The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
January 7, 2012
Personal Records
Success means doing the best we can
with what we have. Success is in the going, not the getting; in the
trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for
the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.
Zig Ziglar
"I PR'd it!" my son exclaimed over the phone after his meet.
"That's great!" I responded. "Does that mean 'public relations'?"
"No -- it's my PR, my personal record. I ran the fastest mile ever
timed for me."
I'm new to the world of high school sports and a little behind on my
initialisms, but I'm learning. What I love about cross country is that my
son has the support of a team while competing only with himself -- kind
of like teaching.
With PR'ing on my mind, I was in Linda Karamatic's class one day
during reading workshop. Gianna, a second grader, was explaining to the
class what she did when she got stuck on a word from her book Alfie All Alone .
"Well, first I asked Ahna what mountaineered meant but she didn't know,
so then we asked Charlie. We saw the word mountain inside, but didn't
know about eered. Then all three of us looked it up, but they only had
mountaineer and the dictionary said it was someone who climbs a
mountain for sport. So we substituted climbed for mountaineered in the
sentence and it made sense."
Linda praised the readers' perseverance, and showed how the
word volunteer (a word they all knew) was similar to mountaineer:
adding an 'ed' changed the word from referring to a person to
representing an action.
I contend that Gianna PR'ed that day by asking for team support, finding
a word she knew inside of an unknown word, and using a classroom
resource. I also celebrate Linda's PR in trusting her students'
independence and quick expertise for an on-the-spot lesson about verb
endings.
This is the week where so many of us are tackling resolutions for the
new year, focusing on weaknesses and goals that we can document and
chart to show improvement. Yet all of us PR often in our schools.
Because these moments aren't timed or easily measured, we need to
remember to stop and celebrate them. What was a PR for you this fall?
This week we're featuring resources to help you think in new ways about
social studies in schools. Plus more as always -- enjoy!
Heather Rader
Senior Editor, Choice Literacy
Free for All
[For sneak peeks at our upcoming features, quotes and extra links, you
can follow Choice Literacy on Twitter: @ChoiceLiteracy]
Here are two booklists from the Choice Literacy archives to help you
include more children's literature in your social studies curriculum.
Ruth Shagoury presents Social
Justice Picture Books that even the youngest learners can enjoy:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1390.cfm
Mandy Robek shares some of her
favorite books for Teaching Economics with Children's Literature:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/571.cfm
The S-Collection (from the University of Illinois) provides an
excellent booklist of children's literature linked to family histories:
http://bit.ly/s3Zz0q
If you find yourself in a writing rut, you might be inspired by our
new podcast from Ruth Ayres. She talks about finding time for
writing, and different ways into the process for teachers:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1732.cfm
A special event this week on the Kidlitosphere is a conversation about
Mentor Texts in the Digital Writing Workshop. Contributing bloggers
include Bill Bass, Katie DiCesare,
Mary Lee Hahn, Troy Hicks, Kevin Hodgson, Tony Keefer, and Franki Sibberson. You can read all
about it here:
http://bit.ly/tts0G9
Last chance to sign up for Demonstration Lessons, a three-week online
course hosted by Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan that will run
January 12 - 26. For details including fees and format, please click on
this link:
http://workshops.choiceliteracy.com/courses/category/24531
For Members Only
What do students need to know about historical fiction to comprehend
what they read? This week's video features Aimee Buckner leading a lesson and
constructing an anchor chart with fifth graders:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1756.cfm
Current and Cocoa is a fun routine for integrating social studies,
literacy, and conversation in classrooms. Heather Rader describes how the
weekly activity builds community and fosters awareness of news events:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1754.cfm
Wild Facts is a terrific example of how Andrea Smith's intermediate
students naturally connect Web resources with content learning:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1755.cfm
Seizing an unexpected learning opportunity may be the best way to
remember why you became a teacher in the first place. Karen Terlecky celebrates one of
these serendipitous moments in Pitching My Lesson Plans for a Day of
Peace and Poetry:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1752.cfm
Franki Sibberson presents two
more minilessons from her cycle on teaching students how to respond to
reading:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1757.cfm
This week's video upgrade bonus is also from Franki Sibberson. In Nonfiction Word
Hunt, students talk through new vocabulary and develop a content word
display together. This is the first in a two-part series:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/775.cfm
That's all for this week!
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About
Jennifer Allen
