Celebrate and Collaborate Book Discussion: Session 2

Oh my... where did June go?  I think I blinked and it is now OVER!  I have tried to take a break from thinking about school ALL the time, but let's get real... I am a teacher and I have a hard time turning by brain off.  We met again today with another awesome group of "Literacy Divas"... we feel that is a better title than "Literacy Nerds"!  I do not even feel like I should be writing this blog post because I feel like I really know NOTHING compared to the ladies I was with.  Sorry about the light in the background... we eventually closed the blinds but I'm not sure where those pictures went?  We did have a few cute little girls taking our picture for us!

 I am learning SO many things and am excited about implementing the new things we are discussing and learning. Here are some highlights from what we discussed today...

The Next Step In Guided Reading by Jan Richardson Chapter 4
**One thing that many of us picked up on (and are guilty of) was remembering that "The more you talk, the less they listen."
**We love that Richardson's lesson plan structure is explained so well and felt we could all stay on track with our groups as long as we put a timer right beside us.  I know I will have to have a timer to keep me on track so that I can meet with all my groups!
**Incorporating comprehension into our guided reading groups will also be BIG.  Richardson mentions how self-monitoring is the foundation for comprehension.  My goal for this next year is to make sure my students are self-monitoring and that they understand not only what it means, but also what it looks like.
**Sight word discussion always seems to make its way into our conversation and it was present again today.  Once again, we were reminded about how crucial those sight words truly are!  Richardson says that students truly own the sight word if they are able to not only read it, but spell it also.  We loved  her simple charts she uses to make sure her students know their sight words.  She also talked about how we shouldn't move to new words until they have mastered the words on lower levels first.  I know I would love to have differentiated spelling test and list for my students but I am just not sure how to make it work... maybe someone out there has a great plan, I am listening!!

The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller Chapters 3 & 4
**The big idea we got from Miller is to train students to pick up a book and read at any opportunity they have... bathroom breaks, waiting to take pictures on picture day, when someone comes into the room to talk to you or the phone rings... How many times is our instruction interrupted each day?  How many more minutes could they be reading in a day if we taught them to do this?...LOVE!
**It is also important for students to know that there are times when it is ok to abandon a book... this will be one of those things that we may have to talk to the students about in order to see their reasoning for abandoning the book... we felt some students may really buy into that one!!
**We all wanted to create a suggestion board for students to share their favorite books. Hmmm.... I think this may be a post later on, to see what everyone comes up with!
**My favorite thing that Donalyn said was "Are we teaching books or are we teaching readers?"  We thought that may make for a great literacy teacher shirt? "Donalyn, what do you think?"

Oh, I feel like I went on and on and I left out SO many great things!  We would love to hear what you have to say and share. Grab the books and enjoy. You will not be sorry you did!

To end my afternoon I spent some time with my sweet girls at the pool...

Then out to dinner... they picked out their outfits for the evening...

They steal my heart everyday!

Can't wait to share more and hear from you!

Alicia



Grand Opening! Celebrate and Collaborate Book Discussion Groups

    I felt like I really wanted to remember the day we had our first book discussion group. I just felt like Alicia and I were on the verge of something: BIG. (If you know me well, you know I always feel like I am on the verge of something BIG). However the first day of our book discussion group was very special. Any time you have several Literacy Nerds...umm, I mean Literacy Divas ... in a room discussing reading and what is best for kids, you know it's going to be lively.
    Alicia and I birthed the idea for these book discussion groups out of dire need to be together. We had spent the past year working in separate districts, after 4 years of sharing a classroom (and a brain) teaching Team 2nd. We missed our long talks over lunch about how to make our teaching more effective. We missed celebrating even the tiniest whisper of success we had seen in our students. We missed grabbing hold of a book we had heard about and chewing on it for a bit...then, discussing...then, chewing a bit more. We missed that accountability that you have when you work two feet from your co-teacher.  We figured there were other teachers on the planet besides us longing to have their 'over the top' passion about literacy and education matched and stretched, too. Out of this necessity, Celebrate and Collaborate Book Discussion Groups were born.
      One of the beautiful parts of this first group is that attendance was not compulsory. No one was forced to attend these meetings. There was no contract or commitment. Educators just came of their "own free will". That felt a little reckless..almost rebellious, but that is how this group of wildly passionate literacy fanatics rolls. We were teachers from various backgrounds, years of experience, and training. We had taught in a variety of schools and districts, with various differences in expectations, materials, and we taught diverse students. (In case you are wondering about those who could not attend, many were at, you guessed it: Staff Development).
    A few thoughts from our group about the books we are discussing

   1) The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson  pp. 1-46
*SO user friendly
*We love how the philosophy/work of Marie Clay and Reading Recovery are echoed in this revamped/extended way to look at Guided Reading
*Richardson presents a more individualized way to look at Guided Reading
*The reading/ writing connection/reciprocity is finally part of Guided Reading
*The book is explicit and even answers teachers' FAQs
*The Next Step  gives choice--can be integrated with work stations/literacy stations/The Daily Five, etc. --a big win with our teachers across districts

 2) The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller (The first chapters)
* Miller captivated us
*The book was full of invitations to students to read
* Some had ideas about how to integrate this into a technology rich classroom
* We love the integration of student interest surveys (Surveys are Alicia and Heather's favorites)

* None of us can wait to read more--to see the nuts and bolts of setting this beautiful thing in motion

What do you have to say about the first sections of these amazing books? We would love for you to share!

 Can't wait for our next meeting June 30th!  

Happy reading!  As you will learn , I am not short on words or passion!

Heather

Almost There

Here we go my teacher friends.... I (we) have wanted to start blogging for awhile now and I always feel like I just don't have enough to say!  We love reading other teacher blogs and getting new ideas so we decided it is time we share too... so we have jumped in!  We are still working on the little things with our blog (aka trying to make it cute) but it is for sure a work in progress. 

I keep saying "WE" because this blog will be written by Heather Horton and myself Alicia        
Beasley.  Heather will be starting her 17th year of teaching and I will be starting my 12th year! Heather and I co-taught a 2nd grade class together for 4 years. It was SO amazing and why we ever let it go.... I am still not sure!  However God has led each of us to an awesome place. Because we miss teaching with each other so much (and sharing a brain), we decided we could still make this work even though we are teaching counties apart <insert tears>!

We have lots to share and I hope you will join us on our journey to reach kids and inspire others to be their best!  This next week we will be blogging about two book studies we are doing together with another group of fantastic teachers. We want to share with you the things we are learning and would love to here what you have to say as well.

Here are the books....

   1) The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson

   2) The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller

These books are so great and we can't wait to learn new ways to make our classrooms all about the kids.  We will also be sharing lots about keeping in contact with parents and helping them share the responsibility of learning in the classroom as well as student and parent interest surveys!

Lots more to come soon...
Alicia