Responding to Reading: Writing Letters about Books* Freebie!

Book Letters are incredible. They are one of the best things I did in the classroom. Lovers of books love to talk about books. We love to share books we love with other book lovers, too. Book letters, which students wrote to me in their reader's notebooks, are a great way to get interactive with your readers and really figure out what's going on in their heads!

To model book letters (because we know you must model every single behavior and strategy you expect in your classroom!) I started by responding in letter form to a book we'd read together. This is a book letter I wrote to my class about The Bee Tree, back in 2008. Wow, right? It's amazing what you'll find once you start going through your files!

I shared a copy of the letter with each student and they stuck it into their reader's notebooks as a sample. They loved getting a letter from their teacher, even though they all got the same one!

After reading another book aloud, I modeled writing book letters in front of the students. You really have to slow down your thinking to do a good think aloud; examine your thoughts and explain how you know what to do, and where your ideas are coming from.

Creating a list of sentence starters is helpful, too. You can check out the anchor chart I used to do this here, on a previous post about monitoring your comprehension.

This is a cherished letter from one of my lovely students, who was reading Because of Winn-Dixie.

I tried to respond to the letters as often as possible. I'm not going to lie; it can be a challenge. But if it's important to you, you'll find the time! And for more ideas, check out "Responding to Reading," a freebie on TPT!

Or my new Scaffolded Reading Responses for Fiction!

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Responding to Reading: Monitoring Comprehension* Freebie!

I honestly don't know how to teach reading without a notebook. When we write about our reading, we process, we explain, we explore, and we think new things about the text we read. We can generate ideas for our own writing, and think of things we hadn't thought until they came pouring out of our pencils.

Share this with your students: share the value that writing about something brings; that you can think with a pencil better than with just your brain.

To support my readers in responding to literature, I had them make a reader's notebook on the first day of school. I believe that, if it's important, do it right away! So I did.

They decorated the covers with things that they enjoyed reading about.

Early in the year, I wanted to work with my students on monitoring their comprehension. In the upper grades, we often work with a whole crop of students who can decode like nobody's business. And then you say, "Tell me about what you read," and they give you blank stares. I've actually had a third grader glance at the pictures (after reading the whole story) and make a up a story just using the pictures.

Oh. My. Lord. That isn't reading. That's decoding. Decoding is not reading; they are not interchangeable.

So it was very clear to me that we had to start noticing our reading thoughts, and fast. I always start by reading a shocking book.

Yes, a very shocking book. One book I use to introduce this idea is It Doesn't Have to Be This Way: A Barrio Story.

It's a story about a boy who lives in the barrio, gets roped into being in a gang, and then almost loses his good friend to a gunshot.

Yes, shocking. Why? Why do I read this with my fourth graders? There are several reasons.

1. Some of them live in this world. It is the real world for a lot of our kids. We have to connect with their experiences.
2. It's an important lesson about making choices within limited options; the reality they live in daily.
3. They will definitely think something while they listen to this book.

I read a little piece, and then I stop and think aloud. I think about personal reactions, mostly: feelings. I am surprised that..., I think he is going to..., I wish he would...,

And then I read some more, and then I stop and think aloud some more. I make predictions, and inferences about the character. And then I explain that I'm going to start writing some of these things down. I read, and then I stop and write. I have my students do the same; I read and then I stop and they write. This is a sample of an entry I wrote several years ago.

When I get to the really shocking part: the scene in which the girl gets shot and you don't know if she'll survive, I pause. I ask students to write about that part, without knowing what the ending will bring. And they always have something to say.

The reactions students record don't have to be complex, or structured. I just want them to realize that, as they read, they think!   

After we do this together a few times, I move it to students' independent reading responses. They read and respond to their independent reading book. I read their responses, just to make sure there is thinking going on while they are reading. It's a simple way to get kids responding to their reading. 

Later, we move on to more structured responses. We start to code our thoughts based on the strategy they represent. We create sentence frames for each strategy to "help us think when we're stuck." Seriously, sometimes just saying the words, "I wonder..." or "I visualize..." helps you come up with a response!

As students get better at noticing their reading thoughts and writing about them, I model a more structured reading response. The first paragraph includes a brief summary of the reading. The second paragraph is about 3-4 sentences responding to the reading. At first, I'm just looking for authentic thoughts. Over time, I ask students to choose a focus to respond about; something their entire response will be about. This helps them dig deeper and not think so superficially about their reading. 

And for more ideas, check out "Responding to Reading," a freebie on TPT!

Or my new Scaffolded Reading Responses for Fiction!

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Nine tips for being married to a teacher

My husband is pretty good at being married to a teacher. Not perfect, but pretty close. I've been watching him lately, and I realized that, most of the time, he knows exactly what he's doing. He isn't just naturally this good - he's manipulating me, because he has figured out how to be married to a teacher. For those of you still figuring this business out, this is what he does.

 

1. Listen with a filter

I don't mean to talk to you like you're a child. When you finish a great project, I can't help but say, "Great job! I'm so proud of you, honey!" I'm not intending to be condescending; it just happens. Just turn on your filter and hear... whatever it is that normal people say; I don't really know what that is. But hear that.

2. Yes, we're bossy.

The picture above was taken at my wedding. I was telling my brother, "Go get your own salsa!" (Seriously, I remember the conversation.) That is my "you better do it" face, and I couldn't even turn it off at my wedding. Do you see his face? It cracks me up every time I see it.

It's tough being in charge all the time. We're used to directing traffic, being a coach, saying things like, "If you bite your eraser again, I'm going to have to call mom," and "No, we don't get stuck under our desks in the third grade." It's hard to turn that off.

3. Expect to talk shop

Aside from my family, shop is basically all I know to talk. Every conversation is about school, in one way or another. We might fool you at first. It might sound like we're talking about Law and Order, or the Olympics. The conversation might start out like, "What do you want to do on Labor Day weekend?" but it will end up about school. Everything is about school. Just expect it.

4. Deal with it

We work for free. It's not going to stop. We will pay for things you would never pay for in the office. The stuff you take for granted - the stuff you use to do your job - is the stuff we buy. On any given grocery list are three items for my classroom or my kids. That's just how it is. Don't question it. We will destroy you with stories of children who don't have.

5. Know when to avoid us
For me, I need to be avoided right after school (I've spent all day giving out my brains; I feel pretty stupid by 4:00), and the end of the year. The end of the year is so stressful: packing, cleaning, documenting, signing out. And then, glorious summer! So bide your time and avoid any meaningful conversations between the hours of 3:30 - 5:00 (when we can open the wine bottle) and definitely head for cover in May.

6. You always agree.

We go on rants. They may be about instructional methods, training, pay, the conditions of the school (air conditioning, or lack thereof), or new mandates. They might be about the state we work for (doesn't really matter which one) or the tests we have to spend (waste) our time on. No matter what it is, just nod and say, "That's ridiculous."

7. Just say yes.

Like that time I decided to make patterned clothespins for the whole faculty.

We get excited. We think of really interesting lessons, like that time I told you all about my plans for my latest social studies unit. We were going to make salt dough maps. SALT DOUGH! Who wouldn't be excited? Just say, "That sounds awesome. Your kids are lucky to have you." Don't get it mixed up with the situation above. The difference between a rant and a plan is that during a plan, we're smiling. During a rant, we're pacing back and forth, gesticulating wildly, and uncorking the wine bottle.

8. Accept the tears

I cry all the time. I cry during commercials, songs on the radio, and comedies. That Hallmark sign language commercial a few years ago? Forget it. Every time, horrible racking sobs. So just accept it. Understand that, no, I can't walk through the September 11 Memorial because I just can't handle it. I can't handle the uplifting movie with the migrant kids who run track, and I can't handle that commercial where the dog finds his way home. It's all too much.

9. Feed our souls

Our souls consume wine and chocolate. And that's about it.

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Making Inferences about Character Traits

Not too long ago, I sat through a workshop that was meant to teach teachers something brand-new. I was in the room with teachers who had never used the instructional strategy before. As the day progressed, we read about the strategy, discussed the strategy, and brainstormed ideas for the strategy. But by the end of the day, several teachers left saying, "I still don't know how to actually do it. What am I supposed to do? What does it look like?"

How often do our kids feel that way during a lesson? Sometimes we're a little too broad, and our most struggling kids get lost. To really support our struggling students, I worked with a group of special education students who were getting ready for their big test. We focused on a few important reading skills. In fiction, we really spent a lot of time on making inferences.

We wanted to really focus on a few things to make inferences as concrete as possible (which isn't very).

We focused on looking for three kinds of evidence: what the character says, what the character does, and what other character say about them. I started out building the anchor chart above with the kids. We hunted through a sample paragraph, searching for the three types of clues. We marked it with yellow and then annotated on the margin to state what that piece of evidence told us about the character. The phrase "We can tell" is helpful to get kids thinking about what they logically know.

Then, we did a little team practice. Each team of three received a set of character trait cards. On each card was a little paragraph describing a character. The kids hunted through the cards, marking evidence about the characters' traits with a highlighter. Then they used a list of character traits to decide on an appropriate trait for that character.

The next step is to take it to real reading. As students read their independent reading books, have them choose a character and locate some text evidence. Then they can record it on the graphic organizer below, using the evidence to make inferences about that character.

You can grab this freebie here, at Google Drive!

And you can get the Character Trait Cards in 41 Character Analysis Charts, Activities & Tools on TPT.

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Inspiring Student Writing

How many times do you actually give free choice in writing only to hear, "I don't know what to write about!" One thing that challenges our students is getting started in writing; choosing something to write about that they are actually interested in, and writing form their own unique perspective. 

Tell me if this has happened to you: you model writing a piece about a time you went to the beach with your family. You use some creative details, like descriptions of the sun, sand, and breeze. You share an encounter with a jellyfish! And then you describe the calm peacefulness you felt sitting on the sand.

And then you read your kids' writing. And almost all of them went to the beach! They described the sun, sand, and breeze, and that time they ran into a jellyfish! And then they felt so calm and peaceful.

Sound familiar?

That's the way writing often starts. Our kids, when they are still struggling to find their writing voice, use voices that...well...sound a lot like ours. If our writing is the only model of writing students have, we're really limiting their exposure to different types of writing styles. We have to give them lots of opportunities to read and look at things and search their brains for the memories and thoughts that those experiences trigger.

Inspire with Books & Authors
Some of my favorite books for inspiring student writing are by Cynthia Rylant. It's no secret - she's incredible. She makes me feel like a terrible writer. That's what good writers do, right? Something about the intricate and warm details she includes helps kids reach into their brains for their own details and memories.

This is the response I modeled for the kids in my writer's notebook after we read Scarecrow:

I wanted to stretch my students' thinking by freewriting in response to Scarecrow. This helps them think of a variety of ideas for their own future writing, making their writer's notebooks a real resource for writing.

Another book I love love love for inspiring student writing is The Ghost-Eye Tree. It includes suspense and very strong feelings. Great for getting kids to think about times they were frightened or uneasy.

This book by Jerry Seinfeld always cracked me and my kids up, and it got some of my less excited writers to write about their memories in a funny way.

I love Bat Loves the night by Nicola Davies for those kids who enjoy writing about science. Literary nonfiction titles are a great bridge for those kids!

And this book is excellent for teaching kids to zoom in on a moment.

When our kids read enough books by the same author, they get to know that author. They understand that writers make decisions and have a style. They get to say things like, "I'm going to write this like Patricia Polacco did." That's the value of an author study.

I like to put our favorite books into a "Books We Love" basket in our writing area. Kids who need inspiration can go borrow one and get inspired!

Inspire with Pictures

One of the things my kids enjoyed is starting with a picture. One year, my campus had a school-wide picture every month that we all wrote about. It was so interesting to see what direction everyone took the pictures! These are some way I used pictures:

• Settings: show students pictures about various settings that they may be writing about. Pictures of a certain season or location can help students think about where they'd like their writing to take place.
• Characters: provide pictures of different kinds of characters. Have students describe them. Do they know someone similar? What would that person say, do, or think? 
• Tone: show a picture that expresses a certain tone or feeling. Have students write in their notebook what that picture makes them think of.  

This is a writer's notebook entry I modeled in response to a picture of a baker!

Inspire with Words

A terrific strategy to use to encourage students to grow their expressive vocabularies and to "read like a writer" is "Filling the Room with Beautiful Language." I honestly don't know where I learned this, but here's what you do to fill your room with golden lines.

1. Read a beautifully written picture book aloud, slowly.

2. Students listen for their favorite line; the line that was written in such a vivid way that they want to remember it.

3. They write the line down; I sometimes had them record it on a sentence strip and illustrate it. These later went on a bulletin board full of "beautiful lines," or "golden lines."

4. To share your favorite lines, popcorn it out. One student stands up and reads his/her line. Then he sits down and another student stands up and reads his/her line. Continue until everyone has shared their lines. It fills your room with beautiful language. After you start hunting for this kind of language in the books you read, students will be inspired to try to "write like that," and they will grow their own language in the most expressive ways!

Visit this page to read another fun way we inspired our students' creative writing with interesting words.

For some fun inspirational writing tools, check out the Writing Inspiration Station on TPT. It's full of descriptive sentence starters, personal narrative starters and prompts, and fun pictures to write about. 

These creative story starter dice have a separate story starter on each side. There are creative story starter dice for holidays and seasons!

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It's FRIIIIIII-DAAAAAAAY!

 It's FRIIIIIII-DAAAAAAY! 

 Are you impressed that it's Friday and I'm actually posting this? I am! I am especially impressed because this was the first week of school.

I am about to tell you a weird (very short) story. Today, I had a bunch of errands to do around the school. Most of the normal people had left (thank goodness) because it was about two hours after school let out. I was walking back to my room after running all my errands, and I realized, "I forgot to copy something!" I was almost all the way back to my room. This is when the weird thing happened. As soon as I realized I forgot to copy my stuff, I jerked to a stop. At this point, normal people say, "Nuts" or "Oops" or "Shoot!" Not me.

And then I said, "Butt!"

Butt?

What is that? Who says that? Why did I say that?

I really don't know what's going on with me. My sister in law says all my neurons were firing and it was just the first thought that made it to the surface. But why was it in there in the first place? I think I have Turretts.

I giggled all the way to the copy machine. Because that's just weird. 

Anyway, this is five pictures (kind of six) that show you a little about my busy week and why I said, "Butt."

#1: Take a Book, Leave a Book!

I love this! I cleaned up a little old bookshelf and brought some books from home. I made the Take a Book, Leave a Book sign and explained to the faculty that if they want a book, they just take one and leave another for someone else to read. 

 

#2 My Room!
It took my a while, but I think it's mostly ready! It's a meeting place for teachers, a place for modeling, and working with small groups of students. When my boss told me last year that I had to move (I had to do it in the last week of school ack!), I almost cried. More than once. But now I'm excited to start this new year in a new room.
 

 #3 Feelings Bulletin Board
Our new Book of the Month is The Way I Feel. It's a great book, full of excellent illustrations and text describing feelings. It's written in rhyme, and it's really a fun read.

To make the bulletin board, I made little speech bubbles with feelings (synonyms for each one) and I asked some of our kids to make faces that showed those emotions. The outcome was hilarious. I said, "Can you make a face that shows you're determined?" and they stared at me. I said, "Maybe try to narrow your eyes, or make a fist?" and they squinted at me. I said, "Make a face that shows you're content, or happy." And they stared at me. It was a challenge.

#4 These darn floating discs

I have no idea what to call them. They're cute and they came from Joann's Fabrics. They were, like, two bucks. And I finally put them up (after I almost ruined them because I couldn't figure out the one-step assembly process).

#5 These Binders
I loooooooove them so much. I've been working on a new product for instructional coaches. It's a MegaPack of fillable and printable forms, and some printables like binder covers and labels. I'm so excited- just put it up on TPT! Grab it here!
  

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