From: "Ginger/Rob" <elephant@foxvalley.net>
Subject: [mosaic] first grade check in
Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 19:14:00
Here is a check in from a first grade teacher.- Ginger
Hi Ginger,
I am off to a great year. I'm having some really great conversations with
my students. We've covered metacognition, and they've picked up on
the'little voice' idea and the thinking about your thinking quite quickly.
Thank you so much for sharing your lesson plan with us when you taught it!
It really helped me to think through how to present it to my students.
We've begun schema - text to self connections. We've been working on it for
about 2 weeks. I spent about 5 days just modeling my t-s connections and
week 2, I let them join in. We are now working on connection vs.
coincidence - a huge idea for first graders. I read a book yesterday, and
jotted down all their 'connection' statements on chart paper. Then today,
we reread the book and I read through their connections to decide which was
a coincidence and which was a connection. We had some great conversations -
children debating and going back and forth to make their ideas clear to one
another - it was amazing. I'm not quite sure they are understanding the
connection idea. Any ideas on how to foster this. . .just keep modeling,
right? I'm also having a hard time pacing how long to do each gradual
release step - that you wrote up and shared with us in class. How many days
to do my modeling, then the sharing, etc.
Today, I tried Debbie Miller's idea on the metal file - I used the idea you
gave to us in class. I made a poster with some file folders on it, and
space to put the question. Since we are studying pumpkins, the question was
What do you know about pumpkins? It was amazing how much they knew! All of
the their schema was on target - not one misconception, and I placed each
one in the file folder. I think we'll go through their ideas in a few
days, after we visit the pumpkin farm and read some non fiction books on
pumpkins. At least we can add our new learning. . .
I spend the first 30-40 minutes of the morning doing read
aloud-comprehension study aka Debbie Miller style. I love this first part
of the morning. It's amazing the deep thinking they are doing - at a first
grade level- and sharing their thought process with each other. I had one
little boy who was in the sharing circle (this was about day 4 of t-s
connections) and said "I'm learning hand signs." And the boy next
to him
turned to him and said, "We're learning about connections. Did you make
any
text to self connections with that book?" I love it when children are doing
the teaching. The little boy just looked at him. . .
There's so much to cover - ugh - it's overwhelming sometimes.
Kristin
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Marcia Kellenberger" <mgk59@msn.com>
Subject: Re: [mosaic] checking in from second grade
Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2002 22:11:35 -0500
Reply-To: mosaic@u46teachers.org
Kristin inspired me, so here goes. . .
We began our year by spending quite a bit of time working with "just right"
book selection. (When I say we, I mean my partner, Carly, and myself --
planning together has been a wonderful thing!) While both of us have always
spent time on that in the past, this year we are trying really hard to work
through the gradual release model. In the past we would do some modeling
and then look to the kids to take it on by themselves. This year we are
trying to very slowly release the responsibility of whatever strategy we are
teaching. Because being able to select a "just right" book is an important
piece of our local assessment, we had extra incentive to do a good job. We
started by anchoring their thinking by modeling our own book selection. (I
used an appliance operating manual as my "challenging!") The kids
have
taken this so seriously. Many children seem relieved to have the
responsibility to identify and let go a book that is "too challenging."
>>From there we moved on to about 2 weeks of tricky word strategies.
Once
again, we tried to really be aware of how we were moving through the gradual
release model. We ended up developing a pretty amazing collection of
"tricky word codes" for our post-its. They seemed to delight in showing
how many ways they could work on a word. For many of the students, this
seemed to be a pretty new concept, and, as usual, the least proficient
readers were stuck in the "sound it out" mode. It is still a focus
point
for guided reading for that small group of students, even though the whole
group has moved on to a new focus strategy.
Our first real work with MOT was a 2 - 2 1/2 week focus on Metacognition.
As Ginger has pointed out in her past posts, taking the time to talk about
"thinking about our thinking" has been well worth the time. For our
introductory anchor lesson, we used an old bridal shower-type game. One of
the students went out of the room while I explained to the students what
would be happening. The student, Natalie, was going to come around and show
them a tray of things. Their job was to "think and notice." That's
all I
said. Naturally, they were all very focused on the 10 - 15 school supply
type objects on the tray. Natalie went around the circle twice and then
left the room with the tray. Naturally, because they were thinking mainly
about the tray, they could name almost all of the objects. However, they
could not answer some basic questions about Natalie -- what she had on, what
she said when she came in, eye color, etc. We talked about how they were so
busy thinking about the tray, that Natalie slipped right by them. The link
. . . readers are so often thinking about the words (tray), that the story
(Natalie) slips right by them. In order to really be reading, you can't be
so focused on the words that you miss the story. They really seemed to get
that. We came back to that experience again and again throughout the study.
One of my favorite quotes was when one of the kids said, "you know -- I
don't think I was really reading this summer because I wasn't doing a lot of
thinking!" Yes! :) After lots of modeling and eye-to-eye, knee/to/knee
sharing, we moved into coding with post-its and then a "thinking tracks"
response sheet.
Our biggest frustration was, and still remains, finding a text that is
"meaty" enough for some good thinking, but that the entire class can
still
read for partner work. We're still working that out. The kids want to be
"fair" and share the reading, but sometimes the text is too challening
for
some of the kids, even though it was a text they had hear during read aloud,
etc. I think that is probably less of a problem in the upper grades.
Kristin and I were talking about the possiblity of pairing up the kids with
a low and high reader for that portion and designating one person as the
reader and one person as the recorder in order to allieviate that problem.
Even with that problem, the pairs work was very rewarding. I think having
someone to think with was a huge plus for most.
After we worked through the modeled and shared pieces of the gradual
release, we stopped and created our anchor charts. Using quotes that the
kids had made along the way, samples of their work, and the book jackets
from our anchor books has made them a meaningful part of our classroom,
rather than just a part of the landscape.
We have now just begun our focus on schema -- it has been an informal part
of many of our past discussions -- they are already very comfortable with
the word. We started our study today with an anchor lesson which we took
and modified from Strategies that Work. We displayed an odd assortment of
kitchen tools for the kids to see. They immediately knew they were from the
kitchen -- and that began our discussion of schema. The aha moment was when
I held up a melon baller -- everyone, with the exception of Nicholas, was
mystified. He knew immediately what it was and explained it very clearly.
A great example of how he had connected his background experience to make
sense of what he was seeing. I know we will come back to that moment in
future days. Tomorrow I will begin modeling my thinking and text to self
connections with "The Patchwork Quilt" by Flournoy. I'm also taking
in one
of the quilts my mother made me to help demonstrate my connections. It
seems painfully slow on some days, but we know it will pay off in the long
run.
Would love to hear how some of you are working through the gradual release
model -- how much pair work are you doing? How do you fit guided reading
groups in throughout the study? How do you determine your focus for small
groups? All questions we are still thinking through . . .
Marcia
2nd grade
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Donna Baker" <baker@sprint.ca>
Subject: [mosaic] A Questions
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 05:10:18 -0400
I did a Strategies workshop yesterday at a school. It went very well, all
grades had to choose 3 strategies to work on this year. A question arose
when we were talking about visualizing, and that it involves all the
senses. The teacher felt that this was confusing, and that we should have
a better term for this. I know that some call it Sensory Images - any
other ideas, thoughts????
Donna
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Hartstein, Marian" <hartsteinm@ramnet.k12.ny.us>
Subject: RE: [mosaic] A Questions
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 07:59:11 -0400
I also find the term visualizing confusing. Sensory Images is better.
Marian (I just joined this group.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Nestler, Kathy" <NestlerK@ramnet.k12.ny.us>
Subject: RE: [mosaic] checking in from second grade
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 10:46:14 -0400
Marcia,
Your work sounds impressive!
I am a novice & have not received the book yet on Mosaic of Thought. I have
had a brief introductory lesson on the concept & am anxiously awaiting the
arrival of my book from Amazon.com. I am an 8th grade math teacher & am
curious to know how math teachers are utilizing the concepts.
Thanks!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2002 22:45:11 -0400
From: Jean McLear <dkbdjmclear@MDECA.ORG>
Subject: [mosaic] Marcia's post
Reply-To: mosaic@u46teachers.org
Marcia, thank you for your long, thoughtful post. I work in
curriculum with a rural county in western Ohio. I posted your
message to all of the elementary teachers. Teachers teach each other
best----thanks again for taking the time to share.
In answer to Kathy Nester, you might try reading I've Read It, But I
Don't Get It by Cris Tovani. It is full of how to teach strategies.
It was written by a previous elementary teacher who changed to HS
reading. She worked with the group in the Denver area---Keene,
Harvey, Miller and many others. I shared this book with our math
coordinator asking him to look at this from a math teacher's point of
view. He thought it to be very transferrable to math.
Jean
--
Jean McLear
Curriculum Coordinator
Darke County ESC
5279 Education Drive
Greenville, Ohio 45331
937-548-4915
937-548-8920 fax
dkbdjmclear@mdeca.org
web site: www.darke.k12.oh.us
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Sheila Felber" <sfelber@cox.net>
Subject: Re: [mosaic] A Questions
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 12:10:01 -0700
There are so many types of learners that perhaps that particular teacher is
not visual. I think the comparison to "seeing movie in your head",
though
it sounds corny is helpful.
Sheila
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2002 17:28:27 -0500
From: Carolyn Cantu <ccant127@neisd.net>
Subject: [mosaic] Questioning books for kindergarten
I teach Kindergarten and our school is working on questioning
strategies. If anybody could give me any book titles that would work
well with Kindergarten students to teach questioning strategies, I would
appreciate it. Thank you for your help.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Jean247727@cs.com
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 18:44:27 EDT
Subject: Re: [mosaic] A Questions
When a student is telling about an experience or reading a passsage during
guided reading that lends itself to visualizing, I simply say, "Can you
see
that in your mind?" "Is the picture going on in your head like a movie?"
"Are
you visualizing ?" After using this terminology a few times I limit it
to,
"Can you visualize what is happening?" Even 2nd graders understand
shat you
are trying to get them to do.
Jean
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2002 19:13:12 -0500
From: Andy and Shelly Kennedy <pristine@aclass.com>
Subject: [mosaic] Math & Mosaic
And the more I think about it we certainly use visualizing/sensory
imagery everytime that we have students draw the math problem. :)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2002 19:12:29 -0500
From: Andy and Shelly Kennedy <pristine@aclass.com>
Subject: [mosaic] Math & Mosaic
Hi Kathy,
I find myself really using the term metacognition and referring to
thinking about your thinking in Math. Also, I think I could talk more
about building a "schema" for division or fractions, etc. :) Shelly
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: GailHFo@aol.com
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 23:42:48 EDT
Subject: Re: [mosaic] visualizing
I can sympathize with the students that have a hard time with "see a movie
in
your head." I don't see movies in my head when I listen. I don't "really"
see pictures. I'm more likely to "hear" the words as ideas or emotions.
When I read I "hear" the words and experience some emotions from the
words--but never clear pictures. For fun I've been reading a series of
mysteries with the settings in and around dog shows. If I work at it, I can
get a fuzzy outline of a standard black poodle, but when the heroine
describes her dog, I feel the joy of my own dog much more readily.
The student activity of drawing while the teacher reads is excellent.
A few years ago I went to a conference where (I hope I have her name right)
Jo Cruz was the lecturer. She talked about the importance of allowing
students, especially English Language Learners, to doodle while you read to
them.
Gail
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Nestler, Kathy" <NestlerK@ramnet.k12.ny.us>
Subject: RE: [mosaic] Math & Mosaic
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 08:02:29 -0400
Thanks Shelley. It really helps when I'm starting a course to know how I
can utilize what I am learning!
Regards,
Kathy
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 10:11:38 -0500
Subject: Re: [mosaic] Parent letters?
From: "MARI SRODA" <srodam@mail.Milton.k12.wi.us>
Is there a teacher out there who has created an informative letter to
briefly explain some of these strategies to parents?
I would like to keep my parents informed so that they could reinforce
strategies at home while reading with their children. Parents are so busy
but I know they would like the information without having to come in for
an inservice.
I work with 4th and 5th grade.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 10:27:00 -0500
From: "hope seider" <hseider@clinton.k12.mo.us>
Subject: Re: [mosaic] Parent letters?
I did not create a letter, but I explained the strategies to parents at
class meetings and conferences. I distributed a copy of the "Using
Connections" poster and bookmark that www.readinglady.com had on her
website. Parents responded very well to my explanation for using the
strategies and the poster gave them something to take with them and
refer back to.
I teach third, fourth, and fifth grade Title I Reading.
Hope
===============================
Hope Seider, Title I Reading, 3-4-5
Henry Elementary, Clinton, MO 64735
Phone: 660-885-5585, ext. 301
Fax: 660-885-2784
hseider@clinton.k12.mo.us
===============================
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: <john8244@bellsouth.net>
Subject: [mosaic] prior knowledge
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 16:53:43 -0400
I love to use children's literature to help spun their prior knowledge connections.
I like using the books by Mem Fox and/or Cynthia Rylant.
My favorite is Mem Fox's Wilford Gordon McDonald Patridge(I hope they are in
the right order)
I like to bring in a basket with MY memories- and share with the students. For
instance, a paper clip(I TRY to be very organized.), a picture of my animals
and my family(they are dearest to me) , a good book I am reading(my pleasure
is reading), a diskette (something to represent technology because this is my
passion).
I read the book to the students and discuss memory and how wonderful it is
to have one. I review the book with the students(sequence) then I share my memories.
For homework they have to go home and bag up three things to show and share
their memories with the class.
They will be required to write about their memories and share their books in
groups.
P. Johnson
Alabama/4th grade
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 15:24:14 -0400
From: "Pam Reifsneider" <preifsneider@newtownfriends.org>
Subject: [mosaic] Becoming a Strategic Reader
Last Friday I went to the International Dyslexia
Conference in Philadelphia. One of the sessions
I went to was "Becoming a Strategic Reader."
Although there was no mention of MOT or STW,
several good strategies were shared by the
presenter, Eileen Marzola, Ed.D. They are
summarized below:
QAR (Question Answer Relationships)
4 kinds of questions:
1. Right there - answered verbatim in text
2. Think and Search - answer is in text, but the
reader must look in different paragraphs and put
information together to answer.
3. Author and You - answers are implied from the
text by integrating ideas in the text with the
reader's prior knowledge.
4. On my Own - answer is not in the text, it is
drawn from reader's background knowledge.
Students should be taught the 4 types of
questions within the context of reading a short
passage. Model for students how to generate each
type of question, then students should generate
each type of question based on a short text.
Research shows that when students are asked to
answer and generate higher level thinking
questions, they make more interpretive
connections between the text and their prior
knowledge. When they are only asked explicit
questions, they learn to merely recall parts of
the text verbatim. Research on the QAR has shown
that students transfer this strategy to content
areas, and their comprehension scores increased
significantly.
ReQuest
1. Both students and teacher silently read a
common segment of text.
2. Teacher closes book and is questioned about
the passage by the students.
3. Switch roles, teacher now questions students
about material.
Reciprocal Teaching
1. Preview and Predict
2. Summarize the paragraph in a sentence
3. Ask a high level question or two.
4. Clarify hard parts
5. Predict what the next paragraph segment will
discuss.
Collaborative Strategic Reading
Before reading:
1. Brainstorm what do we already know about the
topic?
2. Predict what do we think we will learn about
the topic when we read the passage?
During Reading:
1. Click and Clunk: Were there any parts that
were hard to understand (Clunks)? How can we fix
the clunks? use fix-up strategies
2. fix-up strategies: reread the sentence and
look for key ideas tohelp you understand the
word; reread the sentence with the clunk and
sentences before and after the clunk looking for
clues; look for a prefix or suffix in the word;
break the word apart and look for smaller words.
3. Get the Gist: What is themost important
person, place, or thing? What is the most
important idea about the person, place, or thing?
4. Read: do steps 1, 2, and 3 again with all the
paragraphs in the passage.
After Reading:
Wrap-up: Ask questions: What questions would
show we understand the most important
information? What are the answers to those
questions? Review: What did we learn?
Pam Reifsneider
Developmental Studies
Newtown Friends School
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Clsbuff4life@aol.com
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 16:16:19 EDT
Subject: Re: [mosaic] Parent letters?
I inform my parents about the strategies we are working on via my classroom
newsletter. I also make sure I give them some examples of what we have done
with that strategy to help them better understand. I figured if I informed
them a little at a time they will be less overwhelmed and hopefully more
likely to try them at home. I have also asked them to have their children
demonstrate using the text-to-self strategy tonight when you read.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Clsbuff4life@aol.com
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 16:26:22 EDT
Subject: Re: [mosaic] Questioning books for kindergarten
Reply-To: mosaic@u46teachers.org
I teach first grade and I begin questioning with wordless picture books. I
also begin all of my questions with the words I wonder... Using I wonder
when we ask the questions is much easier for them to grasp. It is also very
important to let them know that they are going to be asking I wonder
questions that we don't know the answer to yet. Yet, as we read through the
book some of our questions will be answered. Remind them that good readers
are always asking questions as they read.
Next, I move to using regular picture books. First we skim the pictures
while asking I WONDER... questions. Some of our questions are answered by
the following pictures. Finally, I tell them we are going to read the text
to see if more of our questions are answered. As we read and our questions
are answered the children get very excited. This is also a great way to move
into inferences. It is a very natural progressions.
Coleen
First grade teacher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Ginger/Rob" <elephant@foxvalley.net>
Subject: [mosaic] Laura's take on Math/Strategies
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 19:52:06 -0500
Reply-To: mosaic@u46teachers.org
Laura gave me permission to post this for us all to read.- Ginger
======================
I began to incorporate the thinking strategies into my
math instruction last year in my second grade class.
What I found was that the Prior Knowledge piece kept
jumping out at me. I began to ask my students to do
the following when working through a word problem –
Step 1 – Read the entire problem
Step 2 – Try to access your prior knowledge, what is
the problem about – (ex. - money, time, calendar,
fractions, perimeter, etc.) Write that word below the
problem and put a box around it.
Step 3 – Reread the problem, sentence by sentence and
put a box around the important clues. List the
important clues down below the problem. (This will
isolate the clues and bring them outside the problem.
(Ex. – found 10 cents would be listed instead of the
boxed out found a dime. Spent 25 cents would be listed
instead of the boxed out spent a quarter. This allows
them to remove it from the body of the text where they
can hopefully see the problem more clearly.) Again,
they need to access prior knowledge – what do some of
the important clue words mean? (Ex. – one week – what
do we know about a week – it has 7 days. Has a quarter
– what do we know about a quarter – it is worth 25 cents, etc.)
Step 4 – Think – Do you UNDERSTAND the question.
Restate part of it below the problem. (Ex. How much
money does he have now? Could be rewritten how much money.)
Step 5 – Come up with a plan to solve your problem.
What will you need to do with the important clues
you have collected?
Step 6 – Solve the problem.
Step 7 – Explain how you worked through the problem in writing.
We began this new approach using easier word problems.
We want them to focus on the process of using the strategies
rather than get bogged down in the interpretations of it.
Once they are comfortable with the process the problems
become increasingly difficult.
I will keep you posted as we
work through this again this year. As a staff developer I
will have access to children of all ages so I can see how
if applies in grades K-5. I’d like to hear what you are
doing in your math instruction. Feel free to email them to this list or
directly to me at readinglady1@aol.com.
PEBC is the Denver based organization that Ellin Keene,
Debbie Miller and Stephanie Harvey work out of.
Their site is full of information on the work they
do with the thinking strategies -
http://www.pebc.org/PEBCThinkingStrategies.pdf
Laura
www.readinglady.com
owner
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