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Kylene Beers and Bob Probst

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"Disrupting Thinking is one of the best books I've read about the power of books to disrupt complacency and promote change and the role teachers play in that disruption. Skillfully, these authors address the continuum of education K-12, making this book ideal for colleagues to read and share horizontally and vertically across grade levels."
-- Sarah Mulhern Gross, English teacher at High Technology High School, contributor to The NY Times Learning Network

"We're living in a world of social media and fake news have the potential to shape who we are and what we believe. Through the strategies presented in Disrupting Thinking, teachers see clearly how to help students become active participants in constructing meaning, as they respond, question, and challenge, so that in the end they become more responsible citizens in our world."

-- Mindy Hoffar, All Write Consortium Director

"Beers and Probst tackle one of teachers' greatest challenges: student apathy. They show us not only how to "teach struggling readers but how to teach readers to struggle." And then they go the next step and show us how to turn the apathetic reader into a lifetime reader. And for both, we are grateful."
-- Danny Brassel, Ph.D., consultant and author. Author of The Lazy Readers' Book Club

"We need students who can do more than answer questions. Tomorrow's leaders need to be able to ASK questions. This is an excellent book for all teachers whether they teach reading, language arts, or science or history. Whether they teach elementary, middle, high school or college, or at home - EVERYONE who is around children needs to read this book. It is short but powerful. I have spent over 30 years in education, and I have taught every level from pre-school through university, and this book brought me back to the WHY and HOW of teaching. It is short and easy to understand for non-teachers. As an educator it reminded me of the good things we do in teaching, but stated in their research that all of this has bee set aside to focus on numbers and passing tests - the bane of a real educator's life. Children start out loving books and reading, but by middle school that hate reading because educators are just having them study vocabulary, answer questions, and nothing more. Most schools have taken away quiet or silent sustained reading, when research shows that it works and is needed. At the same time, many schools still do round-robin reading when research shows that it does NOT work. What works: students must be given choice in what to read, we must increase the amount they read, they must be encouraged to read aloud to a partner or parent, we must teach questioning strategies and model that process, and we MUST let go of the silent classroom and encourage students to talk about their reading with other students. Many teachers believe a quiet classroom is one that is in control, but our students need to talk to each other about their reading and their work. Letting go is a critical skill for educators in this fluid and rapidly changing world. Reading builds the following: knowledge, improves overall achievement, increases overall motivation, increases vocabulary, improves writing, build background knowledge, improves understanding of text structures, develops empathy, and develops personal identity.

Please get this little book, read it, then apply the ideas to the children in your life or classroom. Please." --Texas Rose

Provided via Amazon Vine

"If you haven't read anything by the dynamic duo Bob Probst and Kylene Beers and you are a teacher, you must! Their collaborative writing is highly readable, self-deprecating, witty, and on point. But don't be sidetracked by the entertaining repartee: their ideas about teaching are powerful, disruptive, and do-able. Don't think the double entendre of the book's title isn't intentional. While they propose and illustrate tangible ways in which we can disrupt the thinking of our students while reading (or prompt students out of what we thought were nonthinking stupors--Beers and Probst are passionately clear that we're wrong on that count), the duo is intentionally disrupting modern groupthink about teaching. If you only read 3 professional books this summer, make them: 1) Disrupting Thinking, 2) Notice and Note, and 3) Reading Nonfiction (in that order). Yes, like Star Wars, the third book in the series is really where it all begins. Disrupting Thinking outlines the philosophical underpinnings of their Notice and Note strategies. Without an understanding and willingness to embrace the philosophy behind Notice and Note, the signposts will be little more than another set of isolated reading strategies. Trust me, I taught the Nonfiction Notice and Note strategies as isolated reading strategies the first time (I know, I know, the book is clear on not doing that, but my role was to teach demonstration lessons rather than a daily core class). Like any isolated strategy, it doesn't work; kids won't and/or can't transfer their learning. I thought my flaw was a lack of text complexity. I taught the strategies but then students never needed to use them because they understood the texts without them. After reading "Disrupting Thinking," I understood that the attitude toward reading has to be in place for the Notice and Note signposts to be useful. In other words, students have to CARE enough about the text to use the strategies to figure it out. Disrupting Thinking only has one real strategy, and it is deceptively simple and powerful to the core. They call it: BHH (Book * Head * Heart). It can be taught at any level as a mindset for reading: What does the book say? What am I thinking as I read? What's in my heart while I read? (my paraphase, not theirs) The revolutionary idea is that we have to approach reading as something that changes us. When we teach our students to anticipate that what they read will change them one page at a time, then everything about how they read and how we teach reading changes, too. Simple, right? But how many teachers are out there teaching reading as anticipating change? Yet how many teachers out there read to be changed themselves? TONS. So our job is to come at reading with our students the way we do and make it matter. Somehow this simple yet powerful idea resonated with me in a way that all the book love authors have not. It's more tangible and more realistic than sharing your love of reading. They've pinpointed WHY we love reading: because it changes us. Now just because you've read my sad little synopsis, don't assume you can pass up this book. To circle back, Beers and Probst are incredible authors; their book comes with video links that I haven't even delved into yet, and you need to hear it from the two of them for yourself. You'll learn much more along the way, such as their take on recent education and reading debates, authors they look to, sample conversations to help imagine using the strategy in class, lovely sample anchor charts, etc. Is this book going to give you 24 lesson plans like Notice and Note? No. Is this book going to make those 24 lesson plans work? Yes. Get it, read it, and give it to a colleague to read, too." --Julie

Provided via Amazon Vine

"This honestly reminds me of things like why children hate reading and schools killing the love of reading, both the subject and titles of articles and discussions in education. As an English teacher who hates to write, but loves to read, this helps me feel better about the process. I love diving into a new book and sharing it with my students. I honestly got started writing book reviews because my students would see me reading something and immediately ask to read it next. It got to the point where I couldn't remember who was next and what that particular book was about because I had moved on to something new. Writing little book reviews on my classroom webpage and having a wait list made it easier for me to keep track. Knowing that we read for pleasure far more often than we read for any particular literary device or testing strategy is far more important for building lifelong literacy. I love that Beers addresses this and focuses on talking about the relationship of book and reader to engage in comprehension. Trying to figure out motivations and connections to the literature helps me connect and I have always wanted to share that with my students. I love that there are books out there that make me feel validated and can easily be shown to other parents or teachers to stress this importance." --Jennifer Miller

Provided via Amazon Vine

"I only wish that this book would be as popular in schools as Beers previous book was. Unfortunately, the education industry does not put priority on personal meaning in learning, so I think that this is a book that will have to be pushed out by individual teachers and leaders in schools, as well as involved parents. Within the first couple of chapters, Beers sets out why reading even matters- beyond the basic ability to find answers in text. After all, the best readers are usually ones that were read to as children, who saw their own parents or other family members reading for pleasure, and who read for pleasure themselves. And why do they read for pleasure? Because reading has meaning beyond their test scores. Going further, Beers also reminds us that contemporary careers and careers of the future do not want employees that can just repeat back information; they want employees that can make meaning out of what they read, make connections, and create their own ideas from what they have read.

This is an enjoyable read for teachers, school leaders, and parents alike. I especially like it as motivational summer reading for teachers that are getting ready to return to school." --Mom to 2 Boys

Provided via Amazon Vine

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Kylene Beers is an award-winning educator and is the author of When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do, Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading, Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice, and Elements of Literature, the literature textbook read by the majority of middle school and high school students across the US. She began her teaching career in 1979 in the Alief School District, outside of Houston. Texas. Since then, she has become an internationally-known and respected authority in literacy education. Beers works tirelessly to help parents, teachers, and national policy makers understand how to best help struggling readers. In 2008-2009, she served as President of the National Council of Teachers of English and in 2011 she received an NCTE Leadership Award. She has served as a consultant to the National Governor's Association Education Committee, was the editor of the national literacy journal Voices from the Middle, taught in the College of Education at the University of Houston, held a reading research position in the Comer School Development Program at Yale University School of Medicine, and has most recently served as the Senior Reading Advisor to the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Robert Probst, Ed.D., is an author and consultant to schools nationally and internationally. He speaks to administrators and teachers on literacy improvement, particularly issues surrounding struggling readers and meeting standards. Bob is Professor Emeritus of English Education at Georgia State University and has served as a research fellow for Florida International University. He has served as a member on the Conference on English Board of Directors, an NCTE journal columnist, and a member of the NCTE Commission on Reading. In 2004 he was awarded the NCTE Exemplary Leadership Award presented by the Conference on English Leadership.

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

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disrupting thinking: why how we read matters

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

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teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

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education / teaching methods & materials / language arts

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education / teaching methods & materials / reading & phonics

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

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teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

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teacher resource; professional development; create engagement; encourage thought

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education / teaching methods & materials / language arts

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education / teaching methods & materials / reading & phonics

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Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters

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Buy Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

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Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning

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Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning

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Peter H. Johnston

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In productive classrooms, teachers don't just teach children skills: they build emotionally and relationally healthy learning communities. Teachers create intellectual environments that produce not only technically competent students, but also caring, secure, actively literate human beings.

Choice Words shows how teachers accomplish this using their most powerful teaching tool: language. Throughout, Peter Johnston provides examples of apparently ordinary words, phrases, and uses of language that are pivotal in the orchestration of the classroom. Grounded in a study by accomplished literacy teachers, the book demonstrates how the things we say (and don't say) have surprising consequences for what children learn and for who they become as literate people. Through language, children learn how to become strategic thinkers, not merely learning the literacy strategies. In addition, Johnston examines the complex learning that teachers produce in classrooms that is hard to name and thus is not recognized by tests, by policy-makers, by the general public, and often by teachers themselves, yet is vitally important.

This book will be enlightening for any teacher who wishes to be more conscious of the many ways their language helps children acquire literacy skills and view the world, their peers, and themselves in new ways.
eBook Available Through Major Retailers
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If you previously purchased an ebook from Stenhouse.com, they will remain available in your digital library.

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In productive classrooms, teachers don't just teach children skills: they build emotionally and relationally healthy learning communities. Teachers create intellectual environments that produce not only technically competent students, but also caring, secure, actively literate human beings.Choice Words shows how teachers accomplish this using their most powerful teaching tool:

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain

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Zaretta Hammond

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From math, literacy, equity, multilingual learners, and SEL, to assessment, school counseling, and education leadership, our books are research-based and authored by experts on topics most relevant to what educators are facing today.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain

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In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction.

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Debbie Miller

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Introduction: We Can Do This

Asking Beautiful Questions

Paying Attention to What Doesn't Feel Right

Asking, "What If?": Creating Space for Possibility

Chapter One: What If Each Day's Teaching Focused on Children's Agency?

Finding Our Way to a Beautiful Question: The Disengaged Child

What's the Best That Could Happen? Agency Fosters Engagement

Imagining New Possibilities for a Child

Conferring to Support Access and Choice

Paying Attention During Independent Work Time

Conferring to Inquire and to Offer Community

Postscript

Chapter Two: What If We Made What Children Make and Do Our Priority?

Finding Our Way to a Beautiful Question: Workshop Planning

What's the Best That Could Happen? Meaningful Work

Planning for What Children Will Do First

Planning for What Teachers Will Do During Work Time

Figuring Out What to Teach

Playing with the Sequence

Taking Ownership

Chapter Three: What If Our Classroom Environment and Routines Offered Choice?

Finding Our Way to a Beautiful Question: Frustration over Supplies

What's the Best That Could Happen? Managing Their Own Work

Being Intentional in Our Language

Cocreating Routines

Designing Agentive Environments

Chapter Four: What If We Owned the Units We Are Asked to Teach?

Finding Our Way to a Beautiful Question: The Units We're Given

Are These the Right Goals?

Which Texts Work Best?

How Will We Know When We're Done?

How Can This Happen Within Daily Workshop?

What's the Best That Could Happen? Perfection in Imperfection

Chapter Five: What If Read-Aloud Sustained Children's Independent Thinking?

Finding Our Way to a Beautiful Question: The Wisdom in Children's Thinking

Expecting Brilliance

Finding Time for Read-Aloud

Reading Aloud for Joy

Teachers and Children Thinking Aloud

What's the Best That Could Happen? Being Inspired to Act

Conclusion: In Pursuit of Beautiful Questions

We all have difficult moments in our teaching, and without a question to drive us forward, we can get stuck. But that difficult moment might be the question we need to ask ourselves. Questions can bring a positive attention, creating a presence in the moment. When I ask children, "Are you the kind of kid who...?", I'm inviting them to imagine a new possibility for themselves, one in which they have more power than they did before. I want those new possibilities for teachers, too. Are you the kind of teacher who is ready to try something new, something that will make your students stronger, more joyful readers and bring you greater joy in your work? I think you are.

Asking questions leads to opportunities-it's about growth, openness, and a willingness to change, which top-down models don't allow. It's a way for us to focus our thinking and be present in the lives we've chosen to live. Asking the question is the essential behavior of teaching. It's not a perfect call-and response but a messy business of wondering, stumbling, and figuring things out. It requires bravery and commitment, but that's what teaching is. It's a joyful, creative, purposeful profession. If you feel you've lost even some of your passion for teaching, I would love to help give it back to you. So, in this book, we'll talk about creating beautiful questions about the teaching of reading. To help you take on the process of asking beautiful questions, I'll share how I got to some beautiful questions about teaching reading and what I did with them as I worked with teachers in classrooms across the country.

This book is about owning our teaching and making decisions based on who we are and what's best for the children in our classroom today. That all sounds ambitious and brave... and the work is-teaching is-but it happens in so many small and simple ways. My wish is for you to think about what you do and ask your own beautiful questions, so that you and your children can thrive and view yourselves and each other as valuable, idea-filled, creative, and contributing humans who own your teaching and learning. Be open and receptive to possibilities! Think: "What if we did it this way?"

"A one-of-a-kind book, full of wisdom and heart. Debbie Miller inspires educators to step back and question everything-challenging us to rethink and reinvent the ways we teach. What's the best that could happen? Read this book and it will help you find your own answer to that beautiful question."

-Warren Berger, author of A More Beautiful Question and The Book of Beautiful Questions
"Debbie Miller is a magician with children, and in What's the Best That Could Happen? she hands us her magic wand. With honesty, humility, and optimism, she shares her thoughts and actions about teaching and learning. Run-don't walk-to conjure up this essential book!"
-Stephanie Harvey, coauthor of The Comprehension Toolkit series, From Striving to Thriving, and Strategies That Work
"Debbie Miller is suggesting something revolutionary. She is suggesting the way to ensure all students learn is to intentionally and persistently expect not just capability but brilliance from them."
-Gretchen Morgan, author of Innovative Educators: An Action Plan for Teachers

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"One of the great joys of teaching is anticipating children's brilliance." In What's the Best That Could Happen?, Debbie Miller confronts a challenge all

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Dr. Katie Egan Cunningham

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Children come to school to become better readers, writers, and thinkers, but they also walk into classrooms hoping to be happy. Katie Cunningham argues that happiness must be as much of a priority in teaching as proficiency or achievement. When teachers intentionally design curriculum with joy at it…

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Jennifer Serravallo

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Your Research-based Guide to Developing Skilled Readers. 300+ strategies with learning progressions support 13 reading goals, with each strategy cross-linked to skills, teacher tips, prompts, research, and reading levels—everything from fluency to literary analysis.

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Jennifer Serravallo

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Introduction
A Very Brief Introduction to Principles, Research, and Theory, and How to Use This Book
The idea for a book of writing strategies exists many times over. This one is possible only because of the great books that have come before it. There are books suggesting writing strategies meant for professional writers and college students, such as those by Noah Lukeman, Roy Peter Clark, and Janet Burroway, among others. There are countless examples of excellent compilations of writing strategies in books written for teachers of writing, such as Fletcher and Portalupi's Craft Lessons Series, Barry Lane's After "The End" (1993), Carl Anderson's Strategic Writing Conferences series (2008-2009), Donald Graves' many books, Katie Wood Ray's Wondrous Words (1999) and other titles, Katherine Bomer's books, Georgia Heard's books, Nancie Atwell's In the Middle (2014) and other resources, Lucy Calkins' Units of Study series, and many more. My aim in this book is to offer my favorite, most useful collection of strategies that span all aspects of the writing process, all genres and modes of writing, and that will work well with students in grades K-8. I want to offer you a little bit of everything. I streamlined the language and examples, and I present the strategies in a format that is organized so that the busy teacher can find just the right strategy at just the right moment. Of course, you'll elaborate on the streamlined language and make it your own.

But wait-before you dive in, I'm so glad you're taking the time to spend a few moments with this "Getting Started" introduction. In this introduction, you'll gain a helpful overview of the thinking that undergirds this book's ideas as well as an overview of its organization. You'll learn about strategies and all the aspects that I chose to include to elaborate on them-mentor texts, prompts, lesson language, teaching tips, and more. You'll learn how to navigate the pages of the book so you can find what you're looking for quickly and easily, for this is not a read-every-single-page kind of book (unless you want it to be). You'll get a quick crash course on some important terminology and concepts that will help you use this book to its fullest- thoughts about writing as a process, and modes and genres of writing, for example. And finally, you'll learn how to adapt what's in the book to fit your students' writing time in the classroom, no matter what form that time takes.
Click here to download more of the introduction of this book.
Goal 1: Composing with Pictures

Strategy Go back to your picture(s). Point to the part or picture that teaches something important about your topic. Touch or turn to the next part. Tell what new fact about your topic this part of the picture or this page teaches.

Lesson Language If I wrote or drew to teach, then when I read my writing back I'm going to make it sound like a teaching book. I'm going to tell my reader the facts I wrote about. Let me show you. I drew a picture of a big T. rex. I know a lot about them so I added a lot of details in my picture. I'm going to touch one part and teach what that part says. "The T. rex had very large jaws with big sharp teeth." Now I'm going to touch a new part and teach what that part says. "The T. rex had very short arms. It would only run using its hind legs."

Goal 2: Engagement - Independence, Increasing Volume, and Developing a Writing Identity

Strategy First, identify the problem you're having. Then, check the spot in the room, a resource, or a friend that might help you solve the problem. Try a solution. If it doesn't work, try something else.

Teaching Tip This strategy, like "Use the Room" that appears earlier in this chapter, assumes that there are things in the room that can be helpful, and that you've taught children how to use them. For example, in a primary classroom a word wall may help a writer to spell high-frequency words. If you've introduced and used mentor texts, then having these available for children to reference on their own could help them. Sometimes the problem might be that they need to work in a new spot in the room because of the amount of distractions at their current spot. Brainstorm possible problems with your students, and come up with a list of resources and solutions. Or, this strategy can be like a culmination of past teaching from this and other chapters.

Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas

Strategy Decide on a new place to visit. Go there with no more than a notebook and a set of listening ears and observing eyes. Let yourself pick up on conversation and details of the person. Jot down what you observe, and also what you imagine, about the people you see.

Teaching Tip This strategy will take you outside of the classroom, so it would work well as a whole-class lesson followed by a field trip, or as a suggestion to a student, group, or class for independent writing outside of the school day.

Goal 4: Focus/Meaning

Strategy Think about a memory and all the events that are part of that memory. Think about what's important about that memory, or the big idea the memory leaves you with. Identify the one part of the memory that feels the most important. Write some ideas about what's important about it, and why it's important. Try to write just that one smaller part of the larger moment. Tell it bit by bit.

Teaching Tip The amount a writer will be able to reflect on the overall significance of a small moment will depend on her maturity level and experience with writing. For younger children, you may want to suggest choosing a small moment that will make a good story, rather than one imbued with a deep or heavy significance, or simply encourage them to narrow down the window of time

Goal 5: Organization and Structure

Strategy Before beginning to draft, visualize the shape of what you're going to make. Create some sort of quick visual, in pictures or in words, to represent the overarching structure. As you write, check back to see where you are in your plan.

Teaching Tip This is going to be most helpful after students have learned a variety of ways to structure their pieces and have been introduced to a variety of graphic organizers that would help them to organize, or shape, the information into a structure.

Goal 6: Elaboration

Strategy Think about the subtopics for which you'll want to collect information. Write each of your subtopics as a heading on a notebook or booklet page. As you find new information for your topic, think, "What page in my notebook should this go on? Which subtopic does it provide details for?"

Lesson Language I just found this interesting fact: Ballerinas really wear out their shoes. Many go through as many as 2-3 pairs per week! I'm going to look across the pages of my booklet to see where this would best fit. Would it belong in the section called "Types of Ballet Positions?" No, that's not about the positions. Would it go in the section called "Famous Ballets?" No. "What Ballerinas Wear?" Well, I do talk about pointe shoes in this section, so it might be cool to add this fact about how many pairs of pointe shoes the average ballerina needs. I'll keep the fact here.

Goal 7: Word Choice

Strategy Find all the action verbs in your piece. Focus on any that you think aren't as clear, precise, or exact as they could be. List several options for what might replace that word (use a thesaurus if you need it!). Choose the word that best matches your meaning.

Teaching Tip For this strategy to work, children will need to understand what an action verb is, so identification of verbs is a first step in this strategy. Many teachers weave in some instruction during other balanced literacy components such as word study, read-aloud, and/or shared reading. You could also plan to teach direct minilessons to the class or small groups for those who do not understand parts of speech.

Goal 8: Conventions - Spelling and Letter Formation

Strategy When trying to spell a word, try to visualize where you've seen it written and how you've seen it written before. It may help to close your eyes. Then, in a margin or on a piece of scrap paper, write how you think it's spelled. Try it a second or maybe even third way. Look back at what you've written and ask yourself, "Which of these tries looks right to me?"

Prompts

Check off the parts that look right to you.

Write the word as you think you've seen it before.

Which parts look right? Which part looks off?

Do you think there are some letters missing?

What part of that word is tricky for you?

The part you're trying to spell is also in the word _______. Does that help?

Goal 9: Conventions - Grammar and Punctuation

Strategy Find two sentences that talk about the same topic. Think about the relationship between those sentences. Choose a connector word and try combining the sentences into one. Reread and decide if you like the combined way or original way better.

Lesson Language Here's one spot in my draft where I have two sentences that I
think go well together. I wrote: "A dog is something that can keep you company. A dog
can cheer you up." What's the relationship between those two sentences? They both have
to do with something that is positive about owning a dog, so I think they are related. I'm
adding more information on. I'll try using and to combine those sentences: "A dog can
keep you company and cheer you up." Here's another spot: "I would love to have a dog.
My mom won't let me have a dog." What's the relationship between those two sentences?
The second sentence gives more information that feels in contrast to the first. I'll combine
them with however: "I would like to have a dog, however my mom won't let me." The
new sentence I made seems clearer and more to the point.

Goal 10: Collaborating with Writing Partners and Clubs

Strategy Talk with your partner about your goals (for the writing period, for the week, and/or for writing work to take place at home, and so on). Discuss together how you might get that work done. Write the goal, and make the promise...then check in with your partner soon.

Teaching Tip Reflect on your own life and goals you've set out to accomplish. Now think about how successful you've been and whether or not you made your goals public ahead of time. I know that when I share my goals with my partner, my friends, my colleagues, my editor, I am more likely to get things done. The built-in accountability, the opportunity to celebrate together, the lifeline of support in case something does not go according to plan-these are invaluable.

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Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo.

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Collection of strategies that span all aspects of the writing process, all genres and modes of writing, and that will work well with students in grades K-8. Organized so the busy teacher can find just the right strategy at just the right moment.

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Connect with educators around the world!

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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EKC

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Setting up for Success: Environment and Routines

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Setting up for Success: Environment and Routines

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EKC

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Text Complexity Cards (Primarily Narrative)

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Text Complexity Cards (Primarily Narrative)

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EKC

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TCRWP

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EKC

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Architecture of a Reading Assessment Conference

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Architecture of a Reading Assessment Conference

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EKC

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EKC

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Balance between process and product in writer's workshop

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Balance between process and product in writer's workshop

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Our writing approach for this unit has pulled out text features and we have built mini-lessons around these features that students can use in their own authentic approach where we can nudge them along. However, this is a genre-based writing unit and we have tried to create that balance of daily writing for agency but also bringing them towards a product. Here is our current unit structure with mini-lessons.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QKepULnPwC4K3ZyIlJ-abD9hIXhx8zVzhlyvJ8km9ho/edit?usp=sharing

Feeding forward can sometimes take away from agency especially when we want to see a product. There are multiple forces in or outside of our classroom that are difficult to negotiate/navigate that can pull us into different directions. I am just wondering what is an optimal approach here.

~ Jamie

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Got - Value in conferencing and setting up the workshops. Implementing a method of note taking.
Wants - What am I using to take notes and how can I use these notes to support Assessment for Learning.

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Got - Value in conferencing and setting up the workshops. Implementing a method of note ta

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Got - get clear on the learning, collect and analyze data, match teaching methods to your students needs.
Wants - Can you look at our next unit and see if we are clear on the learning and have a plan to collect and analyze data?

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Got - get clear on the learning, collect and analyze data, match teaching methods to your students needs.
Wants - How do we get clear on the Learning?

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Got

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TKS GES G4: Bend 1 Narrative Writing - Predictable Needs

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Some interesting thoughts in the breakout groups.... one thought around writing folders instead of writing notebooks in order to facilitate their return to work, their "seeds" and build on them

Writing progression made sense as well so they have multiple opportunities to practice and select pieces to continue and complete

Wants- talking about when joint construction or shared writing pieces could fit into their writing journey

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- The

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- Would like to use the bends as a grade to help to plan strategy groups for reading

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Currently, we are very genre-based in our writing units (6 weeks). I believe we would do well to just do some craft units, or units on conventions (fullstops, capitalisation like Mike mentioned). Is there an ideal balance between craft, process, and genre?

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The importance of student agency (when and where possible) in writing
Would love to see a sample of a strong example of completed Fiction writing plan!

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from Clare Landrigan

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from Clare Landrigan

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EKC

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EKC

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EKC

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-giving clear structure to the strategy groups.   Emphasizing at the "forever goals" that the lessons are tied to

-want to plan some time with a "reluctant writing group" to see if they can transfer some of the writing skills they can recognize in isolation but they don't transfer to their own writing.

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- Use the notebook for mini lessons with strategy groups.

- More resources to come up with mini lessons for strategy groups. (not enough reading + writing books for the grade).

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G: Strategy groups instead of guided reading
W: Creating groups instead of just 1:1

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Begin with the What, How and Why, develop a lesson with all three in mind. Dont lose sight of those when developing a unit.                          Talk time- TIME MYSELF!

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Got:  Using a feature / chart
Want: Is it possible to see an actual lesson being taught demonstrating any of the strategy groups.

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G - I like the idea of using strategy groups in writing.

W - do you have any videos of modeling these different strategies in reading or writing?

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Gots I like the seesaw analogy of guided reading vs. strategy groups as you move from lower to higher.

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how could you creatively imagine small groups looking like when we're in situations where we can't gather children together for lack of space and physical distancing requirements

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A treasure trove of ideas!

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3 things I learned
2 things I want to try
1 wondering I still have

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2021214 - KAUST - G5 - Reading Strategy Group

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TKS G4

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Apurva [1] - Research, Decide, Compliment

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TKS G4

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Please add, but don't edit the work of others. 

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Please add, but don't edit the work of others. 

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International educators are growing ideas together! Please add and share yours, but please do not change the ideas shared by others. Instead, you can duplicate a slide, and then tweak it. :)

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A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences

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A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences

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Jennifer Serravallo

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1. Getting Your Classroom Conferring-Ready
What Is Conferring? Why Confer?
But . . . What Is the Rest of the Class Doing?
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Tips for Book Selections
Preparing an Environment for Conferring
What Are the Types of Conferences I'll Read About in This Book?
Mentor Spotlight: Richard Allington

2. Understanding What Readers Know and Need
Aligning Goals, Skills, Assessments, and Questions
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Assessment
How Do I Confer with a Reader When I Don't Know the Book?
Assessment Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: An Assessment Conference Example
Finding a Goal
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: Marie Clay

3. Setting Goals
Deciding on a Goal Together
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Goal Setting
Preparing for a Goal-Setting Conference
Goal-Setting Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Goal-Setting Conference Example
Making Goals Visible
A Close-Up Look at Guided Inquiry
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: John Hattie

4. Noticing and Naming Strengths
The Anatomy of an Effective Compliment
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Supporting Growing Language Skills
Compliment Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Compliment Conference Example
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: Peter Johnston

5. Teaching Strategies to Individuals and Groups
Building on Strengths
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Building on Strengths
Providing Feedback and Coaching Readers
Research-Compliment-Teach Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Research-Compliment-Teach Conference Example
Coaching Conferences: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Coaching Conference Example
Strategy Lessons: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: Strategy Lesson Examples
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: Lucy Calkins

6. Supporting Conversation and Collaboration
Partnerships and Clubs in the Classroom
Spotlight on Emergent Bilinguals: Leveraging Talk Time
Partnership Conferences with Young Readers: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Partnership Conference Example
Teaching Talk (Speaking and Listening)
Partnerships and Book Club Conferences for Conversation: Structure and Timing
Watch and Read: A Book Club Conference Example
Take It to Your Classroom
Mentor Spotlight: Ellin Keene

7. Planning and Managing Conferring Time
Planning Your Conferring Time
Which Conference Type Do I Choose?
Balancing Individual Goals and Class Goals
Note-Taking
Take It to Your Classroom

Online Resources: Videos
Grade 1: Ian (Assessment Conference)
Grade 5: Gavin (Goal-Setting Conference)
Grade 8: Justin (Compliment Conference)
Grade 2: Lucas (Research-Compliment-Teach Conference)
Grade K: Ana (Coaching Conference)
Grade K: Group of students (Strategy Lesson)
Grade 8: Group of students (Strategy Lesson)
Grade K: Gabbie and Ashley (Partnership/Book Club Conference)

In this book, you'll read about the different types of student conferences. The book is organized in the order you're most likely to use the conference types as you get started. Assessment conferences will help you get to know your readers, and then once you do, meeting with them in Goal-Setting Conferences helps you establish goals. As soon as everyone has goals, you can offer positive feedback (Compliment Conferences) and support those goals with strategies (Coaching and Research-Compliment- Teach Conferences). Once you start noticing patterns in what your students need, it makes sense to work efficiently and pull small-group Strategy Lessons (Teaching In a Group). Once that feels solid, you might shift your attention to conferring during the conversation and collaboration time (Partnership and Club Conferences). In the final chapter, Jen offers advice for how to use each type of conference with purpose and at a time that will be most helpful to you.

"I love that this book includes blank resources, like notetaking charts, that teachers can use. The combination of transcripts, charts, table tents, and annotated examples makes me feel like I have what I need to be successful in this work."-Lori Yoshizaki, 4th Grade Teacher
"The videos are SO valuable.Not only the video examples of conferences but the talking points in the book to highlight Jen's moves. It's so helpful to have her notes from each conference as well."-Jennifer Conley, Instructional Coach
"I believe that the reason why teachers don't confer during reading workshop is because they don't know how to manage all the pieces. Jen gives clear directions on how to set things up from start to finish, and information on how to manage everything."-Lisa Aker, Assistant Professor in Literacy

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A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences

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"If you are a reading teacher, a curriculum coach, or a school leader, order a copy of A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences right now. It is a must-have

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A Teacher's Guide to Writing Conferences

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A Teacher's Guide to Writing Conferences

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Carl Anderson

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The Classroom Essentials Series

Writing conferences are a way to help both you and your students find joy in the writing process. And too, conferences can help you provide one-on-one instruction that covers a wide range of writing skills and strategies.

How can I get started with conferring or improve my conferences?
How can I fit conferences into my busy writing workshop schedule?
How can conferences help me meet the diverse needs of student writers?

Helping students become better writers is what writing conferences are all about.In A Teacher's Guide to Writing Conferences, Carl Anderson explains the underlying principles and reasons for conferring with students, and how to make writing conferences a part of your daily routine. With clear and accessible language, Carl guides you through the three main parts of a writing conference, and shows you the teaching moves and intentional language that can be used in each one. He helps you understand:
* how to get started with conferring, or improve your existing conferences
* how to use conferences to meet the diverse needs of your student writers
* how to fit conferences into your busy writing workshop schedule.
More than 25 videos bring the content to life, while Teacher Tips, Q&A's, and Recommended Reading lists provide everything you need to help you become a better writing teacher.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

Part One: What Is a Writing Conference?
My First Writing Conference Was a Disaster
Writing Conferences Happen in Writing Workshop
What Is a Writing Conference?
Why Confer?
Part Two: Start by Discovering What the Student is Doing as a Writer
Invite Students to Talk About Their Writing
What Will Students Talk About?
Five Scenarios That Happen After You Ask, "How's It Going?"
Try It Yourself: Studying Your Conferring
Part Three: Assess and Decide What to Teach
Recognizing Patterns Is the Key to Good Decision-Making
Writing Patterns and Teaching Points
Try It Yourself: Building Your Knowledge of Writing Patterns and Teaching Points
Part Four: Then Teach Powerfully
Move One: Give Feedback
Move Two: Deliver a Teaching Point
Move Three: Coach
Move Four: Link to Independent Work
Studying the Four Teaching Moves in a Transcript of a Conference
Try It Yourself: Improving Your Conference Teaching

Companion Resources

Reviews

"With the videos included in this book, learning does not stop on the last page of the book. The art of teaching is taking something and creating a wonderful lesson that brings the learning to life. This is what the videos do for the book."-Lesley Miller, Director of Title I and Literacy, Frankfort, IN

"Carl does an excellent job of showing all the possibilities when conferring with writers. His teaching point library is probably the highlight of this book for veteran teachers. Excellent!"-Jill Hatcher, Literacy Coach

"This would have been invaluable to me in my first years of teaching. Not just the text, but as a way that teachers can talk to students, in ways that move the learning forward."-Tia Frahm, Assistant Professor

"I struggle with writing conferences, and this book was filled with helpful problem solvers. The many strategies offered quick and useful tools to support my teaching and the young writers in my classroom."-- Tiffany Jewell, Montessori Teacher

Related PD Services

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A Teacher's Guide to Writing Conferences

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Writing conferences are a way to help both you and your students find joy in the writing process. And too, conferences can help you provide one-on-one

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Is there an opportunities for students to lead mini lessons or give feedback to each other about their strategies they are working on or even to lead strategy groups if you have an expert in one strategy?

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3
-what a learning cycle looks like for students
-What can Readers  and Writing workshop look like
-How to plan for Reading and Writing Workshop

2
- Student led mini lessons/ strategy groups
- Continue to do strategy groups

1
-How to make a balanced time table to fit this all in

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3 things I learned:
- Value in conferring
- How to approach setting up conferring with individuals and groups
- The importance of structure to a writing workshop and how to develop an effective mini lesson
2 things I want to try:
- Develop my conferring approach
- Focus on strategy groups during main lesson
1 thing I'm still wondering:
- How can make this authentic when looking at integration within PYP TD themes

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Learned:
- Feedback doesn't always have to have a lesson - sometimes it's just nice to feedback a compliment
- Giving choices of strategies to respond to within one strategy lesson
Try:
All of the above!
Wondering:
Where do we find the time?

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3 Learned
- the importance of why-how-what for the forever stance
- the importance quick, clear and tangible notes/props that highlight the main points of the lesson.
- The important of students having a voluminous amount of reading in writing in this structure so that they are constant working at it with your feedback to feed forward approach.

2 - I want to try
-small group strategies more in reading and not just guided reading.
- I want to try using more student examples, exemplars to build that community of learners further.

1 - I wonder if once we have a shared philosophy on workshop, if we will become better efficiently and instinctually.

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Learned:
* Grouping students into strategy groups for conferring can work really well
* The different types of conferencing
* Structure of workshops
Try:
* Use the different conference types for my reading and writing groups
* importance of note-taking/anecdotal to know what to feedforward but also as a record of things already discussed

I wonder how I can fit this all on and make it purposeful.

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3 Things I learned - researching the room for habits; unit overview ideas; how to pull forever stance into compliments and teaching points
2 things I want to try - more strategy groups; supporting ELL students by "using their mother tongue as a placeholder"
1 wondering - always wondering how to balance all the pieces, it just takes practice

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3 The different structures or architectures of the conferencing, different models to collect and organize information , how to get to the "heart" of the workshop model
2 - I would like to try to do more consistent individual conferencing, I would like to try more strategy groups with students self selecting good fit books to bring to the discussion
1 - how to fit it all in as far as schedule/timing

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3 things I learned- A compliment is always a great buy in to a conference (but make it valuable). Knowing your material/Text is essential (pre-reading and modelling).  Set attainable goals!
2 things I want to try- Group and online conferencing

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3. Using the workshop model/structure of workshop, Conferring and some good questioning , strategy groups
2. Conferring using different strategies,
1. Using more student voice and choice in Readers/writers workshop.

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Lanny Ball