Reading – Page 36 – Pernille Ripp

Confession time; I am terrible at conferring with my students. This once proud foundation of my elementary classroom is now a crumbling pillar in my 7th grade English class. Call it a victim of the 45 minute I have to teach everything in. A victim of the so much to do. A victim of not quite knowing how to make it productive. Whatever it is, the conferring that I know I should be doing has simply not been getting done.

Yet a few weeks ago, I realized that the one thing I needed the most (besides more time, more books, more knowledge) was the simple conference. The one to one interaction with every single one of my students if even for just a few minutes. Because conferring is the one way I can really reach all students. Is the one way we can connect the best. Is the one way that I can really see what each child needs. Conferring is the best way for me to be a better teacher to all of the needs must of us are faced with. So even within the 45 minute English class, with almost 120 students spread over 5 classes, there had to be a way. There had to be tweaks that could be made to make it work so an experiment began.

So what has worked and what have I discovered?

Reading conferring happens within the first 10 minutes of class. Every day we start with 10 minutes of independent reading. While nothing new, I now am much more purposeful with how I spend the time. So that 10 minutes is a perfect time for me to confer with students., therefore when the bell rings and the timer starts, so does my mission.

That my individual reading conferences focus on reader identity rather than on typical mini-lessons. There is no way for me at the moment to do one-on-one lessons and still make it to all of my students within about 2 weeks. So I instead focus on their reading identity and gather clues for what types of mini-lessons I need to create for small groups. That being said there are exceptions to the rule if I uncover a particular dire situation where a child is then given the full 10 minutes of time. This purpose for the conferences allows me to do quick check-ins and get to more kids.

That within those 10 minutes of independent reading I can shoot for meeting with 3 students. I come to the students, equipped with my binder and pen, ready to ask them questions. By me moving we save time and they can get as much reading time as possible until we meet.

That I need just one question to start every conference. I used to prepare for all of my conferences by coming up with several questions aimed at a specific child. Now every conference starts with, “What are you working on as a reader?” The direction of the conference then is directed by their answer.

That I need a simple system to keep track of notes. I used to take a lot of notes during my conferring but now find the need really just for three different things; my observations, their answers, and next steps. Every student therefore has a sheet with three different conferring boxes on it, each class has its own 1-inch binder for me to keep track and I write down only what I need to better teach the child. That means I am working on writing down only the essentials, in the moment, and still try to think of what to help them with.

So how has it been? Pretty amazing actually. The concentrated 10 minute effort means that I am fully attentive to what the students are saying ant thinking of other things. The short note-taking sheet means that I am ore focused in what I write down as well as what we need to work on next. The students seem to like it because they are getting more attention and still getting reading time. And the things I have uncovered? They are things I would not have uncovered no matter how many reflections I had students do, no matter how many small group lessons I would have conducted.

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So while the 45 minutes of English class will never be ideal, it will never be enough, it will never feel like I can provide each child with the type of learning experience they deserve, it cannot hold us back. It cannot hold me back. And I cannot be the only one that is trying to do this. What has worked for you?

PS: As far as writing conferring, I use the entire class-time when we write meeting one-on-one with students. This has proven to be more effective for the students than doing a mini-lesson for the whole class since their needs are so diverse.

If you are wondering why there seems to be a common thread to so many of my posts as of late, it is because I am working on two separate literacy books. While the task is daunting and intimidating, it is incredible to once again get to share the phenomenal words of my students as they push me to be a better teacher. Those books will be published in 2017 hopefully, so until then if you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

being a teacher, being me, Literacy, Reading, Reading Identity, student choice

Let My Students Read

April 3, 2016April 3, 2016 Pernille Ripp

My friend John Spencer had shared this on Facebook tonight

As I got ready to share the quote myself, the comment below it caught my eye…

“It’s also the job of the school to push children to read books that challenge them and take them out of their comfort zone.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, and Captain Underpants are fine for kids to read and enjoy at home, but teachers should not permit them in the classroom. They provide no educational benefit.”

And I knew I couldn’t stay silent. I knew I had to respond even though I try to not get into it with anyone on Facebook. Even though I didn’t know the commentator and that I might be opening myself up to an argument I don’t feel like having as I wind down on a Sunday night. But when something like that is said, I have to say something back. After all, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, and yes even Captain Underpants all reside in my 7th grade library. Their covers are torn and tattered, they are often replaced. They are loved by many, myself included, and not because they are easy to read, but because they make students fall in love with reading.

So I took a deep breath, pushed my snark aside and wrote this reply…

Not true at all, for some students a book like Diary of A Wimpy Kid is the first time they have felt like they were a reader at school. Our job is not to be gatekeepers of which books students read but instead provide them with successful reading experiences in whichever books they choose so that they will continue to read. Then we can help them stretch into more challenging texts.

But what I really meant to say is that we must not censor.

That we must not think we know better when it comes to what a child needs to read any day.

That instead of judging we should support.

That we must create environments where students choice in books will be celebrated and discussed rather than dismissed and banned.

That it is not our job to be the gatekeepers for our students as Teri Lesene has said so many times.

That if a child is choosing to read books like those mentioned then they have a reason for it, even if that reason is that they do not know what else to read. Our job as teachers is to help them discover why they love the books so much and then expose them to more, just like we would with any book that a child chooses to read.

I speak for the child that this year has read Diary of a Wimpy Kid every chance he got, always turning the page, rereading and laughing every time with joy when he came to beloved sections. He tells me how long he spends reading, how it is his favorite thing to do, how every time he revisits that same old book, he discovers something new.

I speak for the child that never felt like a reader until Dav Pilkey created Captain Underpants and they finally had a character they could relate to.

I speak for the child that has always reverted back to these books until 2 weeks ago when he asked if he could read All American Boys because he had heard it was so good and now is 40 pages in and tells me it is the best book ever. Even if he not quite sure what is going on. Even if we had to go back a few pages and get a few things straight. Diary of a Wimpy Kid may not have been as demanding as All American Boys but those books made him feel safe. Like he could be a reader in our classroom. Like he could be a success story, just like everyone else.

It takes a great book to make a child believe that they too can be a reader and for many of our students that great book has been Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Why anyone would want to take that away from students beats me.

So do not tell me those books do not belong in our classrooms. Do not tell me that my students should not be allowed to read them in school. Do not tell me which books do or do not provide an educational benefit.

If my job as a teacher is to get students to read, then by golly those books, and any other books I can think of, will help me do just that.

I did not become a reader when I could read Huckleberry Finn, I became a reader when I chose to read.

So let our students choose to read. Whatever that may look like. As good teachers we know what to do. We know how to challenge them. How to make them reflect on their journey as readers. How to help them stretch into harder books and protect them when they get too far out of their comfort zone. Let our students fall in love with books so that we can help them discover more books. So that they will leave our classrooms and choose to read, even when they are busy. Even when life gets hard. Even when school is over. Let our students fall in love with reading so that they will choose to be challenged, and not because a teacher forced them to, but because they felt they were ready.

I owe so much to Jeff Kinney, Dav Pilkey and Lincoln Peirce. I think many of us do.

being a teacher, Literacy, Reading, Reading Identity, Student dreams, student driven

I Don’t Read…Thanks

March 22, 2016 Pernille Ripp

Before school starts, my school, Oregon Middle School, does two days of locker drop off giving students a chance to bring their supplies in, try their new lock, and even poke around the building. My first year there, I was at work in my classroom on the first day of this event. The books were all meticulously displayed. Brand new picture books lined our whiteboards. The bean bags were fluffed and ready. Every bin had a specific book faced out. My reading poster for the summer was up and I could not wait to see the reaction of my incoming students. Surely, they would be excited when they saw all of the books waiting for them.

A mother followed by her son came into the room and introduced themselves. He was one of my future students and so I eagerly shook his hand and asked him if he liked to read. As soon as the words left my mouth, his facial expression changed to one of pure disgust. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “I don’t read… thanks.” As if I had offered him a particularly disgusting food item. His mother looked at me and then added, “Yeah, he has not read much the last few years, we are not quite sure what to do.” I plastered a big smile on my face and told her we would work on it together. He did not seem impressed by my eagerness and asked if they could go now.

I left that day wondering once again why I had moved from the incredible oasis that is 5th grade to this new reality of 7th. What on Earth had possessed me to think that I had any chance in reaching 7th graders? That I knew anything about getting 12 year olds to read. There were days my first year that I cried. Feeling so lost in my mission to make kids like school again. There were days where I felt like I failed, that every thing I did made little difference and that surely one of these days those kids I taught would call me out as the fraud that I felt like. But they didn’t. Instead, they seemed to rally around me, around us, as we figured out how to make English a better class for them. As we figured out who we were together, who they were as individuals and how their new identities could involve being readers. I felt the urgency every day to make school better, as do so many of my colleagues, to make reading something worth doing, worth falling in love with. I still do. Even if kids still tell me that they don’t do reading, and good luck convincing them otherwise.

At the end of my first year, I had not changed that boy and his dislike of reading. There was no grand transformation or success story where all of a sudden he read every single night. That is not teaching. Teaching would be so much easier if we could see the influence that the learning may have on a child, but most of the time we don’t. So we can’t expect miracles every day, even if we hope for them, even if we work for them. Because if we do, we will only see ourselves as failures. As though we cannot teach well. Instead, we must hope for small changes that will someday lead to a big transformation.

That boy, he read, once in awhile. He abandoned books, still. He had a million excuses for why he did not have a book that day, but not always. So at the end of the year when he stopped me in the hallway, I would never have guessed the reason why. “Hey, Mrs. Ripp…have you read Gym Candy? It’s kind of mature but I really like it. The librarian found it for me. You should read it.” I stood there not quite believing what my ears had just heard. He recommended a book to me. Not because I asked him to. Not because we were in class. But because within the year we were finishing up he discovered that perhaps he could be a reader after all. That perhaps there were books for him.

So whenever a child tells me they do not read. That books are not for them. That they hate reading, I always think of the little change that perhaps I can help inspire. Of the small steps we can take together. Of how we may not see the transformation but that if we make loving reading an urgent endeavor then perhaps we are planting a seed. And one day, maybe years later, that child will not feel like they have to say “I don’t read…thanks” but will instead bring a book with them wherever they go because they cannot imagine not doing so.

being a teacher, Literacy, Reading, Reading Identity

They Are Not All Struggling Readers

March 21, 2016March 22, 2016 Pernille Ripp

I think I have finally figured out my hesitance when it comes to the term “Struggling readers.” It is not that we do not have these types of readers in our midst; children where every word read is a victory in itself, where comprehension is a slow, painful discovery. Where we count their success not in books, but in pages. We all have readers who struggle. Yet, for too long, we have declared all of of our under-performing readers to be struggling. We have let a label stop us from seeing the whole child. For too long we have taken this title and applied it to a whole group of students that may not be where they should be. We have labeled our students and then not gone beyond that, instead sticking to the term and everything it encompasses. Yet, this is not enough for the very students we teach, for within this term is a myriad of reasons why the students are not reading. Of why they struggle. Because the truth is they are not all struggling readers. There is so much more to them than that.

Some are resistant. They will fight us every step of the way, not because they can’t read, but because they won’t. They often start as struggling and in that very struggle is where their new identity comes from; reading is hard and so they will use everything they can to not engage in reading. They will abandon book after book because they have long since figured out that if they at least look like they are reading, we will not be quite as worried. They will tell us proudly that they hate reading, offering up the challenge as we start a new year. Being a kid who dislikes reading is not something they are ashamed of and they wear their hatred with pride daring every teacher to change their mind.

Some are lost. They used to love reading but lost that love a few years back. Sometimes through the very choices we have made as teachers, often times through a combination of many factors both within and outside of our control. It is not that they won’t read, they just don’t know how to fall back into it, how to find a great book that will bring them back to the reading fold. How to continue to grow as a reader rather than stand still. How to unslump themselves before their new habits of not reading become a permanent fixture of who they are as a person.

Some are confused. They think they are doing ok but continue to miss the point of the book. They struggle with meaning not because they cannot decode but because their mind for some reason cannot hold all of the information needed to make sense of what they are reading. Some of my most confused readers would tell you they are doing just fine, not because they are trying to trick you but because they truly believe it. They make as much sense as they can and then move on, wondering why others have not understood the book the same way they have. They read, even if reading for pleasure makes little sense to them when it is such a tiring process.

Some consider themselves bad readers. A label they have conjured based on grouping, interventions, or other things that we have used in our classrooms to help them achieve success. Oftentimes how they self-identify becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because if you think you are bad at something, well then you become bad at it. Finding out what is causing them to think this way is a must as we try to help them back to reading.

Some are still a mystery. We cannot seem to crack the code of why reading is hard and sometimes it is because they do not know themselves. Sometimes it is because they have so many things working against them that it is hard to know where they start, and yet, we try every trick in our book and we ask as many questions as we can, trying to help them uncover a better reading identity.

There are more facets to reader identity than these, by no means is this an exhaustive list, because we teach children and children are complicated. So while I wish there was one direction that could guide my instruction, that could help me make all of the decisions I need to make when I support my readers, there isn’t. And pretending there is does nothing to help me prepare. Does nothing to help me create an environment where students have a positive reading experience, no matter their self-identification.

Sure, we could label them all struggling, but it would not be enough to help them, to support them as they have a better reading experience. We must dig deeper into who they are. We must ask questions not just about their reading life, but their reading identity. We must create opportunities where they can re-frame the essence that they carry as a reader. Our instruction must go past that of “struggling reader” and instead see the bigger reason for why they are where they are. While our journey to create passionate reading environments sometimes seems like an uphill battle, we must remember this; all children can have a better relationship with reading, all children can become readers. But they must know themselves first, they must know what helps or hinders, what motivates or what distracts. And so must we. It is too easy to be satisfied be applying one label to a group of kids, but it is not satisfaction we should be after, we should be after understanding, because through understanding we can teach better. We owe it to the kids, whether they struggle or not.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

being a teacher, books, classroom setup, Literacy, Reading

On the Need for Classroom Libraries for All Ages

March 16, 2016 Pernille Ripp

It took me 3 seconds to decide that I was going to move my entire classroom library into my 7th grade classroom. Coming from 5th grade I wasn’t quite sure what the use of a classroom library would be on my new adventure, after all, we would only have 45 minutes together, but I couldn’t leave my books behind. I couldn’t leave them in boxes. Even if we didn’t need the books as a class, I needed them. My books were home to me and when you change schools, when you change districts, when you change grade levels, you need all of the pieces of home you can find.

My husband carried every single box of books into my classroom. There were more than 100 and they took up an entire wall as I waited for my bookshelves to arrive. He didn’t mind too much, he has realized a long time ago that I my obsession with books is part of who I am. As I opened each box and shelved the books in their new home, I couldn’t help but wonder if any child would ever read them? If dust would soon become their second skin rather than the hands of children. Was there any point in my meticulous placement of books?

On the first day as a 7th grade teacher, I was not sure how the students would react to the books. After all, in elementary school, most kids expected a classroom library. Most kids were used to the access. So I waited and soon enough the comments came.

“Are these all of your books?”

“Have you read them all?”

“How many books do you have?”

“Can we read them?”

Slowly, students began to ask more pointed questions.

“How do I check this one out?”

“Can I read this one?”

“Did you read this book, I have wanted to read it…”

It turns out my worry was unfounded. It turns out that middle schoolers in all of their bravado love classroom libraries as much as younger kids. That middle schoolers get as much use out of a classroom library if we let them. That they needs books now just as much as they needed them then.

In the past 2 years as a 7th grade teacher our classroom library has only grown. Teaching more than 100 students quickly made me realize just how many books I need to keep all readers invested and engaged with their reading. In fact, I started with the research on classroom library sizes and knew that while these were great starting points, that was exactly it, a start. When you teach that many students with reading abilities ranging from 2nd to 12th grade, interests spanning all topics, you need way more than you think, because middle schoolers can be fickle, so the message that my classroom library sends is; there is always another book waiting, there is always another chance at falling in love or remaining in love with reading.

And it is not because we do not have a school library, we have a beautiful one, one that is filled with incredible books and staffed with incredible people. But when the students are with me, during our 45 minutes of instruction every day, they also need books right at their fingertips. As Donalyn Miller and Teri Lesesne have said even a school library right across the hall from you is too far away for many students. And it is true, even a beautiful, well-stocked school library is too far away when a child needs a book right then. Because our students need to be enticed by another book the moment they finish or abandon their current one. They need books as a way to create community as they share their love (or dislike) of them with others. They need books to hand to their friends, to their teachers. They need books that will inspire them to read more. To discover who they are as a readers and who they want to become. They need to be able to go into our library and come out with something that speaks to them. Not just because the teacher tells them they have to read or the assignment requires them to.

I asked a child last year if our classroom library made a difference and his answer was simple yet powerful. “It made the biggest difference because the books were right there, so I read them.” And that is what I see every single day in our classroom, books being read because they are right there and there is no option to not read them.

As we increase the demand on students to read for knowledge rather than pleasure, we see their love of reading decline. Students have less time and less choice as they go through their years of schooling. So is it any wonder that by the time students graduate high school, 33% of them will never read another book? Having a classroom library in our middle and high school classrooms is therefore not a frivolous thrill, it is a vital necessity to create passionate reading environments. Having a classroom library should not be an investment we only make for our younger students, but should be one we make for all students, no matter their age. And it is not too late to start right now. We start by buying one book, then another, and we build our collection day by day. We book talk and we hand books to students. We create displays that entice, we create time to read, but first we have to have the books and access to them for all the kids we teach.

Our collection now probably holds more than 1,000 books and I know that I still do not have enough. After all, there are still students that search our shelves and come up empty-handed, but at least they had books to browse, at least they had books to try. I continue to add whenever I can, knowing that one day I will run out of walls pace and bookshelf space, but that when that day comes it will be a day of celebration because perhaps we now have a book for every interest, for every reader, for every child we teach.

For more ideas on creating a classroom library and knowing books to purchase, go here.

being a teacher, books, Literacy, picture books, Reading

How I Use Picture Books in Our Middle School Classroom

March 13, 2016 Pernille Ripp

Wherever I go I seem to bring the love of picture books with me. In fact, whenever I travel, I try to pick up at least one new picture book from wherever I am as a way to remember the adventure. I have lost count of the picture books in my own house. In fact, we have long ago run out of shelf space at home and some now reside to my dismay in boxes instead of out in the open. Our picture book collection in our classroom has surpassed 200, with displays wherever there is a ledge, with piles on the tables, and special books waiting to be shared. Being a picture book aficionado comes at a wonderful, cluttered, price.

I have written before of why I use picture books with my middle school students, the changes it has created for us as we build our community of readers. I have shared lists upon lists of our favorite books as well, hoping to help others find the very best value in the books they bring in, hoping to inspire others to make them an integral part of their classroom. This is not a post on the why, but instead on the how.

I often get asked how I use picture books as a teaching tool. What does that actual process look like, so hopefully this will clear up some of those questions.

Which book I choose to share depends on the lesson. I treat it much like a short story in what I want students to get out of it so it has to suit the very purpose we are trying to understand. I introduce the concept by sharing a story and then I ask my students to come as close as they can to the rocking chair in our corner. Once settled, whether on the floor, on balls or on chairs, I read it aloud. We stop and talk throughout as needed but not on every page, it should not take more than 10 minutes at most to get through an average size picture book. If it is a brand new concept I may just have students listen, while other times they might engage in a turn-and-talk. I have an easel right next to me and at times we write our thoughts on that. Sometimes we make an anchor chart, it really just depends on the purpose of the lesson. Often a picture book is used as one type of media on a topic and we can then branch into excepts from text, video, or audio that relates to the topic.

Because I teach the same class 5 times in a row, I often switch out the picture books I use with the different classes. There are some that you can still love reading after 4 times, while others get to be a bit tedious, so I adjust as needed. This is why having a lot of great picture books to choose from is something I am committed to.

I do not have multiple copies of really any picture books, I don’t see it as needed. Instead, I pick the picture book to read aloud and then find “companion books,” other picture books that share the same concept, for example easily identifiable themes. These are spread out on tables, waiting for the students to select them. This way, when I ask students to work with them they are truly testing out the skill and not just whether they can spot the same things that we just practiced together. Often times, students can choose to work with a partner as they explore their self-selected books.

Some times students write after reading the picture books, other times they do not. Sometimes we use them as mentor texts where we mimic the way language is used or how a story is set up. I use them a lot as a way to do a quick check-in to see if students need re-teaching or are on the right path. If students write about them it tends to be just one paragraph or so.

We do use some of the same picture books again and again as a way to practice close reading but also as a way to see different aspects of the same story. Once students have heard or read it to discover the story, we can focus on other things such as language use or author’s craft as we rediscover it.

Picture books tend to stay in the classroom because they get lost really easily, however, students may ask if they can borrow one to take home. Usually I say yes as long as they bring it back the very next day.

Picture books are shelved together in our classroom but not organized by theme or author. I simply do not have room for splitting up the groups, so I try to display the picture books by theme in our classroom instead. For example, whenever it is a new month or after a break, our display is always changed out. I want students to want to read them as much as possible and a fresh new display helps entice them.

When a new picture book enters our classroom, it has already been read by me and I may even book talk it to students. I should keep a list of which picture books would be great for what, I guess my lists of picture books to use kind of counts as that, but I do not have a personal list. This is on purpose because it offers me chance to reread books I may have forgotten and browse my own collection with fresh eyes when I search for that perfect book.

I am amazed at the sheer usage I get out of the picture books in our room from a teaching stand point, but also so grateful for the reading experience they provide for my students. Picture books may just be a key to helping students fall in love with reading again.