Category Archives: my classroom

One thing that I have learned in teaching various strategies around open response to my sixth graders over the years is that many have a real difficulty understanding the question itself (this seems more for math than reading). They get hobbled by the vocabulary, or the style in which the question has been written, or they get confused by multiple-part questions. This year, thanks to an interesting workshop that I attended last month around open response work, I am trying to do more work around how to read a question.

So, yesterday, we began some work by reading … only open response questions. We had no ideas what the reading passage was that the question asked about, nor did we care all that much what the answer might be. We were only focused on questions, and I now have a long list of open response questions from various state tests as a resource.

The strategy is three-fold:

• Circle the action word that you are being asked to do;
• Underline the main essential points of the question;
• Number any parts of the question or topics that seem important.

We went through three of four of these questions together on our whiteboard (see image) with students coming up and marking up the sentence while talking through what they were doing, and then they worked on a few questions at their seats, which we then shared out. Our next step is for them to learn how to use a modified two-column chart for organizing their ideas before they start to write. (This is where the numbering of items will come in handy because we can deal with main ideas and supporting details).

It seems a bit odd to be using so much class time for this kind of isolated question dissection, and yet, I am attempting to give them the tools so that they can be the most successful in my assigned open response questions (which is what we mostly do now in our reading units) and on our state’s testing system in the spring. Organization and understanding of what is being asked of them in a question seem be roadblocks for many, and I want them to be confident as they share their thinking.

Peace (in the question),
Kevin

It’s early in the year, and I am trying to get most of my students up to speed to where I think they should be as writers and readers, and part of that is giving them an opportunity to switch gears. The other day, we used a non-fiction text as a source for a writing response, but I told them to leave their names off of it. Today, we took those out (and mixed up the responses with other classes responses), and I had them (students) become me (the teacher).

They used our sixth grade writing rubric to evaluate the writing in front of them. We reviewed  the elements of the rubric, what they should be looking for and how to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of what they were seeing. And of course, they had to write their own post-grading reflection on how they will use the experience of “being the teacher” to inform their own writing.

I was interested in seeing how tough they would be on their peers. So, for all four classes, I collected data on the assessments they gave to the writing in front of them. We’re in a standards-based system (no more A, B, Cs) and so the rubric is all about M (meeting grade level expectations), P (progressing towards expectations), B (beginning to meet those expectations) and N (not meeting expectations). These assessments are tied directly to our progress reports (formally known as report cards).

I decided to compare their overall assessment with my own assessment of some other writing response work done last week, just to see if we were following a similar pattern. Here’s how it looks:

One thing I noticed right away is that I gave out more Ms and Ps, while they were more apt to give out Bs to their peers. (Note: An N is pretty rare because the writing would have to be off-topic and show no signs of structure.) There are all sorts of variables here, of course, including a different writing assignment (the one I graded was in response to a novel); no exemplars for this particular assignment (it was a news story from Time for Kids); and a lack of knowing what to look for. But still… I find it interesting how tough they were.

As an aside, they kept asking for red pens. Now, I only use green pens, but they really wanted the red ink. (I declined to pull out any red pens). I find that … intriguing, I guess, and wonder how much of that red ink has been spilled on their papers in the past and what it represents to them.

One student said firmly, though: “Oh, I would never use red. It looks like blood on the page.”

Peace (in the teacher-mode),
Kevin

We finally found some time last week to have our sixth graders finish up their Dream Scenes digital stories, in which they create a short video about some aspiration they have for themselves in the future. We have musicians, writers, teachers, athletes and more in this bunch. This fairly simple project uses MS Paint, and Photostory3, and the voice of the writer. For me, the teacher, it gives me an inside look at what motivates my students, and also, it has allowed me to get a sense of the technical know-how of my students right at the start of the year.

Here are some Dream Scenes that we have featured on our class YouTube Account and our classroom blog, The Electronic Pencil:

 

Peace (in the dreams),
Kevin

We had a beautiful day yesterday as we took our 80 sixth graders on a day of rafting. We’ve now done this trip about eight years, but still, every year is an adventure. I was thinking on the long bus ride home of some of the big picture lessons  I learned from the experience.

• Nothing stays the same. This was evident on the river, which was hit hard by storm Irene. The water volume changed the river in many ways so that what we thought of as familiar now seemed strange and odd, with echoes of the past. Life is like that, too — a mixture of expected routine and unexpected surprises. The river was still beautiful, but the power of Mother Nature was on view everywhere we went.
• It’s good to get out of school. The rafting trip allows us teachers to bond with kids in a way outside the classroom setting. I can’t stress enough about how important this really is. I am thinking of one student in particular, who is so quiet and struggles in my ELA class. On the raft, they were a whole different kid. Exuberant, funny and all smiles. I only see glimpses of that child when we are writing and reading. Here, this student’s personality was on full display.
• On the raft, I eavesdrop quite a bit. They sort of forget the teacher is there. Yesterday, my 11 year olds started to talk about Facebook and how all the kids on the raft, except one, have their own Facebook accounts. I bit my tongue (the 13 year old rule) and watched the face of the one kid who was left out of this conversation. We’ll do our own technology and networking in class this year, but the sense of exclusion was real. The other kids did not make it a negative situation at all. But one student talked about how she was going to share some of the photos, and tag folks. Except for the one student not on Facebook. What struck my mind is … the power of Facebook at this young age unsettles me.
• One of our aims is to get kids on the rafts to connect with others outside their normal friendship circles. I watched two students form a nice bond together on the raft. They knew each other but were not really friends. But on the river, they worked together, played together. They may not become best friends after the trip, either, but they will always have this adventure to fall back on when they interact. That’s a powerful thing.
• Boats can be “war boats” or “peace boats” when it comes to dowsing other boats with water (with buckets and paddles). It’s fascinating to watch how a boat decides if what it will be, and how that designation might change during the course of the day, too. There’s a lot of negotiation that goes on. The United Nations would be proud.
• Maybe I say this just about every year, but we have a great class of kids. As the lead organizer, I am always worried about behavior and safety on this kind of trip. I should know better. They show their true colors, and they did. Teamwork, friendship, helpfulness, support, encouragement and more were all on display throughout the entire day. It’s another way to remember what a fantastic group of students we have. Truly.

Peace (on the river),
Kevin