The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
April 25, 2009
When We Were Little
Tell me a story from
when you were yittle.
My daughter could never pronounce the "l" in "little" when she was
a preschooler. When she was bored or we were driving around in the car,
she would often pipe up with a request for a tale from when I was
"yittle" like her. She loved hearing about the
scheme I had with my sisters for selling tadpoles door to door to earn
money one summer (that really didn't work out well), my best friends,
the trouble I got in...and the teachers who made their mark on me.
As busy as this time is for teachers, you've probably done most
everything you need to do for a successful year already with students
and colleagues. Classroom communities are thriving, and
there's a quiet sense of accomplishment as you close out your
professional development offerings for the year.
We're greedy. It's not enough for most of us to do the job
well - we want to be remembered. Decades from now,
our students will have children of their own, and those children will
ask for stories. We want at least a few of those to come from our
classrooms.
Have you told your students and colleagues enough stories from when you
were little this year? For my daughter, "little"
meant her size. For our students and colleagues, it means
when we were in their shoes - with less experience and fewer skills,
and often more enthusiasm than commonsense. The
most memorable stories often begin with a failure - the bigger the
better.
Nothing binds us to others more than the stories we share, especially
those that make us laugh together. So before the year rushes
to an end, I hope you'll find time to share at least a few more
anecdotes from when you were little - just learning to read, write,
teach, and lead. And when your students aren't little
anymore, they may still be passing your wisdom along.
This week, we've got suggestions for building relationships with
families, plus more as always. Enjoy!
Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy
Free for All
From the Choice Literacy Archives, here are ideas for creative Family
Literacy Events:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/152.cfm
Many websites are posting lists of summer reading
suggestions. Here are a few of my favorites -
The Horn Book has posted their annotated list of summer reading picks:
http://www.hbook.com/resources/books/summer.asp
Basketball fans may have March Madness, but those of us who
love young adult literature have School Library Journal's Battle of the
Books. Check out the fun, with brackets, judges, and the early rounds
now underway at this link:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1180000718.html
We've posted our full slate of Choice Literacy Workshop summer and fall
events, including new offerings on middle school reading
instruction,word work, nonfiction in the intermediate grades, and
dealing with assessment data. These new topics are in addition to our
popular offerings from last year on CAFE assessment, struggling
readers, literacy coaching, and the literacy principal in action:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/department22.cfm
For Members Only
Tis the season for budget cuts, and the less defined your job is, the
more likely it is to be cut. In "Making the Case for Literacy
Coaches," Shari Frost provides 10 compelling reasons why
literacy coaches are essential for any school to retain:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/881.cfm
This week's video from the Choice Literacy Archives to help you think
about cleaning up and re-organizing classrooms for next year.
Aimee Buckner gives a tour of her 4th grade classroom, highlighting
book displays and a gathering area focused on literacy:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/556.cfm
As the quality of nonfiction for students has grown, so have our
expectations for using these books with students. Franki
Sibberson's booklist of new nonfiction presents texts that
can help students move beyond "skimming and scanning," and into more
in-depth reading:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/879.cfm
Finally, we've posted a new Choice Literacy Cluster on Communicating
with Families, with contributions from Ruth Shagoury, Clare Landrigan,
and Tammy Mulligan:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/872.cfm
That's all for this week!
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Jennifer Allen