Walking the Talk

When I got back to school, Maria Mallon dropped by to bring me a piece of writing that had been done by Ryan during our live lesson to the America's Choice conference in Hollywood. During the conference we dropped into Maria's class for a Writers' Workshop. Ryan was working on the following piece:
Today at school we got video taped. We had a TV in our class. We have a fun teacher. Then we ate lunch. Then we played outside. The TV went back to California. I was delighted!

I wonder if Ryan thought his piece was a 1, 2, or 3 on his classroom rubric? Bet he could rate each element of the rubric and decide what the paper needed to move to the next level!

Debbie Harbour, another of our kindergarten teachers presented a session at the conference on the vocabulary that we wrote as a professional learning community, based on the work of Beck and McKeown, and are currently teaching to our youngest learners. She will be very pleased to know that Ryan used the word "delighted" in his writing in Maria's class which was one of the vocabulary words that he learned from Red Riding Hood. Just goes to show how we really do walk the talk!

World of Workshops

A World of Workshops
Presented by Barbara Heard, Debra Palmer-Gyebi, Gail Polak and Kiatonya Wormley: Leonora P. Miles Elementary School, Atlanta, GA

Miles Elementary School is an America’s Choice Model School in Atlanta, GA. Their focus was on using a thematic approach to teaching reading, writing, science and social studies. When forming a new unit they begin with the standards. Right now they are teaching a school wide unit called Freedom and Change. Martin L. King is the icon they use to connect the Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop, Social Studies and Science. We watched a clip of a mini-lesson in a 1st grade class. They were using a KWL chart on a book about Martin L. King. After listening to the story, the students went to their seats to respond to the story for the work period. During the closing the students shared their responses.

Next, a 4th grade class used a poem around the theme of Freedom and Change during Reader’s Workshop. Ms Gyebi uses a Poem of the Week to work on Echo Reading, Leader and Chorus reading, and small group reading. We watched a clip of a lesson. The students were doing a Choral Reading of a poem about Martin L. King. The lesson was on fluency.

Ms. Wormley used the Book of the Month to teach Writer’s Workshop in a 5th grade class. The students wrote connections to the story. The story was Feathers and Fools by Mem Fox. They choose this story because it is about war and peace, which fit into their unit of Freedom and Change.

At the end of each two week unit the teachers are required to display artifacts about the unit that are displayed in the hallway.

LIVE Lesson from the East Coast

Virtual Tour - LIVE lesson
Chets Creek Elementary, Jacksonville, FL

WOW! Just minutes ago, Chets Creek Elementary presented a LIVE lesson, as part of the school's virtual tour, from their school on the East Coast. It's still hard to believe that we could actually "drop in" on a class 3,000 miles aways and actually ask the teachers questions about the lesson that was taught! The Lesson Plan presented by kindergarten teacher, Maria Mallon, is below.

Unit of Study – Narrative
1-31-08
Writing Standard #2 – Narrative Writing
Title of Mini Lesson: Utilizing a Rubric to Enhance Student Writing

Intention:

• For kindergarten students to be familiar with a rubric as a tool to enhance and revise narrative writing.


• For kindergarten students to be able to recognize a piece of writing that may be a one, two, or three on the class-made rubric.

Mini-lesson

• Connection: We have been creating our rubric for the past week and using it to make our writing better. We talked about the three sections of our rubric: “Ingredients Writing #1” – "Plain Cake Writing #2" - and the “Happy Birthday Cake Writing #3.” If we feel we are a #1 writer, we try to improve to a #2, and #2 writers try to improve to a #3. In this way, we can become the best writers we can be.


• Teaching: Today, I am going to show you some student writing. I’m going to use the rubric to help me decide if the piece is a 1, 2, or 3. In this way, we can help the writer with some suggestions on how to make it better, because, remember, we want to be the best writers we can be. (I’ll show one or two writing samples) and talk about where on the rubric I think the writing should be.)


• Active Engagement: I have another piece of writing to show you. (I will read the piece.) Now, I would like you to turn and talk to discuss what number/numbers on the rubric you think this piece of writing is and why. (Invite writers to share their discussion.)


• Link: Writers, remember that the rubric is a tool that will help to make your good writing even better.

Work session: Conference with individual students, allowing each one to practice using the rubric with their own writing.

Share: Some writers that have utilized the rubric to enhance their narrative pieces will share their writing and discuss where on the rubric they feel their writing is.

While Maria was involved in conferring with her students in the Work Session, Kindergarten teacher, Haley Alvarado did a tour of Maria's room to show the artifacts that support the Writers' Workshop. After the lesson, the participants in Hollywood were able to ask questions of Maria and Halley. We are so proud of these teachers who were willing to take this risk and open their practice to such a large audience! What pros!

These type of live "drop in" lessons are done weekly at Chets Creek in both Literacy and Math. The lessons are sent to the Schultz Center, which is our county's Professional Development sight, so that teachers from all over our county (who are at the Center for professional development)can watch quality lessons and then ask the teacher about some of the choices that were made. We thank the Schultz Center For Teaching and Leadership for this partnership that allowed us to bring a live lesson across the United States today!!