Creator does: add the speech bubbles, insert pictures, and include writing and captions. I would prefer using Kidspiration because there are many more pictures to choose from, it can be saved to the computer (Comic Creator has to be printed or it is lost), and it is colorful. Kidspiration also has a thinking map component for the prewriting activities, which the Comic Creator doesn't have.

While I was disappointed overall in this lesson, it inspired me to use it as a springboard for my own ReadWriteThink. I would like to develop a similar lesson, with a variety of activities, using alternative technology.
Linda Dearman
Hickory Cohort

Read Write Think Lesson Analysis

I analyzed the lesson, “Descriptive Writing and the 100th Day of School”. It is a lesson for kindergarten through second grade. I think that this lesson is appropriate for the listed grades, but if it was done in kindergarten there would need to be a joint effort between child and parent. The writing activities would need to be changed or there would need to be some volunteers to help the student record the writing activities. The child would have to dictate many of the things to the adult especially for the struggling student.
The lessons center on the 100th day of school. This day is a special day in my classroom and I try to have many activities to do on this day. This lesson is a good lesson to involve the parents in a project with their students. There is a parent letter that is sent home to explain the activity. The lesson focuses on writing a description about the items that are in their 100th day bottle. Each student places 100 items in a drink bottle. They cover the bottle with a label so the items cannot be seen. The student writes descriptive clues about the items in the bottle and the class tries to guess the item after hearing the clues. This is a good lesson on writing descriptions. When students write they are always encouraged to use descriptive words. As a teacher I am always telling my students to tell me the details of an object and we work on writing descriptions about an object during the year.
The first day of the lesson involves reading a book about the 100th day of school. This lesson is done the day before the 100th day. The teacher shares her 100th day bottle reading the clues she has written and the students try to guess what is inside. After they guess the teacher explains that each student will be making their own bottle at home. A parent letter is sent home along with the clues worksheet, a bag to put the bottle in, and the label for the bottle.
The second day which would be the 100th day of school is kicked off with another 100th day book. Then students take turns sharing their bottles and clues. After all have been shared the students compare the bottles by weight, size of the objects, etc… There are two worksheets that are completed on day two. These could be completed independently by first and second graders, but they would need to be revised to use in kindergarten.
On day three the students make a class book about their 100th day bottles. There is a sentence template to use. A class book is made and will be put in the classroom for the students to read.
This is a lesson that I am thinking about using on the 100th day of school this year. I always send home a collection bag for the students to bring in 100 objects. The objects must fit inside the bag, so instead of using the bag I am going to try using the bottle. I think that this lesson is beneficial in that it involves the parents and students working together. I can see that it could be a problem because it is sometimes hard to get the parents to participate in home/school activities. I think that there would have to be some bottles created for students to use whose parents do not participate in the activity. Overall I enjoyed this lesson and I have enjoyed looking at lesson ideas on this website.

Michelle Moffitt

Because my teaching assignment is Family and Consumer Science now, I chose a

lesson that was not tied to a specific text or language arts theme. The lesson I

chose is one that is a general purpose type that could be used repeatedly to

motivate students to read carefully. It also is designed to assist students in

reading more carefully and thoughtfully and to begin to take their reading beyond

superficial facts and into analysis.

The title of the lesson is "Active Reading Through Self-Assessment: The Student-

Made Quiz." It is labeled as a recurring lesson for 10th grade. It has only two

hand-outs. The first is a T-chart that students use to organize their thinking. One

side of the chart is to record main idea quotes from the reading that students

think are important. The other side is for formulating "So What" questions that

probe the main idea that is represented by the quote. the other hand-out is a

"Student-Made Quiz" form. The form has blanks for the name of the student who wrote

the question and then some numbered lines for the question to be written out.

Students complete the T-chart and the Student-Made Quiz form in groups, so they can

support each other in reading, thinking and formulating questions. The lesson is

designed to take three 50-minute class periods. The planned time includes a group

reading of whatever text is assigned.

The lesson is thoroughly planned. A minor glitch I saw was that the blank handout

that was provided for teacher use is in a different format than the example. The

teacher would have to spend some time editing that form before using it. Another

helpful addition would be some key terms for the unit. Students will need to

understand main ideas, themes and analysis. Some support for the difference

between superficial factual analysis and deeper analysis would also be useful.

That said, it is a good lesson. There is a sample text, Ray Bradbury's "All Summer

in a Day." I am a big science fiction fan and have spent years reading a lot of

early and middle Ray Bradbury. Perhaps that explains my postive reaction to the

lesson. The sample documents that accompany the reading passage show the process

and the final product. These items would be very useful in introducing this lesson

for the first time. They would give students a "road map" to where they are going

with their own work.

I would imagine that the sample documents with this lesson were made by the teacher

and do not include any actual student work. The student-made quiz questions all

have that "teacher feel" to them. For example, the first quotation is ...

"And this was the way life was forever on the planet, Venus, and this was the

schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining

world to set up civilization and live out their lives."

The question that goes with that quote is "Why is it important to know where these

students are and why they are there?" That just doesn't sound like a student

question to me. The following quotations and questions follow the chronology of the

narrative and hit every important literary point.

The step-by-step instructions for this lesson were thought-out and logical and they

addressed some real-life classroom likelihoods. The lesson includes a group walk-

through of the Bradbury story to practice the skills. At one point the lesson

advises ...

"5.When/if students note ideas that aren’t all that important to the central

meaning of the story, or if they miss some ideas that are important, ask the class

to talk about each idea/event and explain why it is or isn’t important to the

central meaning of the story. Be sure to point back to the story to specific

passages as you discuss main ideas. Ask the students to record notes as you

discuss."

Reading, discussion, taking notes are all "old-school." This lesson isn't flashy, and it doesn't use a lot of technology. But I don't mind

that. I think technology in education is overrated and those who look at it with

the "savior" mentality are seriously in error.

The work that students do with technology is only as good as the thinking that goes

with it and drives it. If teachers don't teach kids to think, reflect and learn

from mistakes -- all the technology in the world isn't going to do us a bit of

good.

It seems to me that this lesson, presented well in a well-managed classroom, has

the potential to deepen student's thinking and reading skills. I am already

ruminating on how I can integrate this into my classroom with subject-area reading.

Perhaps I can use this to help students navigate chapters on yeast breads or the

types of cake.

Because my curriculum is so specialized, and because I have to teach a lot of

unfamiliar vocabulary, I am thinking about having students read and write down any

words that are unfamiliar or that they can't figure out from context. We could

discuss those words and get them defined, and then we could drill down deeper into

the text with a second reading using the activities outlined in the lesson.
I also think this might help my students with the idea of second

readings. I have tried to explain to them that understanding deepens exponentially

with second readings, but often enough it is nearly impossible to get them to do a

first reading.

Debra Hadley

I picked the lesson “A Bad Case of Bullying: Using Literature Response Groups” that is for grades 3-5 as this is a “hot” topic within those grades at my school. Bullying today has grown so much, and has advanced into the technology world as well with cyber bullying. As teachers, we are always looking for new ways to protect our students from bullying or a way to teach our students how to prevent bullying to happen, and what to do about it.

This lesson is focused around literature response groups that allow students to explore bullying issues. The students can make connections to their own bullying against them, or if they were a bully themselves. The conversations would need to be monitored to protect the students. The teacher should really take note on social interactions, and to carefully advice students when needed. The book that this author of the lesson picked to read was A Bad Case of Stripes. I liked how the author of this lesson provided questions to ask before reading, while reading, and after reading questions. This really helps the teacher with planning, and it also helps with key stopping points within the story to make a point on the topic you are covering. I thought her questions were very detailed and appropriate for grades 3-5, and correctly followed the state standards as well as the bullying theme. After discussing the questions, the students are to write their reflections on the story in their journals. I like how she suggests posting the class discussion questions on the board or charting paper so that students can refer back to the questions when they write in their journals. After writing in their journals, they will meet back in their literature response groups to discuss their reflections. The next activity focuses on how Camilla’s classmates in the story treated her when she arrived to school with a bad case of stripes. The students are to brainstorm with a partner all the emotion words they can think of to describe how Camilla might have felt. This is something I think that is quite neat as I haven’t thought about focusing on an emotion as an activity- but for this lesson it is perfect! Again, they discuss their responses with their literature response groups. The last activity requires using the internet. The first website allows them to be an alien and they answer several questions about dealing with bullying so they can “Beat the Bully.” The second website allows them to create a short comic strip that focus on emotions and short responses. They fill out character bubbles and can change the faces based on the response they write.

Overall, I think this is a great activity that connects a current rising issue to literature and enables them to make connections with one another as well as being able to reflect and talk about it. The reflection piece and the literature response groups are very appropriate for this activity as it is important to talk and discuss about these issues. Very well done!

-Amanda Solesbee

For this review, I chose the lesson Developing a Definition of Reading through Investigation in Middle School, which initially appealed to me because I started to think what my definition of reading was. Then I thought to myself, would I even be able to teach this until I understood what my definition of reading was? I am in graduate school, getting a degree to teach English Language Arts, and I am not sure what my DEFINITION of reading is. I was never given the opportunity to establish and develop this throughout my public school years, and even throughout undergrad I am not sure I have a true definition. I would use this lesson as an opportunity to introduce this idea: that reading can have its own definition for everyone. This lesson called to me.
Once I dived in I was reassured the merit of this lesson by one of the first steps of preparation for the teacher, which is to compile a variety of texts from picture books, to beginning readers that students may have read in first grade, all the way through college level material. Also, the teacher should include informal reading material like magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, manuals, and job applications.
Through multiple class periods, the teacher leads the students through an exploration of their definition of reading. They will develop their initial definition, and then through small group and large group discussions they will explore various elements that they see as patterns in books. Students will complete Reading Surveys, and be able to talk with other students about what they think and feel about reading.
Perhaps one of the most interesting and unique opportunities that students will get as they complete this lesson is the integration of technology, particularly that of a very familiar way of expressing themselves: social networking. Rather than complete a typical reading poster, students will create a reading profile, on a site accessible through school servers and free of cost, and will print out their profiles to be displayed around the classroom. For many students, this will serve as a form of personal accomplishment, and their unique definition will be displayed for others. Definitions should be considered when integrating reading, and is a great way for teachers to understand their students understanding and scope, as well as their opinion.

This is a fantastic lesson, and while I think it can be adapted to meet the needs of younger learners, it is completely possible to do in a middle school classroom. I plan on using this lesson in my classroom during the first few weeks of school. I believe that it can serve as a great way to explore literature, expand a students understanding of their reading habits and likes and dislikes, as well as give the teacher insight into the child as a reader when they enter the classroom. I highly recommend it.

Brandi Brink

When choosing a lesson to thoroughly review for this assignment, I chose one that I knew I could later use in my classroom with my 1st graders. We do learn about similes each year, so I chose a lesson that is used to help students better understand what a simile is.

Session 1
This lesson begins by simply looking at the pictures in any book that deals with sea creatures. While students are looking at the pictures the teacher should encourage students to finish statements such as, “The whale is as big as _________” or “The fish is scary like ______”. The teacher should record all of the students responses on chart paper or on the board. After looking through all the pictures the teacher and students can read all of the statements that the students generated. Then, ask the students what all of the statements have in common (they all use like or as and are comparing two things). Tell students to act like detectives for the next few days! Tell them to let you know when they hear, read, or think of a simile. Add the statements to the chart paper throughout the week. Students are then asked to make a stapleless book. I had never heard of these so I was really excited when I read about them. When the book is folded there will be a page on the right and a page on the left. Students should write their simile and draw a picture on both pages. For example, if the simile was “A shark is as scary as a tornado” the students could draw a shark on the left and a tornado on the right. I think this is a wonderful activity to help students visualize what is being said.

I personally love this lesson and think that it is very age appropriate. I love how the teacher begins by modeling similes. Modeling is so important for 1st grade students. I also love the stapleless book activity. This activity can help the students visualize what is being said and help them make the connection of what it means. I am really excited about this lesson and can’t wait to use it in my classroom!

The Read Write Think Lesson I chose to analyze is "Boys Read: Considering Courage in Novels." Research suggests that many boys are drawn to books that spark discussion and offer positive role models. In this multisession lesson, students choose one such novel to read and study. Each of the recommended novels deals in some way with the concept of courage, and students are asked to consider how individuals can demonstrate courage through their everyday actions. Students read and discuss their chosen text with peers, use online tools to review the main events, and draft a persuasive essay about their novel.

I chose this lesson to review because in class we have been discussing ways to motivate boys to read, as well as exploring resources about book directed towards males. I thought this would be an interesting lesson to analyze to see how this particular teacher motivates boys to read, and what books she chose for her male students to read. Essentially, this lessons is like what we did with our book clubs. The teacher starts out by discussing the concept of courage with her male students, and then allows the students to each choose one of five books that have a male protagonist. The students are broken into groups according to which book they chose, and they have to break the book into four sections and set a reading schedule. As the students read their selected books, they have whole-class discussions on courage, what it means in their daily lives, how the main character in their book displays courage, difficult choices, responsibility, and change. Students also meet in their book clubs every session and discuss these elements. As they read, the students must fill out a graphic organizer from the RWT website to record the main events of the novel. Finally, students write a persuasive essay that discusses ways in which the main character displayed or failed to display courage throughout the novel. They use the persuasion map from the RWT website to complete this assignment and refer to their graphic organizers to find three main reasons that support their thesis.

Overall, I thought this lesson had a great concept behind it. However, I felt that it was very broad and didn't live up to the potential it could possess. First of all, the suggested book list that the author of this lesson provided was not very good. Most of the books were very old or not very exciting; I definitely think there are better books our there for boys that could be suggested. Of course, this is just a "suggested" book list, and the author does include the Guys Read website link to find more books. Doing a book talk on each book to get the students excited and interested is a great idea that was suggested. In addition, I think dividing each book into only four sections and having a section due each time the groups met was a little too much. I think there needs to be shorter reading sections due, as well as more meeting times to really get into the novel and make it meaningful. I like that there was choice provided to the students on which books that they wanted to read, but you also have to be careful that the boys don't just choose books that their friends choose so that they can be in the same group.

I felt that the concepts discussed each meeting time were good (courage, change, responsibility, difficult choices, and how all of these concepts applied to the students' lives as well as the main characters), but the students didn't really have to do any meaningful assignments each meeting time. They were basically just told to "discuss" these concepts and then fill our their graphic organizer on the main events in that section. Boring! Plus, the graphic organizer was very juvenile. It could work for some students, but I think there needed to be other options depending on the learning styles and levels of the students. I think the students needed more direction when they met in their books clubs, and they also needed to be provided with an activity, project, or writing assignment to complete regarding the concepts discussed instead of just talking about it. The teacher needs to be able to see that the students understand what they are reading and what is happening to the main character, how he is coping, what his actions are, and how this applies to the students' lives as well. Discussion is good, but when the students are working independently in small groups, they also need to be held accountable and complete something meaningful so that reading the novel actually taught them something and was worthwhile.

The main assignment in this lesson was the persuasive essay. I did not like the topic that the students had to write about because I felt that it was very juvenile, yet again. I think that by this time it would be very obvious if the main character was courageous or not and why, and referring to their graphic organizers just seems petty and not meaningful - almost like busy work. Even if this assignment was for 6th graders, they could still be held to higher standards and required to do more difficult and meaningful assignments. Writing an essay to wrap up reading a novel is not how I was taught to teach :) Especially if you are dealing with boys who already don't like reading and writing, doing fun and interesting assignments along with the book, and doing an awesome alternate book report at the end or something similar, could work out great. I think that incorporating writing into the book club is definitely necessary; however, I do not think a final, persuasive essay on something so obvious and petty is worthwhile. The students could have already done a writer's notebook entry on this prompt halfway through the book or at the end. I would also be doing a writer's workshop in my class, so the students could complete a writing assignment of their choice pertaining to their novel during this time, and the books clubs would occur on days I do reader's workshop.

Lastly, I did enjoy the extensions that were provided at the end of the lesson for students to do. This were actually meaningful and seemed like they could get boys reading. The assessment portion of the lesson was week because there didn't seem like any real way to assess the students' participation in the books clubs. A blog or something like we did in class would be a great way to asses them, as well as more assignments throughout their reading like I mentioned earlier. There was a self-assessment form for student to fill out that I felt could be beneficial because it required students to reflect on their participation, their strengths and weaknesses, and how the assignment could be made better. In conclusion, the concept of this lesson was great. I would definitely do a book club/literature circle activity like this in my class one day for boys, but I would certainly change the way the books clubs were designed and the assignments the students did with them. Unfortunately, even though this lesson was meant to motivate boys to read, I think it might do the opposite. I hope to adapt this lesson one day and really get boys to enjoy reading a novel.

The activity I selected from readwritethink.org is Amazing Biographies: Writing About People Who Change the World (Grades 3-8). After reading a book about “amazing” people and how they have changed the world, the students name people they consider to be “amazing” and talk about their traits and accomplishments. Next, students research via books and the internet. Students may use the interactive Biocube or Timeline to organize information about an important person they wish to research. Students will work together to compile a book of “amazing” people. This assignment lists the specific components which are to be included on each biographical page. On completion of the book, students may work cooperatively to compare and contrast various figures.

With my third graders, I recently assigned a similar project. They created a newspaper focused on a hero. I designed a rubric outlining my expectations. For each component, I recorded the maximum number of points which could be earned. According to parent feedback, students enjoyed working on the newspaper. They also appeared to enjoy sharing them with the class. This assignment allows for creativity and addresses various learning styles.

Holly Lawson

I analyzed the lesson plan “Reading Informational Text Using the 3-2-1 Strategy” which is based on the article “Engaging Students with Text: The 3-2-1 Strategy,” featured in The Reading Teacher (2004). After reading a nonfiction text, students record 3 things they discovered, 2 interesting things and one question they still have. I chose this lesson because I used this strategy in my fifth-grade classroom about six years ago. In the version I used, students recorded 3 things they discovered, 2 questions and 1 connection. Originally, I liked this strategy because it is simple; it requires students to use multiple reading strategies and can be used with any nonfiction text. I decided to take another look at it to see if I still think it is a valuable strategy to use with my current students.

The lesson procedures are clear and easy to follow. The teacher models the 3-2-1 strategy during an interactive reading experience. Then students read an article independently and complete a 3-2-1 chart. Finally, students share their charts with the rest of the class.
Limited materials are required for this lesson and there is little preparation time. The teacher only needs to choose an article to use when modeling the lesson and provide a variety of articles for students to read independently. Students can create their 3-2-1 chart on paper or they can use the electronic chart included in the lesson. Older students could use the electronic chart, save their work and send the chart to the teacher as an attachment. The lesson author also includes electronic sources for informational texts, which provides greater options and incorporates technology.

The lesson author also includes a rubric to assess how the students did on the assignment (1 = Exemplary - The student’s ideas and question are relevant to the topic read. 2 = Sufficient - Some of the student’s ideas and question are related to the topic. 3 = Insufficient - The student’s ideas and question are unrelated to the topic.), along with a self- assessment for students to use. The self-assessment includes the following questions (I discovered three things about this topic. I found two interesting things about this topic. I thought of one question I still have about this topic. I liked reading about this topic. I want to read more about this topic. I think this strategy helped me understand the article. I will use this strategy when reading another article.)

I feel the strategy helps the students interact with the text and sets some purposes for reading, but I am not convinced that it is a powerful tool for deepening understanding. The stated learning objective for the lesson is “Students will demonstrate comprehension of an informational article read from a magazine using the 3-2-1 strategy.” The creators of the strategy also claim that the strategy will help students comprehend what they read. I feel the low-level tasks do not demonstrate understanding. Furthermore, I am not sure there is a clear distinction between 3 things learned and 2 interesting facts.

The writers of the article state that identifying 3 things discovered requires students to “summarize …by identifying key facts and sharing their understandings of the text by writing and explaining meaning in their own words.” I can see how this task might require students to paraphrase, but I do not consider it summarizing. Summarizing is a high-level process in which students to identify key ideas and details and synthesize them.

The second task- record two interesting facts is meant to allow students to share what they enjoyed, which reflects their personal attitudes about the text. I can see how this is engaging, but do not see how it furthers understanding or requires deep thinking.

Questioning is a powerful strategy, but the rubric does not consider the quality of the question being asked. Furthermore, I feel that questioning is most powerful before and during reading because it sets a purpose for reading and helps readers clarify as they interact with the text. The lesson author suggested that students conduct additional research to answer their lingering question as an extension activity, which can be a useful research strategy and further understanding of the original text. It would also be a motivating assignment for many students.

The lesson plan does not seem aligned to all the stated standards, which includes 37 NCSCOS objectives across grades 1-3 and 12 national standards for English Language Arts. Examples include the following: 1.) Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types. 2.) Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

The appeal of 3-2-1 is that it is a universal strategy that can be used with any informational text, but the 3-2-1 strategy can be modified to a specific text- Identify 3 steps in the water cycle. I feel it can be modified to incorporate higher-level thinking- Identify the 3 most important details and be prepared to explain why you chose them. I think it can also be modified to focus on a specific strategy- After tracking your wonderings, identify 3 questions that were answered right in the text, identify 2 questions that required you to make an inference and identify a question that went unanswered.

Authentic Writing Experiences and Math Problem-Solving Using Shopping Lists
Grades K-2
In the early grades, finding authentic writing experiences to challenge emergent writers is a challenge. Writing is such a difficult combination of language, reading, and fine-motor skills. Emergent writers need lots of practice and support, but how do you provide this without frustrating students? I chose this lesson for that very reason. I think it’s a great way to motivate students to write and to model an authentic writing task. That is the goal of the author of this lesson. In addition, this lesson fits in perfectly with the activities in my math curriculum.

The basic overview of this lesson is that students would create their own personal shopping lists for a class “store” and budget an allotted amount of money to buy treats. To begin, the author states that the purpose of this lesson is to motivate students to use their emergent writing skills by making writing purposeful, challenging, and real-to-life. The lesson meets a range of language arts and math standards, both state and national. Resources and materials for this lesson include access to the price list for items in the store, ten cents per student (provided by the teacher), items for sale in store, storage containers, small bowls, latex gloves to wear as you serve food items, a cash register or money box to use for collecting the money the students spend at the store and books with a money theme (the author provides a list). One of my favorite aspects of the lesson is the reflection sheet called “My Shopping Reflections.” This is a great, basic reflection that includes questions such as “What was your favorite part of the activity?” and “Did your list work the first time? If it didn’t, how did you change it?” This reflection ties in perfectly with the inquiry-based curriculum at our school.

The activity starts with an exploration of books and websites that deal with money, followed by a discussion of why making a grocery list is important. This makes up the first session. In the second session students bring a grocery list from home, explore grocery store ads and discuss pricing and budgets, and are shown the items and pricing for the class store. Their budget is explained and they make the first version of their list, using a mixture of drawings and words. Finally, in session 3, students are given the opportunity to complete or revise their lists. Students also conference with the teacher to make sure that they stay within the budget of 10 cents. Then they go shopping and celebrate by eating their treats. The reflection sheet is used individually or can be completed as a class.

Again, I love this thorough version of a lesson that I already use...I know this will enrich my teaching next time I teach money and implement a shopping experience!

All About Our Town: Using Brochures to Teach Informational Writing
Grades 2-4

In this lesson, students learn about why people read and write by looking at brochures and other informational texts available to them. During this project, students practice writing for a specific audience, editing their writing, and working collaboratively (in partners and whole-group) in order to create an informational brochure for new students moving to our town. Often times students and teachers forget that information can be given in ways other than essay-format, and brochures are an easy and fun way of reminding us that they can provide us with valuable information. The brochures will include information such as state landmarks, symbols, and visitor's information. This lesson meets several national and state standards for the English/Language Arts.

This lesson is designed to take eight, forty to sixty minute sessions. This very involved lesson will require students to discuss what is important for new students to know about our community, preview sample informational brochures from visitor's centers or other places, use a camera to take photographs or download photographs from the internet, and then the class will brainstorm together to create one brochure. One of the extensions that the author suggested for this lesson was to have students create their own brochure. If I were doing this in my classroom, I would probably have each student do an independent brochure instead of creating one classroom brochure.

This is a very creative lesson, and all activites involved promote student learning. If I have the opportunity to teach 2-4 grade, I will definitely use this lesson. I have looked at several Read, Write, Think Lessons, and although they may be more work for the teacher (in terms of preparation), they are so beneficial for students. Anytime a lesson can consist of reading, writing, critical thinking, technology, and whatever else you may be be able to throw in there, it is going to be a better lesson than straight reading or writing. There is an abundance of read, write, think lessons on the internet, so we definitely need to use them as a resource!

Lisa Beach

Writers’ Workshop: The Biographical Sketch

This Read, Write, Think lesson incorporates the Writer’s Workshop model of teaching writing. My students are studying biographies and memoirs. My students enjoyed using the interactive online Bio-Cube tool. This tool helps students summarize important points in a person’s life. The information is printed out and can be folded into a cube shape. My students enjoyed summarizing this way. Had I asked them to do this on notebook paper, their engagement would have been minimal. Once the research and summarizing step is completed, students take the information from the bio-cube and write a short paper about the person’s life. Lessons for revision with teacher modeling is included with suggestions for the teacher. I chose not to do this part with my class because we are writing memoirs, so I wanted them to see the differences between memoir and biography. However, had I decided to take this farther the lessons are presented in a sequential progression that makes sense.

This lesson plan also includes a rubric, more like a checklist, for students to use as they write. The rubric includes excellent elements that any teacher would like to see her students include but many of them are not included in the lesson plan. Unless another lesson has been taught before the Biographical Sketch Lesson, students will not know how to include these in their sketches. Another issue I have with the lesson is in the time allotted for task. I feel that the time is a bit too short in order for all students to have a finished product, just six class periods.

This strategy, Alphabet Brainstorming, can be used to activate prior knowledge. Students are given a chart that is divided into different boxes. Each box contains one letter from the alphabet. Students are then instructed to come up with as many terms as they can that relate to a certain topic. The terms will go in the box that contains the initial letter in the word.

I am going to do a word sort strategy. This strategy helps students with vowel and word patterns. This enables students to sound out and recognize words quicker. Using word sorts, students increase their word knowledge which in turns aids in better readers and writers.
f students are able to increase their word recogition their fluency rate will increase.

This strategy will also have a game so the student can apply the word sort.

Tonya Isenhour

Instructional Strategy
Robin Clark

One strategy that I like to use with my classroom is an “author study”. When I was first introduced to author studies, I thought “there is no way kindergarteners can get this”! But, to my surprise, they love it!

I try to carefully research potential authors to present to my students. Some children’s authors either have not written enough books to be popular, or have not shared a lot of personal information with the public. For example, I love the work of Maurice Sendak. As a child, I loved Where the Wild Things Are. But, after reading about him I found that he is mostly an illustrator, not an author. He has actually written just a small amount of books, but has illustrated hundreds. So, I did not choose Maurice Sendak for one of these studies.

Instead, I’ve chosen authors like Eve Bunting; Tomie dePaola; Patricia Polacco; and Kevin Henkes.

I begin these author studies with a power point presentation. I try to find fascinating information about the author; what he/she was like growing up; why he/she wanted to write; and what topics they like to write about. I always add fun, colorful clip art and personal images to catch their attention.

I usually study Eve Bunting around this time of year. She has written lots of stories about Halloween. She has also written about tough subjects such as homelessness; racism; and prejudice. When I first put her information together, I was surprised that she was not also an illustrator! All of her books have beautiful artwork, but she has never illustrated one of them!
And, this is a good time of year to begin the author studies. The children have become settled into their daily routines; usually adhere to the classroom rules; and can work together with partners.

After I introduce a new author, I allow the children to look at some of that author’s work. Many times I will have already read a story or two from that particular author, and can bring those back to review.

As we read, usually one story each day, we compare the stories. We create a chart stating how the stories were different. We decide if the characters were the same, like with Kevin Henkes’ mouse tales. We talk about emotions and how the characters may have felt. We decide if there was a problem and if so, how did that problem get resolved. Many times I allow the children to work with their partners to discover more about how they interpreted the book. I allow them to be art smart and draw their perception of the story. I am always amazed by the work I receive!

After the two-week period is over, I display all of the author’s books that we read. We gather in groups, according to likes and dislikes, and talk about why we liked our choices so much.

There are many activities that can be combined within the author study. I usually try to incorporate the main literacy categories: comprehension; retell; rhyming; alike and different; and concept naming within each study. Some books are easier than others, but it can be done.

This study is just one way that I have found to engage my younger students and get them excited about reading different types of books.

Read, Write Think
Lesson Plan Review
Robin Clark

The lesson plan that I found was one, designed for kindergarten, that discussed the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I, like many other teachers, am always looking for new ideas. This lesson was called “Packing the Pilgrim’s Trunk: Personalizing History in the Elementary Classroom” and was submitted by Devon Hamner of Grand Island, Nebraska. The lesson is designed for kindergarten, but can be adapted for 1st or 2nd grades.

The title of the lesson caught my attention. Many times, children learn best by doing. If they can personalize the information, they do remember it better. “Packing a Pilgrim’s Trunk”, I thought sounded fun.

Because kindergarteners have no prior knowledge about Plymouth; Pilgrims; or the Mayflower, the teacher has to provide that knowledge as the lesson begins.

This lesson outline did not list any specific types of books, just books in general about the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving. I would have preferred to read about some books that this teacher had tried; liked; or disliked. Sometimes choosing a book to introduce a new subject can be trial and error. Some children accept the new stories easily with a book, some do not. Rather than me search for appropriate books, I would have liked to review a list of books that she had used and liked.

I really do like the overall message of this lesson. I am even thinking about using it for my students this year. In this lesson, children are introduced to the Pilgrims through their moving experience from England into America. Ms. Hamner stated that she likes to compare what the children know with moving to a new place with the Pilgrim’s and their move. We can create a comparison chart for future reference. She then allows the children to list what was needed for the voyage across the ocean. Children can help to pack an imaginary trunk and compare the trunk with bags that we carry today. Children can compare the differences between travel; clothing; and food of those days with today’s luxuries.

Ms. Hamner states that she uses her lesson to also discuss the differences between the life of the pilgrim child and today’s child. For example, many of our children do not know how to farm as a means of survival. They can learn how the Pilgrims depended on the Native Americans for help in planting and growing their own foods. She uses this topic as an introduction to the Thanksgiving feast and the reason there was to celebrate. As an ending to the lesson, which spans 9 days, Ms. Hamner makes foods that were eaten during that first Thanksgiving and the children celebrate together.