The Rookery

What a Reader Does

The Herons begin our morning with independent reading.  Each child reads a just right book or article -- one that is interesting with the right amount of challenge. Already in class, we've had several discussions about finding your learning zone (zone of proximal development for all of you Vygotsky fans).  When something is too easy, we lose interest; when something is too hard we get frustrated or "bored" because we can't engage.  A just right book is satisfying (and often I'll invite the students to read a "dessert book" for the last five minutes of independent reading - this is a book that is very comfortable or a partner book or a "looking" book.  You and I might call it a "beach read."  Honoring books that are not intellectually taxing but are enjoyable is important, we read for many different reasons.

We know that time spent reading is the single most important variable for reading growth.  However, it's important that students continue to receive instruction in the work of a reader.  Learning about craft, vocabulary, inference, figurative language, structure in both fiction and non-fiction are all part of the fourth and fifth grade curriculum.  Students also continue to develop decoding skills - learning prefixes and suffixes as well as more complex and less common phonemes.  We use multiple tools to reach those goals:

Think Marks - The "think mark" is a book mark that helps students concretize the diverse work of a reader.  Every week, students note new vocabulary they come across and authors' craft they notice as they read.  They teach a small group about what they have found during Think Mark share.  In addition, students set a goal for the coming week and calculate the average number of pages they read per day.  This last data point helps them self-assess whether a book is just right and how they are doing on their reading stamina.  Students are expected to read for at least thirty minutes without a break but it does take practice to get there.  We've already had a lesson on "staying in book world" and I've measured students' reading stamina in two different sessions.  

Book Clubs - Once we've established our reading routine, I will introduce book clubs.  Students read a "just right book" in a small group and discuss what they've read, developing arguments and supporting their ideas with evidence from the text.  Students are also responsible for completing a role for that week - teaching the other students about vocabulary or summarizing the excerpt, for example.  Book clubs develop students' ability to make inferences by demanding that they have reasons for their ideas about books and characters.  I'm always looking for book club volunteers.  Let me know if this is something you'd like to do.

Non-fiction articles - Most Wednesdays, we read a non-fiction article.  We analyze the structure the author used to share information as well as the craft that was used to help us understand a new topic.  Of course, we learn about the topic as well.  This is one of my favorite ways to introduce content for theme or to get the Herons excited about something new.  Cathy has inspired me to share daily news articles with the children as well.

Word Study - we develop students' spelling and decoding skills during word study.  After a formative assessment, students receive instruction tailored to their needs.  Some will learn about greek and latin roots, some will identify and generalize common spelling patterns and others will work in Orton Gillingham inspired groups to develop the connection between word sounds and spelling patterns.

Read Aloud - our shared reading experience is an important time for me to instruct children on craft, vocabulary, inference and characterization.  It's also important for students to continue to have fluent reading models to emulate.  I share my thinking as a reader, the moves I make to construct and revise my understanding.

Theme Reading - we also read articles related to our theme.  This gives us a chance to get more experience with vocabulary and concepts.  It also gives the Herons an authentic reason to check for comprehension since they will need the information they are gleaning from what they read for future theme activities.

Sometimes students enter fourth grade thinking that being a good reader is reading the biggest book.  Through our work together, students deepen their understanding of what it is to be a reader.  They develop the skills they need to tackle new, diverse texts and they also, hopefully, develop a love of the things they can learn and the places they can go when they get lost in "book world."

 

Starting Points

Today we planted a lot of seeds - surveys, accountable talk, truchet tiles, Morning Girl (our read aloud book.)  We started talking about what it meant to be a Heron and what might be the guidelines we wanted to live by.  We talked about leadership and the special work of guiding younger children.  We began hand work after lunch and talked about the different kind of writing craft we might find as we read.  We discussed math fluency and proved that we were fluent multipliers of zero and one. And we laughed...a lot.

In the days ahead, we'll dig deeper -- but today is a sampler, tantalizing bits and pieces that we'll start to put together later.  I can't wait.

 

 

 

 

On the Eve of the School Year - A Promise

As a faculty, we begin every school year reviewing key elements of our practice.  Some things, like the required OSHA training about extension cords, are good reminders but not necessarily inspiring (to be fair, it's about more than extension cords.)  But we also look at the teaching standards we've agreed to hold ourselves accountable to.  We wrote a new document because the state teaching standards didn't go far enough.  We needed to articulate what it means to be a progressive educator - what it means to teach at Prairie Creek.

Re-reading it every year grounds us.  It reminds us of what we do and why.  I'd like to share it with you in bits and pieces over the year so that you know what I am aspiring to.  Here is the first element:

The Teacher’s Practice is Child-Centered

• The children are always at the center of every decision the teacher makes.
• The teacher’s focus is on the whole child  - social, emotional and academic - and each area holds equal weight.
• Children are considered as individuals, each according to their developmental stage. The teacher pays close attention to each child’s interests and needs, including sensory and movement needs.
• The value of each child is celebrated as the teacher creates an environment for everyone’s strengths to be recognized.
• Surprise, delight and joy in learning is an expectation for every child.

The emphases are mine.  The other parts of the document detail our curriculum work and the classroom environment but this first part gets to the heart of what we do.  Every decision is made with the child at the center.  I work hard to create a classroom where every child finds their place.  The first six weeks is key to creating a world where children feel safe and understood and inspired.

Tomorrow a new group of Herons will begin their journey.  Even twenty years into this, I still find myself getting nervous.  But I know that, as long as I put the children in the center of what we do, the year will be a special one.

It's Time to Play

My home read aloud right now is The Summer Book by Tove Jannson.  It's a slow and lyrical book with no plot to speak of but it's also profound (and funny) in its way. It follows the everyday lives of a girl, Sophia, and Grandmother on a small island in the Bay of Finland (which is surprisingly similar to Northern Minnesota.)  This passage struck me:

But Grandmother sat in the magic forest and carved outlandish animals.  She cut them from branches and driftwood and gave them paws and faces, but she only hinted at what they looked like and never made them too distinct...Her carvings became more and more numerous.  They clung to trees or sat astride the branches, they rested against the trunks or settled into the ground.

"What is it you're doing?" Sophia asked.

"I'm playing," Grandmother said.

Sophia crawled into the magic forest and saw everything her grandmother had done.

How often do we take the lead in playing with our children?  How often do they get to see us do something just for the doing and not because it has to be done?  At Prairie Creek, we often talk about the importance of play in the students' learning, but I've never really thought about the importance of play in my "work" as a parent and teacher.  "Play" in our culture belongs almost exclusively in the world of children.

And so, inspired by Grandmother, I spent today playing.  I'm very lucky, we're on vacation and my children were very willing to entertain themselves as I made a fairy house in the crook of a tree, searched for the roundest rock I could find and sketched the leaves of pearly everlasting in my journal.  (At least I tried to sketch them...they were so much more complex than I initially thought.)

It wasn't easy.  I know that sounds ridiculous...stay with me.  It was aimless.  I had to decide everything.  There was no "to do" list.  And my fairy house roof kept falling in.  My play required a lot of trial and error.  It required self determination.  I had to not only find my own path, I had to figure out the destination.

It was wonderful.  I don't think that, as adults, we do many things that don't have a pre-ordained outcome.  We get very good at figuring out the fasted way from Point A to Point B but rarely think of meandering to Point K.  I think that for us to understand the amazing value of play for our children, we have to play, too.  Self determination, working through failure - these are the skills our children will need to succeed in today's world.

So, as summer wanes, I hope that you find an hour...even a half hour...to set aside and play.  Start speaking to your child in a made up language, get out the saw and nails make something that you're not trying to make, grab some sidewalk chalk and doodle.  Maybe you'll play with your child, but don't make it about them, make it about you.   Take the lead.  Wrap them in a world you're creating.  Have fun.  And, like Grandmother, learn how to play again.

A Yeasty Mystery Update

Yeasty Mystery

A week ago Wednesday when we were trapped inside by a Thunderstorm, we set up some experiements with yeast.  The first balloon to expand with CO2 was from our 20g mashed banana and yeast bottle (at 116 degrees).  Soon, the other sugar and yeast bottles caught up to it, even the 140 degree bottle where some yeast had survived our attempt to cook them.  In the next few days, the balloons mostly deflated -- which we attributed to poor seals or the fact that gasses can (slowly) permeate vinyl balloons - especially those bought at the dollar store.

 

But then the banana balloon began to get pulled back down into the bottle.  We'd pull it up and it would get sucked back in.   "A vacuum" one child announced.  But why?  Were there more microbes on the banana that are somehow consuming the CO2...or another gas in the bottle?  Is the water carbonated?  Why didn't the other balloons do it?  WHAT'S GOING ON?!?

 

These are not rhetorical questions -- we're really curious.  We've left the experiment up over the weekend to see what happens.  (I'll admit that it was only through my laziness that we hadn't cleaned it up already...isn't that how penicillin was discovered?)

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Update on the update:

Turns out that the search query "banana and yeast experiment vacuum" actually yields a surprising number of results.  We live in a remarkable age.  This might lead us to our next steps:  Science Buddies

Ways of Doing Science

Yesterday the Herons received a yeast pet (well, many billion yeast pets) and were given a chance to choose the temperature of their water as well as what food to give them.  We observed what our yeast were doing and heated up their water or added different food -- trial and error attempts to make our yeast happy and well fed. Chance and observation were the foundation of early science.  Humans were able to use a lot of things they didn't totally understand because they were able to observe and experiment.

Today we talked about how, over time, those humans began to experiment by isolating variables so that causes could be identified more efficiently.  Yesterday, we couldn't be sure if our yeast was happy because of its temperature or because of its food.  Today, we honed our understanding by changing one thing at a time.  Students set up experiments to test the ideal temperature (20g sugar in each bottle, 70, 110, and 140 degree water).  We also tested three different foods - granulated sugar, banana, and flour.

It's crucial for students to know that science is a process in which our understanding is constantly being honed.  We make observations that raise questions that we then can test.  Sometimes, we have to develop technology to run better experiments and get a better understanding.  The process never ends.  There are always more questions; explanations are always becoming more focussed.  Observation and pure wonder are still a crucial part of science -- and the scientific process is one tool we have to develop our understanding.

Today's experiment indicated that yeast really like 110 degree water.  140 degrees seems to kill a lot (but not all) of the yeast.  80 degree water also works, just more slowly.  Oh, and yeast really like banana.

I shared the chemical reaction (C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2 C₂H₅OH + 2 CO) that the yeast's enzyme triggers and the Herons were excited to see how all of the atoms are accounted for.  It will be years before they need to fully unpack what a chemical reaction is but today's lesson gave them a sneak peak at the wonder of our chemical building blocks.

Left to right: 140 degrees, 110 degrees, 80 degrees (slow but steady), flour/116 degrees, banana/116 degrees and sugar/116 degrees.

If you're not able to get outside because of a thunderstorm, this was a pretty great way to spend the morning.

When History Resonates

Yesterday I shared in our morning message that Sudan was on it's fourth "president" in a week.  Sudan had had caught the students' attention during our geography work because of the newness of South Sudan as a country - a country younger than they were!  Here was another expectation shattered - how could it be that a country could have four leaders in a week.

Today, when the Internet went out just before we were supposed to take the MCAs, I knew just what to do with that hour.  I had printed out the Sudanese Declaration of Freedom and Change that had been written on January 1 of this year.  It was a unifying document for the non-violent protesters who had propelled al-Bashir out of office.  And it was still the driving force for the protesters who had refused to accept the subsequent military strongmen who filled Bashir's place.

We broke into pairs to parse the challenging language and ideas.  Within moments students called out "It starts with 'We the people' just like the preamble."  They then sang the entire pre-amble (thank you School House Rock!)  As they continued reading they found more and more connections with the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the constitution.

As more and more connections emerged (the numbers at left refer to the 9 goals of the transitional government.)  The Herons were interested in what would have prompted number 8 - "Empower Sudanese women and strive to end all forms of discrimination and oppressive practices against them."  Women's rights were decidedly not mentioned in the U.S. Declaration of Independence (much to Angelica Schuyler's chargrine)

They were also interested in why there wasn't much mention of establishing a common defense.  We did note that they write a lot about the Civil War and its "root causes."  Luckily, Simon was walking by and he was able to share what he knows about the conflict.  His son, Matt, came to the United States at ten as refugee from the Sudanese civil war.

We ended by noting one of the biggest difference between today's Sudanese protesters (many of whom are a part of a group called the Sudanese Professionals Association) and the Sons of Liberty.  The Sudanese protesters have pledged to "continue taking to the streets and leading the nonviolent struggle, until our demands are met."  The Sons of Liberty responded to repression with violence (at least eventually.)

The Herons were full of more questions - what happens when a country doesn't have a leader?  Why don't they just hold elections?  What makes an election fair?  How do you organize elections?  How long does it take to organize elections (how do you make sure they're fair?) . Who decides what goes into a constitution if the Constitution tells you how to elect people and you don't have a constitution?

Some excellent questions, indeed.

 

The Many Ways to Show What you Know

The irony of our project presentations directly preceding MCA season is not lost on us.  However, in my more generous moods, I can see them as related.  Both are ways of showing others what you know.  Granted, I think that a project presentation is a more authentic demonstration of a child's ability to question, discover and teach.  But I think it's important for students to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways and, in our world, tests are one of those ways.

To that end, we work to make sure that students feel comfortable sharing what they know on the MCA.  For the past week, we've been reviewing some key concepts.  This year, I've been talking a lot to the students about the neuroscience of learning.  We've worked to build strong synapse connections among concepts and vocabulary and we've talked about the work and process of building understanding.  When we've returned to review ideas, I've challenged students to "re-find" the synapse connection.  The pathway is still there but it might have become a little overgrown - some weeding might be in order!

Along with reviewing vocabulary and formulas, we've also been talking about how to successfully show what you know on a test:

1) Know what to expect - we have reviewed the content and looked at sample questions.  In addition, all students have had an opportunity to try out the on-line tools such as text to speech, answer elimination, bookmarking and highlighting.  We've also talked about how to use the calculator effectively.

2) Have Fun - Attitude means a lot.  Students look to us to see how they are supposed to feel.  I encourage students to smile (we even practice fake smiling) in order to release chemicals that help us relax.  We also do some invigorating (and silly) power stances.  Being relaxed gives students a sense of control and they are much better able to access what they know.

3) View tests as a puzzle.  Be interested in what you're doing - Fourth and fifth graders are still pretty concrete.  They can look at a test item and quickly give up because they think they don't know it.  Instead, we encourage them to think of each question as a puzzle.  Often, there are clues to what's being asked in the answers provided.  Maybe there was a similar problem earlier that holds a clue.  What is familiar?  How could they use what they know to figure out what they don't know.  Thinking of the test as a puzzle to solve also makes it more interesting and the more engaged one's brain is, the more likely one is to be able to show what you know.  (Insert joke about zombies not being very good test takers here.)

4) Check your work three times.  Use scrap paper a lot!  We teach students to re-read each question and re-think each problem.  The MCA is not timed so there is no reason not to re-do one's work when checking.  We also teach students to use their scrap paper to jot down numbers and calculations.  We also show them how to keep the scrap paper organized so they can come back to their thinking easily when they are checking their work.  I shared with students that this year when I went through the fourth grade item sampler, I missed three questions.  Now, this was not because I don't know fourth grade math - it was because I went quickly and missed words like "less than" or "how many more."  It was a good reminder for students that everyone needs to check their work.

Please don't think that this post is a celebration of the MCA.  It's not.  At all.  Really.  But it is a way to approach the tests we have to take positively so that, as (very) imperfect as the tests are, students are able to crack the test code and show what they know.

So Many New Worlds to Explore

Personal project presentations take a long time.  We devote three full mornings and an afternoon to watching student work.  That could seem like a lot of instructional time - until you realize how much learning is going on in the audience.  In the past week, the Herons have gotten a chance to learn about: bioluminescence, the history of U.S. money, rope, Krampus, glaciers in Minnesota, synesthesia, wolves, the future of space transportation, northern Minnesota, megalodons, human ectoparasites, women's rights, Anne Frank, Henry Ford, aurora borealis, Soviet propaganda, LGBTQ+ issues, water clocks, nuclear energy and the history of sports trading cards.  (And those are just the topics the Herons covered -- we also got to learn from the Robins and Kestrels!)

The students are engaged and curious.  They ask great questions and they get excited about what they're learning.  I know that I learn something new at every presentation and some of the students are learning about the very existence of some of these topics.  What an amazing world we live in that has so many things to learn about.  The project process gives students agency to pursue their own interests.  The presentations cement students' sense of themselves as teachers as well as learners.  The audience has an opportunity to wonder and imagine, too.  I know that the seeds of future projects and themes are being planted.  

In a school that doesn't use extrinsic rewards or grades, curiosity propels learning.  The honors presentations and fourth grade presentations are catalysts for that curiosity -- not just for our grades but for the whole school all of whom come to some of the presentations.  It is, indeed, time well spent.

(not every Heron is pictured...some of the pictures taken by others are in a format that doesn't work on our blog...I'm working on it!)

 

When the Rubber Meets the Road

The master chart we use to keep track of our work.

Today (Monday) was a great day - three Herons rocked their honors project presentations and the four fourth grade presenters more had such a good time presenting that one student told me, "I'm so sad that I'm finished!"  But as fun as this day was and as neat as it is to see these students shine, I think that last week might actually be my favorite week of the entire project process.

Last week was a week of transformation.  The majority of students started the week without a finished poster and fourth graders had not yet begun to plan their presentations.  Four days later - everyone was finished with (almost) everything.  We had hung a bell by our project planner checklist and every time a child completed a step, they'd ring the bell and we'd all clap.  On Friday, it seemed the bell was ringing almost constantly.  Students were bustling back and forth, everyone was on a mission.

When our work rises to this level, my importance actually recedes.  I fetch things, I act as an audience...but students sense that their success is up to them.  They don't have time to wait in line to get an answer about whether they should do option "a" or option "b"...so they have to choose themselves.  Those who have finished act as "super helpers" for those still working; they share their (recently earned) expertise and often will sit down to glue pictures onto construction paper so another student can get to work on harder things.

We all get across the finish line because we're all working together (and that includes parents and mentors, too.)  Simon was leading a tour for a potential new family through the busy-ess on Friday afternoon and I took the opportunity to see the scene through new eyes.  Students were offering each other suggestions on oral presentations.  Others were quizzing each other, trying to anticipate questions.  Another set of students were laying out pictures on a poster, determining the best order.  Others were trying out their "doing" projects, making sure they had thought out the logistics.  It was impressive.  Everyone was on task.  Everyone was engaged in high order work.  Everyone saw themselves as a teacher and not "just" a student.

It was an honor to be a part of it.