Not sure if it was first written in chapter 2 or not, but I am not happy with the phrase "stupid answers." We try not to use the word "stupid" I prefer "slash the trash" when referring to an answer that really should not be considered the right answer and can be crossed off almost imediately!
I agree with you Alicia. The word "stupid" is a bad word to most students. I had to reread that sentence to make sure I really saw those words. As Jennifer stated, "slash the trash" is a common term used in our school. I enjoy when we discuss the answers as a class because you can help the students understand why that answer may not be the correct choice.
Slash the trash is a term we use at Liberty and I would agree with you Alicia, the word stupid is not a word we would necessarily want our Liberty students to use. I think this shows the importance of using common language among each grade level and the entire school. That language can be very important, but if we all are using the same language each student consistently gets the same message not matter what teacher or grade level.
I love this! Last year I referred to them as silly answers instead of stupid answers. I agree with Jenn on the importance of using common language across grade levels.
During my student teaching, I attended a meeting where teachers from each grade level sat down together and agreed on common language across the content areas that they would all begin to use in their classrooms. It wasn't until I started teaching first grade and began thinking about my students entering second grade that I really understood and appreciated the importance of common language.
On page 26, I like the Simon Says game and highlighting the verbs to practice following directions. I am definitely going to try this in my classroom this year.
Students not following directions is one of the topics I remember the third grade team complaining about a lot this year. I love the idea of using Simon Says as a hook to engage all types of learners. Writing the directions on the board is a wonderful way to refer back to the game when discussing the importance of finding the verb in the directions. Until reading this chapter, I had never thought of the importance of underlining the verb in a set of directions and the mere fact that even following directions is a skill that needs to be modeled and taught.
I liked the lesson ideas for activating schema, rereading, not/except, and "forget about it".
One of the challenges I see with using some of these lesson ideas is resources. Sometimes, I thought the ideas wasn't bad, but I wondered where I would find the types of passages they described. It seems like they use a lot of sample test passages. Do they reuse the passages throughout the year?
Lisa, I agree. Part of the difficulty with reading lessons is often finding the right passages to use when teaching the skills and also having the right things for students to use during independent practice. I like the possibility of using the same passages but just focusing on different skills. Also, there are some doable ideas that I liked, for example, the lesson about identifying and following directions--I feel like we have enough released tests and activities to see all kinds of directions.
Chapter 2: More Than Meets the Eye: Developing Strategies That Help Readers Become Test Takers
I really love the way this chapter opens up with one of the author's talking about following directions and how a seemingly easy task can be very difficult if one is not familiar with the task or with how the directions are written.
Teaching a student to follow directions is definitely a huge part of being a teacher and skill most of the students often forget at various points in a school year.
Reading Actively: I loved the idea of using a long division problem. I'll often introduce this skill later in the school year once SOL's are over - but it is a perfect example of thinking while doing and having to complete multi-skills to come up with the correct answer. I definitely do my best to bridge this with reading and model to my reading groups that I'm not always looking JUST for the main idea or JUST making a prediction. Rather, once those skills have been introduced individually, make sure to use them in conjunction with one another helping the students to read actively and think while reading.
Activating Schema: I think in terms of test talk and preparing our students - we do a pretty nice job giving them the background knowledge and idea of what the test format will be like by utilizing benchmarks and the practice SOL's on the computer. Luckily, we are fortunate enough to have those resources at our school. I love her lesson idea of dressing incorrectly for a trip and think this interactive lesson would definitely engage students.
---> I agree with Lisa, it'd be beneficial to have sample test passages available to us, which in some cases we do with the released SOL's and benchmarks, but we tend to reuse them year after year.
Using Clues: Great idea and again, something I would tie into reteaching/teaching my students about using context clues. I would just gear it more towards a test taking situation.
The rest of the mini lessons seem to align well with what we are doing in the classroom and I will do my best to incorporate more of them in terms of teaching the test taking strategy as well as the reading strategy.
The ready-to-go lessons in this book are awesome! I like how the introductory lessons were building smart/strong readers and how the test talk and test taking strategy lessons really helped review and build the students' confidence in showing what they know on the tests. Lynn Pickering
I really enjoyed the "General Reading Strategy Lessons" in Chapter Two. I felt that these lessons really related to first grade and that the demonstrations could easily be modified for their level. I especially enjoyed the demonstration for the strategy of activating schema. Using the question, "Hey brain, what do I know about..." could easily be used with first graders before read alouds and in guided reading groups after a picture walk. I'm glad that this book demonstrated how the strategies that I teach in first grade are expanded on in later grades and how beneficial the strategies are at any level.
I am excited about having this book as a resource with all of the great ideas to use throughout the year. Initially I thought the book would give us great information, but not all the practical lesson ideas! I am very much looking forward to using them!
Not sure if it was first written in chapter 2 or not, but I am not happy with the phrase "stupid answers." We try not to use the word "stupid" I prefer "slash the trash" when referring to an answer that really should not be considered the right answer and can be crossed off almost imediately!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Alicia. The word "stupid" is a bad word to most students. I had to reread that sentence to make sure I really saw those words. As Jennifer stated, "slash the trash" is a common term used in our school. I enjoy when we discuss the answers as a class because you can help the students understand why that answer may not be the correct choice.
DeleteStupid is the "s" word in our house!! :)
DeleteSlash the trash is a term we use at Liberty and I would agree with you Alicia, the word stupid is not a word we would necessarily want our Liberty students to use. I think this shows the importance of using common language among each grade level and the entire school. That language can be very important, but if we all are using the same language each student consistently gets the same message not matter what teacher or grade level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of the above posts. "Slash the trash" is the best term to use teaching the process of elimination.
ReplyDeleteI love this! Last year I referred to them as silly answers instead of stupid answers. I agree with Jenn on the importance of using common language across grade levels.
DeleteDuring my student teaching, I attended a meeting where teachers from each grade level sat down together and agreed on common language across the content areas that they would all begin to use in their classrooms. It wasn't until I started teaching first grade and began thinking about my students entering second grade that I really understood and appreciated the importance of common language.
On page 26, I like the Simon Says game and highlighting the verbs to practice following directions. I am definitely going to try this in my classroom this year.
ReplyDeleteStudents not following directions is one of the topics I remember the third grade team complaining about a lot this year. I love the idea of using Simon Says as a hook to engage all types of learners. Writing the directions on the board is a wonderful way to refer back to the game when discussing the importance of finding the verb in the directions. Until reading this chapter, I had never thought of the importance of underlining the verb in a set of directions and the mere fact that even following directions is a skill that needs to be modeled and taught.
DeleteI liked the lesson ideas for activating schema, rereading, not/except, and "forget about it".
ReplyDeleteOne of the challenges I see with using some of these lesson ideas is resources. Sometimes, I thought the ideas wasn't bad, but I wondered where I would find the types of passages they described. It seems like they use a lot of sample test passages. Do they reuse the passages throughout the year?
Lisa, I agree. Part of the difficulty with reading lessons is often finding the right passages to use when teaching the skills and also having the right things for students to use during independent practice. I like the possibility of using the same passages but just focusing on different skills. Also, there are some doable ideas that I liked, for example, the lesson about identifying and following directions--I feel like we have enough released tests and activities to see all kinds of directions.
DeleteChapter 2: More Than Meets the Eye: Developing Strategies That Help Readers Become Test Takers
ReplyDeleteI really love the way this chapter opens up with one of the author's talking about following directions and how a seemingly easy task can be very difficult if one is not familiar with the task or with how the directions are written.
Teaching a student to follow directions is definitely a huge part of being a teacher and skill most of the students often forget at various points in a school year.
Reading Actively: I loved the idea of using a long division problem. I'll often introduce this skill later in the school year once SOL's are over - but it is a perfect example of thinking while doing and having to complete multi-skills to come up with the correct answer. I definitely do my best to bridge this with reading and model to my reading groups that I'm not always looking JUST for the main idea or JUST making a prediction. Rather, once those skills have been introduced individually, make sure to use them in conjunction with one another helping the students to read actively and think while reading.
Activating Schema: I think in terms of test talk and preparing our students - we do a pretty nice job giving them the background knowledge and idea of what the test format will be like by utilizing benchmarks and the practice SOL's on the computer. Luckily, we are fortunate enough to have those resources at our school. I love her lesson idea of dressing incorrectly for a trip and think this interactive lesson would definitely engage students.
---> I agree with Lisa, it'd be beneficial to have sample test passages available to us, which in some cases we do with the released SOL's and benchmarks, but we tend to reuse them year after year.
Using Clues: Great idea and again, something I would tie into reteaching/teaching my students about using context clues. I would just gear it more towards a test taking situation.
The rest of the mini lessons seem to align well with what we are doing in the classroom and I will do my best to incorporate more of them in terms of teaching the test taking strategy as well as the reading strategy.
I thought the example of reading the recipe was a great analogy for what it is like for our students, and it definitely made me think about it.
DeleteI also liked how the students were given sample passages and asked to develop questions with "test talk".
ReplyDeleteThe ready-to-go lessons in this book are awesome! I like how the introductory lessons were building smart/strong readers and how the test talk and test taking strategy lessons really helped review and build the students' confidence in showing what they know on the tests.
ReplyDeleteLynn Pickering
I really enjoyed the "General Reading Strategy Lessons" in Chapter Two. I felt that these lessons really related to first grade and that the demonstrations could easily be modified for their level. I especially enjoyed the demonstration for the strategy of activating schema.
ReplyDeleteUsing the question, "Hey brain, what do I know about..." could easily be used with first graders before read alouds and in guided reading groups after a picture walk.
I'm glad that this book demonstrated how the strategies that I teach in first grade are expanded on in later grades and how beneficial the strategies are at any level.
I am excited about having this book as a resource with all of the great ideas to use throughout the year. Initially I thought the book would give us great information, but not all the practical lesson ideas! I am very much looking forward to using them!
ReplyDelete