Pernille Ripp's Blog, page 68

Great Picture Books to Teach Theme

I need to apologize.  This post will be the longest one yet with the most suggestions of which picture books to use for something.  But it makes sense; theme is one of those things that is present in so many great picture books, so when I started going through my classroom library, I ended up with a huge stack.

Some of these books I use in guided groups with the students, meaning that their theme may need a little more thinking to find, others I hand to the students for them to use in their discussions and reflection.  Which ones depend on the class and the conversations we are having.  I love how many of these picture books can be found on my other lists, this truly shows just how many times a picture book can be used in a classroom.  These are investment books, not “just” for fun, and give us a shared experience that will shape our community and conversations all year.

Note:  While I am writing a blurb on what the them of the book is, many of these books have multiple themes, so my blurb is not the the only one.

Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, our picture book author study for Global Read Aloud is about finding your place in the world and having courage to try new things.

Also by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, The Ok Book is a great one for why you should keep trying things until you discover what you are great at.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein is all about following your dreams and doing the impossible.  It is also my chosen read aloud every September 11th.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown where Mr. Tiger just will not conform.  When he tries to change his ways, he loses his real identity.

This Is A Moose by Richard T. Morris and Tom Lichtenheld is a great example of the what happens when others try to make you into something you are not.

What I love about Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Christian Robinson, is that most of my students can relate to its message about being expected to fit in in a certain way.

Any day I can use Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed is a good day in our room. The universal theme of friendship and change is easy to spot here.

While Oscar’s Spots by Janet Robertson is more than 20 years old, I still love the copy we have in our classroom.  The theme of staying true to yourself and self worth is great one.

I am pretty sure I can teach almost anything with the help of Peter H. Reynolds.  His beautiful book Ish is a fantastic book for theme and what it means to discover your own talents and not let self doubt ruin it for you.

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson is one of those picture books you can use for so many things; memoir, aha moment, words of the wiser, teaching empathy and such.  The theme of forgiveness, the impact of decisions, and how kindness gets passed on is a great lesson for all kids.

A Perfectly Messed Up Story by Patrick McDonnell is one of many amazing picture books from this author.  I love the simple aha moment of realizing that it can be good enough even if it is not perfect.  This is a great read for many of our students who push toward perfect every time to the detriment of their own sanity.

Elwood Bigfoot: Wanted Birdie Friends by Jill Esbaum is not only a great book to discuss friendship and how we must stay true to ourselves, but is great reminder to students.

You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang is about how we judge others and what it all really means.

I have long been a loud fan of Bob Shea’s for a long time.  After all, he is the genius that wrote Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great so I had to get Ballet Cat The Totally Secret Secret.  It is laugh out loud funny.  And the best part is that I can completely relate to the story and so will my students.

Marilyn’s Monster by Michelle Knudsen is one I think many of my students will gravitate toward with its quiet message.  I know I will be using it to facilitate deeper conversations about finding our own path in the world.

Wild About Us by Karen Beaumont is a beautiful book in many ways.  The illustrations done by Janet Stevens pop off the page and catch your eye, but the message of the book is what really got me.  We all have things that we can pick apart, but what we do with those things is what matters.

Thea, my kindergartner, came home and told me that I had to get this book about a big red crayon.  Okay…. I thought.  But she was right, Red – A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall was one that I had to read aloud to my 7th graders.  And then we had to discuss what it meant staying true to one’s own nature as well as facing the pressures of others.  I swear this book was written for middle schoolers and not young children secretly.

It is a celebration in my life whenever the talented Ame Dyckman comes out with a new picture book and Wolfie the Bunny was definitely a cause for celebration.  This book about assumptions and what they can lead to has not only made my students laugh out loud, but more importantly, has led us to question our own assumptions about others.

I have Bluebird by Bob Staake on many favorite picture book lists, and there is a reason for that.  The shock on my students faces when we get to that page.  The questions, the discussion when I step out of the way are priceless.  This is a wordless picture book which also means that my students love interpreting the ending and allows them to find confidence when they are discovering what theme means.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes once again teaches students what it means to be proud of yourself and not try to change for others.

The Day I Lost My Super Powers by Michael Escoffier is a book that tells a familiar tale of childhood imagination.  I hope to use this to bring my students back to when they thought anything was possible and to reignite their passion for thinking they have the ability to make a difference in the world.

Orion and the Dark by Emma Yarlett is stunning. The story about a boy who is afraid of the dark is sure to elicit conversations about our fears and what we can do to conquer them.  I cannot wait for my students to discover all the details of this book.

Language surrounds us all but by middle school certain words seem to lose their off limit-ness.  That’s why I love Little Bird’s Bad Word by Jacob Grant.  This book will give us a way to discuss what our language says about us as people and how our casual conversations can harm others.  What a great conversation to have.

An amazing wordless picture book by Jon Arne Lawson and Sydney Smith that tells the tale of Sidewalk Flowers and what happens when we are too busy to notice the world around us.

Ben Clanton’s Something Extraordinary is just that – extraordinary.  Once again a simple story unfolds leading us to rich conversations about imagination and how it can color our world.

The beautiful story of Last Stop On Market Street by Matt De La Pena is one meant to spur conversation about our lives, our assumptions, and how we view the world.  But the illustrations?  They tell an even richer story, one that I cannot wait to discuss with my students, many of whom have never ridden a bus or even been in an urban neighborhood.

I am always in favor of a picture book that allows us to discuss how we treat others, particularly when teaching middle schoolers.  I love the story in Henry Hyena, Why Won’t You Laugh by Doug Jantzen and think it will resonate with many of my students with a fairly easy theme for them to discover and discuss.

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires continues to be a crowd favorite in my classroom with its theme of not giving up and seeing the usefulness in things we otherwise may discard.  I love when students pick out the details that are in the illustration and we refer to it often when we create ourselves.

On my daughter’s 6th birthday she was gifted Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg.  I took one look at it and then bought a copy for my classroom.  Students are so quick to dismiss their own mistakes, but this book with its simple show of what you can do with those “oops” is sure to inspire a moment to re-think and re-draw before a supposed mistake is discarded.

I am sure I was not the only one jumping up and down when the Caldecott award was announced this year and The Adventures of Beekle – The Unimaginary Friendwas the big winner.  I have cherished this book in the classroom for its simple message about imagination and taking control of ones own destiny.  The illustrations are divine in the book and have inspired many students to draw their own imaginary friends.

I love the giggles that students, yes even 7th graders, get whenever I read aloud Froodle by Antoinette Portis.  The message to embrace their uniqueness and let their true personality shine is not one that is lost on them.

Another book by Mac Barnett on the list is Extra Yarn.  I have loved using this book to discuss theme with students but I also love how it shows that you can take something simple that you can do and turn it into something extraordinary.  Often this is the biggest aha moment that students get from this book.

The North Star by Peter H. Reynolds, I told you he is a genius.  This is the final book I read to my students every year as I hope it inspires them to take a risk and find their own path in life.

Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea is one of the best tales for discussing the theme of how often we misjudge others.

From the title to the illustrations, think of the discussion My Teacher is a Monster – No, I Am Not by Peter Brown  will elicit.  I loved the message, but also the nuance with which it is presented, and let’s face it; many students think their teachers are not quite human and this is a great book to discuss just that.

We love Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  This sweet story of a spoon trying to fit in and finding his place in the world was one that made us laugh and think about our own place in the world.

What can I say about The Dot that countless others have not said already?  The simple message of making your mark on the world and being good enough is one that left its mark on us.

Journey by Aaron Becker was used as the culmination of our first reading unit, which happened to be a lesson I was observed during.  I asked the students why I picked this book to share with them as our celebration book and their reasons blew me away.  “We are on a journey in reading like the girl.”  “We also can create what we want 5th grade to be like she does with her world” were among some of the things said.  Again a wordless picture book brought some of our deepest conversations.

I pulled this book out after a recess incident that had really rattled my team.  Whenever I send my students out to play and be with their friends, I never think that they may not be friends outside, that they may say mean things about each other, that they may exclude, and yet that day they proved me wrong.  I knew we had to discuss what had happened but instead of another lecture from me about the power of our community, the sanctity of what we have built, and how we should all fit in, I let this picture book, Zero by Kathryn Otoshi do the talking for me.

The Big Box by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison is a great picture book for more advanced thinking, the students will get it with prompting though and it leads to some pretty amazing conversations.

Patricia Polacco is a master storyteller, Mr. Wayne’s Masterpiece is great for discovering courage and sharing experiences where we had to overcome our fears.

I love Billy’s Booger – A Memoir by William Joyce for discussing great ideas and how they can be interpreted.

I know there are more, but thought this was a good start.  So many of these books are incredible, so many of them can be used for many teaching points, so many of these books will become favorites in your classroom.  Happy reading and please do share your favorites!

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

Filed under: being a teacher, being me, books, Literacy, picture books, Reading

Reading Forms I Use

There are certain forms and surveys that I use to prompt conversations, as well as do managerial things with my students.  Why not share them?  So feel free to modify and make them your own, just make a copy and you can edit them.

Mature Books Permission Slips for Elementary.  I used this to get parent approval for students to read YA in my class.

Classroom Library Letter for Parents.  This letter is adapted from letters that Kate Messner and Jillian Heise shared and is a letter I send home at the beginning of the year to explain the variety of books in our classroom letters.

Reader Survey.  This survey is for my students at the beginning of the year as I try to learn their reading truths.

Reader Identity Profile.  This is a vital part of my recordkeeping and helps me get all information straight that my students give me at the beginning of the year. This is a work in progress.

Filed under: being a teacher

If My Classroom Library Was For Me

image from icanread

If my classroom library was for me there would be no dog books.  Well, almost no dog books because Rain Reign deserves to be there.  There would be no sports books, except for maybe Stupid Fast.  There would be no books with mermaids, unicorns, or any kind of princess, except for the feisty ones.  If my classroom library was for me, I would have only books that I know would fit all of my readers, that no one would ever object to or question.  I would take the easy way, after all, who needs more worries in their life?

There would be shelves and shelves of dystopian science fiction mixed with a little bit of love.  There would be historical fiction but mostly the more recent stuff.  Realistic fiction would be a major section, but fantasy would be reserved for the stuff that makes sense, after all, who needs books about dragons?

But it is not.

Our classroom library is filled with dog books.  With books about kings and queens, footballs, and dragons.  It is filled with books about men who went to war and never came back, and women who conquered the world.  It is filled with science, with history, and even with joke books because who doesn’t need a good laugh now and then.

Our classroom library is not just for me.  It serves more than 120 students and some may have similar tastes as me, but  most of them don’t.  So when I choose whether a book deserves a spot in our library, I cannot just think of myself.  I cannot be afraid to place books in it that scare me.  I cannot be afraid of what others may think if I know that a book is needed.  I cannot use myself as a measuring stick.  If I did, our library would not be for the students.

So when we purchase books.  When we decide what to display.  What to book talk.  What to remove, keep this in mind; our classroom libraries are meant to be homes to all readers.  Not just the ones that are like ourselves.  Not just the ones who have seemingly quiet lives filled with normal things like family dinner and soccer.  Not just the ones who love to read.  Not just the ones who tell us which books to buy and raise their hand when we ask who wants to read it next.

Our classroom libraries are for all kids that enter our classroom.  Especially for the ones who are lost, who have not found that book, or that story that made them believe that they are a reader, that their life matters.  We must have books that allow all children to feel that way.  To feel like there is not something wrong with them.  It is no longer a matter of just having diverse book, it is about having the right books for all those kids that come to us and wonder whether they are ok and then displaying them.  Whether they are normal.  The books speak for us, so make sure they speak loudly.  Make sure that in your classroom children can find that book that will make the biggest difference.  Make sure you do not stand in the way.  Make sure fear of what others may think does not stop you from helping a child.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

Filed under: being a teacher, being me, books, classroom setup, Literacy, Passion, Reading

Great Picture Books to Teach Tough Questions – Notice and Note

One of the main texts we use to guide our reading instruction is the amazing Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst.  This book provides us with the foundation for having deeper reading conversations and a common language as we develop our thoughts.  While the book has excellent text ideas to use as mentor texts, I thought it would be nice for my students  to use picture books on the very first day of a new strategy before we delve into the longer text excerpts.  I have therefore looked for picture books I could use with the different strategies and will publish posts as I have them for the 6 different strategies since I cannot be the only one looking for ideas.

The first post was on Contrast & Contradictions, then followed Aha Moments, so this week it is Tough Questions.  Apparently, this is a harder one to find picture books for so I found a few, but then turned to the awesome Notice and Note Facebook group I am a part of to crowd source more ideas.

My Ideas

White Water by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein has several tough questions in it and also doubles as an amazing book to discuss a really powerful topic with students; racial segregation.  This is the book I used to introduce the strategy to my students with the bonus of having aha moments and a contrast and contradiction in it as well.

The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth starts out with three obvious tough questions and then explores them the rest of the book.

A book near and dear to my heart The Yellow Star By Carmen Agra Deedy.  Although the story is not true, it still speaks of my people’s fight against the Nazi occupation and opens up great conversations.  The tough question is when King Christian wonders what can be done to fight the yellow stars.

What Do You Do With An Idea? by Kobi Yamada is a book I use a lot in the classroom as it is great for inferencing, and inspiring creativity, but it also works well for this strategy as it starts out with tough questions and then has several more further in.

The Numberlys By William Joyce and Christina Ellis has several tough questions and is definitely a great way to highlight conflict.

The tough question is not posed as a question in Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine but instead as a desire to be free.  I would use this later in the strategy to teach students that tough questions are not always in a question format.

Boats for Papa by Jessixa Bagley only has one question int it but it will lead to great questions and will also be a great inference exercise.

Crowd Sourced Ideas

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting

The Gold Coin by Alma Flor Ada

Riding the Tiger by Eve Bunting

The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant

Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting

Bully by Patricia Polacco

Wanda’s First Day by Mark Sperring

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionnei

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco

Which ones did we miss?

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

Filed under: books, Literacy, notice and note, picture books

Great Picture Books to Teach Tough Questions

One of the main texts we use to guide our reading instruction is the amazing Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst.  This book provides us with the foundation for having deeper reading conversations and a common language as we develop our thoughts.  While the book has excellent text ideas to use as mentor texts, I thought it would be nice for my students  to use picture books on the very first day of a new strategy before we delve into the longer text excerpts.  I have therefore looked for picture books I could use with the different strategies and will publish posts as I have them for the 6 different strategies since I cannot be the only one looking for ideas.

The first post was on Contrast & Contradictions, then followed Aha Moments, so this week it is Tough Questions.  Apparently, this is a harder one to find picture books for so I found a few, but then turned to the awesome Notice and Note Facebook group I am a part of to crowd source more ideas.

My Ideas

White Water by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein has several tough questions in it and also doubles as an amazing book to discuss a really powerful topic with students; racial segregation.  This is the book I used to introduce the strategy to my students with the bonus of having aha moments and a contrast and contradiction in it as well.

The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth starts out with three obvious tough questions and then explores them the rest of the book.

A book near and dear to my heart The Yellow Star By Carmen Agra Deedy.  Although the story is not true, it still speaks of my people’s fight against the Nazi occupation and opens up great conversations.  The tough question is when King Christian wonders what can be done to fight the yellow stars.

What Do You Do With An Idea? by Kobi Yamada is a book I use a lot in the classroom as it is great for inferencing, and inspiring creativity, but it also works well for this strategy as it starts out with tough questions and then has several more further in.

The Numberlys By William Joyce and Christina Ellis has several tough questions and is definitely a great way to highlight conflict.

The tough question is not posed as a question in Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine but instead as a desire to be free.  I would use this later in the strategy to teach students that tough questions are not always in a question format.

Boats for Papa by Jessixa Bagley only has one question int it but it will lead to great questions and will also be a great inference exercise.

Crowd Sourced Ideas

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting

The Gold Coin by Alma Flor Ada

Riding the Tiger by Eve Bunting

The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant

Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting

Bully by Patricia Polacco

Wanda’s First Day by Mark Sperring

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionnei

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco

Which ones did we miss?

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

Filed under: books, Literacy, notice and note, picture books

10 + 1 Picture Books to Teach Inference

I remember I was told to teach inference as a 4th grade teacher, it was one of the many skills students were supposed to develop in literacy, and I was astickler for following the rules.  So the first year I sat with my lesson plans, every word penciled out and guided my studenst through the lesson.  We inferred because the book told us to.  When a child asked me why they were learning this, I answered, “Because you will need it next year.”  That successfully quieted the child, and I felt satisfied, I had been able to give them a reason for what we were doing and so they did it.

Yet, the act of inferring is so much bigger than “next year.”  It is so much bigger than learning how to read text better.  It is a life skill.  One we need to navigate difficult situations.  One we need to read other people.  One we need to become better human beings that care about others.  And so we infer, yes, but we also start to trust ourselves and our opinions, build confidence in our intuition and get more astute in our observations.  And picture books are about one of the best ways we can teach it in our classrooms.  So here are some of my favorite titles that I use.

I have to start with one of my favorites and the one I chose to start this year’s lessons with; I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen.  Beloved by so many, the students laugh out loud, love to infer right away, even when you tell them not to and fall in love with the simple yet devilish story of who took the bear’s hat.  Magic I tell you.

And I have to highlight the kind of sequel This Is Not My Hat also by Jon Klassen.  I use this as a follow up book, to give my students another chance at visiting the magical world that seems to be Jon Klassen’s mind and they love it as much as the first one.  I also love all of the theories of what happened to the little fish that my student concoct.

Boats for Papa is a new picture book by Jessixa Bagley that I immediately fell in love with.  The story does not tell us where papa is, nor why the mother does what she does, leaving this open for interpretation by the students.

Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dreams For Me by Daniel Beaty is an emotional book that leaves the reader wondering where the father is.  I love the emotional connection that my students can feel to this book, as well as what they conclude.  This book will also provide us with a window into the lives of our students as they share their own experiences.

This amusing story of what really happened to a sandwich will allow you to peek into the minds of how deeply students understand textual clues, as well as how well they look for evidence.  The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Beach is one that makes me giggle every time I read it aloud and then leads to heated discussions of what exactly did happen to that sandwich?

Another book that is great for deeper level conversations as students try to decide why that skunk keeps following the main character.  I cannot wait to hear what my students will come up with, as well as what they would do in this situation if a skunk were to follow them home.  I have many of Mac Barnett’s and Patrick McDonnell’s book and love having The Skunk as well

Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan is one of those books you can turn to again and again because of the complexity within it.  I have used it to teach Contrast & Contradictions and will now also use it for deeper inferences.  What I love the most is that each child can truly have their own unique interpretation of what the entire book means and I don’t have enough books that allow us to do that.

Yes, I am biased when it comes to Amy Krouse Rosenthal,, she is after all the Global Read Aloud picture book author study this year.  But Duck Rabbit is a great inference and discussion book.  The simple text and witty illustrations means that every student is bound to have an opinion in the ongoing debate of whether that is a duck or a rabbit.  I always keep my opinion to myself.

Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole is a book that has shown up on a few lists from me.  I think it is another book that deserves to be read with many different lenses.  I love how the students have no words to guide them here but only their careful observations to figure out what actually happens in the story.  That means that no matter their reading ability they can be a part of the conversation.

Another wordless picture book on this list is The Red Book by Barbara Lehman.  Again, this levels the playing field for all students as they try to figure out what is happening in the story and have to be careful observers to support their conclusions.  Plus, I just love the message this book sends.

Another new picture book to me this summer is Shhh!  We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton.  I love asking my students what they think will happen if the group succeeds and what their purpose really is.

Before I published this post, I asked on Twitter for people to share their favorites.  Here are some crowd sourced ones as well.

No, David! by David Shannon

Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne.

The Rabbits by Shaun Tan and John Marsden

Dear Santa Claus by Alan Durant

Mr. Peabody’s Apples by Madonna and Loren Long

Which ones did I miss?

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

Filed under: being a teacher, books, Literacy, picture books, Reading

7 Simple Things that Make Feedback and Assessment About the Students Again

I think we all are always looking for ways to ease the assessment and feedback process in our classrooms, I know I am!  And I get it, giving feedback and doing great assessment with 120 students, or even just 20 students, can seem like an unwieldy beast at times.   So while I wrote about lessons I have learned while trying to limit grades, I thought I would also offer up the practical things that have made my day-to-day better.  Behold, a few things to maybe make your feedback and assessment process easier.

Background:  I now work in a district that is doing Standards Based Grades and moving away from letter grades.  We also believe that formative work is practice work and can therefore not count toward a summative score, and finally, that students have the right to re-take work.  At my middle school, we have a 2 week automatic re-take policy that we encourage students to use in case they need extra help with a concept.  

They have a notebook that stays in the room.  I have learned the hard way that when students leave with their notebooks,  they sometimes do not come back with them.  So this year, I instead created a readers notebook for them to keep in the classroom.  Yes, it was a lot of paper, but it means that my students always know where to write their thoughts, it means that all writing about reading only happens in the classroom, and it also means that I have access to them at all time.  This means that not only do we have a routine established for responding to reading, which frees up time, but also that student scan see their thoughts develop over time along with the feedback I give them.  Each class has a bin on my shelf for easy access every day and they grab them when they come in before they start their independent reading time.

They have a manila folder with their names on it in real life or electronically.  Each class is separated into 5 different groups and each group has a folder.  All work that students do that is not in their readers notebook go in these folder.  This year, the students will even file it themselves to save time.  Why collect the work?  Because my students write way more than I can assess, so this allows them a gathering place for all of their work.  When a unit is nearing its end, I ask them to pick the one piece that they want me to assess.  I also do this for anything we do electronically (but I respect the fact that some of my students want to hand write rather than type).  The discussion that happens based on what they select for me to look at are richer because I know they had to think about it and not just hand me the last thing they wrote.  This also signals to them that they are not working to get through things, but to learn, and that every piece of work they create has value eve if it does not get assessed

I have pre-printed labels with comments.  Not for everything, but when I give feedback in their readers notebooks there are certain things that crop up again and again.  That is what the pre-printed labels are for.  These change throughout the year and I do not reuse the same ones from unit to unit.  It is always catered to what we are working on  what I am noticing with the students, and are explained before they are put on their work.

The students self-assess before I assess.  At the end of unit, before anything is handed back by me, the students will then set goals and reflect on their work.  This involves them scoring themselves as far as where they are with their  proficiency in the chosen standard.  The score is based on a standard they have deconstructed to put into student-friendly language, and also based on a rubric they have built with me or we have discussed.  I want my students’ to have a chance to reflect before their confidence is skewed by my words.

Standards are assessed twice at least.  We have 7 standards to cover in English this year and all of them will be assessed for a summative score at least twice in separate quarters.  It is a chance for students to truly see that mastery may come at a different time for them than their peers and that that is ok.  It also allows us to establish a baseline score and then see how they grow.  When a standard is only assessed once, we assume that all students grow at the same rate, which we know is not true.   So instead, make it a point to show students that knowledge is something we gain at all times and that they are the masters of their growth.

They have a chance to disagree.  Once students have self-assessed, it is my turn.  I will either handwrite their assessment or speak to them about it.  But even then it is not final, it is a conversation, and students know that this is their chance to speak up.  Too often we gloss over the assessment piece by handing things back at the end of class and forget that this is one of the largest opportunities we have for meaningful conversations about their learning journey.  Don’t rush through it but take the time to discuss, reflect, and set new goals.

All work is kept in the classroom, pretty much.   I need to know what my students know.  Not what others know, not what they later figured out, but what they know right now.  So any kind of summative work is done in the classroom, not at home, so that I can see how they work on a product with time management and the need for them to think deeper.  This also fits into my policy of limited homework.  And it forced me to evaluate what I am asking them to do, since I can see how much time something takes.  ( I also do all of the work my students have to do, which has definitely been an eye-opening experience).

PS:  For the how-to for eliminating or limiting grades, please consider reading my book Passionate Learners.  There is a whole chapter dedicated to not just the why, but the actual how.

Filed under: assessment, assumptions, Be the change, being a teacher, grades, ideas

Some Helpful Realizations for More Meaningful Assessments

I have been trying to create more meaningful assessment for the past 5 years.  Not a small feat if you would, especially now when I am teaching more than 120 students.  Yet, a few things I have realized over the years may help others as they try to move away from grades as an end point, and instead move into better assessment and feedback, where students actually feel like they are in charge of their own learning journey.

Let me preface that this move from giving grades to giving feedback has not always been easy.  I find it is much easier to simply assign a grade to something, yet it has definitely been worth it.  By the end of the year my students are much better at evaluating, reflecting, and goal setting than they are when we start.  And that is worth it all in itself.  So a few things that I had to realize to make this shift was…

I am not the only one assessing.  Students self-assess on almost every assignment once we get started.  This is important, because they should not always be looking to me for how they did.  They need to know themselves well enough to reflect on their own performance.

It is an ongoing conversation.  We take the time to deconstruct the standards and rewrite them in student language.  We take the time to go through what an assignment is actually asking them to do.  We take the time to plan together so students can get ownership over what they are doing.  Assessment is not something that only happens once in a while so it should not just be discussed once in a while.

I cannot assume.  Too often we assume as teachers that we know what a child is doing or thinking.  It is not accurate most of the time.  So instead, I ask a child what they meant, I ask them to explain it to me as if I was not in the room.  I ask them to make sure that I can understand their thinking at all times.  We seem to focus too much on brevity, I would rather have a child be able to explain the full extent of their thinking than assume I know what they mean.

They need to produce more than I can assess.  Our job is not to assess every single thing that a child produces, but instead to assess the pieces they feel are worth others looking at.  Asking students to evaluate their work and only submit the one piece from a unit that they feel will show off their knowledge the best?  That is an assessment in itself.

They need to assess each other, but not until they trust each other.  We love using students as peer editors, as peer reviewers, and even as peer assessors.  However this can be incredibly hard for students who do not trust one another.  So wait.  Let them build community first.  Let them choose the people who will see their work.  Do not force them into vulnerability, it is not worth it in the end.

Assessment needs to happen in class.  They need to take ownership of the whole process, not just the end result, so that means that we are constantly evaluating our work, we are constantly engaged with our work, and we are doing it in class, not at home, not with parents.  But here, now, this day, so that the conversations can happen as a group, as a partnership and as a self-reflection.  And so the conversation can mean something and not just be homework or something else to get through.

Finally, assessment is a point in the journey, not the end of the journey.  And students don’t often understand that.  We have to have these conversations with them in order to change their mindset.  If students think that grades are something being done to them, that grades are out of their control and do not happen until the end when it is too late to do anything about it, then we are missing the whole point of assessment.  Assessment is for bettering yourself, for deepening your understanding, for helping you set goals.  Not for completing something so you can cross it off the to-do list. Once again, I am reminded of the saying; We do not teach standards, we teach kids.  And that is painfully apparent in the way we use assessment, feedback, and grades in our classrooms.

PS:  For the how-to for eliminating or limiting grades, please consider reading my book Passionate Learners.  There is a whole chapter dedicated to not just the why, but the actual how.

Filed under: aha moment, assessment, Be the change, feedback, grades

On Reading Identity – An Essential Question to Ask Our Students

I have been watching my students carefully the last few weeks, waiting, holding my tongue, and just seeing what happens.  We have started every day with 10 minutes of independent reading, which yes, sometimes is so hard to give because I feel the pressure of what I have to cover bear down on me.  And yet, I know that giving my students independent reading time, particularly in the middle school, will make the biggest difference between whether they are readers or not.

So I have watched, and I have noticed the child that has already read 5 books on his device.  Absorbed, enthralled, and recommending books to me.  The child that is still re-reading the same old books that he has re-read the last few years, afraid to take a chance on something new.  There is the child that has asked me if she could please listen to the next book and will that count as reading?  (The answer is yes, of course).  And then there is the girl that has been sharing her truth with me in small casual comments; she hates reading, always has.  Reading was fun in kindergarten when she had to listen but that was it.  She says it likes it’s no big deal.  Like it is fact.  Reading is not for her and never will be.  So I tell her I will try to make reading better and she answers “That’s what they all say, Mrs Ripp.”

That’s what they all say.

Every teacher who has had her has told her the same thing; I will help, I will make it better, I will try.  And yet, she stands before me now confessing that reading makes no sense to her.  That even when she has pictures it makes no sense.  And it doesn’t matter how many strategies she tries, it’s too hard and she will just read whatever,just so she can get through it.  Because getting through reading is the only thing she knows how to do.  Even though she has support.  Even though she has teachers who care.  And So I ask more questions, trying to discover just who she is, and what her reading identity means to her.

So often, we feel the pressure to teach.  We feel that every time we speak to a student we must offer them up a kernel of truth, some inspiration, and a thing to try.  We do it so that reading can become better for them, so they can comprehend deeper, understand it more, and develop their skills.  Yet, in slowing down these past few weeks, I have learned yet another lesson when it comes to our readers;  We cannot teach them well if we do not know their reading identities.  And sure, that comes through speaking with them, but it also comes through quiet observation and casual conversations.

The students know what we want to hear.  They will not tell us their truths until they trust us. So I withhold my judgment, reel back my eagerness to fix, and I pay attention, and I listen.  Our students speak so loudly, yet we often forget to hear it.

So as they read or not read, depending on their choice, I sit next to them and ask quietly; “Are you a reader?”  They are often surprised at the question, yet how they answer it tell me so much.  I thank them and I move on.  I take notes on my reader profile sheet and I ponder what the next step should be.  How this year will help them and not hurt them.

We are not yet ready to talk strategies.  We are not yet ready to talk goals, other than finding great books.  We are not ready to analyze text, break it apart, or even compare.  Not as a class any way.  But we are ready to share our truths.  They are ready to declare whether reading is for them or not.  And I am ready to listen.  Are you?

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

Filed under: books, Literacy, Passion, Reading, student voice

On Public Shaming and Our Classrooms

image from icanread

I used to yell students’ names across the classroom, making sure that everyone knew who was now in trouble.  I had the teacher voice down coupled with the stern glance.

I used to have students write their names on the board when they messed up.  That name served as a public reminder of their poor decisions all day and showed them that I meant business.  It was a wonderful display of who could not figure out how to behave well.

I used to have students call their parents in the middle of class to tell them when they were having a bad day.  Three strikes you are out was the way we worked.  I figured it didn’t matter that the rest of the class could hear their call, after all, that would probably just act as a deterrent for the rest of them.

I did not think I was shaming children, after all, children thrive on rules and routines.  Therefore, these rules were definitely helping them become better citizens of our school.

After a year, the names on the board did not seem to work so well, so I switched to sticks in a cup.  Everyone started in the green cup, your poor decisions moved you to yellow or red.  The sticks never moved backwards and we reset at the end of the day.  The names were no longer on the board, but the stick moving, that happened in front of the class.  That walk of shame where all eyes were on a child as they were told to “Move their stick” was a daily occurrence.  In our classroom everyone knew who the “bad kids” were, and so did their parents, after all, students love to share stories about how so and so got in trouble that day.

Then my firstborn got a little older.  She got a little more energy.  She wasn’t that good at sitting still or even paying attention at times.  She had so much to do and so many things to see.  And in her, I quickly saw the future.  If she got a teacher that used these systems of public shaming, she would be the kid that would move her stick.  She would be the kid whose name would be on the board.  And I would be that parent, wondering why my child was being publicly shamed for behaviors she was trying so hard to control.  For things that she did not do to intentionally harm the instruction, but simply needed support to work through.

So I stopped.  I threw it all out.  It turns out that you can have classrooms that thrive without the shaming from public punishment.  That you can have well-functioning classrooms without the public behavior charts.  That students will try to correct behavior and set goals with you when you remove the element of shame and try to problem solve instead.  That they will see you as an ally, rather than just a punisher, and that will get you much further when you try to help them become better human beings.

There are only a few things I am willing to fall on the sword for on this blog.  Previous experiences have shown me that most ideas in education are not black and white.  There are always more than 2 sides to every story, and every teacher teaches differently, and that does not mean they are not good teachers, it just means they are different.  But today, I will make an exception.

The public shaming that happens to students in our schools has to stop.  The reliance on public displays of punishement as a way to control behavior has to stop.  And the first place we stop it is by getting rid of public behavior charts.  Those clip systems that tell the whole world something that should be a private conversation between a teacher, a student, and the parents.

Whether it is a clip-system, the move-your-stick, the flip-your-card, or and yes I used most of them myself, we have to find a better way.  We have to try because we are creating schools where children hate coming.  Where parents worry that their child will be singled out for having energy, for being excited, for not being able to sit still all day.  Where teachers are forced into roles as enforcers rather than nurturers.  I know that there needs to be consequences.  I know that we have to help students navigate behavior in our classrooms, but there are better ways then asking a child to create a permanent reminder and public display of how they are having a very bad day.

I am not proud of the mistakes I have made as a teacher.  I am not proud of the things I have tried that have hurt children rather than helped them.  But I am willing to write about it in the hopes that it will start a dialogue.  That perhaps someone, somewhere, will take a moment to rethink something that seems to be so ingrained in our classrooms.  That perhaps this post will help someone wonder what they can do instead.   Because there is so much that can be done instead, there are so many ways to build community, to build better relationships, to still have consequences, and create classrooms where kids have a chance at thriving.  All kids, not just the ones that know how to behave.  But we have to take the first step.  We have to take down the charts, remove the cups, erase the names.  We have to create classrooms that do not run on shame, but run on community. I speak not just from my teacher heart, but from that of a parent.  Our children deserve better than this.  And it starts with us.  Even if it makes us nervous.  Even if we are not sure of what to do instead.  I will help.  Just ask.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

Filed under: Be the change, being me, punishment