Do you have a favorite resource, strategy, tool, etc. for developing a love for language with your students? Any insights regarding schoolwide implementation for engaging word study? Please share and respond in this discussion thread.
(Next week, we will be meeting in a Zoom chat - a fun one, I promise! - as a culminating activity to this book study. Sign up here.)
"Although there are common patterns of development, there is no universal linear order to the acquisition of all this knowledge. If we teach assuming a simple sequential order to word learning, some children who encounter difficulty, for example, with short vowels, will cease making progress until they have overcome that hurdle. Grouping children solely by a presumed stage of development rather than by common concepts or strategies exposed by their writing or reading can exacerbate this problem." (p. 170)
This reinforces the concern from previous discussions regarding a scripted curriculum. If we rely too heavily on a manual or resource to drive our instruction, we can inadvertently arrest a student's literacy development. Broadening this idea, when a large district "adopts" a curriculum that is really just a program (instead of committing to kids and teacher development), it would seem they may actually be perpetuating achievement gaps instead of addressing them. Scary...
Yes! Yes! Yes! I have sadly seen this scenario often in more recent years. I have worked with 2nd graders who, in their classrooms, are still working on short vowel sounds with cvc words because they haven't shown "mastery" of these sounds on a test. There's no focus on meaning or acceptance that some students are more successful with vowel sounds when they learn as part of a word pattern -in, -at, -ot, etc. rather than in isolation. The students who especially suffer from this way of teaching are English Language Learners who really need the focus to be meaning and language structure driven. It's a very scary situation!
One of my highlights from Chapter 11: Learning to Love Words:
"It's easier for children to represent the long vowels in writing, not conventionally but readably (e.g., set for seat, got for goat). They can read back what they've written because they know what they meant and have illustrations to help. This is why, in some ways, writing is an easier vehicle for learning about speech-print relationships than is reading because approximations are more easily accommodated." (p. 169)
I point this out because there are still many schools out there that do not value writing as part of their ELA curriculum. Lots of focus on the other areas...yet at the detriment of a child's literacy development? Making books and writing in general have so many benefits!
Thank you for making this point! It's not always the school though, sometimes it's just one or two individual teachers who don't see the value in writing. It's frustrating.
This is such an important point Matt. Donald Graves reminded us that writing is a powerful pathway to reading. I love Graves quote in Children Want to Write:
“Children want to write before they wanted to read. They are more fascinated by their own marks than by the marks of others.” For some reason, we seem to turn a blind eye to the role that writing plays for reading and thus ignore the reciprocity of reading and writing . And in the process, we do kids a great disservice.
You all have written such beautiful, affirming, and wonderful WORDS. Making me love the title and the chapter even more! I've used books like Peter Reynold's The Word Collector, Rocket Learns to Read/Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills and One Word Pearl by Nicole Groenweg to specifically get kids thinking about words, but haven't intentionally expanded that to all books. Something new for me to add this year, an intentional plan to help children learn to love words.
The picture is part of a summer learning experience two teachers in my school are leading: "A Book, A Box & A Bag". Each day for three weeks, students open up a new book to read, accompanied with related projects and opportunities to discuss the text in Zoom chats. What I appreciate is, the teachers thought of what students will be motivated by first, and then developed engaging experiences for the kids. They will eventually do some word work with the kids in Zoom, but their first step was to capture the kids' attention and interest.
I love this idea Matt! I'm curious about the box and the bag. Are projects in those? Words? Wonderings? The "bag" made me think of one of my favorite books on writing by Lynda Barry's What It Is. Two of my favorite suggestions. In Word Bag, words are written on strips and placed in the bag to inspire writing or you can put them in envelopes to put in the bag (I also like to ask kids to brainstorm some words after a book to use in the same way). In Picture Bag, she tell us to collect photos and images of "compelling situations to put in the bag (or individual envelopes). Then kids pull out a "mystery envelope" to write using the image as inspiration for 8 minutes (again you could use images from a story or topic). It's such a great way to inspire kids to write
Matt I was just looking over some of my notes and came across this quote from one of your blog posts: "It is not the professional development I offer for staff that makes the biggest difference – it is the conditions I create that allow teachers to explore their interests and take risks as innovative practitioners." I find your words so connected to our discussion of Engaging Literate Minds. How can we expect to create the conditions in our classrooms that will allow children to move ever closer to a sense of agency if we don't create those conditions for our teachers first so that they can reside within a spirit of agency as professionals. I just thought that it beautifully connected https://readingbyexample.com/2016/05/21/action-research-professional-learning-from-within/
Thanks Mary, very important to remember this. That PD experience literally changed lives. Action research positions teachers as "authors of their own story".
For me the four word chapter 11 title was like a chapter all by itself: Learning to Love Words. I keep playing those words in my head over and over because too often we approach words in a way that evokes anything BUT love. Across this chapter the bring that title into being by creating a flexible invitational experience revolving around words that feels almost celebratory in nature. The emphasis on word learning in this chapter is always in the context of reading and writing so that word learning is not something we do TO children but what we do in flexible and intentional ways and always with kids at the center
I also love the title itself. Words are fascinating! When we approach words with students in an invitational way, students will love word study across the day.
Another highlight and thought from Chapter 11:
"Although there are common patterns of development, there is no universal linear order to the acquisition of all this knowledge. If we teach assuming a simple sequential order to word learning, some children who encounter difficulty, for example, with short vowels, will cease making progress until they have overcome that hurdle. Grouping children solely by a presumed stage of development rather than by common concepts or strategies exposed by their writing or reading can exacerbate this problem." (p. 170)
This reinforces the concern from previous discussions regarding a scripted curriculum. If we rely too heavily on a manual or resource to drive our instruction, we can inadvertently arrest a student's literacy development. Broadening this idea, when a large district "adopts" a curriculum that is really just a program (instead of committing to kids and teacher development), it would seem they may actually be perpetuating achievement gaps instead of addressing them. Scary...
Yes! Yes! Yes! I have sadly seen this scenario often in more recent years. I have worked with 2nd graders who, in their classrooms, are still working on short vowel sounds with cvc words because they haven't shown "mastery" of these sounds on a test. There's no focus on meaning or acceptance that some students are more successful with vowel sounds when they learn as part of a word pattern -in, -at, -ot, etc. rather than in isolation. The students who especially suffer from this way of teaching are English Language Learners who really need the focus to be meaning and language structure driven. It's a very scary situation!
One of my highlights from Chapter 11: Learning to Love Words:
"It's easier for children to represent the long vowels in writing, not conventionally but readably (e.g., set for seat, got for goat). They can read back what they've written because they know what they meant and have illustrations to help. This is why, in some ways, writing is an easier vehicle for learning about speech-print relationships than is reading because approximations are more easily accommodated." (p. 169)
I point this out because there are still many schools out there that do not value writing as part of their ELA curriculum. Lots of focus on the other areas...yet at the detriment of a child's literacy development? Making books and writing in general have so many benefits!
Thank you for making this point! It's not always the school though, sometimes it's just one or two individual teachers who don't see the value in writing. It's frustrating.
This is such an important point Matt. Donald Graves reminded us that writing is a powerful pathway to reading. I love Graves quote in Children Want to Write:
“Children want to write before they wanted to read. They are more fascinated by their own marks than by the marks of others.” For some reason, we seem to turn a blind eye to the role that writing plays for reading and thus ignore the reciprocity of reading and writing . And in the process, we do kids a great disservice.
Thank you Mary for sharing that quote, applies well here.
Love this quote!
You all have written such beautiful, affirming, and wonderful WORDS. Making me love the title and the chapter even more! I've used books like Peter Reynold's The Word Collector, Rocket Learns to Read/Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills and One Word Pearl by Nicole Groenweg to specifically get kids thinking about words, but haven't intentionally expanded that to all books. Something new for me to add this year, an intentional plan to help children learn to love words.
Thank you for all the thoughts and suggestions!
The picture is part of a summer learning experience two teachers in my school are leading: "A Book, A Box & A Bag". Each day for three weeks, students open up a new book to read, accompanied with related projects and opportunities to discuss the text in Zoom chats. What I appreciate is, the teachers thought of what students will be motivated by first, and then developed engaging experiences for the kids. They will eventually do some word work with the kids in Zoom, but their first step was to capture the kids' attention and interest.
I love this idea Matt! I'm curious about the box and the bag. Are projects in those? Words? Wonderings? The "bag" made me think of one of my favorite books on writing by Lynda Barry's What It Is. Two of my favorite suggestions. In Word Bag, words are written on strips and placed in the bag to inspire writing or you can put them in envelopes to put in the bag (I also like to ask kids to brainstorm some words after a book to use in the same way). In Picture Bag, she tell us to collect photos and images of "compelling situations to put in the bag (or individual envelopes). Then kids pull out a "mystery envelope" to write using the image as inspiration for 8 minutes (again you could use images from a story or topic). It's such a great way to inspire kids to write
I think a mix of everything, Mary. I will check out Lynda Barry's work, thank you.
This is beautiful. Too often, we look at a book and think: What can I teach from this book?
Instead, we need to give the book to the students, read it to them or with them, and see what develops. Otherwise, we ruin books for them.
Matt I was just looking over some of my notes and came across this quote from one of your blog posts: "It is not the professional development I offer for staff that makes the biggest difference – it is the conditions I create that allow teachers to explore their interests and take risks as innovative practitioners." I find your words so connected to our discussion of Engaging Literate Minds. How can we expect to create the conditions in our classrooms that will allow children to move ever closer to a sense of agency if we don't create those conditions for our teachers first so that they can reside within a spirit of agency as professionals. I just thought that it beautifully connected https://readingbyexample.com/2016/05/21/action-research-professional-learning-from-within/
Thanks Mary, very important to remember this. That PD experience literally changed lives. Action research positions teachers as "authors of their own story".
For me the four word chapter 11 title was like a chapter all by itself: Learning to Love Words. I keep playing those words in my head over and over because too often we approach words in a way that evokes anything BUT love. Across this chapter the bring that title into being by creating a flexible invitational experience revolving around words that feels almost celebratory in nature. The emphasis on word learning in this chapter is always in the context of reading and writing so that word learning is not something we do TO children but what we do in flexible and intentional ways and always with kids at the center
I also love the title itself. Words are fascinating! When we approach words with students in an invitational way, students will love word study across the day.