Teaching Resources

Pathways to the Common Core - Focusing on  Literacy

For many of us the Common Core State Standard (CCSS) is new. Some schools implement it last year and others are implementing it this year. Teachers now have to adjust our teaching practices to meet the new standards. For many of us, if you're like me, you didn't get formal training on how to work with CCSS. Reading the standards is easy but the implementation part is challenging. One resource I found has been really helpful, Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman. 

The authors did a very nice job of explaining concisely about the new English Language Art (ELA) standards. They discussed the rationale behind each of the reading, writing, speaking/listening strands as well as the social studies and science strands in ELA. They explained how the CCSS was developed, the research behind it, the rationale for designing the standards backwards (starting with the skills students need to have for college readiness working backwards to kindergarden). They provided examples with familiar books like Charlotte's Web  by E.B. White and The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It's pretty explicit what kind of analytical or citation skills the CCSS expect from our students. 

The book is roughly 200 pages and is fairly easy to read. I have highlighted, underlined, and annotated throughout the entire book. It helped me understand not only the rationale behind the CCSS but what the standard is really asking for. 

I've read this book twice and am currently reviewing it again. As I read this book, I'm reflecting on my teaching practice. There are many parts of the book where I feel affirmation that I'm on the right track because I've done many of the things that's emphasized in the book… hosting book clubs… push for silent reading daily for minimum of 20 minutes… engage students in analytical discussion about a book… compare and contrast themes in two different books… identify features in a genre and apply it to writing… to name a few. For areas I need to brush up on, I make a professional goal for myself to address the areas I have not yet taught or need to improve on. 

If you want to read a book that's explicit about teaching literacy with the CCSS, this is the book to read. 

The Book Whisperer - A Must Read!

A couple years back when I was a student teacher, my mentor recommended The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. In fact, the principal at the school bought one for the entire staff! She loaned me the book, it sat on my desk for a few weeks before I finally read it. Once I finally got around to reading it, I was engrossed into the book and finished it within two days and immediately ordered my own copy from Amazon! This book really opened my eyes about the purpose of reading. Donalyn Miller talked about the value of reading for enjoyment and becoming lifelong readers. 

Simple concept right?

Sadly, many children and teens don't enjoy reading. That was truly the case when I started teaching middle school this past year. In fact, all of my students told me bluntly that they hated to read. I was astounded! How you hate reading? It wasn't because they were struggling readers who read well below grade level, it was because they were never encourage to choose their own books and read for enjoyment. Any reading they did was assigned by the teacher and they wrote reports or answer a bunch of questions about it. Donalyn firmly wrote, what's the point of the book reports? What do the students get out of it? How does that create lifelong readers? That shifted my thinking.

I was determined to become the Book Whisperer. It became my mission to turn each one of my students into a reader. 

Did I accomplish that goal with my students this year? Yes. I adopted many of Donalyn Miller's ideas in empowering students to choose their own books, encouraging students to read a book from different genres, to keep a literacy journal about their readings (almost like dialogue journal, we wrote back and forth daily about what we've read in the story), and to keep track of their reading. It made a big difference. The principal at school noticed it. The parents noticed it. My teacher colleagues noticed it. 

Some of the students behavior changed. A handful of them faithfully bring a book to lunch and read while eating. A group of girls started their own book club clamoring about their favorite parts of the book during homeroom (the Matched trilogy was big hit with my middle school girls). A boy beamed with pride when he announced to the literacy class that he finished a 200-paged book on his own!  Even I witnessed a student who claimed to really hate reading brought a book out to recess with her and sat by the tree reading instead of hanging with her friends as usual. I watched a couple of friends walk up to her and asked if she was okay and why she wasn't hanging out with them. The girl replied, "I'm fine, I'll hang out with you tomorrow, this part is really good! I have to see what happens next!" The same student still had her nose stuck in the book when recess was over and we were walking back into the building. Pride swells up in me.

I firmly believe that to become a better reader, you must have motivation. There are many ways to spark motivation and desire to read. Like Donalyn Miller wrote, the motivation to read begins with the teacher who shows passion and enthusiastic for reading. My excitement for reading is contagious to not only my literacy class, but to the rest of the middle school. The best part of the day is when my homeroom class open up the Scholastic Book Box and we all pass around the new books we got and within minutes nearly all the books have been checked out. 

The Book Whisperer is a must have for all teachers. Since I first read it back in 2012, I've read it multiple times and loaned it to three of my teacher friends who all end up buying themselves a copy. Give it a try and share your thoughts on the book. 

We Give Books - Free eBooks!

Three days a week during Homeroom period at the end of the day, my middle schoolers are encouraged to read silently for 20 minutes or so. Most of them have their own books to read but a handful of students enjoy choosing a book from We Give Books.

All you have to do is sign up for a free account at  www.wegivebooks.org   and you have access to endless number of books from classics to level readers. They're constantly updating the website with new books.

I've used this a couple of times during my teaching using a book as a mentor text to introduce writing concepts via the SmartBoard to my Deaf students. So easy… and the best part? Hands free reading! (No holding the book on your lap while you're signing)