Choice #6: Work on Writing

The Work on Writing choice is in full swing, and as I expected there were many smiles about this new choice! I have learned from my class this year that they love to write...well, they love to write when they can write about what they want, which is part of how our Writing Workshop is run. For many the idea of getting more time to work on their Writing Workshop story was viewed as a positive thing. Many students are often asking for more time in Writing Workshop, or if we can just keep going with Writing Workshop and skip whatever is next. So giving them a choice in which they can spend more time writing is great! This is a choice that helps students not only become better readers, but better writers as well. It allows them work with words in a different way, it allows them to tell their own story, in which they will often have to reread and reconfigure their words so that what they are trying to say makes sense to other readers.

I was not at all surprised to find that when asked "How do you feel about the Work on Writing Choice?" 10 students stated that they Love it! and 12 that they Like it. There was 1 students who had a Ho-Hum response and two others that said they Don't like it! but the majority of the class seems to be embracing this choice. Of those that do not like this choice one stated that they feel they have enough time during writing to write while another simply said, "I don't like to write." My concern with this choice is that students will choose to complete this choice too often, while I see the value in having this as a choice in Reading Workshop, I also see the value in spending time with a good I PICK book. I am giving it a little more time to see how things play out, and then thinking about possibly putting some limits on how often you can Work on Writing during Reading Workshop.

While my class loves to write... about things of their choice... they are not loving the Write about Reading choice. (see Choice #5) This choice by far has had the most mixed response from my students. When asked how they feel about Write about Reading, 3 showed that they Love it!, 11 that they Like it, 5 that feel Ho-Hum about it, and 6 that Don't like it! While there is still over half the class on the positive side of this questions, it is the biggest challenge that I have faced yet! The students have only had to turn in one journal entry so far, with next week being the second turn in week. I did watch a few students excitedly open their folders to my letter back to them, so I am hoping that is some sort of motivation as we continue with this process. After reviewing the survey results and some of the reasoning given by the students about their dislike of this choice I noticed a few students saying that they should not be spending reading time writing, as this will not help them become a better reader. (although they sure don't seem to mind being able to Work on Writing) I feel that maybe I did not present the Write about Reading choice in the best way that I could, looking back it was over a period of time when I was sick and prior to MEA, when a break is so needed. I think that after this next round of journals I am going to take a week to go back to this choice and discuss the importance of Writing about Reading and helps us as readers think more about what we are reading... it is a way of showing that Reading is Thinking! As we are really starting to get into our Reading Workshop routine (which feels like it has taken awhile, but introducing choices is something new for me so I think that it is good that I am taking my time) I finally feel like there are more days when we can offer more choices in one reading block period. Today I had a student ask me if we would have time for more than one choice today, because he was hoping to do both a reading and a writing choice. This was cool to hear... they are thinking about their choices prior to Reading Workshop. :) My hope is to be able to start getting more than one choice in most days!

The next choice I will be implementing is Word Work/Spelling, this is the last choice that will become a part of our Reading Workshop routine, and it is not by chance that it is last. This is the one that I am most unsure about. I know that my students could use some additional practice with spelling and vocabulary, I am just not sure of the most effective way to do this... stay tuned to find out!

As I continue to document what I am doing in my classroom this blog is a way for me to keep track of how I am putting my research into action. I have spent a lot of time researching ways to motivate students in the classroom, specifically in reading, and through my research I have have decided on student choice. The link below leads to a Prezi that presents some of the research that I have found most valuable throughout this process. http://prezi.com/soivglb7undl/present/?auth_key=1yxflej&follow=sebrac10@smumn.edu

Choice #5: Write About Reading

The most recent choice we have added to our Reading Workshop time is Writing About Reading, a choice in which students write letters to me about the current I PICK book they are reading, these letters are written in their Reading Workshop folders and I use these letters as a way of holding students accountable for what they are reading during their independent reading. The focus of the letters is not to summarize the facts of what they have read, but to show their thinking about what they have read. The letter they write include a short summary of what they have read most recently read, responses to reading workshop questions that encourage students to show their thinking about what they have read, and answers to questions that I have recently asked the student about their reading. The initial response to this choice has been, at most mediocre. It seems that most students have written some sort of Reading Workshop Letter in previous years and do not have overly positive feelings towards this. This will present some challenges for me as I strive to make this a choice that students enjoy. In my Week 8 Reflection survey for my collection of data I will be asking students about their feeling towards the Writing About Reading choice and will then have a better understanding of students’ true feelings towards this choice.

One way that I hope to keep students engaged in this choice is through my responses back to them about what they are reading. I strive to use my responses to student’s letters as a time to connect with them about what they are reading as well as time to connect with them on a more personal level. My goal is through prompt responses and showing my own effort being put forth that students will be motivated in their own writing as well.

Student’s letters are due approximately once every other week, and with 25 students I have 5 journals due each day. The students were given a color folder where different Reading Workshop materials are kept, including a place where they write their letters, their color represents the day in which their journal is due. I am currently 3 days into the first week of journal being due and so far their letters have been good, some stronger than others, some showing their thinking with good details, some trying to get away with as few words as possible. But for now I am happy that all letters are being handed in on time with some sort of letter written. We will work on continuing to improve the quality of these letters as we move forward.  

We are currently established in four choice activities during Reading Workshop: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, and Write About Reading. (the reason that this post is titled Choice #5 is because I have also introduced the choice of what students choose to read for their independent reading book selections) One shift I have seen with these choices is that Read to Someone is not as popular as it once was, which has eased some of my concerns about this choice. I think part of this shift comes from the new responsibility of having to Write About Reading, students are finding that they need to use some of their Reading Workshop time to work independently on their letter so that it is ready on their due date. I do have some students who are continuously choosing to Read to Someone, and while I do feel this is a good choice, I also do not think it is one that they should be doing every day. We currently only have one block of time per Reading Workshop period in which students can make a choice. As we establish routines I am hoping that we can shift this to two choice blocks per Reading Workshop period. (at least a few times a week) I am finding time to be one of my greatest challenges.

Next up is Working on Writing a choice in which students will be able to use their time to work on and reread their own writing pieces that they are producing during Writing Workshop.

Choice #4: Listen to Reading

We have made an I-Chart, modeled, and practiced the Listen to Reading choice for two weeks now and it is now a choice for students each day. The way this works in our classroom is that I have 4 student computers in the classroom that can all play CDs, I purchased headphones for each of these computers and it now serves as a wonderful Listen to Reading center.

                                I-Chart for Listen to Reading Choice

I was not sure how this choice would go over in 4th grade as it seems like something that may be better suited for younger grades, but I do believe that for some students their comprehension of the story will increase by listening to it being read. The stories that the students listen to during Listen to Reading are the stories for our basal series. Each week (most weeks) we have a focus story from our textbook, and since the curriculum set also came with each of these stories on CD it has worked out great! When the stuent makes the choie to Listen to Reading on Monday or Tuesday they are able to listen to the story as they read it for the first time. If they choose to Listen to Reading on Wednesday or Thursday they should have already read the story independently, and we have started/finsished reaidng it together as well so it is more of a review or rereading. If a studnet chooses to Listen to Reading on a Friday they can choose to listen to any of the stories from our textbook that we have read together so far this year. A few of the downsides I am seeing with this choice are that only 4 students can listen to reading at a time and that I am very limited in what students can listen to. The upside is that students seem to be liking it! I think because it is something different it peaks some of their interest as well. There are some studnets in the class that I feel would benifit more from listening to the weekly story than others and as we are continuing to introduce choices I am continuing to work on ways to make sure each student is making choices that help them become better readers. As we continue with this process I hope to be able to better differentiate these choices with students. Right now on the top of their weekly logging sheet students are told certain choices that they "must do" each week, and for everyone they are the same. My hope is to soon have certain choices that certain students must complete each week. I feel this is one way that I can ensure that some of my lower readers are able to get to the Listen to Reading choice.

                                       Listen to Reading Choice

The management of this choice (unlike Read to Someone) has been minimal, the students are very on task when they are doing the Listen to Reading choice and I just have to check in at the start to make sure they are able to get started right away and check on them from time to time to make sure they are not doing anything else on the computer. I like the Listen to Reading choice! :)

In some of my most recent data collection when I asked the stuedents what their favoarite Reading Workshop choice was up to this point and of my 25 students 12 prefer Read to Self, while 9 like Read to Someone, and 4 like Listen to Reading best. I am happy to see a spread of opinions, reaffirming that choice is good because not everyone loves just one choice. One of my struggling readers did say they like Listen to Reading best and I smilied when I read his reason why, "because iI am getting it better!" I am thrilled that he realzies this choice increases his comprehension! Then there is my "I Hate to Read" student who said Listen to Reading was the favorite choice "because it involves less reading." At least he is reading, and involves just as much reading, it just may not seem like it to him! :)

When asked on a scale of Love it! Like it! Ho Hum! and Don't like it! how they feel about having choices in Reading Workshop 16 students Love it! and 9 Like it! with no one saying Ho Hum! or Don't like it! I feel like what I am doing is working, it is keeping there attitudes towards reading positive.

Choice #3: Read to Someone

This is a choice that I was nervous about introducing, but after a little over a week of modeling and practicing I am ok with the way things are going. We have spent A LOT of time talking about how to complete the Read to Someone choice correctly, we created an I-Chart, modeled, practiced, and reflected. I was thrilled when during our reflections one of the things that students disliked the most about the choice was that the room wasn’t as quiet! A quiet environment for reading is clearly something that is important to them, and that is great! Now we just have to work on making the Read to Someone choice a little quieter. I do believe that part of the problem was that we were all practicing the Read to Someone choice and with that many people reading aloud to someone it is bound to be a little louder. On Friday students were given the choice between Read to Self and Read to Someone, approximately half of the class chose to Read to Someone and the overall environment was much quieter than it had been in days prior when everyone was practicing Read to Someone.

                                         Read to Someone I-Chart

Last week was the first week that we also had a “Story of the Week” from our basal series. We are working on the routines of what this mean during Reading Workshop, and since I am making changing in how I have done things in the past this is also a learning time for me. As of right now our weekly implementation of the weekly story looks like this:

Monday: Introduce story and vocabulary for the week, do teacher read aloud from the reading book with focus on a specific reading strategy.

Tuesday: Review vocab. and weekly reading strategy.

MUST DO CHOICE: (on Monday and/or Tuesday) All students must read the weekly story by the end of Reading Workshop on Tuesday – they can choose Read to Self, Read to Someone, or soon Listen to Reading.

Wednesday: Read Part 1 of the weekly story together in an interactive format, this week was a story about a dogsled race so we flipped over our tables and made them into dogsleds. J

Thursday: Read Part 2 of weekly story together.

Friday: Comprehension Quiz (sometimes given earlier in the week)

Choice Time is also given each day, right now students are given the choice of  Read to Self  or Read to Someone, as not all choices have been introduced yet.

It was a busy week with the introduction of Read to Someone and the weekly reading basal story, but overall I thought the week went well. On Friday I gave the students a  quick survey in which I asked them on a scale of : Love it! Like it! Ho-Hum! or Don’t Like It! about there feelings on different areas of Reading Workshop. When asked the questions, “How do you feel about having choices in Reading Workshop?” With 24 students (out of 25) taking the survey I had 11 say they “Love it!”, 11 say the “Like it” and 2 say “Ho-Hum”. When asked, “How do you feel about Reading Workshop so far in 4^th grade?” I had 8 say they “Love it!”, 11 say they “Like it”, 4 say “Ho-Hum”, and 1 say “Don’t like it!” These results were good and made me happy about the decisions I have made so far, although I would love to see more readers “Loving it!” There were 5 questions total and I had minimal “Don’t Like It” responses, which I find to be a positive as well!

                                     Read to Someone Choice

At the end of the week I started to introduce the Listen to Reading chart, and as I turned the chart paper around one student said, “I bet we will need to make an I-Chart for this!” They are catching on! I am excited to see how Listen to Reading goes this week as it will be a choice. I have 4 computers in my classroom that students will be able to use to listen to this week’s reading story. We have discussed how this might look and how it will be decided as to who gets to use the computers, but we are still working on putting a plan into place. There are some students that I know would benefit from listening to the weekly story, so I will be working on a way to make sure they are given the chance to do so. I am looking to another week in Reading Workshop! J

Choice #2: Choice in What You Read

This week we are continuing to practice our Read to Self Choice, and making great strides! My hope is for students to have comfortably mastered this choice before I introduce the next choice, Read to Someone. While students have mastered many of the I-Chart expectations of Read to Self one of my additional concerns has been what they are choosing to read.  I truly believe that it is important to give students choice in what they read, while also making sure that what they are reading is appropriate for their age and reading level. In our classroom we still use our basal textbook, focusing on a different story each week, and while this story is deemed “at their level” it doesn’t fit all the levels of readers in my classroom, and it definitely does not always spark their interest. However, the basal is not something that I can give up, it is something that I am expected to use in my classroom, and therefore I am placing great focus on the choices students do have in what they read, trying to enable to choose good independent reading book that truly fit them.

I have worked to help students make good choices in what they read through two different focus lessons, both of which compare choosing a book to shopping of some sort! One lesson focused on finding a “just right” book versus one that is “easy” or “challenging”. I first read a picture book entitled Goldilocks and the Three Hares and then used that to compare books that are too easy, too challenging, or just right. We continued by making a chart that listed different qualities of each of these types of books, and ended with a shopping comparison. Using Wild hockey jerseys I had one that was too small (a Build-A-Bear shirt), one that was too big (an adult jersey), and one that was just right (a youth jersey). I had students try on these jerseys and as they modeled we compared the fit of these different size jerseys to the fit of a good “just right” book.

Shopping for "Just Right" Books

 Easy - Challenging - Just Right

A few days later I expanded on the idea of choosing a “just right” book to picking  the right “just right” book to fit all your needs. For this lesson I used the I PICK strategy, as introduced by “the sisters” in the Daily 5. In the strategy the acronym stands for I= I chose a book P= Purpose, what is my purpose in reading this book? I = Interest – Why am I interested in this book? C= Comprehend – Do I understand what I am reading? And K= Know – do I know most of the words I am reading. As an introduction to this strategy I used a comparison of shoes. I started by reading a picture book called Shoe-La-La and the brought a bag of shoes I had collected from around my house. We first looked at the purpose of each shoe and what interests it did and did not express about me. We then compared this to books, I would not wear my sandals when I play kickball just like how I would not read a comic book if my purpose was to research for a paper. We noted that I did not have any golf shoes in my bag, but I did have soccer cleats, that showed my interest. This is similar to choosing a book that interests you, you don’t want to read something that is not interesting to just like you would not own golf shoes if golf was not interesting you.

We continued the conversation to Comprehend and Know by looking at one of my husband’s shoes that was in the bag. When I put it on and tired to walk around in it I had difficulty walking, similar to a book I don’t understand or can not read most of the words in. We continued to make connections to shoes as we talked about how picking the best “just right” book was going to be different for everyone. I then had two students with very different size tennis shoes on attempt to switch shoes, the shoes showed similar purpose and interest, but clearly would affect the students ability to perform, similar to how choose a book that you do not understnad or know most of the words in can affect your reading.The following day students were given a copy of the I PICK strategy along with an assignment that required them to go through all four steps of the I PICK strategy in picking out a book within the next week. I am eager to read their responses and see what “just right” books they have chosen to read.

Teaching the I PICK Lesson

Today in class we began to discuss the next Reading Workshop Choice: Read to Someone. This is the one that I am most nervous about because it requires students to work well with one another and stay focused on their reading. This is one that we will practice a lot! The students lit up with excitement at the mention of being able to choose to read to someone else during reading time! We first talked about and modeled how to sit EEKK (elbow, elbow, knee, knee) with the person you are reading with and then brainstormed our ideas for the I-Chart, and they seemed to get it. There ideas for the chart showed me that they realized this is not about hanging out with a friend, this is about reading!  Their ideas led right to the conclusion I was hoping for, that reading to someone will help us get better at reading out loud and make us better readers! I am looking forward to seeing how the introduction of this newest choice goes and hoping they continue to use the power of choice to choose good “just right” books!  

Choice #1: Read to Self

We have survived the first two weeks of school... the supplies are unpacked and being used, the books have been taken out of lockers and read, and the routines have been learned. We have spent a lot of time the first two weeks of school building a foundation for our community and I am thrilled with the way our year is starting off!

We jumped into Reading Workshop on the first day of school and after reading Read All About It by Laura and Jenna Bush we talked about what we love to read and why we love to read. Some students contributed more to the conversation than others, but not one was groaning about reading, so I took that as a good sign. Before embarking on our first independent reading time we sat together at the carpet and talked about how this year in Reading Workshop that students will have choices, but those choices will not all come at once, we have to learn them one at a time. I saw a few faces perk up at the mention of choices during reading, curiosity was getting their interest, which was wonderful to see. I explained that the first choice we would practice was one that many of the had probably done at school before: Read to Self. We the made an I-Chart about the expectations of this choice time. We start the chart of with an I for Independence, as the goal is that by following the expectations of the chart students should be able to independently complete the learning task. Our I-Chart (pictured below) was created by the students (with minimal guidance from me) and is something that we often reference when preparing for Read to Self time. We also talked about why this choice is important to us: To help us become better readers! Before sending students off to practice this choice on their own I had some models demonstrate the correct and incorrect ways to Read to Self. The students enjoyed the modeling time, and I was careful to select those that enjoy being silly to model and incorrect ways to Read to Self and then transition into the correct model as I was of showing them that I know they can do this!  (and so I can remind them when they are off task... "remember how well you modeled for the class, show me some of the things you did..."

Our I-Chart for the Read to Self Choice

We have practiced Read to Self for the past two weeks and within that practice I have allowed students to continue making chocies within our Reading Workshop block. An additonal choice that needed to be made was where students would read during Reading Workshop, and instead of making this choice for the students I allow them to be a part of the process.  We first read The Best Place to Read by: Debbie Bertram, and then talk about places in our classroom that might be "the best place to read". Students are aware of some places around the room they would like to read right away  (one of the comfy black chairs, one of the rolling computer chairs, their table spot, with a pillow from one of the chairs)... I introduce them to a few more ideas (the counter, one of the camping chairs, carpet squares)... and they come up with some ideas on their own. (the double chair, sitting on top of the table spot, in the corner by the cabinet). Before we know it we have our list of Book Nook spots, which does include a few students at their table spot each day. I then had each student create a "Book Nook Stick" which was then used to create our Book Nook rotation system.

Book Nook Rotation System

Since the creation of our Book Nook Rotation System on Monday this has become a very popular each morning, the rotation of the Book Nook spots just moves down one stick each day, but it is still very exciting for them to see what their spot is for reading each day! Book Nooks seem to have created some added excitiment for Reading Workshop, and on Parent Information Night this past Thursday many parents were directed by their students to look at the Book Nook sticks, and to try out the comfy black chairs! I am thrilled to see this excitment towards reading, even if it is all over a Book Nook spot!

As we ended our second week of school today I had the students reflect on a notecard about the Read to Self choice, knowing that this is something most students have expierenced in the classroom setting before, most often refered to as independent reading time. The reflections helped me see who already has a love for reading, and who needs more encoragement to become lover of reading, who feels they can accomplsih this choice well, and who needs additonal support, it help be better understand how they feel and view the Read to Self choice. (it also helped me see who listened to our conversation about what it means to "take time to reflect" and who just copied my key words off the board and put none of their own thoughts or feelings into their reflections..... still working on following directions! :))

As we ended week two of Reading Workshop the reflections showed a range of feelings towards the Read to Self choice: "I don't think it's the best choice. I can't really focus on my book." "I go bananas for it! It's Fun! It's the Best!" "I liked it, I liked my book, I was not a distraction." "I think it is good having a long time just for reading. It gives us a long time just for one thing." "I think reading to self is fun! I just shouldn't look around the room so much!" "It is easy, but I don't like it." "I feel smart when I read!" "I think it's a great idea. It is helping me read and it's always quiet!"

“The one thing that students want most in school can be summed up in one word: CHOICE.” ~Tricia Georg

It's Go Time!

With the start of the 2011 - 2012 school year one day away it is time for me to take what I have learned through my Review of Literature (RoL) and implement it as my Action Research (AR). In my research my focus has been on student choice in the classroom, and the question at the center of my research is:

“How does implementing student choice during reading affect my fourth graders’ attitudes towards reading?"

The reason behind my research comes from my experiences in years past. I have always done a Reading Workshop format during my reading block, but I struggled to have all of my students ENGAGED in reading at all times. During independent reading time it was always quiet, but by looking around I could always pinpoint those that were not truly engaged in what they were do. I wanted to find a way to reach all my students in a way that would give them a positive attitude towards reading, and that lead me to student choice.


I met almost all of my 4th graders at Back to School Night last week, and I am already looking forward to a great year! This year I will have 25 students, 13 boys and 12 girls. Of those students I know that 4 students are new to our school ( 3 girls, 1 boy) and 4 students are currently on 504 plans. I know that the way I implement student choice in the classroom will change based upon the students in my class but I am looking forward to seeing how it goes and how their attitudes towards reading change!

The choices I will provide for my 4th graders will be based on ideas from The Daily 5 and the Reading Workshop model. At this point in my planning I hope to implement six choices into our reading block, each choice will be introduced individually throughout the beginning of the school year and it is my hope that by the end of October all six choices will have been introduced. The six choices I will implement into our reading block will be: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Working on Writing, Spelling/Word Work, and Writing About Reading. In order to determine the impact of allowing this student choice in the classroom I will use a variety of tools to collect data. This will include student surveys, parent surveys, comprehension quizzes, and teacher observations. I am looking forward to getting my action research underway and hoping to help students foster their love of learning and reading!

Get Rid of Your Goats and Get Some Bees...

My hopes, visions, and dreams for the 2011 - 2012 school year are to try and get rid of the things that may have a negative impact on my classroom, just as goats may have negative impact on trying to grow a forest. Instead I would like to add more things that will have a positive impact on my classroom, similar to the way bees would have a positive impact on a forest as they pollinate and help it thrive. These analogies come from a video we watched in class called The Man Who Planted Trees, as we watched the video we compared the man to ourselves as teachers.

My hope is to have a great school year with my new class of 25 students that I have not yet met, and one way I hope to accomplish that is by increasing student choice in reading. I know that this change is going to take time and if I want it to work to its potential I know I need to be slow as I introduce each choice and set up the expectations associated with that choice. My Reading Workshop time is going to shift from a time where all students did was Read to Self, to a time where they could also choose to Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Write about Reading, Work on Writing, or do Spelling/Word Work I have so many ideas in my head as to how this is going to work, my hope is that I find the TIME to get it all figured out in a concrete way so that it can have a positive impact on my 4th grade readers! I look forward to make this vision a reality, and while I know it is going to take a lot of work, I am going to take the advice of a fellow blogger and remember that Slow and Steady Wins the Race!  

To Blog or Not to Blog....

TO BLOG! as that is the assignment this week! I have never had a blog before, mainly because I am not sure that people would want to read about my life, although I do follow the blogs of a few different people because I am just interested in keeping up with their lives and what they are doing. I am now seeing blogs in a different light, as they can be used in the classroom and for educational reasons. I feel that this blog will be a good source of reflection for me on my Action Research journey and could help anyone else that reads it see what has and has not worked for me in terms of implementing student choice in my 4th grade classroom.