Making Inferences Using the Mary Celeste

The last couple of weeks of school Mrs. Maxwell and her students worked on what it means to make inferences, something that kids do intuitively, but a kind of thinking that can be tricky to label.  They've read a variety of mysteries, but one has quickly become a favorite: The Mary Celeste: A Mystery from History, by Jane Yolen.  This book shares the facts of the mysterious disappearance of the crew in the 1800s.  It's great fun to watch just how engaged the kids become as they discuss possible theories.

This year as I was observing I noticed that Mrs. Maxwell was using a great anchor activity. 

Mrs. Maxwell discussing what students will record as they read.



This thinking activity is simple, but asks students for some very complex thinking.  First, as students read they must record clues that they find.  This is an excellent lesson as they begin to differentiate between facts and other kinds of thinking.  They also have a place to record any questions that they have as they are reading.  Some of these will find answers and others will not.  (I'm really beginning to learn how important this idea is for young readers and writers.  These unanswered questions are wonderful inquiries of nonfiction writing topics!)  Lastly, the kids can list any inferences they make.



Mrs. Maxwell models the strategy.



Mrs. Maxwell did a fabulous job of modeling the use of this strategies with the kids beforehand. Using their own sheet (a simple notebook paper that they organized) students shared ideas and recorded as a class.  Then after a few practice ideas she set them loose.  The kids worked intently making focused comments to neighbors and thinking out-loud about their own theories.



 This is an activity worth trying with your advanced 3rd graders as you move toward the learning target of inference.  The anchor book is highly engaging and the activity quickly reveals which students are proficient with understanding and naming an inference.

Mrs. Maxwell's class is also moving on to the use of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick and The Chronicles of Harris Burdick (NEW!) as they continue in their thinking about inferences.  If you'd like more on this activity or the books discussed let me know!

Modeling Writing



Miss Young with her 1st grade teacher and a friend.

 This week I shared a story with Mrs. Mitchell's class that I had written for students. The idea grew out of a need to find mentor texts to help advanced readers "see" the structures of nonfiction.  It is rare that you see one type of structure in a book for kids.  I'd spent hours looking through nonfiction by some of the best children's writers (and loved every minute of it), tagging pieces of text that kids could "anchor" back to.  But there wasn't a title that was comprehensive and I began playing with the idea of writing for the kids myself.  It could be short. It could include each of the text structures.  I could ensure that the structure was easily identifiable.  Why not? 

As I was thinking about the structures and hunting for examples, I realized that the sequential structure was not as easy for me to locate.  I began thinking about recipes as sequential texts, all the cooking blogs I love to read, and some of my own favorite childhood treats.  My Grandma Young's Peanut Clusters!  That's what I'd write about, and I did.  And this week, I got to test it out.

It is a little unnerving to share your writing with teachers and kids.  You wonder if it will be engaging.  Will the kids even get it?  Will the staff think it's "all about you"?  I decided to take the risk.  I hope you will too.  It was worth it.  The kids got to know a little more about me and I think (hope, pray) that they now also have a short, but memorable mentor text that we can go back to as we begin looking at nonfiction this spring.

An added benefit, but one that I hadn't been conscious of when I started this process, was that I could let the kids in on my thinking because I'm the writer.  I could say, "I chose this structure because...." and "I was thinking that it might be funny to tell you...." or "I'm not sure I like this sentence.  I want to work on it some more."  I knew this!  I know this!  I was reminded once again that seeing the thinking and purpose is valuable.

Linda Hoyt shares in her book Crafting Nonfiction,
"...if we model nonfiction writing that is richly constructed with varied sentence structures, powerful word choices, and fascinating punctuation - if we demonstrate Modeled Writing in which we take our best shot at writing like Seymour Simon, Steve Jenkins, or Nicola Davies - young children will consciously work at enriching their own nonfiction writing," (p. 3).

"When students see and hear an expert writer in action, they can imagine what is possible in their own writing.  This means that, with the exception of writing models created to demonstrate drafting and spelling, modeled writing should look like it is written by and adult - not a child.  During read-alouds, we read as an adult, delivering the reading selection with fluency, expression and dramatic interpretation...so the same high performance and delivery should be evident when we write in front of children," (p. 4).

I'll keep writing for kids.  But, I plan to amp it up by actually writing in front of students more.  There is power in seeing the process.

I hope you'll consider modeling your own writing for our gifted and advanced readers and writers (and all your kiddos) in the next semester.  At least invite me in to take a risk!

Angie
(If you'd like to see my Christmas story I'd be glad to share it.)

Differentiating Visualization

In my quest to learn more about helping kids truly visualize and comprehend their reading, I've come across a couple of gems that have spurred on my thinking.  The first is a set of handouts from an International Reading Conference presentation.  The authors make a strong case for the relationship visualization plays as an author is writing and a reader is reading and how visualization connects the two.  They also share simple activities and questions for helping move students from realizing what visualization is to applying as they read and write.

Another simple one page handout that I liked was from the Capistrano Unified School District.  It includes all 6 main reading strategies, a simple definition, and a handful of questions that could help you assess whether or not your students are visualizing.

My biggest lesson so far...don't assume that even the gifted and advanced your readers are visualizing.  Some are feeling the success of fluently reading books, but they have not yet figured out how to juggle both the decoding and meaning making.  If you see them constantly picking a book, not finishing it, and going back for another, that's a good sign that they are struggling with this hurdle.

My next step...building a rubric for visualizing in my own words.  That's when you really begin to own it, right?

Angie

Information Writing - An Idea from Mr. Myers

With the new CCSS there is a strong emphasis in informational reading and writing. Yesterday, as I spent time with Mr. Myer's and his Advanced Readers, I noticed a great idea that I think would be adaptable for many of you.

Tony and his students were working on creating posters for the 2nd Grade Team Friendship Bracelet Sale.  This money will be used to buy a Christmas dinner(s) for a family in need.  Tony took this opportunity with his students to do information writing through these posters.

First, the group created a rubric.  They used this PBS Website to help them.  Interestingly enough, this website is about teaching kids how to not be fooled by advertisements by understanding how they are built.  So, they are learning to "read" informational texts.

But then, they turned these very same ideas into advertisements for something good.  They used a basic rubric to design their posters.

Mr. Myer's adds the date and time to his model poster.

Then, the kids created their draft posters, making sure that each of their elements was included.

Lastly, they put their posters together.  What a great way to introduce kids to the idea of read and writing nonfiction.  Actually, this is beginning persuasive writing.  Since many of you have food drives and other charitable events coming up, I thought Tony's ideas might spark some learning targets you'd never considered.



Apangea Update

Not that any of you are competive, :-) But we thought you might be curious about the Apangea use around the district.  It's pretty cool to see kids choosing math.  These are the students who have the most overall points since the beginning of the program.  We'll be taking the overall winners to lunch in May by school. 

MCE

5th grade

Cortney Broyles 30,345 points

4th grade

McKayla Walker 31,507 points

3rd grade

Kegan Morin 32,422

Class (most points for a class in whole school):
Total of 368,730 goes to Mr. Kershaw's 4th graders!

HTS

5th grade

Valerie Henderson 20,629 points

4th place

Bryce Martin 23,546 points

3rd place

Grace Redding 5,868 points

Class (most points for a class in whole school):
Total of 258,405 points goes to Mrs. Eichelberger's 4/5 graders!

PSE
5th grade
Haley Robinette 35,372 points

4th grade

Cristian Yeakley 28,778  points

3rd grade

Isaac Yeakley 43,367 points

Class (most points for a class in whole school):
Total of 196,697 goes to Mr. Fackrell's 4/5 graders!