What I Know For Sure

Hello!

     Happy Holiday vacation to those of you who are off and able to relax!  During breaks, I always like to take time for myself and READ!  Already, I have been able to finish one book that I think should be read by everyone, whether you are a teacher, student, parent, or not.  Oprah's What I Know for Sure was an uplifting, motivating and inspiring book with great life lessons for all.  Even though I read it for personal pleasure, as always, I can relate many of the pieces of advice to teaching and feel that teachers should instill these thoughts in their classrooms.  Below are some of the many lessons that could be applied to teaching or students:

(http://us.macmillan.com/static/fib/whatIknowforsure/)

• On page 6, Oprah says "Being aware of, and creating, four- and five-star experiences makes you blessed."  Bringing this to our students' attention and having them set a purpose for the day will allow them to become more goal-oriented and notice the great things that happen throughout their school day as well as bring more joy to their own lives. Having students mentally think (or they can physically write down) a five-star experience that could happen to them throughout their day, and then reflect back at its' conclusion can allow the students to recognize wonderful situations that occur.  Additionally, on page 75 Oprah discusses her gratitude journal where she writes down five things in which she is grateful that happened throughout the day.  Combining Oprah's gratitude journal with her idea for creating five-star experiences will allow students to enjoy their time in school even more and be thankful for the opportunities that are given to them.
• Throughout Oprah's career, she constantly mentions how everyone needs to be heard.  That is the sole need of all and shows how we value others.  Children need to be heard also and yet they are usually the first to be silenced.  Allowing students to share pieces of their lives during morning meetings or reading what they have written in their journals (if they allow it) is a great way to give children a voice and show that they have been heard.
• Giving is one of the most important things that we can do in life.  It is a selfish act because the giver feels just as wonderful, if not more so, than the person receiving the giving!  Introducing the act of giving to children is imperative for students in order to create a habit that will last a lifetime.  Having students decide who and how they want to give is crucial for it to be a significant experience.  Oprah's lifelong passion is to give to others and this easily can be translated into simple opportunities for students to do the same.
• On page 129, Oprah mentioned a quote from Elie Wiesel, "In the word question, there is a beautiful word- quest.  I love that word."  This reminded me of problem- based learning tasks that we assign our students throughout the year.  When students are given these tasks, the questions that arise from them lead the students on a quest to find the answers.  Having a task that is intriguing, motivating, and inspiring is what education should be all about.  I love this quote and am going to use it at the start of all of my problem-based learning units.
• Finally, the most important piece of advice from Oprah that teachers can give to their students is this: When you get the chance, go for it.  Students need to hear this mantra every day so that they know that they can be and do anything in which they put their minds.  Having that motivation gives students the power to succeed in all that they can dream.  Oprah quotes Paulo Coelho by saying "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."  This is crucial for students to learn and feel at a young age.

     Oprah is influential to everyone, but children can take away her lessons as well.  When adults hear Oprah's advice, we sometimes have to revert back to ourselves prior to creating bad habits.  Children do not share in these habits so it is easier for them to receive and act upon the messages.  Including these easy ideas from Oprah into your classroom will help students to "lead their best lives" while they are learning in your room as well as when they leave to continue their journey.

     Enjoy!

Conferencing with Students

Hello!

     A few years ago, a great friend and teacher introduced me to the Daily 5.  I was teaching 5th grade at the time and did not realize how it could be applied to this age group.  Quickly and easily, together we modified a few aspects and found that my students enjoyed Language Arts ten times more than they did previously and that I was able to work so much easier with small groups or students one on one.  I immediately fell in love and have been applying the Daily 5 procedure in my classroom ever since.  The creators of the Daily 5, The 2 Sisters named Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, have a great website with tips and tricks that are emailed weekly.  I joined the newsletter and find their passion for teaching inspiring.  
     Recently, their weekly newsletter discussed conferencing with students individually in writing and reading.  This is one of my favorite things to do with my students because I find so much valuable information about their strengths and the challenges that they are having.  The article mentioned even more specifics about how conferring benefits students.

• It builds relationships by giving children our deserved and undivided attention.
• It allows us to differentiate, set goals, monitor progress, and establish the next steps.
• We can collect essential data.

     After reading the article and agreeing wholeheartedly, I continued to scroll and saw that there was a link to The Daily Cafe website.  Here, there is a video which gives a great way to organize data collected from reading and writing workshops and conferences as well as all the sheets they utilized too!  What a wealth of information!  Currently, I use Fontas and Pinnell's conferencing sheet which is helpful but these will certainly be added to my process.  I strongly recommend you clicking HERE to access The Daily Cafe website and gather these treasures for yourself.

(Snapshot taken of the video on The Daily Cafe's website for conferring and the Writer's Notebook)

(Snapshot taken of the Conference Record Form found in Fountas and Pinnell's book Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching Comprehension, Genre and Content Literacy)

     I would love to hear about your conferencing tips and tricks as well as what organizational method works for you.  Why do you love this essential part of the Language Arts block?

     Enjoy using all of these resources during your next reading and writing workshop time!

Herve Tullet

Hello!

     Being that I subscribe to every publisher, author, and book review under the sun, I kept seeing praise for a book called Push Here by Herve Tullet.  It has been on the New York Times bestsellers list for 3 YEARS so I could not believe that I had not heard of it.  
     My research about Herve Tullet and Press Here was extremely interesting.  Tullet is a French author that also illustrates all of his books.  In regards to specifics about Press Here, it has been translated into more than thirty languages, been made into a board game and even has an app for people to interact.  What is so amazing about this book?!?!  The next day, I went straight to the bookstore to find out more about this mysterious book and author for myself.

(http://www.amazon.com/Press-Here-Herve-Tullet/dp/0811879542/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418087522&sr=8-1&keywords=push+here)

     Press Here is an interactive book.  Each page tells the reader to do an action and then the outcome is shown on the following page.  For example, when you tap the dot in the center of the page twice, the next page shows two dots.  It is pretty exciting to do as the author requests and then to see it happen in a hardcover book.  This is something that you might see with an automated book on an iPad but definitely has never been done with a paper book.  It is truly something that you must experience for yourself and you will smile the entire time as you are reading.

     While flipping through this book, I pondered ways in which it could be used in the classroom.  Easily, it could be used in a lower elementary classroom to engage students and teach them about predictions.  When reading the book, there is a pattern that emerges and it would be fun for students to guess what is going to happen next when they follow the directions.  As a read aloud, students would love coming up to the book to do as the author requests.  In the older elementary classroom, teachers could use this to show students how they must always interact with the text and be an active, rather than passive, reader.  Even though this would be read at a much faster pace and seem extremely simplistic for this age group, using it to demonstrate how text should always be interacted with (even if you are not physically touching it) would be a beneficial lesson, especially at the beginning of the year.

(http://www.amazon.com/Mix-Up-Herve-Tullet/dp/1452137358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418089733&sr=8-1&keywords=mix+it+up)

     After reading Push Here, I had to see other books by Herve Tullet.  Mix It Up is the sequel to Push Here.  Just like the first one, Mix It Up has the reader follow directions and the outcome to the action is shown on the following page.  Unlike Push Here, which focused on numbers and patterns, Mix It Up involves colors and shades. An art class could certainly use this to show what happens when colors are mixed or when white and black are added to a color.  Especially if a teacher does not have the materials or is uncomfortable with allowing students to experiment with paint, Mix It Up can help students to test theories about color without getting messy.

(http://www.amazon.com/Help-Need-Title-Herve-Tullet/dp/0763670219/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418090260&sr=8-1&keywords=help+we+need+a+title)

     My favorite Herve Tullet book is Help!  We Need a Title!  This book not only has adorable, kid-like illustrations, but the author himself makes a cameo as a character in the story!  As soon as the book is opened, the characters immediately start talking to the reader.  The interaction between the reader and the characters reminded me of a few Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books where it feels like they are talking directly to you.  The premise of this book is that the characters want to put together a story to entertain us, the reader.  In order to do so, they need to create a few important story elements such as a setting, plot and even a protagonist.  Each of the characters is unique and would make any child (or adult, for that matter) smile with their quirky personalities.  After awhile, they cannot think of any story ideas so they have to call in the main man himself, Herve Tullet!  As a half picture/half drawing, Tullet comes into the story and saves the day, even though the picky characters are not 100% happy with the outcome.

     For any grade level, students would love to read this book independently or have it read to them.  It could also be used to teach a myriad of writing skills from story elements to characterization to dialogue.  Even taking Herve Tullet's "so-so" story (as the characters describe it) and adding more suspense and action using the foundation that is given would be a creative writing project for older students.  All around Help!  We Need a Title!  is a highly recommended read for teachers, parents and students of all ages.

     I am so happy that I took the time to not only find Push Here, but then to seek out other books by Herve Tullet.  He is certainly an imaginative, unique, and innovative author that brings hardcover books back to life.  Enjoy reading these and others by this incredible author!