The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy May 22, 2010 Clever Teachers and Lucky Students


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The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
May 22, 2010
Clever Teachers and Lucky Students

Astonishing. Inspiring. Poignant.

Last week I posted a request for Big Fresh readers to share their favorite end-of-year literacy activities. The reward would be a free Choice Literacy membership for any suggestion included in a follow-up article. I know how busy everyone is this time of year, so my modest hope was for a dozen ideas I might post for everyone to read.

I was blown away by the response. Hundreds of readers wrote in with everything from quick and fun final send-offs, to elaborate schemes that require planning back to the first day of the school year.

I'll share just one example here, to give you a sense of the range and creativity of ideas. Delores Drew of Blair, Nebraska wrote:

I am the Title 1 reading teacher in a K-3 building. Near the end of the year, I have my students read two or three fiction and nonfiction books about trains. Students write new and interesting facts about trains in a response journal. Many students become so engrossed in trains they find additional information outside of group time, and bring it to share with others.

One day near the end of school, the students and I walk three blocks and sit in a parking lot that borders a railroad track. Students take their response journals out. As the trains pass, students read words on the cars (great fluency and decoding practice!), document the different types of train cars and cargo that are observed (connecting to text and prior knowledge), and record words from the train that they are unable to read.

During the following two days we write and talk about our "real train reading" field trip. The best part about this is that students keep reading and recording from train cars until the last day of school. It shows them a quick, fun way to read any time they see a train. For some of my students, reading train books and train cars is the "hook" they need to keep reading all summer.

If your school isn't near train tracks, this isn't an end-of-the-year literacy activity that would work for you. But as someone who grew up decades ago in a community crisscrossed by railroads, I think Delores is a genius. As a kid, I spent lots of time in the station wagon with my siblings and parents watching trains roll by, counting dozens of cars as we waited to pass. What a marvelous way to link the classroom and reading to an everyday, mundane event in students' lives, and get them excited about literacy in the process.

While Delores described a unique activity, many teachers mentioned similar activities in their responses, like time capsules and letters to the incoming class. I discovered The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown is very important indeed in many classrooms during the closing days of school! When an activity was mentioned more than once, I selected the first or most detailed/creative example of the activity to post.

Thanks to everyone who responded to the survey for your clever suggestions, as well the incredible amount of thought and time you put into making the end of the year special for your students. This week we'll begin the month-long series with your ideas for closing read alouds. In the coming weeks, the series will cover the topics of preparation for summer reading, involving families, community building, and big final projects. I realize it's too late for those who end school in May to try these suggestions, and some require effort that begins in September anyway. But even if there isn't something for you to use this year, you are sure to get inspired about the possibilities for next year, and delighted at the ingenuity of your colleagues across the country and world. Enjoy!

Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy

Free for All

Have you selected your final read aloud of the year yet? If you're still looking for the perfect closing text, you'll enjoy the first feature article in our Literacy Activities for Closing Out the School Year series:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1182.cfm

June is National Great Outdoors Month. This is just one of the tidbits on next month's Education Oasis calendar for educators, which is packed with suggestions for those lazy, crazy last days of school:

http://bit.ly/ciK1mm

This odd and wonderful blog is one I visit at least a couple times a week. ThxThxThx is updated once a day with a thank you note from a quirky writer who aims for an attitude of gratitude at all times. These notes will make you smile, and also help you and your students think about how much punch you can pack into a couple sentences:

http://thxthxthx.com/?p=546

From the good folks at Edutopia, five principles to keep in mind to help students search smart on the web:

http://www.edutopia.org/media-literacy-students-searching

Are you dealing with the 4th grade slump in your school? You may want to check out our summer DVD promotion featuring videos from Franki Sibberson's intermediate classroom. The Right Book at the Right Time and Writers in Transition include small groups, whole class lessons, and conferring around topics such as character development, choosing appropriate books for independent reading, and revision strategies. Order the DVD bundle and save $99 with this limited time offer:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/products/item37.cfm

For Members Only

Who coaches the literacy coaches in your school or district? Heather Rader reflects on life in "Metacognitionville" as she outlines the structure she used this year to provide ongoing support to new coaches. This would be a good article to read with your administrative team as you plan for next fall:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1181.cfm

Andie Cunningham considers how much we can learn from preschoolers in conferences as we listen to them chatter about letters, sounds and words, and the value of this in the midst of assessment:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1169.cfm

We're concluding our video series from The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser), who have been helping a 7th grade teacher redesign her classroom:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1180.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 is an updated video you may want to revisit. Aimee Buckner leads a small group focused on developing paragraphs, using a mentor text to improve writing:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1179.cfm

That's all for this week!