The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy May 29, 2010 Whats Worth Saving and Savoring


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The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
May 29, 2010
What's Worth Saving and Savoring

Recently I was cleaning off a shelf of books and came across a journal I kept when I was a university student in London decades ago. I was struck by how the words brought back a flood of memories, many I'd thought lost forever.

When I was working with preservice teachers at a local university, everyone completed an assignment where they brought in whatever artifacts they had from elementary school assessments. Year after year, the experience was the same. Students would gather up old report cards their parents had saved in attics, and inevitably, they were disappointed that the letters, numbers, and stock comments told them virtually nothing about who they'd been as young learners. It was the special projects on fading construction paper, the autograph books, the photos with funny captions that reminded them of what mattered most to them in grade school.

What will you send home with your students and colleagues this year that will be worth saving in the attic for decades? This week's installment of our series on closing out the year focuses on literacy keepsakes, with suggestions from many Big Fresh readers. Even though it's too late for many of these suggestions for this year, the ideas will give you a running start on planning for next year. Plus more as always - enjoy!

Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy

Free for All

How will you help students treasure their memories from this year? This week's installment of our series Literacy Activities for Closing Out the School Year highlights keepsakes for students to take home:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1187.cfm

Here is a provocative video about the importance of reading choice for high school students. It would be an interesting video to share with students to launch a discussion about summer reading, and what it takes to develop lifelong reading habits:

http://www.huffenglish.com/?p=1294

If 12-year-olds ruled the world, what would school be like? From the Literacy is Priceless blog, a four-minute video to get you thinking about the intersection of technology and student interests in classrooms. Showing this video during a staff meeting might lead to a discussion of how technology tools are being integrated into classrooms at your school:

http://bit.ly/bN6yTW

How 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

Our latest digest on Closing Out the School Year is focused on helping teachers plan for informal summer learning, with ten links to websites and resources at the site worth browsing throughout the summer months:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1186.cfm

Ellen McEvoy continues her year-long series on building a "reading culture" at a school from a volunteer's perspective. In this installment, she reflects on what was learned from a big month of schoolwide activities focused on literacy:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1188.cfm

What does conferring look like in the midst of a busy first grade writing workshop? Katie DiCesare moves from quick "on the fly" check-ins to a more sustained conference with an English language learner in this week's video:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1184.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 -

Partner reading has many benefits for students, but also can be problematic in terms of management. Nowhere is this more evident than in the middle school. In this video from Katie Doherty's sixth-grade classroom, Katie helps two girls who are partner reading develop new inferring skills, and explains how she structures partner reading to avoid problems:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1185.cfm

That's all for this week!