You Want Better Readers! I Have the Solution!
A Cute Story to Start…
I read with kids. It’s the funniest part of my job. Case in point….
We had just finished reading The Tortoise and the Hare. Of course, the moral of that story is: Strong and Steady Wins the Race.
My student raises her hand. “Nope,” she says, “Not true. My parents hate that I do everything slow. It drives them crazy. That story is not true.”
And, she’s right. All 8 year old’s are right!
So in my reading groups I try to see their side of things, or as Joni Mitchell would sing, “I’ve looked at love from both sides now.”
In my case,
I’ve looked at books from all sides now! (Please sing it, it sounds so cool, trust me.)
Last week I sat with a group of students to read a book called Fishing with Grandpa. As usual you ask the students, what do you know about the subject of the book? …which in this case is fishing.
Blink – Blink – Blink (This is the sound you hear when students can not relate to a topic. It’s louder than you think.)
So what do you do?
Making Better Connections
Well, we read through the story, pulling out some connections to what they have experienced about fishing in books, movies etc. In education we call this, Making Connections. I encourage students to make connections to themselves, to other books/movies and the world. What I don’t want is students to make superficial connections like:
this book about fishing reminds me of Rainbow Fish it is also book about a fish
or
the character has a grandpa, I have a grandpa
or
the water is blue, I have seen blue water (The students say these things, teachers cry a little inside, we try so hard!)
So what do you do with books that kids lack a real connection to?
Think HEART….not harder! (I just made that up, I most be having a good Sunday)
Think HEART means feeling. Can you get the students to connect with a feeling?
In this book it was disappointment. The disappointment of not catching a fish. Can kids relate to disappointment? Um…yes! So, we had a discussion about feeling disappointed and how we moved passed it. In the story, the grandpa suggests that sometimes disappointments can happen but if we really engage in the moment, we can enjoy just “being there” …being there experiencing the sounds, smells, the beauty of the day and who you are with.
So I asked students if they could connect to disappointment.
“Yes,” said one student. “ I was supposed to go swimming with my mom but we didn’t go. I was disappointed.”
“Did the day turn out ok?” I asked.
“Yes, we had fun at home instead.” (She filled me in on all the fun. It was fun!)
Extending Reading into Writing
One of my favourite though leaders, Chris Brogan says, “give ideas handles.” I understand this to mean, express your ideas so the others can relate to them, understand them and use them.
I believe strongly that reading workshop should and can fuel ideas in the writing workshop.
So, in the classroom, the student who missed swimming with her mom now has some ideas to fuel writing, she could:
– write about it in her journal, “Fun at Home with Mom”
– or it could inspire a nonfiction list, “Fun Things You Can Do At Home When You Can’t Go Out”
-or create a poem with this stem….
“I was disappointed (when)…..but on the bright side…I did (this) instead.
Bonus Thoughts and Ideas…You’re Welcome!
She could list several disappointments and related “bright sides”. This is a powerful thing for students to be able to reframe disappointment. Which, I am thinking out loud now but it would be interesting to use an actual “frame” for the reframe. I imagine a frame without glass or a back on it. Teachers could help students problem solve during the day but saying …”Of that is disappointing…how can you “reframe it”. Then the teacher pulls out a frame to remind the students to think about a positive way at looking at the situation.
(If I can digress further, by the way this is my brain on the daily …anyway this talk leads into Growth and Fixed Mindsets. A fixed mindset means nothing can change, this is how it is, to growth mindset which allows for a flexible way of viewing situations. Please check out Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck if you are interested in this idea. I have a copy. If you know me ask, I will let you borrow it.)
Anyway, I leave you with these ideas.
- Think HEART not harder!
- Relate connections to feelings.
- Extend those connections into a deeper discussion or possible writing products.
- “Give Ideas Handles”
Lastly, I remember way too much, of well…EVERYTHING!!!
Here is my memory of fishing…from Sesame Street, my first teacher.
Love always,
Coach Clark
