Thank you, Kimberlee. I agree....there never seems to be enough time to submerge ourselves in the writing. We have been reading novels together, individually, and in the lit book. I think the reading aloud is really beneficial since I can be dramatic & help the books come to life. We also get to laugh as a class over parts in books. I need to work on incorporating the writing in a more effective manner.
I team teach one class as an inclusion class with a Special Ed teacher. One thing we have done is we share the majority of the reading to model fluency, but walk around and tap a student's desk. They are all to follow in their books. We tell them the importance of reading the words and not just listening. If they seem to be disinterested, bored, etc., we tell them we will call on them to read. One of us reading that day will tap their desk quietly and have them read a sentence or a paragraph. Some days it is just a sentence, others more. Then they are all reading along with us better and if they read aloud it does not slow the whole book down to a crawl. Students have groaned when others read so slow. This seems to be a happy middle ground. (I have also tried a few books on tape to rest my voice.) We have assessed those who are strong aloud readers and those who hate it. We polled them. Some LOVE to read aloud and others fear it. We are trying to meet them halfway on it to take the fear out of reading aloud time. We are finishing Watsons Go To Birmingham which is clever, deep.& laugh-out-loud-funny in many places. I heard a student today saying, "Wow. I have never read that long at one time before!" I think we hit 35 minutes today. It is great to see them love getting lost in a book...with so little time, it has never happened for many of them. Now I plan to work on how to write more effectively once the testing is over. Our major testing is early April so we will have weeks to work on more writing. Our writing prompts were done in January. Do you have a favorite book or internet site you use for incorporating writing into the classroom? Thank you. Lucinda Secrist Middle School Tucson, Arizona ----- Original Message ----- From: "kimberlee hannan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 6:32 PM Subject: Re: [LIT] Management Details > Lucenda, > I think it was Donald Graves who said something to the effect, "If you > can't > teach writing at least three days a week, then don't bother." I actually > just saw that line again the other day, and smiled because I truly believe > it. I have the kids write Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays in Writer's > Workshop, and read on Thursdays and Fridays in Reader's Workshop. And to > tell you the truth I HATE IT. > > I have a 49 period. I am pretty good at getting the kids started, so I > have > the entire 49 minutes to teach. I am required to do 5 minutes every day > of > Standards Plus. A test practice tool. I don't like it much, but I have > seen worse. Then by the time I do a 10-15 mini lesson, and take status of > the class, the kids have about 20 minutes independent time, which is not > nearly enough time. I tried giving up the status time and just roving to > collect pages and drafts. I couldn't get around to everyone every day. > Besides, I like how they see what each other is reading and writing. > > I am thinking about going to reading and writing units maybe switched off > monthly or quarterly for next year, as long as the lesson time, > independent > time, and sharing or follow-up time is very consistent and predictable. I > see the kids need more chunks of time. There is never enough time to get > into anything; them, the work, or me, the conferencing. I also like the > notebooks, because I hate loose papers. I tolerate drafts in folders, > because I don't have any better answers, but I'd rather have things taped > in. I have a teenage daughter and have seen the abuse her papers go > through. I may have them leave their stuff in the room next year, too. > > Since this is my first year in middle school, I have more questions than > answers at times. But you folks are great at offering good advice. > > Thanks, > Kim > > > > -- > Kimberlee Hannan > Department Chair > Sequoia Middle School > Fresno, CA > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.412 / Virus Database: 268.18.2/692 - Release Date: 2/18/2007 > > _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
