The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
July 25, 2009
There's Room for Me Here
What's the hardest thing for a teacher to do when setting up the room
before students arrive? It may be leaving most of the walls
and bulletin boards bare. We pride ourselves in
planning schedules and lessons that maximize time, build community,
and help students thrive from the moment they step into the
classroom. And that begins with a classroom that is
well-organized, clean. . .and beautifully decorated.
Yet those bare walls send a message more powerful than the most lovely
displays. As Debbie Miller writes in Teaching with Intention:
When kids walk into classrooms on the first day of school, we want them
to feel, "Oh good! There's room for me here!" When everything
is already done, kids don't have to wonder much about who is in
charge. They know that from the minute they walk into the
room.
That's why on the first days of school the classroom walls, bulletin
boards and doors will be almost bare. That's as it should
be! Don't jump in and "put stuff up" just to make yourself
feel better. Be patient. In a few days, your
students' classroom portraits could be smiling back at you, or
beginning of the year interviews posted for all to see. . .
If you're in a leadership role, working with colleagues instead of
children, you can send an equally strong message about the value of bare walls
by leaving a few bulletin boards throughout the school clean and empty
at the start of the year too. In the hallways, resource room,
teacher work area - anywhere you've put up commercial materials in the
past or generic "welcome" displays.
Just a small note in the middle of an empty display that says "Waiting
for the amazing writing and art of our students!" speaks volumes to
every child who walks by that their thinking and learning will be at
the heart of the community all year long. Those bare walls
are a great topic for a newsletter to families, too - explaining
the importance of displaying and discussing thinking in classrooms
throughout the school.
When I wrote last year about beginning the year with bare walls, I was
surprised at how many teachers wrote in thanking me. Some
liked the suggestion, and others just liked being validated after
feeling a little insecure looking at the gorgeous displays of the
teacher next door or across the hall. I hope this year you'll
be even more bare, leaving room for students to design everything from
your library book bin labels to the tags for storage areas.
This week, we've got resources for thinking through the first
read alouds of the year. Plus more as always - enjoy!
Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy
Free for All
Two features from the Choice Literacy Archives to help you think
through your read alouds in the early weeks of school -
Mary Lee Hahn plans her read alouds for double duty, using them to
build the community and a love of reading:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/789.cfm
Of the hundreds of features at Choice Literacy, Shari Frost's
Read Alouds for the First Day of School has the distinction of being
the all-time most popular article we've posted. In this
essay, Shari shares the suggestions of her colleagues of the best book
to share for the very first read-aloud. There are ideas here
for every elementary grade level:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/403.cfm
Read Alouds are different in the middle and high school
years, but no less important. The Reading Zone blog has a
terrific "nuts and bolts" post on when and how to fit read-alouds into
the constraints of middle school periods and blocks:
http://tinyurl.com/c98t9e
The Screen Actors Guild hosts Storyline Online, chock-full of video
read alouds. Well-known actors read children's
books, and the videos are optimized to play at almost any bandwidth
(even dial-up). I was surprised at the variety of books -
there are many current and diverse new titles here:
http://www.storylineonline.net/
The final Choice Literacy Workshops in 2009 will take place in
Rockland, Maine October 17-18 at the beautiful Samoset Resort. Topics
include CAFE Assessment with The Sisters, Assessment with Clare
Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan, Delight in Words with Franki Sibberson,
and Literacy Coach Jumpstart with Jennifer Allen. If you have
never been to this venue on the rocky Maine coast, you are in for a
treat. You can download the two-page PDF brochure describing the
workshops at this link:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/samoset09.pdf
For Members
Only
Even if your walls are bare, you'll be planning now how to
fill them as the year goes on. Our new Choice Literacy
Cluster on Wall Displays includes video and writing from Jennifer
Allen, Karen Terlecky, and "The Sisters" (Joan Moser and Gail
Boushey). There are suggestions for whole-school displays,
anchor charts, and prepping walls for student work before the school
year begins:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/935.cfm
When and how should you launch writers' notebooks in your
classroom? According to Aimee Bucker, it depends on
if you are a "wader" or a "diver." She shares some of the
ways she has slowly and quickly moved students into their notebooks in
years past:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/936.cfm
No matter where technology takes our teaching in the coming years,
there will always be a human face to it. There's a sea of
people writing about technology and teaching on the web - Franki
Sibberson shares her favorite 21st Century Literacy bloggers.
These are the folks worth bookmarking and visiting often:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/928.cfm
Finally, if you're browsing through new books thinking about how to use
them for strategy instruction, Andie Cunningham has some
thoughtful recommendations in her new booklist:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/934.cfm
That's all for this week!
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