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I just briefly wanted to share with you the "reading section" of my student's notebooks. Next year, I know this is something I will be re-vamping. Through Amy's training in December, she shared what she uses her notebooks for, and she has a lot of innovative ideas. What I do like about how it is currently being used is that students have their list of "books I'd like to read next" and they did a reading reflection. Below, I only have Alysons...but I can say since we started reading every day at the beginning of class, she has finished three books. I have SO many students that have finished multiple books and it brings me joy. Especially, when I look at their reflections and they say "I don't like to read. I haven't finished a book since junior high". Building life-long readers or #booklove or #shelfie is a big part of workshop. Even though I am an English teacher, reading didn't naturally interest me. I started with song lyrics, then poetry, mythology and then eventually novels. I am STILL discovering my reading life, and I let me students know that.

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This was the lesson I did during learning walks, when you (Mrs. Henley) and Billy came into my class. I would consider this a true workshop lesson because we took a mentor text and imitated it. The purpose of this lesson was to work on making inferences and paying attention to how authors give their readers little hints and clues about things versus just outright tell us. I collaborated with Carey to plan this lesson and I am extremely happy with how it turnout out. Again, my students blew me away with their writing, and it was a positive classroom community day; we were all supporting each other as writers.

Brief overview of the lesson:
After reading for 10 minutes, we started with a photo. I asked students to infer what was happening in the photo. Then, we read an excerpt from "Shatter Me", as seen in the student notebooks. We read it out loud together and I modeled the thinking process, stopping to ask questions about various text features. After we read it and analyzed the text, I gave student 2 minutes to answer "what can you infer about Juliette?". Then we shared.

Next, I flipped it, and it was their turn to be the author! Students randomly selected a scenario and had 6-10 minutes to write their own excerpt/paragraph. After everyone finished, we traded with a neighbor, then I took volunteers for whole class sharing. Students really took ownership of their writing and were eager to share.

Each time I've taken a risk with an assignment like this, my students have surprised me. I have been shocked to learn that they like being authors and writing creatively. Majority of students want to write something worth reading, and it is really just so exciting to see as a teacher.

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I chose to share this lesson because it is a great example of the workshop model. After reading our independent novel for 10 minutes, we took a mentor text and imitated the structure in our own writing. Below is an overview of the lesson and student examples from their notebook.

This is a lesson I received from Coach Denny. The model for this writing was the G.I. Joe Public Service Announcementsthat were at the end of the TV show episodes from the mid 1980's. The purpose of this assignment was to work on paragraph structures and building solid body paragraphs. We had been practicing using a clear topic sentence, a few sentences of supporting details, and a concluding statement to tie back to main point. This is a basic structure, yet a lot of students were having a hard time implementing it. Here is a basic outline of the lesson:

1. Class discussion of Public Service Announcement-what do you know? Have you seen before? What is a PSA?
2. Watch 3 minutes of video compilation of PSA's on Youtube from G.I. Joe Show.
3. Intermittently pause and discuss...what do you notice about the way each PSA is structured? What is their purpose? (note-they are all structured the same way, ending with the tagline "now you know, and knowing is half the battle")
4. Okay, now it is your turn...make a list of "silly things/annoyances" that you could make a PSA about
5. Brainstorm, small-group share, whole-class share
6. Writing task: Pick ONE topic from your list and create a PSA. You will have 10 minutes to write it. You must use the following structure:
a. Never _______________
b. A few sentences of supporting details
c. End with "now you know, and knowing is half the battle"

After students wrote, we shared with our small groups, then one from each group was shared whole class. The students who read theirs in-front of the whole class were "flooded with love", which means each student wrote an affirmation/compliment about their writing on a sticky note. This was a strategy I learned at the Amy Rasmusseun training in December.

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We did this lesson the following the "Let me tell you something" persuasive writing. This was a lesson, imitating Hughes, put together by Carey. I twisted it up a bit and added my own touch to it, but overall, this lesson was a great example of the workshop model. The purpose of this lesson was to write a poem imitating Langston Hughes style-but for me, I told them it needed to express what there writing from the previous day expressed, just in poetic form. Again, it was reiterating how their life experiences can translate into powerful writing pieces. I also loved how the poem and persuasive writing compared to each other.

Brief overview of the lesson:
Students received two poems.."The Rose that Grew from Concrete" by Tupac Shakur and "Tired" by Langston Hughes

Teacher model/think aloud...
First, we looked at Shakur's poem. We talked about who Shakur is, what he went through in his life, and what the world he lived in was like. Then we read the poem. Students then answered the following questions:
1. What message is the poet is expressing to us?
2. What/who would his "let me tell you something" writing be to or about?
3. What "craft moves" does he utilize to help convey his message?

Students answered independently, then we whole class discussed and answered together.

The same process was repeated for Hughes. Most students were unfamiliar with who Hughes was and the Harlem Renaissance, so there was more pre-teaching here.

After we went through both poems, students were then instructed to write their own poem, imitating Hughes' structure.

It had to be:
at least 7 lines as followed, and incorporate the topic from your persuasive writing:
L1 I'm so tired (of waiting)
L2 Aren't you
L3
L4 (use and twice)
L5
L6
L7
(try to end your poem with a metaphor or proper comparison, like Hughes)

I was honestly SHOCKED and blown away by the poems my students produced. They came up with beautiful metaphors to display their frustration with fitting in, school, peer pressure, racism, homework, etc. We typed up and "published" their poems. Students also took joy in reading them to their classmates.

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This lesson goes in companion with "Writing LIke Hughes". This sequence is probably one of my favorite assignments we have done this year!  The purpose of this assignment was for student's to understand how their life experiences can translate into powerful writing pieces. Also, it was another way to look at/approach persuasive writing. It was to set up day 2 of the lesson plan. It was also, in a way, to help them understand the therapeutic value of writing. I know that this isn't necessarily a TEK, but if I am teaching life-long readers and writers, this was a point I needed to make. Writing is always an outlet, a safe, healthy, therapeutic outlet that one can turn to at any stage of life.

For this lesson-day one, there was no mentor text. I simply wrote the phrase "Let me tell you something..." on the board and asked my students to finish it. First, we walked through a brainstorm. I asked them to circle the "you" and generate a list of people, groups, institutions, etc. that you would love to "go off on". I had them think...if you could speak/rant uninterruptedly for 3 minutes, who would you want to speak to? What would you want to say?
Then, I set a timer for 10 minutes and instructed my students to write until the timer went off.

No student hesitated, and majority of students wrote the full 10 minutes. After time was up, I asked students to go back and edit...add a simile or metaphor if possible. Then we shared. Myself first, small group, then whole group with the "flood with love strategy" (you can see Javier's sticky notes below).

Before students shared, after I read mine, I asked.. if they had to categorize the writing they just did as persuasive or expository, what would it be? What are they advocating for? As each student read theirs aloud, we would answer the latter question. I would make note of powerful word choice that helped contributed to the persuasiveness, etc.

JUST A WARNING...I asked my students to be as authentic as possible (of course, school appropriate) Some of what they wrote is "edgy", personal, or even just down right rude, but I didn't steer them from this, if this is what they felt like doing. When I read something that was full of a lot of negativity, I would just state, "I hope that this was a healthy way for you to express that frustration". As you may see, in the writing samples, two of the students wrote about school, other teachers. I told them if they shared...no specifics. change names, etc. that is not the purpose of this.

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Each teacher uses their notebooks, or "Reader's Writer's Journals" differently. My first year of teaching, I would stress and spend hours making the perfect copies for my students, ONLY FOR THEM TO BE LOST OR THROWN AWAY.  What is the purpose of making copies to help if they ended up lost?! After a year of frustration, I decided my that second year I would implement "Interactive Student Notebooks" which have now evolved into the generic term of "English Notebooks". Students do about 70% of their work in the notebooks. They also tape or glue any handout I give them into the notebook and keep it labeled and organized.
At the beginning of the year, students are required to obtain and keep a one-subject notebook in my classroom at all times. We personalize the covers to help create a sense of ownership and pride. This year, I went with a "mind-map" on the front, but I prefer Savannah's cover (in blue), which is just 4-6 items of value.
In everyone's notebook, you will find the following:
1. Personalized Cover
2. Table of Contents
3. Classroom Models and Notes
4. Reading Section

When it comes to workshop, the notebooks are essentially to keep "seed" writing. Various daily writing, quick writes, etc. that could later evolve into a full process paper. My students do have writing like this as well, but the notebook isn't only for that. Each year, I make tweaks in how I use these notebooks, and after learning about how workshop prefers them to be used, I will implement it more next year.

As you go through each lesson, you will see four different student's work.
1. Savannah-an average to above average student, has a natural interest in reading/writing
2. Javier-SPED student (has never passed STAAR due to reading and writing disability)
3. George-ELL Student (Passed STAAR EOC 1 on third attempt, still emerging in the language)
4. Alyson-one of the top students in all of my classes. She works extremely hard!

I wanted to try to incorporate varying levels of student work for you to see how it went with different levels.

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For Personalized Professional Learning, the English II team decided to dive into the world of workshop! Nonchalantly, we all agreed, "yeah, sure! Why not?" when Carey suggested we try this new thing out. I don't think we really knew what an overhaul to our teaching style it would be! However, the more I learn about workshop, the more excited I am to design new lessons and take risks in my classroom!

What I have learned through reading books and blogs, attending trainings, and collaborating school and district wide is this: workshop can mean something different to each person. However, to be following the workshop model, the lesson should incorporate the following:

1. Mini-Lessons-skill focus could be a reading OR writing skill
2. Independent Choice Reading
3. Book Trailers
4. Mentor Texts
5. Independent Writing Time (in classroom notebook)
6. Student Conferences (about reading or writing)
7. Student Collaboration/Brainstorm Sessions
8. Share Time

In the following posts, you will see four brief lesson plans and pictures from student's notebooks where I felt the most confident in the "workshop model". These were lessons that I collaborated with Denny and Carey on. Both Denny and I did many of the same lessons, but we both ended up putting our own little twists on them. Though these aren't the only "workshop" lessons we did this year, these are the ones I feel were the most engaging and well received by my students.

I also just wanted to add a little reflection to this too...
After the inference lesson, one of my students, Keiry, came up to me and said, "Ms. Terry, do you ever think any of your students will grow to become an author?"
I replied, "I'm not sure, but everyone has the potential to...especially you. You are great writer and I know you have a lot to say!" She shyly smiled and shook her head, but I could tell that I might have given her confidence to chase after just that. Perhaps secretly within her, it is something she would love to do but never saw it as a reality.

If I'm being honest, her question really took me by surprise because I never really considered it..or really thought about that, especially in my on-level classes. This is only my fourth year of teaching and I'm still finding my groove and developing my teaching philosophy. My first two years, we were about STAAR, and I depended on seasoned teachers to survive. We weren't too old school, for we had begun to include more mini-lessons, short stories, etc. in our lessons. But, we weren't building our students up like we do in CCISD. We were selling them short and preparing them to pass a standardized test, because we thought that is all they were capable of doing. We thought that was all they needed to do.

Teaching here in CCISD has been rewarding in so many ways and helped me grow as an educator. I see my students differently and I've learned not to limit their potential. I feel encouraged and empowered to take risks that are in the best interest of my student's future. I feel as though I'm developing and progressing more and more and refining my methods each day. I've truly loved learning about workshop and changing my teaching style and classroom routines. Through my time here, my recent workshop training and Keiry's innocent question, I have come to believe and understand this, which I plan on holding on to: There could be a future best-selling author in my classroom...but they won't know it unless they are given the freedom to explore that outlet, and if they don't do it in my English class, where else would it happen?