First and foremost, I want to take the time to thank Stenhouse and Keith for the opportunity to read this book. It has been a fantastic experience. I come from a district which is very standards based, but have yet to truly venture into the reading/writing workshop model. In my personal classroom, I have been using workshop for five years. What I absolutly love about this book is the ability to read something one night, type up the suggested passages, run off on overheads and teach it the next day. It is very systematic and all of the lessons are very interactive and engaging. It shows great samples for how to start a unit of study, lessons to use during your unit of study, and ways to connect and use with testing strategies. It is not a month reveiw prior to testing, nor is it intended to be used in isolation. The lessons and strategies are intended to be intertwined with regular reading workshop lessons both whole and small group throughout the entire school year. This book will become, much like Mosaic and Strategies, one that is highlighted, dog earred, post-it noted and probably fairly beat up because it will not stay on my shelf. It is a must read to take the anxiety of testing away from our students and give them the tools and strategies to be successful and lifelong, learners, readers, and yes test takers. Mary Baker 5th Grade Teacher Distrit Writing Coordinator/Coach Norris School District> Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:04:17 -0600> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected]> Subject: [MOSAIC] Test Talk> > Hello All,> > Keith asked me to get the ball rolling on the sharing of Test Talk, which four of us were asked to review and share with you all. Thanks, again, Keith and Stenhouse.> > Test Talk: Integrating Test Preparation into Reading Workshop> Greene & Melton> Stenhouse> > ISBN: 9781571104618> > Why did I bother to include all of that? Basically, because I am fairly convinced that you all are going to want to buy the book. I do not know the authors of this book, but I could easily know them. They are teachers that begin by describing a holistic teaching program that aligns closely with my beliefs about literacy instruction, describing their frustration and alarm when their school failed to make AYP despite what they believed to be strong instructional practice. I work with teachers and children in one of the most impoverished counties in the country. AYP is little more than a pipe dream for our schools--we make steady progress with our students and flirt with making safe harbor. I am so fearful of what could be pressed on our teachers, our district and our students in hopes of making AYP. Reading First is not necessarily pretty in my state, though I know it varies widely in state to state implementation.> > Early in the book, this quote spoke strongly to me. "[Steps we take]...must be grounded in a staff's common beliefs about how children learn, and in an unwillingness to waver from best practices." The authors identify language, format and stamina as being issues that stand between children and success on standardized tests. In the remainder of the book, language, format and stamina are addressed in detail with integrated lessons that address these concerns. The lessons are intended to extend workshop instruction, rather than to become isolated or separate test preparation.> > I believe so much in this book that I ordered it for all of our building coaches and hope to have them all read it before the end of this school year. Why? I think it would be extremely valuable reading very early in the upcoming school year to center our discussions around making some simple adjustments to ongoing instruction to address testing concerns. Most specifically, I am hoping that classroom teachers will feel comfortable thinking through the vocabulary lessons in an effort to make sure children 'know what they know' in terms of language they might encounter on a test; incorporating just a few questions formatted similarly to our standardized test across the school year and the curriculum; and make changes to ensure that kids have adequate opportunities to build reading stamina. > > Lori Jackson> District Literacy Coach and Mentor> Todd County School District> Box 87> Mission SD 5755> '> > > > > _______________________________________________> > Mosaic mailing list> > [email protected]> > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to> > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.> > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > > > _______________________________________________> Mosaic mailing list> [email protected]> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.> > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live Hotmail is giving away Zunes. http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/ZuneADay/?locale=en-US&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Mobile_Zune_V3 _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
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