Modeling Writing

There's so much more to tell you about text complexity, but I'm taking a brief bird walk to let the ideas from the book I'm reading percolate a bit.  Instead, I wanted to tell you about a few wise words Jayna and I heard recently from Linda Hoyt and Kelly Boswell (who coauthored Crafting Nonfiction with Linda).  I know they are wise words when they remind me about what I believe in, but have forgotten to put into practice.  These reminders are about how difficult writing can be and the empathy and scaffolding that need to be present for children to name themselves as writers.  Here's my top ten list.  I hop they spur you into a new practice next week.

Top Ten Things to Remember about Writing Instruction

1.  Modeling is not the same as explaining.  At first these two seem like synonyms.  But actually, one is instruction and directions.  The other is us actually doing the things we have asked the kids to do.  As we explain or instruct we position ourselves as teachers.  We tell kids what we want them to do.  We create anchor charts with them.  When we model writing we are positioning ourselves as writers and thinkers.  this isn't shared writing.  The kids are watching and listening and noticing.  We actually write in front of them while making our thinking visible.  See the nuance?  I wonder about the power of keeping these two things separate for kids.

2.  Keep your modeling short and keep it focused.  Ok, so this is a huge one for someone who just wants to squeeze one more thing in.  :-)  But the power is in the one, concise, well focused lesson.  What is the one thing I want them to notice in their writing and practice?  Find a way to make that visible and then stop!  Kelly talked about the lesson lasting 1 minute for every year the children are old.  First graders=6 minutes.  Second graders=7 minutes.  You get the idea.  Maybe I will.  :-)

3.  Limit the focus of your modeling language.  Ok, this is really part of number two, but don't go overboard with those 6 or 7 minutes by cramming too much in.  Kelly used a great analogy.  She asked us to imagine a garden hose that was on half pressure.  You can hold the hose up, but the water doesn't spray very far.  The grass a foot or two in front of you might get wet, but that's about it.  If you take that same water and focus your thumb on the front, you can get a smaller stream of water to go quite a distance.  This is what we need to do with modeling.  Narrow and focus the modeling and it will have farther reaching impact.

4.  Let them practice immediately.  Kids need an opportunity to practice while what you've modeled is still fresh. Too much time and space without practice is easily forgotten.  Oh, how true about so many things.  ;-)

5.  Go on a listening tour.  I love the way this is phrased.  It sounds like a vacation.  :-)  Actually, it means to wander and listen to what kids are saying.  To listen to them read.  To pay attention to their successes and frustrations.  You can learn so much about the next lesson when they are practicing.

6.  Be authentic.  Kids need to see you really writing.  This can make some of us sweat with anxiety.  That's ok.  Let the kids see it.  It's authentic.  It is worth pure gold for kids to see us authentically write and to be authentic writers.  Did you make a list of Christmas shopping?  Tell them about it.  It's writing.  Did you write a family Christmas letter?  Perfect.  Show them that you write and they'll be able to see they can too.  I've written a few things for reading intervention lessons and I'm always surprised at the attention I get.  When kids know they will learn something about me, they sit up and listen more closely.  They'll sit up for you too.

7.  Write high quality writing.  Write like an adult, not a 2nd grader.  We don't read them books written by 4th graders because they can only read at the 4th grade level.  We don't fall down in front of toddlers while we are walking to make them fell better about themselves as walkers.  :-)  We use mentor texts written by highly respected and published authors.  Give them your best writing when you model!

8.  Gradual Release of Responsibility is HUGE!  Kids really, really, really (even GT kids, seriously) need to have an opportunity to experience I Do, We Do, You Do.  Make sure to model, work side-by-side, and then let go for a practice.  I would also add (thank you Jeff Wilhelm and Jim Fredricksen) that kids also need to Compose to Transfer.  This means that after the I DO, We Do, You Do, we also add an I Own opportunity where kids reflect on what they've learned and how it will impact their future writing.  THIS IS HUGE!  Brain research tells us that reflection and processing on a learning experience plays a key role in helping that learning stick.  Don't skip the reflection!

9.  Model everything!  Pay attention on your listening tours.  You might be surprised about what kids really need.  Maybe it will be a conference with one child, but I bet, if you listen, the lessons you need to model for all the kids will begin to surface.

10.  Don't forget that writing is hard.  Have empathy.  Remember that it's ok for kids to see you struggle.  Model not giving up.  Model keeping after.  Just model!

So, What Do They Mean By Text Complexity?

"So, what do they mean by text complexity?" was a question posed to me (actually probably a few times), at a CCSS training.  I answered with what I thought was accurate information, but wondered myself.  What is meant by "text complexity?  Are we currently meeting 'their' text complexity standards in Middleton?  How do I support teachers and kids in finding these kinds of texts for lessons and choice reading?

First, I went back to the CCSS to see what they specifically had to say about the issue.  These were the major ideas I summarized:

• There is significant research to show that over the last 50 years, reading levels and complexity real world, college and career reading how increased, while the work work we ask of kids has decreased.  This has left a significant gap for most graduating seniors and is why the CCSS have put an emphasis in this area.
• The CCSS advocates kids K–5 read and "apply the reading standards" to a variety of text types including:

• Stories:  adventure stories, folktales, legends, fables, fantasy, realistic fiction, and myth Dramas: staged dialogue and brief familiar scenes
• Poetry: nursery rhymes and the subgenres of the narrative poem, limerick, and free verse poem
• Literary Nonfiction and Historical, Scientific, and Technical Texts : biographies and autobiographies; books about history, social studies, science, and the arts, directions, forms, and information displayed in graphs, charts, or maps; and digital sources on a range of topics

When it comes to instruction level text, teachers need to select texts around their social studies and science context so that kids can "generate knowledge and....study those topics or themes in depth."

Emergent readers (K-1) should read decodable texts that corralate to their reading level and word knowledge abilites. Text listed in the CCSS are there as examples for lessons to develop comprehension, content knowledge and the joy of reading.

These points make a lot of sense to me, as I'm sure they do to you as well.  But, that still doesn't get to what complexity looks like at each grade level.

Three measures help determine the complexity, as shown in what I refer to as the "Triangle of Complexity" (best said with a Monster Truck voice just for fun).  These three measures TOGETHER help us make professional decisions about which books to use for instruction (think success with assistance) and independently (in a kid's ZPD).  The three measures include:

1. Quantitative Measures - Word length, sentence length, text cohension, vocabulary, or word frequency are all thing best measured by a computer.  The most common of these tools to me are AR reading levels.  More recently we've seen Lexiles.
2. Qualitative Measures - These are qualities best measures by a human like meaning or purpose, text structure, language conventions, clarity, and how much effort the content knowledge will require.
3. Reader and Task Considerations - This is my favorite of the three because it takes into account the professional judgement of the teacher. (YES!)  This piece takes into account the qualitiative and quantiative measuere, but also the motivation and purposes of the reader.  These are the things only a teacher, working with colleagues and students, could bring to the conversation. 

These are the basics, but they weren't enough for me...yet.  So I'll be back soon, with more I've learned about the 3 measures and what'll they'll mean to our decisions and your students.

Angie

Top Ten Professional Books

As part of the Boise State Writing Project, I've been reading a lot of great books this summer that have been impacting my thinking about learning and teaching.  Then a couple of weeks ago I found this fun blog post where a number of different teachers were sharing their Top 10 picture books.  Many matched books on my list, but other titles were new and I will be checking them out.  It also got me thinking.  What would be on my Top 10 list of professional books or nonfiction books?  So here you go.  The Top 10 Professional Books that have had an impact on my teaching...for now, but in no particular order.  Hopefully you'll find something for your shelf.

Stay tuned for the Top 10 Nonfiction List!

Angie

Revisit, Reflect, Retell by Linda Hoyt

This book is FULL of great strategies to use with kids of all ages.  I use many of them in CCSS trainings with adults.  They are simple and powerful ways to support thinking, reading, writing, listening and speaking.  I'm on my second addition of this book and it was worth upgrading.  I use this resource all the time.

Nonfiction Mentor Texts by Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli

This book has changed my thinking about how we discuss the crafting of writing with children.  It focuses on the use of high quality nonfiction texts as mentors of what quality writing looks like.  It puts students in a place where they not only listen to, read or think about the content, but they are paying attention to the author's craft and considering how they can use these same ideas in their writing.  I love this idea because often as teachers we are either insecure about our own writing or we don't take the time to write a piece that we can use in instruction.  Plus, this book is full of titles for amazing lessons that support the CCSS in writing.

Strategies the Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis

This book has really influenced my thinking about getting kids to be strategic readers.  They have so many great ideas that help scaffold kids thinking about fiction and nonfiction.  They also do a great job of modeling their thinking so teachers can visualize what lessons and conversations might look like in the classroom.  There are also plenty of new children's books on my shelves because of recommendations from this book.

Get It Done!: Writing and Analyzing Informational Text to Make Things Happen by Jeff Wilhelm, Michael Smith and Jim Fredricksen

What a privilege to know these authors!  Great guys.  Smart guys!  I'm learning so much from their series of books that look at informational, persuasive and narrative writing with kids.







Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry by Jeff Wilhelm

I'm becoming more and more convinced that real and deep differentiation for all kids happens through inquiry.  A big, engaging question has room for every kid to question, research, read, write and grow.  They can each join at varying degrees of competence and with different levels of text complexity.

Words Their Way by Donald Bear, et al

This book really changed my thinking about the way kids learn to have control over spelling patterns and rules.  These authors have developed an assessment that is really informative about students' instructional levels and their suggested lessons and activities have made a big difference where they have been strategically applied with kids.

Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning by Jan Chappius

Rick Stiggins is a rock star.  I'm the president of his fan club.  :-)  Just to be fair, this book is written by Jan Chappius, a consultant from Rick Stiggins camp.  It should be read and studied and reread by every undergraduate going into education.  The principles in this book (a little easier to access than Stiggins book) are critical for every competent teacher to understand and apply to their classrooms.  The ideas about formative and summative found me 10 years into my career.  Never too late!

Whatever It Takes, by DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, and Karhaneck

This book gets at the heart of learning and what I wish every teacher, team and school was about.  The four PLC questions have stuck with me:

1.  What is it we want kids to learn?

2.  How will we know they have learned it?

3.  What will we do if they don't learn it?

4.  What will we do if they have already learned it?

Such simple question packed with so much deep thinking and hard work!  I think about these questions often when I'm working with kids and when I work with teams.  Maybe I've bugged you with a few.   :-)

Transforming School Culture, by Anthony Muhammad

I got to hear this man speak a few years ago right after I had finished this book. It was so impressive to hear his straight talk about school cultures and how to begin making learning centered changes when staff are resistant.  Now, I have to admit, I was NOT comfortable having other teachers seeing me read this book.  The title makes it look like teachers are difficult.  Muhammad makes the case that many teachers who resist change have good reason to resist.  In fact, he gives a lot of practical advice for helping figure out what different staff need to move forward with change.  I need to reread this one.  Who am I kidding?  I need to reread all of them.

The Differentiated School, by Tomlinson, Brimijion, Narvaez

Carol Ann Tomlinson has changed the way I think about learning and teaching in schools, but this book really helped form my thinking about how we service kids, especially with your program.  This was a pivotal book in instigating changes to gifted services in our district.