Pernille Ripp

Are We Creating Writing Communities?

March 25, 2016 Pernille Ripp

I swore after Passionate Learners 2nd edition came out that I would not write any more books. That it would be a long time before I wrote anything else besides on this blog because who did I think I was? Why did I feel that I had anything at all to write and give to others? Yet, sometimes opportunities arise that we cannot say no to, where we wake up with this little idea in our head and then all of a sudden it turns into a bigger thought and we find ourselves questioning, and pondering, and then writing in our mind at all times until we know that perhaps there is a book in there somewhere.

I said yes to those ideas and now find myself writing two separate books, with the same deadline of May 30th, within the same realm (literacy), and I have been pulling my hair out trying to find just the right words, to make it worth anyone’s time, to make it fresh, and I must admit; it has been an excruciatingly hard process. Sleepless nights, frustrations, and imposter syndrome has haunted me for the past few months. It has not been pretty, and yet, within the process of writing, I have uncovered a few realizations of what our students must face when they write, of how frustrated they must feel at times when we tell them to just write, to just create, to just get something down and do this assignment so we can assess them. These realizations are causing me to question the very process that we use when we teach writing and ponder how we can make it better. How we can make it work for every child and not just those that already seem to have figured this writing thing out. Because I don’t think I am doing enough to really teach real writing, so these are my driving questions.

Do we know who our students are as writers? Do they? Is there time within our curriculum to really get to know students, and also for them to get know themselves better, so that what they write is meaningful to them. And not just when they write a personal narrative, but is there a personal lens of the world present in some way in anything they write? Can we see the individual in the assignment or are they all the same? My struggle has been to stay true to myself while still adapting to the purpose, to write a book that feels like my book and not just a poor imitation of other people’s work. Are we allowing our students to infuse their writing with their own personal essence or do they even know who they are as writers to do this?

Do we allow them ownership over the process? I do not follow a linear path when I write and never have. Yet, in our classrooms we often expect students to follow the same path and move along at the same pace. This does not lead to more authentic writing, nor does it lead to most students even identifying as writers. So why do we keep doing it? Do we discover, discuss, and reflect on each other’s writing processes? Do we find beauty within the varied ways that students create while still exposing them to many styles?

Do students understand the purpose of the writing? One of my largest struggles has been that my purpose for one book kept shifting, that what started as one idea morphed into another and it shows in the disjointed chapters and unclear thoughts. Do we allow time for students to just think of what they are trying to create, not just the how? Do we plan time to discuss and dissect the why as a community? Do we give them time to sketch out or discuss or create in such a way that they are not committing themselves to a product just yet, but instead feel like they can explore various options, even when we have curriculum to teach and content to cover?

Do we edit with kindness? I have faced reviews and edits where only flaws were discussed, all in the spirit of fixing my mistakes, yet it wears you down. After a while it plants doubt as to your own writing ability and these doubts can soon create writers block. When we edit with students do we know what we need to protect? Do we know what is most important to them? Do we speak genuinely of their strengths or get right to the parts that need fixing? Are there parts that we leave alone because in the grand scheme of things it may not be important?

Do we set up time for them to be immersed? The only reason any book is being written is because I have scheduled it in every single night (30 minutes at least). I find comfort within the routine and also a determination to finish the draft. Every night I make progress, even when it is painful, yet in our classrooms we are so dictated by our schedule and timelines that we often push students to create, to produce, just so we can move on. How do we give students time to explore and write every day when we are faced with the constraint of 45 minutes and so much to learn?

Do we encourage writing partnerships? My mother edits my work and my friends discuss ideas with me. Writing can be a vulnerable process so do we allow students to self-select writing peers within our community? Do we give them the time and flexibility to use each other as writing partners, and not in a conscripted way, but in a way that works for them?

Do we create room for their emotions? There have been nights of wringing my hands over the computer trying to find just the right words where only the assurance of my husband that I am not a fool for trying to write has helped me come back to the dreaded process. Where I have had to take a deep breath and realize that the reason these books weigh so much in my life is because I care deeply about their message. That within my emotional reaction to the process is evidence of its importance. Do we create writing communities where students are encouraged to become emotionally attached to what they create or do we simply not have time? Do we encourage them to use those emotions as a way to fuel their writing and their own self-discovery?

I still have a hard time calling myself a writer, even with 3 books published and more than 1300 blog posts written. I still feel like a fraud every time I tell someone that I write, almost as if the title has not been earned just yet, and don’t get me started about considering myself an author, I am long way from that one. So how do our students feel in our writing communities? Do we embrace and discover the whole process of what it means to write, to be a writer, and use it as a strength when we develop our craft or do we skip over it as we try to get students to write? Are we truly creating communities of writers or do we just teach writing? There is a huge difference. The choice is ours.

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 seethis page.

books, picture books

Great Poetry Picture Books

March 23, 2016 Pernille Ripp

I am spending most of the day in my classroom getting it ready for after spring break. As I thought of what picture books to display I immediately knew that I had to celebrate April which is poetry month. So as I pulled all of our favorite poetry(ish) picture books to put them on display, I thought I should share what my students will hopefully be enticed to read. Please add your favorites as well. These are in no particular order.

Winter is Coming by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Jim LaMarche

The Big Box by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, illustrated by Giselle Potter

All Different Now: Juneteenth, The First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson and illustrated by E.B. Lewis

What Forest Knows by George Ella Lyon and illustrated by August Hall

Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse illustrated by Jon J. Muth

One Today by Richard Blanko and illustrated by Dav Pilkey

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Beckie Prange

Sail Away by Langston Hughes and illustrated by Ashley Bryan

A Place Where Hurricanes Happen by Renee Watson and illustrated by Shadra Strickland

Instructions by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Charles Vess

Follow Follow by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josee Masse

What You Know First by Patricia MacLachlan engravings by Barry Moser

Diamond Life: Baseball Sights, Sounds, and Swings by Charles R. Smith

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph by Roxanne Orgill and illustrated by Francis Vallejo

Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasons by Jon J. Muth

Poem Runs by Douglas Florian

Black Cat Bone by J. Patrick Lewis and illustrated by Gary Kelley

Baseball Is…by Louise Borden and illustrated by Raul Colon

Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen

I hope this list is helpful as you find great picture books to add to your classroom. Please add your favorites in the comments and to see our other lists of favorites, go here. Don’t forget about poem in your pocket day on April 21st.

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 student, books, Literacy

Great Books for Resistant Readers in Middle School and High School

March 17, 2016February 1, 2019 Pernille Ripp

I have been on the hunt as of late for books that I can hand to one of my hardest student groups; my resistant readers. Not just reluctant readers, not just readers that may have forgotten how much they like reading, no, the students that really do not want to read and would rather fake read every single day of the year rather than actually read. These are the kids I am book hunting for. So what are some of the books that seem to be hooking not just my reluctant readers but even my resistant ones (and almost every other reader as well)?

Handed Cold Day in the Sun by Sara Biren to one of my hockey players and she could not put it down. Her word of mouth recommendation means that it is flying through the classroom, and kids who told me they hate reading are devouring it.

Image result for hey kiddo

Kids cannot believe that this is a graphic novel. With its unflinching look at how addiction shaped his life and his talents, Hey, Kiddo by Jarret J. Krosoczka is flying through the room.

“Mrs. Ripp, I only want to read books like this one…” so said one of my most resistant readers this year, and it happens every year. Jordan Sonnenblick’s Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pies is one of those books I can count on to be a great reading experience for almost every child I hand it to.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone is one of those books that takes you by the heart and then twists it painfully. Unyielding in its honesty, this book stays with you long after the last page.

What happens when the alpha bully at a middle school hits his head and forgets everything about himself? I think so many of my students can connect with Gordon Korman’s Restart for many different reasons. It is fast-paced and Chases’ dilemma makes you want to read on; will he go back to how he was?

Jason Reynolds is a natural treasure and his latest free verse book Long Way Down is haunting. Written in the aftermath of Will’s brother’s murder, this whole story is set in an elevator as he decided whether to follow the rules of the neighborhood and shoot the boy who killed his brother.

Also by Jason Reynolds, Miles Morales – Spiderman is the first full-length novel that features the comic book character Miles Morales as Spiderman. Need I say more?

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt has hands-down been the biggest game changer for a lot of my readers. I have 7 copies circulating and none of them sit on the shelf for more than a day. We have it on Audible as well for students who prefer to listen to their books.

Another frequently read book (and listened to as well) is All American Boys by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds. Masterful story telling and a gripping narrative means that this book has been flying off the shelves.

Noggin’ by John Corey Whaley is one that has been passed from student to student and is probably one of the most frequently book-talked books in our room. The story is easily accessible to many levels of reading development and grips the students with its premise of cryogenics and what it means to be 16 in a a 21-year-old’s body.

Rhyme Schemer also by K.A. Holt is about a bully who becomes the victim. I love how students relate to this story and often see this passed from kid to kid.

Who would think that our most resistant readers start to fall in love with reading through free verse? What Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover has done for our reading life cannot be underestimated. I have already had to replace my copies of this book this year and students are eagerly awaiting Booked on it’s arrival date of April 5th.

Reality Boy by A.S.King may have a very angry protagonist but I think the anger and “realness” of the books is what draws readers to it. This is another book that is often recommended from student to student.

Another free verse book, this one is House Arrest by K.A. Holt has been making the rounds as well. The discussions in class that this book leads to are powerful for many students.

When a resistant reader recommended this book to me I knew it had staying power in our classroom. Carl Deuker’s Gym Candy is not your typical sports book and I think that is why it has been so popular with many resistant readers. It is a little bit raw and a little bit unresolved, a perfect choice for many of my more picky readers.

Another Jason Reynolds book, Ghost is book one in the Track series and left my students wanting to read the next book, Patina, right away. Easily accessible langueg with a relatable character who does not have the easiest life, this was a book many kids declared as a favorite.

Boost by Kathy Mackel was book talked last week and has not been in my classroom since, quickly passing hands from student to student.

For the first time ever, I used We Were Liars by e.lockhart (Emily Jenkins’ pen name for her YA books) and I was not disappointed. It was clear that my group of readers quickly became absorbed as they begged for just one more minute of reading time.

It can come as no surprise that Monster by Walter Dean Meyers is a book many readers gravitate to. I have loved the reflections and thoughtful dialogue that this book creates but even more so how many students have recommended to each other.

What are your must adds/must-reads that will hook resistant readers?

being a student, being a teacher, global

Audience Needed for Elephant & Piggie Performances

March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 Pernille Ripp

The students have been hard at work figuring out how to be better speakers and they are now ready to show the world. Tomorrow my students will be performing Elephant & Piggie stories to their peers while I record them. We are looking for other classrooms to view some of these recorded performances and rate them using a simple form. Classroom audiences can be any grade as these are picture books being performed so we would especially love K-3. While students appreciate the feedback I give them, they really need a bigger audience than just their classmates and me to grow as real speakers.

If you are interested in perhaps viewing a few, please fill out the form below. You can view just one or as many as you want, what matters is the feedback! I will email you further details once the videos go live. Thank you so much for considering helping out these amazing 7th graders.