"Writing floats on a sea of talk," (1970, Britton).

I went to the 2 Sisters conference, The Daily 5 in Kindergarten yesterday. It was fun and informative. I left wanting more of course; however, what I learned should keep me busy for now. What is funnier to me is after reading a blog post this morning I am not hearing the voices of the sisters but instead the voice of one of my mentors, Geri Williams..."writing floats on a sea of talk." She loves this quote.

So from there, I typed "writing floats on a sea of talk" on the google search bar, and this is the article that got me really going this morning. (If you are just interested in the part that sparked me, check out the last section of the article).

I have always included a time with third graders for what we call "reading buddies." Why not a writing buddy too! There is nothing better than watching your students, every single one engaged, with a one-on-one partner, reading. I can only imagine the amazement I would feel to watch the same thing happen with writing. DUH! Why haven't I done this before? Maybe I ran out of steam to plan it or maybe I just needed this little spark to get me going. Wow, if I can train the third graders (with the help of an amazing third grade teacher) to confer with my little guys, how awesome would that be? REALLY AWESOME! Okay, so now I am just getting obnoxiously giddy, but I cannot wait to try this out. Kids get so tired of hearing me talk, I know some of them will be moved by their buddy talking. Anything that can get a kid moving is worth doing. Oh how cute, another catchy phrase. Happy day all!

"Did you consider he might be gifted?"

"Don't go around telling people he's gifted." (Betsy)
"Why not?" (Shawn)
"Because...we don't know that...and...it sounds...it sounds like you think he's better." (Betsy)

The above was an exchange between my husband and I a couple of weeks ago. I can admit that our son seems unique in some ways. He has loved documentaries about nature and the ocean since we started letting him watch TV over any cartoon. His vocabulary is extensive and usually humorous to adults. He loves to draw, experiment and create. He can be very detailed and often falls apart when things don't go as he planned. He is easily thrown into emotional tantrums that he is learning to control but make us go, "wha??" He is complex, he is a human being, he is six, and I have a hard time believing he is that much different than his peers. I do wonder about the emotional part though, that has always been a difference, a glaring difference. The other things were differences at times as well, but they just seem like personal interests. Do they really mean he is "different?" All this thought and questioning lead me to a book, Guiding the Gifted Child, A practical Source for Parents and Teachers, by Webb, Meckstroth and Tolan. I don't know that I chose the right book to begin analyzing this idea of "gifted and talented" but I am realizing that this little question is relevant because as a kindergarten teacher I should probably know more about what defines a gifted child.

I have read about half the book so far and this is what is standing out, most of which I am finding disappointing and disturbing.
About two and one half percent of the population is gifted, meaning in the easiest measurable way, their IQ ranges from 130-200. What I find interesting here is that there are 70 points spread within the gifted category. The average person has an IQ of 100 while a person who is borderline mentally impaired is only 45 points lower, and then lower yet refers to those who are more significantly impaired. So from 0-100 points is all of us average and below and then the next 101-200 refer to those above average or into the gifted ranges. Now, what becomes more interesting yet is how this books paints a picture that describes being "afflicted" with being gifted. Wow, I never thought of someone who was gifted as being struck with an illness or a crippling syndrome, but I was naive before reading this book, and I still have a long way to go on this subject. Below is an excerpt from the book that will stay with me and hopefully help me to consider that a child who sees the world so differently, acts so differently, and feels emotion so differently may need a teacher willing to see things differently too.

Imagine that there is no other world to live in, and much of the world's productions are, in fact, mediocre. The challenge, then, is whether we could learn to live gladly in that world, with personal contentment, sharing and joy, or whether we would be angry, depressed, withdrawn and miserable . . . perhaps finally deciding that such a life was not worth living (page 26).

I know, heavy isn't it? It was also sad for me to learn that many gifted children drop out of school. I am going to read more of this book, but I think for the purposes of my learning I am going to seek out the following book as a follow-up, Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Strength in Children, by Lantieri and Goleman. As for my son, parenting is hard and I need to keep learning how to do it better, no matter what his intelligence.

What if I Don't?

Pictured is the daunting stack of books on my "to read" list. Mind you, no individual is pressuring me do this, but it is what I feel is necessary for my growth as a reader/teacher. That is why I started this blog to begin with, to motivate myself to get through these many beautiful books I had sitting at my bedside, (which has grown since I began almost a year ago and they are on the floor next to my bed now because I couldn't see my alarm clock). 

Here's the thing...I look at this stack with excitement because I want to know what is inside these books. However, it takes a lot of commitment to read this much for the purpose of learning. I don't know where to start, especially since I have started many of them and not finished them, (shocking isn't it). Do I set a goal, a number of pages a day I will commit to reading? Then what if I don't? And what if some of the books don't seem to deliver, do I give up on them or continue out of respect?  Not sure I should worry about pace or a goal yet, but maybe just a little attainable goal wouldn't be so bad. Seems I haven't really answered my first question. Hmm...probably should get reading.

Are You a Starter or a Finisher?

I am guilty of being a starter. I realize to be a finisher you have to be a starter, so I am halfway there, right? Oh, but to actually finish something takes a whole different skill set. Which, I have to believe I have...like, somewhere inside of me. I mean, its not like I never finish anything. It is the "unecessary (yet actually necessary) stuff" I wish I would finish...or at least continue. This blog for instance. So, here I am again, I am going to attempt to continue. And, when I think about it, this is the sort of thing that shouldn't really have a "finish"...relief.

As I re-read this post it makes me think of running a race and reminds me of a poem I wrote several months ago called Stamina.

In the Workshop!

I am going to tackle this book in sections, likely two chapters at a time and give a description of what I found most meaningful.

The first chapter is titled Writing Workshop A Happy Place Where We Make Stuff, signifying how simple the task of writing can be for those just beginning the process. The second chapter is titled, Work, Space, and Time Writing Workshop Right from the Start.

This book is already challenging some of the ideas I have been schooled to try in my own teaching. I love it when my beliefs about teaching writing are confronted. This constantly forces me to review the building blocks of my path and helps me create new ones, because there is always more to learn—right?

Katy Wood Ray is a teaching consultant in Lisa B. Cleveland’s classroom of first grade students. In this classroom, writing workshop begins after a couple days of classroom routine activities to get the year started. Workshop begins at 9:00am each day. Once some stamina is in place, students work on writing for close to an hour’s time. Beginning with a mini-lesson, Lisa introduces concepts to the students and asks them to wonder, “Is this something I could try in my writing?” She then releases them to the materials in the room that are easily utilized independently by the students. They begin with stapled booklets of paper. Their first tasks are making little books full of illustrations and writing at their level. By stapling the paper she has immediately made something they understand—books. The idea of something as big as a book is what elicits the big ideas the students eventually become comfortable with and they write more. Katy Wood Ray explains that their philosophy on little writers deviates from the common “journal,” and their feeling is that journaling takes away the reading and writing connection deemed so important. Journals are often used because of the efficiency, in terms of the management of materials. For the littlest of writers, making a book is much more tangible and understood. It becomes reading material for them and something to be shared. She explains further that often journals may include a given topic, making the reins of writing tight. This quote said it all to me:

“If we told students what to do all day long, we’d be teaching them to think of themselves as people who should wait to be told what to do (pg. 19).”

 See you soon in chapters three and four!

Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear about what you are reading too, please feel free to comment below!

New Motivation

Students are always so challenging those few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, then you get back to school after the New Year and everyone is tired, out of practice, and in need of a revival of sorts. I am hoping some of my new reading will be just what I've been waiting for, helping me deliver some of what my students will be needing when we return in January.
For Christmas I got the new book Day by Day by Ruth Ayres and Stacey Shubitz from a dear friend who knows me well. I also got the CAFE book by The Sisters from my husband. This is one I have been waiting to purchase too, waiting because I haven't finished About the Authors by Katie Wood Ray. Looks like I will be busy over the next several weeks.
Let the flow of ideas begin!

Perspectives on Spelling

Wow, it’s definitely that time of year when it feels like there is no time for anything extra. I have been perplexed over spelling this past month.

In Dancing with the Pen, spelling is discussed as a tool not a barrier to student writing. The teaching of spelling has encountered many styles. I personally remember taking spelling tests, having classroom spelling bees and I remember thinking spelling was all about luck. Either you were a good speller or a bad speller. I never felt it was something I was taught; instead I was just one of the lucky ones who could somehow avoid humiliation during a spelling bee because I was never the first one to sit down.  I almost never won either.

The section of Dancing with the Pen that elaborates on spelling is based on Richard Gentry’s paper that analyzes the development of spelling called, GNYS AT WRK. Gentry identifies five stages of spelling that I will briefly describe.

Precommunicateive: I usually call this “stringing letters.”

Semiphonetic: They begin to approximate. They begin to show some connection to letters and their appropriate sounds.

Phonetic: A consonant framework emerges. Some vowels may also be included and possibly high frequency words will be spelled correctly.

Transitional: This stage is where students are completely relying on sound to letter correspondence. They make errors based on what they think are hard and fast rules of language (/sed/ for “said” or /nit/ for “night”). Other examples include: “tipe” (type), or “lasee” (lazy).

Correct: Aside from just having mostly correct spelling, students are also able to identify when there is a misspelled word and the student may have a suggestion as to a correction. Students are able to monitor their own progress more readily due to the number skills that are in place.

So, this leads me to wonder, if these are developmental stages of spelling, and there is a continuum like pace to teaching spelling, why do some still do spelling tests from way back when? I sometimes think it may be due to parents liking the idea of a spelling list. A less overwhelming home activity that is familiar. 

I try to meet students where they are with spelling. I do not do spelling tests, but I do teach in isolation high frequency words, which could be considered a spelling list of sorts. I expect students to spell the words correctly within their writing after they have been taught and try to hold them accountable for their learning and my teaching. However, I am curious and would like to know more about what foundations need to be in place for a child to become a really good speller. Is it obvious; is it as simple as letter and sound knowledge, basic word identification, and some attention to spelling patterns? Or, is it deeper than this? Rebecca Sitton, the author of a spelling program is something my school is looking into as a way to fill what seems to be a gap in our spelling curriculum. I would love feedback on this program if anyone has experience with it, or if they have other ideas. Is there anyone out there attempting to imbed spelling; how successful is this and how is it done?  So, I am still program vs. no-program and not sure what is more appropriate. Suggestions and comments are welcome!