Literacy Now

Ah, the holiday season: The lights, the music, the hot chocolate...the inability to get your class to sit still. Just this morning, I sent my own daughter off to school knowing that even her little firstborn, über-nerdy self was going to have a hard time listening with visions of imminent cookie baking, a trip to see the Rockettes, and the promise of putting up our tree this weekend dancing in her head. I almost feel as if I should send an apology e-mail to her teacher.

I've been there. I know what it is like to desperately try to stick to the classroom routine when my students seem to be floating in a haze of holiday glitter.

I have often likened teaching during the holiday season to keeping the lid on a boiling pot. I think the key to surviving—and thriving—as a teacher during this time of year is to first take a deep breath and then just accept that this is what is happening for the next few weeks and you might as well get on board. I mean, why fight it?

If your students are going to be all amped up, you might as well harness that energy and help them to channel that buzz into their reading lives.

Here are a few suggestions for survival that don't include massive amounts of caffeine or numerous glasses of your favorite adult beverage:

•  Rapid read-alouds. Choose four or five juicy chapter book read-alouds. Carve out short sections of time across a day to read a chapter or two from each book and then let the kids choose their own adventure by voting on which book to continue reading. Be sure to have multiple copies of all the choices available for friends who catch the fever. Let them buzz about hot new read-alouds!
• Three-minute book reviews. Have two or three students sign up at the end of the day to share a three-minute review of one of their favorite reads. Give students creative control over this presentation with a few guidelines regarding content.
• Reading identity reflections. The impending holiday break serves as a big milestone for the school year—you made it! Allow students to reflect on how they've grown as readers. What authors, genres, themes, topics, or titles are they most interested in? Get creative with how students memorialize and share who they are as readers—get your collage on! Go digital! Let them go for it!
• Faux online shopping. Let students create their own shopping cart to fill with titles of books they'd like to read in the near future. If you're feeling really crazy, let them browse new and upcoming titles online. Post your "carts" to share with all.

Routines are amazing and essential. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good routine and have been known to have heart palpitations over a hot process chart. The joy! However, if asking your class to stick to the daily routine during this season feels like an uphill battle, be open to switching things up in the coming weeks. Although now is not time to jump ship and start hardcore crafting all day, it may be time to loosen up. If they're going to be all abuzz, they might as well buzz about books, right?

Mrs. Mimi, aka Jennifer Scoggin, is a teacher who taught both first and second grades at a public elementary school in New York City. She's the author of Be Fabulous: The Reading Teacher's Guide to Reclaiming Your Happiness in the Classroom and It's Not All Flowers and Sausages: My Adventures in Second Grade, which sprung from her popular blog of the same name. Mimi also has her doctorate in education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

One possible reason why some students progress more rapidly than others is their mindset. By mindset, I mean what Carol Dweck refers to as "the beliefs they carry about their own abilities.” When students develop a growth mindset about their reading ability, they believe that their hard work, struggle, and opportunities for problem solving are all important and valuable parts of the learning process. When students develop a fixed mindset about their ability, they believe their reading level, skill level, and proficiency are static and not much can be done to change them. With a fixed mindset comes resistance to working hard and putting extra effort in because there is really no point. When it comes to developing ownership and independence, having a growth mindset is imperative in the learning process.

The good news is that Dweck and her colleagues have shown that mindsets are malleable and we can help shape them with the kinds of feedback we offer. Regardless of whether a student first enters our classrooms with a growth mindset, we can take on a role that fosters a view of reading with a growth-based lens. When we offer feedback in this way, I call it “being a mirror.”

In my previous post, I wrote about being a “miner” and uncovering how a student reads. Once we have gained important information about a student reader, we can give feedback that shows students what they are doing and the results of that work. Focusing our feedback on the effort and the results emphasizes more growth mindset qualities. I call this role a “mirror” because a mirror’s job is to reflect back what is there without judgment. Our feedback can do the same.

There are five qualities of feedback that foster a growth mindset with readers. First, be specific. When we describe for students how they are reading, we can name the specific steps they took and name them one at a time. For example, instead of saying “You predicted,” which is a bit too general to be helpful, I might say, “You looked at the cover and title, thought about what you would learn, and then went page by page in your book seeing if what you predicted was actually in the book.”

A second quality is to focus on what the reader is doing (not on what is missing). A mirror cannot reflect back what is not there.

A third quality is to focus on the process and the work the reader put in. When we focus on the process, we show students that their efforts are valued and important.

The fourth quality is to make sure it can transfer. Although I do want to be specific with my feedback, I also want to name what the reader is doing in a way that he or she can use it in a different book and context. Instead of saying, “When you thought about why Jonas lied to his dad, it helped you understand why he left,” I might say, “When you thought about the character’s choices, it helped you understand his motivation.”

The final—and often most difficult—quality is to take yourself out of the feedback. This means not saying, “I like how you…” or “I think…” because this sort of feedback makes it about pleasing us adults. Instead of starting with first person pronouns, I start with the reader’s name or simply say, “When you…” and keep the focus on the reader. After all, a mirror stays focused on what is in front of it.

Try being a mirror with your students and notice how not only their reading habits change, but also their mindsets. This is so important because, as sociology scholar Brene Brown explains, “Without feedback there can be no transformative change.” In my next post, I will explain how to be a model and teach in ways that students can really understand.

Gravity Goldberg is a literacy consultant and author of Mindsets and Moves: Strategies That Help Readers Take Charge(Corwin, 2015) and coauthor of Conferring With Readers: Supporting Each Student’s Growth and Independence(Heinemann, 2007) in addition to managing her blog. This post is one in a series on how teachers can create more independence in the classroom by embracing new roles. She also can be reached via Twitter. 

In many classrooms I visit, students do not raise their hands. They are taught early on how to participate in discussions where raising hands isn’t necessary. They respect the speaker’s turn, they listen carefully, and wait for an opportunity to respond. The teacher acts as a facilitator or a coach for the conversation, not as the sole channel though which information can pass. In these conversations, questions are valued as highly as answers. The goal is to create new ideas, ideas that perhaps even teacher had not considered, not to regurgitate old ones.

Although it is so easy to default to the standard way of running a discussion, hands raised, teacher calling on one at a time (often the same few), there is magic when you say to students, “Put your hands down. I’m not going to call on anyone. Just speak when you have something to say.” Doing this sends the message that your students’ voices are just as valuable the teacher’s.

So what happens in a truly great great whole class discussion? A few ideas might come to mind:

• Students listen carefully to one another and respond directly to others’ comments.
• One or a few topics are explored in depth.
• New conclusions, understandings, and ideas are grown.
• New questions are raised.
• All students’ voices are heard.

Build students’ vision of strong talk

Lucille Clifton has said, “We cannot create what we can’t imagine.” Similarly, we cannot expect students to engage in strong discussions if they do not know what these look like. To find samples of strong classroom conversations, you might need look no farther than your school building. If you know a classroom where strong talk is taking place, take a few minutes of video to show to your students (make sure your school’s videotaping policies allow for internal use of students’ images, of course).

Or you can find videos online that show students engaging in discussions worthy of studying.

After watching the conversation, debrief and ask students to name some of what they noticed that helped the conversation to go well. Record these on a chart that will serve as a reminder for students when they are engaged in their own discussions. Because these ideas are student-generated, they will take on greater significance in your classroom.

Guide students to assess and set goals to get better at discussion

Most students understand that they are working on building their skill sets in subject areas such as reading, writing, and math. Many students set goals for themselves in these areas, and, rightly or wrongly, judge their progress against that of their peers. They know, for example, that in math they are working on getting better at converting improper fractions to mixed numbers and that in reading, they are working on developing theories about characters. But many students don’t have a sense of their skill level when it comes to discussion, and some aren’t aware that building skill in discussion is not only possible but also vital. 

Create a simple rubric or checklist with your students using the ideas they generated about good discussions to help them  understand what they need to do in order to get better at accountable talk. Tell them they’ll have a chance to assess their own work during a discussion so that they can get a sense of what they’re doing well and what they need to work on. Then, lead the class in a discussion (recording this for future viewing can be useful).

After the discussion, you can ask students to assess themselves  using the rubric or you can  to fill out one rubric together, considering a discussion is something the entire class creates.

In addition to helping your students to assess their skill at discussion, you can also assess their stamina, the length of time they can keep a rich conversation going. It may well be that your students’ stamina for this kind of conversation is at about five minutes to start. If this is the case, keep in mind that marathon runners must train their way into running 26.2 miles. Record the length of time of the discussion as a benchmark, and encourage students to aim to sustain their conversations for longer and longer amounts of time as the year progresses.

Plan instruction to strengthen students’ talk

Here are a few teaching ideas that can help move your students’ discussions from so-so to great.

• Model effective discussion techniques. Before students are ready to take the discussion reins, they’ll need plenty of teacher modeling. For example, the single most effective way to encourage your students to listen to each other right from the start is to listen to them. One way to model that you are listening is to repeat parts of class conversations in a way that shows you are really trying to understand. “So what I hear you saying is….”
• Teach connective language. The Common Core Standards for Opinion and Informational Writing highlight the use of words and phrases to link ideas and information. Those familiar with the work of the Reading and Writing Project and with Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke’s Literature Circles will be familiar with thought prompts such as: For example… This is important because… On the other hand… and What I’m starting to realize is…to help students make connections between ideas in conversations. Making these prompts visible in a chart such as the one above and referring to them often will ensure that these phrases become an ingrained part of the way students talk, and eventually, the way that they think.
• Use visual supports to encourage inclusion. A major goal of discussion is to ensure that all voices are heard. A simple way to help students to understand the patterns in their language is to trace the conversation visually. To do this, create a chart by writing students’ names where they sit in discussions. Then, trace a line from name to name as students participate during a discussion. Analyze the discussions’ pattern and discuss how students might invite those whose voices were not heard to participate.
• Confer with students individually as needed. Some students might need some extra coaching to get better at classroom discussions, either one on one or in small groups. Use language from the rubric as much as possible in your instruction so that students are crystal clear on what they can do to improve.
• Build in frequent opportunities for students to self-evaluate. Be sure to revisit the rubric you created, perhaps even at the start and end of each discussion at first.

Anna Gratz Cockerille is an educator, writer, and consultant. In addition to her years teaching Upper Elementary in New York City, Anna has taught and coached in K–8 classrooms in Sydney, Australia; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and Auckland, New Zealand. Anna has been a staff developer for the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University and presents at national conferences. Anna also conducts staff development in schools, helping teachers hone their balanced literacy practices.

One of the sadder things I've ever done happened last year on the last day of school before winter vacation: I had to retire one of my favorite books, a staple of my annual read-alouds, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.

I did not retire the book because of its Christmas/Christian backdrop. Or its savvy rendition of the birth of Christ. When Robinson wrote the book in 1973, society called it “Christmas Vacation,” while today, we have a winter break. Some 40 years after publication, the book seems more appropriate for Sunday school classes than a public school classroom, but that isn’t my problem.

To me, this content is no different than some of the religious aspects that appear in Beyond Lucky, Buddha Stories, or Martin de Porres. If anything, these books allow children to explore different cultures and belief systems, an important component to foster understanding amongst our universal brotherhood.

Actually, the issues are in the non-religious content.

Imogene smokes cigars—this is a big deal. Remember the days when kids stood out by the loading docks or on the corner of school property to smoke, some as young as age 12?  I'm sure in 1973 a girl from a broken home (likely not a term used then) might actually smoke publicly, cigars or not. Today, smoking is taboo. Period.

What agenda did Robinson have behind that portrayal of Imogene? A discussion could help the reader define the context of time and the embodiment of the character. What were the implications behind Imogene’s smoking? Today’s schema likely alters the comprehension Robinson had foreseen. By teaching the book, I run the risk of introducing students to risky behavior.

My favorite part of the book is between chapters 5 and 6, when the Herdmans throw a fit about the gifts Jesus received, claiming they received better gifts from the fireman (or child welfare, if you've seen the movie).  This event was a prelude to the annual writing assignment in class on favorite Christmas/Holiday/winter memoir.

I started by showing frankincense to students; it’s not only a new word to students but also an idea the readers can rarely visualize.  Frankincense is the resin burned to “be in the presence of God.” I told the students my story of fogging the church with frankincense during midnight mass in 1991. Right in the middle of mass, the church had to be evacuated because I did not pay attention to the gap in the burner that “fueled” the coals, and the intense smoke set off fire alarms.

This is an indirect, far more innocent, connection to Imogene smoking in the girl’s room. Her smoking inadvertently foiled the Ladies Aid pageant preparations, “causing” their applesauce cake to burn up, setting off the fire alarms in chapter 6.

Speaking of Imogene, what about her sneaking a peek at health records?  That has illegal invasion of privacy written all over it.  What might have occurred as an inappropriate joke (and bullying) in her day now has serious employment, privacy, and legal implications.  Although still funny in the book, I had to question what message I was sending to student in today’s privacy-protected culture.

There are also a number of sensitivity issues. Material like this doesn’t fly in schools with restorative practices or Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. The Herdman’s comments towards children like, “Your dad's in jail,” and the child welfare issues like dad jumping the train and mom working two shifts at the shoe factory just to avoid their kids—how often do we see/hear this kind of material in reading today? The heresy! Then there is letting a child sleep in the bureau drawer….

Such lines, intended to be funny, are likely to incite “questionable content” complaints these days. I had to retire the book.

Suddenly, under the definitions of text complexity, this book is now hard!  When readers cannot see the humor or the theme buried within the story, the book becomes boring.  I can teach strategies to read the book, but I cannot give them the background I have, or maybe you have, to enjoy the book.  I (we) grew up in different time.  I loved being a shepherd or Joseph in Christmas pageants.  It was a part of my life—a long time ago.

Yet, in all, the Herdmans are the heroes of the story. They are the ones that change the most.  Their story defines modern day redemption to some extent.  As readers we cannot help but to forgive the Herdmans for their behavior, even under the context of Christmas, a time of renewal. Robinson teaches us not just the meaning of Christmas but the meaning of life: to find love by looking into the eyes of the poor. I mean, really. How can one not wonder what the Herdmans were really thinking when they gave their Christmas ham as a gift?  Or Imogene desiring to be special, innocent, and pure?  Her portrayal of Mary simply served as a vehicle to reveal the true heart and character Imogene possessed. Is this not the innocence we want for everyone?

I wonder if I am sheltering my students. Should I bring The Best Christmas Pageant Ever out of retirement?

Justin Stygles is a sixth-grade teacher and literacy specialist in Western Maine. He has taught at a variety of levels for 12 years and is currently working with Corwin Literacy about effect, emotions, and transactional reading.

Figuring out how our students go about the process of reading can be quite challenging, which is what makes effective assessment so difficult. Much of the process remains invisible to us and often even to our students. In my new book Mindsets and Moves: Strategies That Help Readers Take Charge  (Corwin, 2015), I suggest four roles we can take on so that students are supported to become truly independent of us and take charge of what, how, and why they read. In other words, students develop ownership of the process of reading so they can make choices about their reading lives. Some of those choices are what books to read, but also what to think about as you read, what to talk about with others about your reading, and what strategies to apply when needed.

Too many students are simply mimicking our strategies without a clear purpose or knowledge of how those strategies actually can help them as readers. Without a purpose, a strategy actually can inhibit our comprehension, not deepen it. Think of a strategy like a tool. You don’t use any old tool to hang up a picture on the wall, you use a hammer. If you use a saw or a wrench it would not work. The same can be true for reading tools and strategies—we have to feel ownership of our process so we can choose the strategy that will help us in our books right now. So how do we as teachers figure out what strategies students might benefit from using? How do we help students reflect on whether the strategies they are using are working for them? These are worthwhile assessment questions.

The first role I suggest we take on is to be a miner. By miner, I mean uncovering what students do as readers, getting into their minds, and getting at layers of meaning that may often be hidden. There are five steps to being a miner, and each one is focused on really getting to know how a student goes about reading.

Set a purpose for what you will be mining for. What do you want to find out about this reader? You can’t look for everything, so narrowing your focus on one or two areas can help. The second step is to observe the reader closely. This means you look for students’ subtle reading behaviors such as pointing to words or moving their lips as they read as well as who seems to be reacting to their books and seems “lost in the story.” By simply observing for 20 seconds you can gain so much information and you can develop some questions you are curious to ask the reader. The third step is to ask process-oriented questions, many of which stem from the observations you just made.

You may ask, “What are you thinking about today as you read?” or “Can you describe how you are reading this part of the book today?” These questions are meant to uncover how the student is reading, not what the student is reading. The fourth step is to listen. This sounds obvious, but with so many possible distractions and our constant rush to meet with so many students sustaining our attention on what the student explains takes effort. We listen to hear their explanation and to help students articulate their own process. The final step is to collect the information you gathered and to jot down some of what you found. This collection of information can then be used when offering feedback and when teaching. (The Reflection Chart is from Mindsets and Moves)

We know assessment and instruction are connected deeply, but finding the ways that make this connection work can be hard. Try being a miner and see what you uncover about the readers in your class. For now, give yourself permission to just uncover and assess.

Gravity Goldberg is a literacy consultant and author of Mindsets and Moves: Strategies That Help Readers Take Charge(Corwin, 2015) and coauthor of Conferring With Readers: Supporting Each Student’s Growth and Independence(Heinemann, 2007) in addition to managing her blog. This post is one in a series on how teachers can create more independence in the classroom by embracing new roles. She also can be reached via Twitter.