How cold is it in your neck of the woods? Much of North America is

in the midst of a bitterly frigid stretch of weather. I awoke this

morning to a reading of 27 degrees below zero (at least according

to the ancient thermometer on our deck). With the windchill,

temperatures feel like -45F. My husband and I compared notes, and

we're fairly certain this is the coldest weather we've experienced

in the 20 years we've lived in rural Maine.

Whenever there is a cold snap and I find myself hunkered down or

trudging through the snow, I think about one of my favorite short

stories, Jack London's To Build a Fire. I haven't read it in many

years, but the images from it stick with me, especially the ones in

this passage:

Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and

that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, ear flaps, warm

moccasins, and thick socks. Fifty degrees below zero was to him

just precisely fifty degrees below zero. That there should be

anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his

head.

As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. There was a sharp,

explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again. And again, in

the air, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled. He

knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow, but this

spittle had crackled in the air. Undoubtedly it was colder than

fifty below--how much colder he did not know.

It's that crack in the air, like the shot of a gun, that wakes the

man up and makes him realize he'll have to give more thought to the

cold throughout the day. Everything has changed because of how low

the temperature has dipped, and his survival depends upon dealing

well with the changes in the landscape.

This week I sat in on an assessment study group in Waterville,

Maine. I couldn't help but think of how things have changed when

it comes to assessment and testing in schools as I listened to

these teachers struggle to make connections between their teaching

and the state exams.

Much as we keep trying to make the relentless testing

fit into our classroom landscapes of workshops, inquiry, quality

literature, and authentic learning, there's not really much of a

match. Whatever we do to prepare students for timed exams - from

treating tests as another "genre," to holding schoolwide pep

rallies to up everyone's enthusiasm for #2 pencils and bubble

sheets - there is no getting around the nagging sense that too much

of testing these days is about survival. And as long as testing is

about fighting for the survival of anything - of our schools on

"failing lists," or our kids who are struggling with performance

anxiety, or even our own self-esteem as educators - it will never

really be about learning.

So we gear up and make do, turning to each other for tips,

strategies, and the good humor we need to get through the slog of

the testing season. I know before long that ancient thermometer on

my deck will be framed by a basket of flowers and registering

warmth again. There will be real learning and energizing

curriculum again in the weeks beyond the tests, too - we know this,

and it keeps us moving forward with optimism.

This week, we've got advice on how to organize your testing data

with colleagues, last minute warm-ups to help students focus during

exams, and much more as always. Enjoy!

Brenda Power

Editor, Choice Literacy

Free for All

Organizing data so that teachers can see patterns for instruction

and allocating resources is an ongoing challenge. In this

four-minute video,"The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser)

present data charts, an ingenious method for at-a-glance viewing of

student progress across a grade-level team:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/801.cfm

Jennifer Jones discovers just a few minutes of focused preparation

right before tests can make a big difference in performance for

easily distracted students. She shares her tips in "Warm - Ups for

Wandering Minds" from the Choice Literacy Archives:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/480.cfm

The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards (better

known as the CYBILs) have released their shortlist of finalists for

this year's awards. The way in which the books are selected with

input from so many avid readers ensures these are wonderful

choices. Categories include easy readers, poetry, young adult

fiction, and many more:

http://tinyurl.com/7f4gjj

If you are in the mood for a provocative think piece on how

technology is changing the way we read, you might enjoy "People of

the Screen" by Christine Rosen:

http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/people-of-the-screen

"To Build a Fire" by Jack London as well as a wide range of public

domain literature can be found ad-free and available to read

online or download for students at the Internet Accuracy Project:

http://www.accuracyproject.org/t-London,Jack-Fire.html

Registration for CAFE in the Classroom summer and fall workshops is

now open, with events scheduled in Oregon, Texas, Ohio, and Maine.

These popular workshops with The Sisters are designed to help

teachers integrate reading assessment and goal setting into their

student conferences and small groups. Participants each receive a

copy of the CAFE in the Classroom DVD/Workshop Kit, a $229 value.

You can access more details on the workshop and download a

registration form at this link:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/600.cfm

For Members Only

[Not yet a Choice Literacy member? Click here to become a member using our quick and secure enrollment form.]

You are not the boss of me! Andrea Smith uses this rallying cry

from the playground to rethink test prep with her 4th graders. In

this lesson progression, she helps her students think through the

reading strategies they will need to make sense of word problems on

upcoming state tests. This is the first of a three-part video

series:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/791.cfm

We're also continuing Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan's

three-part series, From Data Drowning to Data Wise. This week,

they give advice for how to create databases and graphic analyses

of assessment information that teachers can readily access and use:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/798.cfm

Nothing hooks kids on books more than a favorite character. Franki

Sibberson presents some new series books with intriguing characters

that will delight your students:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/799.cfm

Finally, we've posted a new Choice Literacy Cluster with a focus on

coaching teachers one-on-one. Featured authors include Gail

Boushey, Shari Frost, Karen Szymusiak, Tammy Mulligan, and Clare

Landrigan:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/800.cfm

That's all for this week!

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