WONDERful Jottings

Jottings are an important part of a Balanced Literacy framework. Yes, the sticky notes are abundant and can be found everywhere! How can you manage the jottings and use them for instructional purposes? When I assign students specific jotting topics, the students turn their writing in on the Parking Lot. I have students design the Parking Lot to reflect the current unit of study.

 

 

During our unit, Following Characters into Meaning, we read the book Wonder by RJ Palacio. Students designed their parking spaces in the style of August, the main character.

 

I can get an instant visual of who did not complete their jotting. I can quickly read over their jots to see who needs to conference with me. I will conference with students who used the targeted strategy incorrectly.

Honey, We Think Reading is Wonderful!

  

 

I teach 2 blocks of 4th grade Balanced Literacy. My students are at- or above-grade level. We use the Lucy Calkins units of study.  Our first unit is Building a Reading Life.For  Lesson 1, I chose to use the book The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco. During this lesson, students reflect on what makes reading wonderful for them. They think back over their lives as readers and identify pitfalls and peaks. In this book a young girl would rather be outside running than sitting inside reading. So her grandfather takes her on a journey to find a tree where bees make honey. Several people join their adventure along the way. Students learn that reading is as sweet as honey, but it takes hard work, support from other people, and some stickiness to become a successful reader.

 

 

At the end of the book, grandfather puts a drop of honey on the girl's book to remind her that reading is sweet. Right before I got to that part, I put a drop of honey on each child's finger. I told them not to do anything right away...I told them they would feel what to do when the time is right. They all started licking their honey as I read grandfather's words to the girl...perfection! The smiles and head nods told me they understood! For my Teach Like a Pirate colleagues, this Chef Hook was certainly a hit.  I hope these students will always remember that reading is sweet.

 

During Independent Work Time, students made jottings about a time in their lives when they discovered that reading was sweet and wonderful. I keep the blocks' sticky notes different colors so they each have their own identity.

 

Here are some of their jottings:

 

 

Invisible Reading Strategy

Invisible ink will hook any reluctant writer! Teach like a pirate and teach your students to record their thoughts without stress or judgment. My students are in the midst of the Lucy Calkins unit Navigating Nonfiction. I amped up the lesson about mentally recording main idea and details on your hand by calling it The Invisible Strategy!

 

 

Not only did the lesson reinforce main idea and supporting details, but I was able to extend the lesson and teach Common Core vocabulary.  Sometimes the main idea isn't called the main idea!

Students added the graphic reminder to their reading notebooks.

 

During independent reading the students practiced using the strategy.

The Invisible Strategy was a memorable introduction to the formal reading strategy of Boxes and Bullets and helped them grasp it more easily.

 

 

The students' understanding of main idea transformed from invisible to concrete!

Pirate Construction Zone

My literacy blocks will be transitioning from the unit Book Clubs: Books in a Series to the unit Navigating Nonfiction. To prepare students and to pique their interest, I turned the nonfiction section of my classroom library into a construction zone. 

 

I think my decorating design meets the criteria for the Teaser Hook and the Real World Hook from the book Teach Like a Pirate. Students know that something new is coming, they just aren't exactly sure.  Their brains are activating their prior knowledge of nonfiction while at the same time they are thinking about construction signs they see in the community.  They are wondering how the two will possibly fit together for our next reading unit.

 

Book Clubs: Books in a Series

I wanted to share a couple of anchor charts and some of the organizational tools I am using for the beginning of my current unit, Book Clubs: Books in a Series.

 

 

I decided to use a hot pink star as a visual cue for my students. 

 

I placed hot pink stars on the baskets of series books in the classroom library.



I added a hot pink star to the focus board to show students were studying a new unit, book clubs, but were still focusing our learning on following characters into meaning.



Students will have their first book club meeting tomorrow, so check back for more details!

Students use the following chart to help guide their Book Club conversations.

Students came up with reading behaviors that demonstrate what Book Clubs look like and sound like.

Metacognition Jottings

I don't normally buy things from Teachers' Pay Teachers. I usually create all of my organizers and templates and keep them as basic and simple as possible. I am not a cute glitter and bows type of teacher. However, my class this year has some challenging behavior issues and I need to find ways to keep their attention. If it is cute clip art, then I will go with it!

I purchased a file of jottings templates. It was only $3 and it has great stems to help lead reluctant writers to make more detailed jottings about their books. Today's lesson focused on metacognition. This can be an odd skill to teach students and sometimes an even harder skill to assess.

 

I am currently teaching Lucy Calkins' Reading Workshop unit, Following Characters into Meaning. I am using the book Because of Winn Dixie as the read aloud. I was impressed with the thoughts my students jotted after I read Chapter 4 from the book. In this chapter the main character, Opal, learns ten things about her mother who left her when she was young. The students were more insightful than I expected.

 

 

I'm thinking that Opal's mom is going to come home but have the same problem.

I'm noticing that Preacher does want his wife back but does not want the dog.

I'm realizing that Opal wants her mom back but not to fight.

 

I'm noticing that Preacher is very sad that Opal's mom is gone but at the same time he is happy because Opal's mom was not going to be a good role model.

 

I'm realizing that Opal misses her mom even if she doesn't remember her.

 

I'm thinking that Opal's mom was very bad because she left.

 I'm realizing that Opal loves the dog more than mom.

 

I'm thinking that Opal's mom would love to go back to see her daughter but Opal's mom is afraid.

 

I am thinking when Opal's mom left it had something to do with her drinking.

 

I'm thinking Opal's mom is filled with different personalities.

 

I think the Preacher is lieing about Opal's mom.

 

 

Well, when I came across this comment I knew I definitely needed to have a conference. Even though this jotting put a smile on my face, I had a feeling that this isn't what the student meant.

 

And...that is what she meant! So I had a nice conversation with her about the other things on the list that could show mom was smart. The student referenced the text and noted that if someone knows all of the constellations then that would mean they were probably smart. Such a better jotting!

 

This conference was delicate because alcoholism is difficult for children to understand. I talked with the student about the book so far and led her to the conclusion that this book is not about mom's drinking, but it is about Opal's relationship with people. So the student revised her jotting...

 

 

She told me she didn't think that someone could be drunk and run. She said the person would probably fall down. I suggested that it was odd that someone would do something healthy and unhealthy at the same time.

 

Teacher Library

At the end of the school year in June, I cleared all of the shelves above the counter and sink in my classroom. I created piles of books that were related to the Lucy Calkins reading workshop themes. I pulled out my teacher resource books that I actually use--not the ones that have nine inches of dust on them! I created piles of my books that were subject-specific.
 

 

One shelf contains only teacher resource materials directly related to Balanced Literacy. Books that I have not looked at for years were posted and sold on Amazon or given to Goodwill.

 

One shelf houses all of the books for series book clubs. They are leveled and grouped in sets.

 

Another shelf contains mystery book club sets and single mysteries. I do not put these out in the classroom library until the mystery unit of study because if they have been out for months, then the students are not as excited to read them. Students get motivated to read books that are new to the library.

 

 

I labeled one shelf with books that are related to PBIS (our discipline system). It is important to use books in all areas of teaching, not just reading instruction. I only have a small collection of books for the social issues unit of study. This small stack of books is a great visual to remind me that I need to expand my collection of books for that unit. Now when the Literacy Facilitator at my school, or a parent, asks me what kinds of books I need I already know how to answer the question. I also put the materials for our writing program on this shelf. Being a Writer provides all of the actual books to use as anchors for the writing lessons, but I also have some of my own books that I add to the lessons.

 

I am a literacy teacher, but I still have great Math materials that I use with my students on rainy days when we can't go outside. This also will make it easy for me to share books with my Math teammates when they are looking for a literacy link in their lessons.

 

 

This is my nonfiction shelf. There are books with Social Studies links. There is a section of books that are nonfiction about animals since that is a huge writing unit for third grade. These are books that do not have Fountas and Pinnell levels, but still contain wonderful, grade level material. The final section is my collection of biographies. Just like mysteries, I do not put these books in the classroom library until we are studying that unit.

 

The final shelf holds books that support the beginning units of the year--Building a Reading Life and Characters into Meaning. It doesn't look like I have very many books for these two units, but I make sure I use strong literature for these two units--quality, not quantity.