In Linda Dorn’s Teaching for Deep Comprehension: A Reading Workshop Approach, she has a page of thoughtful journal entries that you can use with your students.  I am trying to incorporate these more into my writing day of my group.  I wrote the prompts on little cards (similar to my mission cards) and do put them in envelopes.  This way students are answering different questions and I can make it more appropriate to the different levels within the group.  I’ve found this to be a great way of mixing it up and differentiating what I’m asking of the students.  Plus, it keeps it interesting for me to read different answers and get different insight to what’s going on in their minds.

Respond personally to the text

• How do you feel about the text and why?
• How has the text changed your life in some way?
• What is your favorite part of the book and why?

Respond to the theme and/or author’s purpose

• What is the author trying to teach you?
• What is the author’s purpose or message in the text?
• Why do you think the author wrote this text?

Offer opinion of text

• Do you like or dislike the text and why?
• Who is your favorite or least favorite character and why?
• Will you read this book again?  Why or why not?
• Will you recommend this book to a friend?

Ask questions

• What does the word/phrase _____ mean?
• Why did the character act this way?
• What did the author mean when….?
• What is the author trying to teach you?

Make predictions/inferences

• What do you think might happen and why?
• I think ______ because ….

Respond to the writing style or author’s language

• How does the author use language to create sensory images?
• How does the author’s language deepen your understanding?

Respond to the traits and/or actions of the character(s)

• Do you like, dislike, or admire the character(s) and why?
• Would you act/react differently and why?

Share connections

• Does any part of the book remind you of the world and what is occurring now or has happened in the past?
• How have your own experiences deepened your understanding?
• How is this text (characters or events) similar to another book (characters or events)?
• Do you connect in any way with a character from the text?

Critique the text

• Did the author do a good job organizing the text? crafting the text?
• What are the resources the author used to provide you with accurate and current information?
• Did the author use text features to help you understand the information?
• Did the author follow the text structures for the genre?

Good luck as you begin to use some of these prompts with your kids.  When I first started using more thoughtful prompts you would have thought I was asking my students for their left arm.  Stick with it!  Getting them to think deeper and more reflective is good for them!   Happy teaching and happy writing!

While trying to review the basic plot stages (that we’ve gone over several times, btw), I asked what the first stage was, and almost all of them shouted the correct answer, “Exposition!”  I wrote it on the board and then move on to the next stage, rising action.  As I’m writing that one down and we’e all forgotten about the exposition, a student who is always a few steps behind blurts out from the back, “Does that say explosion?”

One of the biggest problems I see with questions about author’s purpose is that students are so focused on themselves that it’s hard for them to think from someone else’s perspective.  I’m not trying to be mean.  That’s just the way their brains are wired.  So, I told them, “I know this is going to sound harsh.  But when I ask you what the author’s purpose of something is, I don’t care what you think about the selection.  If it’s an article and you thought it was interesting or entertaining, I don’t care.  The author’s purpose wasn’t to entertain you.  It was to inform.  If the essay didn’t persuade you and you weren’t convinced, I don’t care.  Their purpose was still to persuade.”  I go on a little bit more, and one of my students who knows I’m an author, in his extremely thick and loud country accent, says, “Ah, she’s just tryin’ to defend her author friends.”

While reading The Canterbury Tales with my seniors, we’d just read the description of The Wife of Bath and discussed how even though she was worldly and had been married 5 times, Chaucer still thought she was a worthy woman.  I turned my back to write something on the board about her and I hear one of my students singing in the vein of Billy Joel, “She had 5 husands, but she’s always a woman to me.”

Last week’s exercise was to continue analyzing the rhetorical devices and the sentence fluency in notable picture books.

Having a clear purpose is important when writing a picture book. Is your purpose to entertain? Do you want to inspire? Do you want to educate? Do you have more than one purpose? “The best picture books are warm, humorous, and can be read again and again. There must be something new to take away each time you read it.  It has to hold up to multiple readings. There must be substance, depth, and layering.” (from www.marisamontes.com/writing_picture_books.htm)

Great picture books should also contain beauty and wonder, both in the pictures and in the text. Consider Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. There is beauty and wonder on every page –in the lovely forest illustrations and also in the language.

Here’s the first paragraph:

It was late one winter night, long past my bedtime, when Pa and I went owling. There was no wind. The trees stood still as giant statues. And the moon was so bright the sky seemed to shine. Somewhere behind us a train whistle blew, long and low, like a sad, sad song.

Notice the way the sentences flow, the rhythm, the rhyme, the imagery, the alliteration, and the repetition. Notice also the mood created by the brief description. What could be more mysterious and wondrous than going “owling” with your father in the middle of a winter night?

And here’s a list of some of the imagery/figurative language in the story.

1- The trees stood still as giant statues.

2- A train whistle blew, long and low, like a sad, sad song.

3- They sang out, trains and dogs.

4- It was as quiet as a dream.

5- Our feet crunched over the crisp snow.

6- Little gray footprints followed us.

7- My short, round shadow bumped after me.

8- The moon made his face into a silver mask.

9- The snow below it was whiter than the milk in a cereal bowl.

10- An echo came threading its way through the trees.

11- We watched silently with heat in our mouths, the heat of all those words we had not spoken.

12- The kind of hope that flies on silent wings under a shining Owl Moon.

Beautiful and wondrous.

Finally, notice the three concluding statements that summarize the narrator’s unique experience.

1- If you go owling you have to be quiet and make your own heat.

2- When you go owling you have to be brave.

3- When you go owling you don’t need words or warm or anything but hope.

Think of the layers of meaning: We could read this picture book for the experience of going “owling,” for the relationship between the child and the father, or for what the story symbolizes (hope and perseverance). Or we could find a different, deeper, personal meaning.

Now that I’ve been inspired by Jane Yolen, I’m going to go work on my picture books.

The exercise for this week is to write a reflection on your writing habits (the when, where, and how) and perhaps on how to improve them. Examining the writing habits of other writers will help.

Talk to you next week!

P.S. Here’s another link with useful information on Picture Books:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/14/1144476/-Young-People-s-Pavilion-Some-of-the-best-new-picture-books

AUTHOR’S PURPOSE IS SWEET

The week prior to our break we discussed why authors write. We learned that author’s purpose is as easy as PIE. Inspired by another teacher’s idea, we created Author’s Purpose PIEs for our reading journals to help students remember that authors write to persuade, inform and entertain.

Example of Author’s Purpose PIE from a student’s Reading Journal

LETTERS TO LYDIA

Last week we read The Gardener by Sarah Stewart. This story is set during the Great Depression and is about a little girl whose family has to send her to live with a relative until the father can find work. It is written in letter form which lends itself as a fitting introduction to the parts of a friendly letter. As a story extension, students were assigned to write a friendly letter as one of the characters from the story to the main character, Lydia Grace,  after she returned home to her family. The students had to think about what they knew about each character in order to write from their point of view. First they wrote a draft of their letter then we edited it and they wrote the final letter on lined paper to help with legibility. I was pleased with the letters they wrote. Of course, we have work to do to master the friendly letter format. There will be time for that. Below is an example of a student’s letter.

Student’s friendly letter to Lydia Grace, main character from “The Gardener”

HEAD OVER HEELS

A few weeks ago some of the students asked if they did something well as a group if I would do a cart-wheel for them. Unfortunately, cartwheels are not in my skill set. I can ( at least I was able to 2 years ago) do a head stand. So we agreed that if they did well on an assessment as a class I would stand on my head for their effort. Well…they all made above average grades on their spelling test this week.  So, I kept my word.

I am “head over heels” for their Spelling skills!

A TWIST ON THE BOOK REPORT

Students received the packet for the Pumpkin Book Project. Students are required to pick a high quality book within their reading level to read, pick a character from the book and decorate the foam pumpkin I provided as that character. Students also have written assignments to complete for the project. One eager student has completed decorating his pumpkin as Officer Buckle from the book Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann.

MULTIPLICATION ROCKS

As you well know, we have been working to learn our multiplication facts. One way to help those facts sink into memory is music. There are LOTS of multiplication songs available via internet download. Follow this link to lyrics and songs from Schoolhouse Rock. Have fun listening and learning!

DON’T FORGET - Third grade will sing at the PTA meeting Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30. Please have your students at school no later than 6:15. They will need to bring a flashlight to use during the performance. See you Tuesday!

With that in mind, I’ve decided to focus a bit this week on Author’s Purpose (why they write what they write). Today, we learned in class that most authors write for a piece of the P.I.E. In other words, they are trying to do one of these:

• Persuade–They want to try and get the reader to do something.
• Inform– They want to teach the reader something.
• Entertain–They want to help the reader have fun.

Remember, the writer ALWAYS writes with the reader in mind.

If you missed class today, here’s the chart we started making to help us learn about P.I.E.

That’s all for today. We’ll go into more detail tomorrow!

Explore literary nonfictions through the sub-genres of memoir, personal narrative, diary, biography and autobiography from differing cultural and historical perspectives.

Students will understand that authors write about ordinary happenings of their lives.

Generalizations to guide the study:

1. Effective readers select from a variety of strategies to better comprehend a text.

2. Successful readers examine different points of view to draw conclusions about text.

3. Culture, history, and contemporary context influence an author’s purpose in writing.

4. Students provide evidence form texts to support inferences and conclusions.

5. Literary nonfiction employs literary language and devices that are often not found in other forms of nonfiction.

6. Every person’s life is a story that includes characters, events, and themes.

7. Life stories can be told through nonfiction, poetry, and film.

8. Analyzing a writer’s craft or a person’s life may guide readers to write their own life stories.

9. An effective narrative is clearly focused – it will explain why an action or an event was personally meaningful or made an impact in an author’s life.

10. Effective writers use appropriate capitalization, punctuation, conventions, capitalization and spelling in their compositions.

11. Active listeners ask questions to clarify the meaning of presentations.

Length of unit: 4 weeks

20 50 minute periods

and one week of Benchmark testing

I discovered the book many years ago when I was working for the Teachers College Writing Project, and like other books by Donald Murray, Shoptalk became a kind of gospel, offering guidance, inspiration and a vision to those of us who wanted to ground our writing instruction in the work that real writers do. I’d bring in quotes to teachers I worked with, and together we’d create charts and mini-lessons, sharing, for example, Mark Twain’s injunction, “Don’t say the old lady screamed—bring her on and let her scream,” for a lesson on show, don’t tell, and using Edward Albee’s assertion that “I write to find out what I’m thinking about,” as an invitation to students to use writing to explore, not just record, what’s on their mind. Then we’d return to those quotes when it came time to share, asking who in the room had used Mark Twain’s advice or who had discovered something new by exploring their experience and perceptions.

I loved Shoptalk for the way that even the chapter titles brought depth and life and soul to the words typically found on classroom charts outlining the steps in the writing process. And when my work began to encompass reading, too, I longed for words that would give soul and meaning to the often simplistic and reductive language I found in the charts that were everywhere in classrooms, listing comprehension strategies, the habits of good readers and the author’s purpose.

And so I turned to writers and began collecting quotes that seemed to more vividly capture the purpose and the craft of reading. Many found their way into What Readers Really Do, and some I’ve brought into classrooms. But here’s one that I recently discovered. It’s from a poem by the amazing poet Marie Howe that explores both the challenges and consolations of reading novels. I’m sharing part of it here, but if you click on the poem, it will open up in a new tab where you can read the poem as published in Boston Review in its entirety.

                                How much richer might our students’ notions of reading be if we shared this kind of shoptalk with them and learned to read from writers? For here’s the question: What is Marie Howe’s purpose?

A. To persuade

B. To inform

C. To entertain

D. All of the above

E. None of the above

The answer seems not quite as easy as pie. Nor should it be, I think, if we want our students to read thoughtfully and deeply, not just match a text up with a word.

When teaching author’s purpose, I start with these trusty reasons: to describe, to explain, to persuade, to entertain. These cover many types of writing: poetry, anything expository, advertisements, editorials, and narrative fiction.

On a test, of course, you have to give students some leeway and partial credit (at least I do) if they don’t remember them exactly, but they get the gist. For example, if the student lists “to get his point across” or “to convince others to agree with her,” I’ll take it.

Then, there are answers that make you think, scratch your head, or laugh out loud.

Question: Why does an author write? Think about the reasons we covered when talking about author’s purpose.

Answer #1: Free speech.

So, yes, we have freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the U.S. So, is this student saying an author writes because she can? Maybe. In some countries, journalists and other writers are killed because of their work. Had the student tried to convince me this is what he meant, I might have given him partial credit.

Answer #2: Their own amusement.

Love this one! When I first read this, I envisioned an author chucking aside a bad review, declaring, “I write to amuse myself. Reader be damned.” Then, I thought, this is true. I’m sure most, if not all, writers enjoy it. We write because we like to, so I guess that is for our own amusement.

Answer #3: To make money.

Yes, of course. Alas, according to all of the blogs I’ve been reading most authors will not get rich. Most will be like the musician who plays out for extra money but keeps his day job. Still, even this type of writer makes some money, so I would agree many of us write with the hope of earning some cash.

Answer #4: Bad to good or vis versu

????? I have no idea what’s going on here. No credit.

Answer #5: To help people fall asleep.

HA!! Love it!! Reading, especially at night after a long day, may lead to closed eyelids and well-deserved rest, but I doubt that was the author’s purpose. “I write so that I can put you to sleep.” Wait a minute…unless, of course, it’s a self-hypnosis type of book or a guided meditation audiobook. Hmmm….maybe this student has a point.

If you’re a writer, tell me, why do you write?

iii)Titles , Topics, and Main Ideas

 The ability to title and understanding the purpose of titles, is very important because it relates to reading comprehension strategies such as determining importance and synthesizing. The development of critical thinking skills are also addressed through titling.

Critical thinkers work from evidence and can back up their opinions with facts. A title based on evidence demonstrates an understanding of the concept.

Asking students to generate accurate titles asks them to think about the picture as a whole using abstract thinking. Titling represents curricular evidence present in the photo.

Titling also assists in learning and remembering the words. It is another place to add in those essential high frequency words. Just like words, Titles can be classified.

Titling needs to be modeled. Bring in pictures and look at books/magazines and even DVD and game titles. Using Book titles and covers establishes categories. Students also title their word and sentence categories and of course their paragraphs . Modeling helps kids expand their  repertoire not getting enough good titles is always due to insufficient modeling-model many kinds of book titles-one word,two-word , alliteration, repeating words..

I tell students “When someone walks into this classroom they should know which picture the title they have chosen goes with “

Discuss the photographer’s intent about when the photograph was taken. Was the photographer taking a photograph of the plant or the sharks swimming around the plant? The purpose is just like an author’s purpose in writing. The title indicates that purpose.

In teaching writing, we use titles to establish topic and theme. Real authors choose titles with great care. The title is a promise to the reader. That promise helps the reader make a connection to prior knowledge /predict textual content and read for meaning. The title will be an indicator from the author about the main idea.

The co construction of criteria with students of what makes a good title vs. what is a sentence,  is great way to reinforce understanding. Create an anchor chart  with your class of what makes a good title. Mask the title on books and ask students to brainstorm possible titles. Reveal the actual title and discuss why the author would have chosen that particular title.

hint-Title the photo in stages-it doesn’t have to be all at once. Not all of the students need a title.

Being a Reading Teacher

Reading is for me an act of transformation that is magical. Thirst and hunger fade as the words find their place in my remembrance of you. Who might you be? You are here with me. Happiness, felicity, thy name is Gaby. Source of all my bravery, you are my poetry…

Reading, I fear thee not. Fear of reading, Neither cold nor hot, I am reading. I read for my wife, Gabriela de Lourdes León Vargas. I read for my son, Thomas Jerome Baker, Jr. No fear of reading, I am reading…

Amazon Author Page: Thomas Jerome Baker

Authors Purpose

Collage of kids reading (Credit: pyramidreading@gmail.com)

http://www.pyramidreading.com/unit-3.php

I need more information to know what is under the crust.  I cannot make an informed decision if I don’t know the type of pie is under the crust.  The author will teach us or provide us with information so that I can make an informed decision. 

The author is entertaining us (cartoons, something funny).

 I will persuade you to eat pie with whip cream or ice cream instead of plain pie.  …

Strategy: Author’s Purpose

Recommended Grades: 3-6^th grade

Ok, so technically, Ranger Rick magazine is not a picture book, but it provides short text (and lots of photographs!) that can easily be used in the classroom to model nonfiction text features or in this case author’s purpose.

Lesson Idea: Choose the type of text you want to model. Ranger Rick offers sets of directions when they showcase crafts, jokes and riddles, and short informative news articles using various text structures.  Read aloud (or post on an overhead or ELMO device) and discuss with students how author’s write differently for different purposes.  Authors typically write for three different purposes: to entertain, persuade, or inform.  Download the Determining the Author’s Purpose graphic organizer.  Model for students how to determine different purposes for writing.  When students have had plenty of practice determining the author’s purpose of various texts with you or a partner, have them use the graphic organizer to locate features on their own.

Content Connections: Ranger Rick is a great resource to use when teaching science.

©2010 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

This is another story about an adorable pig who knew exactly what he wanted to do and no one could stop him!
Dumpy La Rue’s positive self-imagine and determination influences his family and the barnyard animals to join him in the fun. Dumpy La Rue by Elizabeth Winthrop will have your students dancing to their own beat!

 Lesson plans include worksheets for identifying the author’s purpose, and writing lessons about using vivid imagery and word choice.

The Little Engine That Could  lesson plans include poems about trains.

Also, knowing why an author wrote  a book really is important. 

What might a test item look like? 

Maybe….

A typical multiple choice question:

1.  Identify author’s purpose
A. To Persuade
B. To Inform
C. To Entertain

2.  Identify the purpose of the text…
A. A sentence about information.
B. A sentence about entertain.
C. A sentence about purpose.
D. A random incorrect sentence. 

What does this sound like during a read-aloud, during regular instruction?  Teacher reads a book and simply asks, “Why do you think the author wrote this book?”  The teacher follows this question up with the next natural question, “How do you know?”

PIE =

P = persuade someone

I = inform someone

E = entertain someone

This book opens the door for discussion on crime and punishment, as well as how inventions change lives, superstitions, racial relationships and equality (including inter-racial romances), the history of race relations, how drought affects the landscape, and what the motives are behind some crimes. One character promotes folk medicine over traditional medicine, which could lead to a brief discussion on folk remedies. There are multiple settings here, with four stories being told simultaneously. Generations of characters’ stories are told, with their ancestors’ lives intertwining seamlessly.

There is once instance where a character says, “What the hell”.

I have used this book with grades 4 and 5 in a special education setting. Some of the activities we did was a comparison between settings, mapping out some of the story locales, and discussing how race was viewed 100 years ago compared to now.

This book presents a unique opportunity to look at author’s purpose if you’ve got time to show the movie; the screenplay is written by Louis Sachar also, and kids can examine why he chose to change some of the plot for the purpose of the movie.