Test Prep

Tomorrow my sixth-grade readers take their state test in reading. In Virginia, the state tests are called SOLs. (Yes, I know. It stands for Standards of Learning.) We have been preparing for tomorrow. The day before is always a tough day. The tension is palpable. I answered questions...and there were a lot of questions! I gave them a pep talk...another one and then class began. They had choices today.

1. Make positive and motivational signs for test takers. 2. Complete practice SOL questions. 3. Read. 4. Write in your notebook. 

Students were invited to do what they needed. I conferenced and checked in on their work and eavesdropped. I heard them whispering and planning their signs. I saw students reading silently and a few practicing for tomorrow with released test questions. Class was relaxed and students were productive.  

Part of my pep talk asked them, What story are you telling yourself? I wondered aloud if they are telling themselves that they are dumb or going to fail or bad? If so, I reminded them to start telling themselves a new story. Their new story is this:

I am ready. I am prepared. I am a successful and accomplished reader. I can do this!  

I reminded them that when they walk into that testing room tomorrow, they aren't alone. I'm with them...not literally, but figuratively. I told them to imagine me sitting on their shoulder...I heard some giggles. I told them to envision me sitting on the top of the computer screen...now there are guffaws and someone blurts out, "You mean, like a floating head?!?!" I smiled and agreed. I told them to imagine whatever helps them.

That's MY head in a jar saying, "You GOT this!!!"

These signs are hanging in the hall as they walk into our classroom.

Thank you to Ruth Ayres for providing this space for sharing our celebrations. Please join us and share your own!

We Are Readers!

As the school year winds down, we are reflecting back on ourselves as readers. I stumbled upon a great project on the Notice & Note group on Facebook. Students are making videos of their reading lives.

We are looking back into our reading logs. We are searching for books read months ago. We are taking pictures of our favorite places to read. We are creatively turning these things, and more, into a video.

Watching my students get so excited about this project inspires me. It's May 24th. We only have a couple of weeks left of school. Today, each class worked diligently for an entire hour on their projects. (I have no pictures because I was working alongside them.)

I love watching them use their voice in the video. I love watching them pose for their pictures. They asked if they could use all the pictures I took this year, so a student showed me how to upload them to Google Photos. Yes, a sixth grader showed me an easier way to share the pictures. What's better than that?

Every year we review our reading logs and talk about how we've grown as readers, but this project is requiring more. They are talking with each other about books. I hear, "Remember when you read that?!?!" or "Oh, that was the best book!! I want to read it again!"

The passion for reading is evident in my classroom. My students are readers. I can't wait to share the videos with you. (I'm making my own too. Can't wait for you to see that, too!) Coming soon...

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, Anna, Kathleen & Deb for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

Celebrating Read Alouds!

Thank you to Ruth Ayres for the opportunity to focus on celebrations every week! 

Please join us!

We are reading aloud Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. If you don't know this book, get it...get it NOW.  It's about a sixth grade girl named Ally who struggles with school. Every word rings true!

Read alouds are one of my favorite things about teaching. Sharing good books with students is powerful...but it's more than that. This book, this story, is helping our classroom become a community. As we share the struggles and successes of Ally and Albert and Keisha, we think about our own struggles and successes. Yesterday we read a chapter called, Misfit Lunch. We watched the video from the Rudolph Christmas special, Island of the Misfit toys.

We talked about negative and positive connotations of the word misfit. I shared how I felt (and feel) like a misfit and I love it! In one class, students shared their own misfit stories. The vulnerability they showed by sharing their own struggles brings us closer together. I beam with pride when I think about how brave they are to share these stories and how kind their classmates are when hearing and responding. One student identifies closely with Albert. I've watched him come alive when I read the parts when Albert is present. Students who struggle with reading feel like they've found a kindred spirit in Ally. 

They are rooting for her to succeed!

This is what I want people to know about "kids today". They are kind and empathetic. They are thoughtful and creative. All they need is a safe place to take a risk and to be themselves... it's really what we all need. A world where we can be authentically ourselves and loved because of it.

If you are looking for a good book, please take some time to read Fish in a Tree. Lynda Mullaly Hunt weaves together a story that has touched our hearts. As classes ended yesterday, I heard, "Pleeeeaaasssseee!!!! One more chapter!!!!" Music to my ears.

I celebrate good books.

I celebrate sharing good books.

I celebrate reading good books together.

Here is some of our thinking about the book. Students jot or sketch as I read aloud and here are some I'd like to share...

Reading Drought

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, Anna, Kathleen & Deb for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers. 

I have a confession. I've been in a reading drought...a serious reading drought. I can't explain it. School has been out for weeks and I haven't finished one book. Not. One. Book. I sit in shame as I watch friends participate in Book A Day challenges and book clubs about professional books and YA books. I continue to order books. I have piles waiting for me...and I don't read them.  The shame spirals. I wonder, "What is wrong with me?!?!" I sit down to read and I can't focus on any one book for more than a few minutes and I refocus my attention on something else. I tell myself, "It's because I'm writing a lot this summer." I tell myself, "I am so busy, I'll get back to it." Excuses. All excuses. How can that happen? ME?!?! Not read? 

This weekend I forced the issue. I made myself sit down, I set the timer and I picked up a book. It's a book I promised to read, as I received an advanced copy. The timer was set, I settled in and started reading. After less than ten minutes, my mind was wandering already, but I refused to move until the timer went off. And then it hit me, "I'm not enjoying this book. I don't like it." And then I panicked, "How can I not enjoy this book?!?! Everyone else who is reading this LOVES it! What's the matter? Am I not getting it? I don't understand, why don't I like it?" When the timer rang, I'd read a few chapters and gave myself permission to feel however I wanted to feel about this book. I found it boring.

Next, I considered my students! I am a teacher. I am a reader. I LOVE to read...and this happened to me. I forgot that simple lesson about enjoying reading. I forgot to give myself permission to abandon a book. I forgot that I loved reading. My readers that never knew the love of reading feel like this everyday when they walk into my class. They feel the dread. The boredom. The confusion. Maybe they feel the shame. The panic. The confusion. It's ok. They need permission. They need to continue their search for that book. The one that will pull them into being a reader. And after that book, the search continues. I need to remember to be patient with my students who just aren't finding any book enjoyable. Remember the shame and the fear and the confusion. TEN MINUTES. I give a book ten minutes and then I'll try again.

I'm happy to say that my reading drought is finally over. 

I'm back to reading professional books and I've almost finished a beautiful novel by Patricia MacClachlan called Kindred Souls.

I'm reading Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. 

I'm reading books about writing.

There are books waiting for me on my Kindle, like, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. 

While I've struggled through this reading drought, I am grateful for it. These weeks and these feelings will make me a better teacher of readers. 

Celebrate!!!

Each week on Saturday 

bloggers celebrate at Ruth Ayres Writes. 

Won't you join us? 

One of my favorite parts of the week is blogging about celebrations and this week is no exception. Here are my celebrations for the week... I celebrate TWITTER! The connections that I've made on twitter have changed me and helped me become a much better teacher. I can't say it enough. This week, I reached a big number on twitter. I have 1,000 followers!!! I consider that an achievement and I'm proud. 

I celebrate my student POETS! We continue to write and revise and rehearse our poetry. Everyday I am inspired by my student poets. This week we began our state tests...in Virginia they are called the SOLs. Read this poem by Bryan about testing...

Preparing today for the standards of learning test

our teacher said you will be pressured.

We'd have to read and think during this SOL

and learn to spell stupendous, Mississippi, 

money, and POWFUNKSHAZAM

We need to remember figurative language

antonyms, synonyms, and imagery.

Recite all the types of genres

and learn to write a poem from scratch.

We'd have to speak fluently in English for poetry.

Learn how to make a great performance.

Remember all of the oldest folk tales,

and crack all the codes in the dictionary.

Then just when we thought that our heads might explode

from learning all the reading and comprehension

she told us the very best thing she could say:

that she was just kidding; this was the real English SOL.

Inspired by Kenn Nesbitt’s poem The World’s Hardest Test

I celebrate READING! Finding books that inspire me and bring out tears and laughter...I love that! This week that book was The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner. It's one of those books that I drag out reading it because I don't want it to end...and it ruins me for other books. I'm having a hard time finding my next read...sigh.