The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy May 1, 2010 The Place In Between


Home About Contact Us FAQs Tell a Friend Search Buy DVDs Workshops Site Licenses Members Only

The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
May 1, 2010
The Place In Between

It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear. . . .It's like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to.
                                                     Marilyn Ferguson

You're likely to have your end of the year celebrations all planned for colleagues and kids. You probably even have dates and skeleton plans in place for the late summer and early fall kick-off to the school year. But if you've got any changes in store for next year (and what staff doesn't?), you might want to think a little more about the "in between" time this summer.

Many literacy leaders find scheduling even one potluck to discuss the new intervention program, or a get together with new teachers in July to share expectations for assessments, can make all the difference in everyone's comfort level with changes. Summer is just a more relaxed time for talking through concerns and building community. It doesn't have to be much (one event is usually plenty), and it certainly should be voluntary, but in my experience those in between gatherings are often the most pleasant times with colleagues. For someone new to your school, they can be downright reassuring.

This week we continue our popular series of recommendations from favorite teacher authors for summer reading. Plus more as always - enjoy!

Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy

Free for All

This week we continue with more book recommendations from some of your favorite authors and Choice Literacy contributors in our Summer Reading List series.   Donalyn Miller, Kevin Hodgson, Shari Frost, Carol Jago, and Karen Terlecky all share their summer "must reads":

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1161.cfm

Reading Rockets has an excellent round-up of resources for summer reading programs:

http://www.readingrockets.org/atoz/summer_reading

Here's a fun How-To (Procedural) Writing Activity for late in the year from author Erin Dealey:

http://bit.ly/kjzQC

The Fuse #8 blog at School Library Journal has the results of their poll of the Top 100 Children's Books of all time:

http://bit.ly/cOXRzF

From the Learning Together blog, some wonderful insights about the importance of controlling our impulse to jump in and fix things whenever we see someone struggling:

http://benhazzard.com/?p=139#content

Many of our upcoming Choice Literacy CAFE Workshops with "The Sisters" have sold out quickly, so we've decided to add a new date - Tuesday, September 28th in Phoenix, Arizona. You can download registration materials at this link (it's a two-page PDF file):

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/CAFE2010.pdf

For Members Only

Andrea Smith understands the appeal of online grade books for parents, but they are limited in capturing students' growth as readers and writers. Her solution? Integrate short video clips with students explaining their learning into the grade postings.   You can view examples and her reflections in Assessment - Inside and Outside Views:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1156.cfm

What's the secret of successful professional book study books in many schools? The coordinators choose little itty bitty books that pack a punch when it comes to translating theory into practice. Shari Frost presents her top picks for short books to use in study groups:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1157.cfm

Before you clear all those wonderful anchor charts and displays from your walls, you might want one last push to connect the learning with individual students. In this week's video, Beth Lawson helps one of her third-grade students see connections between his reading stamina and a display of advice from classmates on the wall:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1129.cfm

Our bonus video this week is from Kelly Petrin's preschool class. Kelly describes the value of book browsing time for very young learners, explaining the many skills children develop during this activity:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1158.cfm

Video Updates: We continue to repost many videos in new formats and players (with higher resolution and full-screen options). As we make these improvements, we'll announce them in the newsletter. Here are updated videos you may want to revisit -

"The Sisters" give a tour of the Community Language Board, which is a tool for building vocabulary all year long:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1159.cfm

Take a look at a small group focused on fonts in Franki Sibberson's intermediate classroom to see how fonts help shape meaning in different genres:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1160.cfm

That's all for this week!