Chapter+4


 * __Chapter Four: Instruction that Supports Readers in Any Kind of Reading Club__**
 * 1) 1. One concern of teachers whenever students are working independently is how do we know they are staying on task. Kathy addresses this concern by stating that we must teach our students strategies to plan and maintain their work. Figure 4.1 on pages 53-55 charts these strategies. As you read over these, what questions or concerns arise?

As we create a class of independent readers, our students need the strategies to plan and maintain their work. Figure 4.1 on pages 53-55 covers the set of minilessons I will be teaching to help the students when they become a club. By the time I start my first club we will have covered the time and management component. We will also be practicing, partner and pretend groups to cover the what ifs of a club situation over a period of time. There a seven minilessons each will be connected untli it is seamless. Margaret Fox

As a teacher, my main concern with book clubs was exactly this...I worried that I was just wasting some of my student's time because I hadn't modeled enough or prepared them enough to have relevant, intelligent conversations over the books they were reading. This chapter has given a lot of ideas on how to front load kids to be better at their conversations. I like the focus on what are good teaching points and help ahead of time with road blocks. I was just talking to another teacher today about some of my summer learning with this book and another book I have been working with and told her how I have come to realization that as a teacher I spent more time on planning my whole group lesson than I did planning individual lessons and learning objectives. I know if I were back in the classroom now, I definitely see the value in being explicit in my planning for my small group or individual lessons. I think it is in these great moments that deep learning for students really occurs. Carol Dawson

I too am a little concerned about whether or not my clubs will be on task and productive but I try to think positively and if I teach (and reteach if necessary) the prescribed teaching points I am sure that Teacher’s College has tried to cover any potential roadblocks. I thing the teaching point cover it all. What I do wonder about is goal setting on page 54 and 55. What if they set unrealistic goals? Too much or too little? Do I interject or let them learn by trial and error? This hits close to home for me as my 4th grade son was in a reading club in school last year. His club read both at school and home and they often set their reading goal per night unreasonably high which led to a lot of frustration at home. We brain stormed ideas of how he could discuss this with his reading club but as it turns out he was outvoted and chose not to involve his teacher. I would make sure that my students knew that they should always work to set realistic goals with their club members but that they could check in with me when appropriate if they had a concern. –Jodee Tuttle
 * Respond Here: Well since I just spoke about this in the last chapter I found that her chart can help me. I do have concerns however that the children are not going to be able to set goals and really maintain stamina as they are working together. I can see taking that chart and configuring it to a student friendly chart so the kids can look at it and have a plan as to what to do next. I am afraid that in the beginning they won't know what to do next. There will need to be a lot of reteaching as Jodee said andkids who need frequent reminders, behavior checks, etc... as Bobbi said. I think that a lot of modeling and positive reinforcement along with a folder and a chart listing what they are to do is essential. SLG**


 * I think the big idea of setting goals will really help to keep the students locked in to doing their best while in book clubs. I can see more students wanting to meet these goals, especially if there will be some sort of acknowledgement or celebration surrounding this. Most likely, I will design some sort of goals sheet with my students to help them keep track of their progress. We may even post these around the room during our celebrations at the end of a unit. I'll also be able to use information from these goals sheets with parents at conferences, to let them know what their child has been working on and how they did. After reading the charts on pages 53-55, I think the area where I'll have to put in the most time is with students solving problems/conflicts that arise in reading clubs. These conflicts will most likely only come from a few number of students who just struggle to stay on task and work with others. But I'll have to work with the whole class on this so that other students know how to handle a situation when it arises. Of course, we'll have to practice the expected behaviors daily, I'll have to point out when a group is doing a great job of getting along, and take care of situations immediately when the do arise. But overall, I think focusing on the big ideas on these pages will help most kids stay on task in their reading clubs and get all they can out of it. **
 * --Kristy Weberg-- **

Chapter 4 Question #1 from Bobbi Friend – My main problem with reader’s workshop last year as I began to implement it regularly in my classroom was keeping students on task and holding them accountable for their reading without overwhelming them with written assignments that took away their reading time. I found that while the majority of my students were consistently on task, there were the few others who were rarely on task. The chart on pages 53-55 is comprehensive in teaching students what to do to be responsible for themselves during workshop time. Planning what they will read, how they will read, how they will share, what they will learn, setting goals for their learning, how to solve problems in partnerships, and keeping track of what they are working on are important. I still know that I will have some students who are disillusioned with reading by the time they come to me in sixth grade. My challenge will be to be able to motivate those students. They can be taught all the strategies in the world, but they need to be willing to implement them in order for them to be successful in reading. There will always be students who need reminders about behavior and there are others who just want to ruin things for everyone because they do not enjoy reading. Accountability will be a huge issue in sixth grade. I will use self-assessment, some short written assignments, and reading logs to ensure success for all students.

I hear all of your concerns, but it does work, especially for those disgruntled readers. I have to go back to Collins first book, Growing Readers. In it she states, "This book is meant to help teachers launch and maintain an independent reading workshop in their classrooms. However, the independent workshop does not happen in isolation from the rest of the day. It's crucial for us to consider the whole day of our teaching, the classroom tone and expectations we set from arrival to dismissal, and our belief system about teaching and learning." She continues to share her beliefs about teaching and learning that is most important to make "all components of the school day, effective for all learners." So I guess what I am saying is that the Reading Clubs is part of my reading workshop which is part of my school day. What rules and expectations I have during the school day do not disappear during reading workshop. I work in a school where all the K-5 have small group meetings while students are independently working all day - and it works. It is amazing to walk into each teacher's classroom and see each student engaged in work while the teacher is working with a small group or an individual. It doesn't happen in September but it is there in October. Fran Olesen

I agree with Kathy that "If our students have plans and purposes for their work, they are more likely to stay focused." (page 55) I found the charts on pages 53-55 very motivating. It's putting power/responsibility in the hands of the students. Instead of assigning tasks, I'll be teaching strategies and skills to help them stay focused and accountable. When they know exactly what quality work looks like I think they'll be more able and willing to do it. In the past I don't think I gave them enough of these specific skills. I fell into that assumption that if I modeled a good book conversation enough they'd be able to do it. (I should know better by now!) These charts give such great specific skills. I especially appreciate that she addresses how to begin and how to plan since getting started can be challenging for some students. I also really appreciated that she addresses right up front that readers have ways to solve conflict. Students learn that conflicts happen and can be a little more prepared for handling them. As Jodee and SLG pointed out it will be important to be ready to reteach, often if necessary. Jodi, thanks for raising the point about goals. I'm going to put some thought into that because I can see that specific situation being a frustration. Krista Raffenaud As I read the charts and the strategies on pgs. 53-55, it seems a bit overwhelming. I agree that if our students have plans and purposes for their work, they are more likely to stay focused...but this comes with a lot of modeling and practicing. Looking at my K classroom it does seem overwhelming especially at the beginning of the school year when so many of them are just experiencing being at school for a full day and all the normal K routines that I must model just like everything else. For so many of them, social issues are such a huge aspect of K curriculum. But as with all these new routines, procedure, learning environments...I know that they do always succeed and implementing reading clubs will just be another aspect of the K curriculm that will be just as important as everything else that I teach. I guess just like everything else that might be new to me as a teacher, I just need to give it my best shot and help my students be able to say more about a topic, and interact more with each other to help them grow ideas. J. Baker

The questions or concerns I have are about when getting started. I think I would make myself very available. I believe that you can post and go over what to do when—example p55 how to avoid a dead end. But I think I would want to be around to ghost whisper through the starting gate. KDN


 * 1) 2. We also have to teach/model for our students how they can grow ideas in their reading clubs. Looking over the charts from Figure 4.2 on pages 59-62, share what ideas/thinking you are having. What **new** ideas came to you as you were reading this?
 * 1) 2. We also have to teach/model for our students how they can grow ideas in their reading clubs. Looking over the charts from Figure 4.2 on pages 59-62, share what ideas/thinking you are having. What **new** ideas came to you as you were reading this?

This journey into clubs has helped me focus on what kids need for success. I have the tools and the freedom to create instruction that fits my style. I can have whole group, then enter the clubs to support and or coach. I think my fear of the club issue was all the books. Here's my "aha" moment, it's the strategies that they are replicating. Margaret Fox An idea that really stuck our for me in this section is how partners can help each other say more about a book. I like the section on page 58 giving ideas of what the teacher might say to group members to be the "nudger". The focus of conversation over books is to get the readers to think critically about what they read and then to dig deeper through their conversations. I remember reading the book __The Giver__ by Lois Lowry for the first time in one of my undergraduate classes. My teacher's name was Holly and she had a profound way for getting us to really talk about the books she assigned. She asked probing, what-if questions that made a room full of college kids stop and think about their reading and then gain comprehension of the depth of a book though everyone's collective thinking. I loved that class. I loved realizing that books have deep meaning. I loved talking about the books with other people who had just read it. The books she assigned for us to read all became my favorite Junior Novels...just because of the way we read and then discussed. As I read this book, I realized this can be happening in younger grades too by developing a student's ability to work with another person to understand a text through developed discussions. Carol Dawson


 * Respond Here: I think that growing ideas will be easier for my kids than planning the course of their work. My kids usually do very well when it comes to making connections, taking sticky notes and discussing their experiences and prior knowledge. I tried small book groups this year in summer school and the third graders did a very nice job growing their ideas overall. I feel positive about this and I know that if I have some overall problems with the kids that I will just "revisit" and do more modeling, modeling and then some more modeling! :) SLG**

Chapter 4 Question #2 from Bobbi Friend – Growing ideas in reading clubs occurs during the conversations that students have when in their clubs. The idea that students need to learn to talk with each other, not at each other was an important statement for me. Readers need to begin to notice and wonder about things when they read and then be willing to discuss those ideas. By sixth grade, students should be very capable of connecting new text to other text because they have so much prior knowledge. Partners need to be willing and able to help each other say more and can take one idea and keep it afloat for a while. These ideas are important because it will help them develop deeper meaning from the text beyond the obvious. Readers keep in mind other texts they have read, are able to compare and contrast texts, and can put ideas from texts in their own words will be vital in good club discussions in sixth grade. Finally, that readers use sticky notes, graphic organizers, and simple note-taking methods will be useful for me because this is how I will do the majority of my informal assessments. I appreciated Collins snippet of talk between Rashad and Sasha she shared. I see this happening with the upper el students I work with. I keep telling that I don't want them to take shallow racing dives into their discussions but deep water dives. I love the way Collins puts it, "...partners taking turns to make statements that do not intersect in any way, we can help them to pearl their statements for the ideas behind them by teaching..."The lessons on the charts will help me show my students how to pearl their ideas into an interesting fabric. The conversation stems always help but some having them stick is the problem even with charts and handouts. I must consistently use them so they are a habit for me and eventually the students. In her other book, that helped me a lot with students going deeper when making connections, (that she really didn't go into as much detail in this book), was how she wanted her student to "think about how her connection helps her to understand the book better." I will use the charts to help me name what I see students doing and using them for lessons for students who could use them, Fran Olesen

Growing conversation stamina is a new thought for me. I've noticed that keeping a conversation going is challenging for many students. I think some of the prompts she teaches students would be quite helpful. ("Show me the part you are talking about and let's say more about it." "What does that make you think?" etc.) It seems this will help students be better listeners as well as talkers. Again I am appreciating the very specific skills/modeling she offers. I think I'll do a much better job modeling this year. Better keep the book at my fingertips. On a side note, as she introduces this section she refers to Richard Allington's thoughts about "thoughtful literacy". I really like that. I think it's what we really want in the long run. Krista Raffenaud


 * It seems to me that Reading Clubs are a way for kids to really grow their ideas about various topics, even much more deeply than our mini-lessons and conferring can. Reading Clubs model the closest thing to real-life reading that our kids will experience in school. Kids are able to freely explore a topic, as they will do in high school, college, and beyond. They can dig into various aspects of the topic that they are most interested in, and move their thinking in this direction, as opposed to the teacher telling them what information to look for or what questions to answer. As long as we have really modeled how to do this deeper thinking, kids should be able to begin practicing this in reading clubs. Some of the big ideas listed about growing ideas on these few pages talk about how kids can stay with an idea and how they can extend it across texts. This may not always happen during independent reading time. But as kids work with their partner, they can discuss and push each other's thinking in a specific direction and bring in new texts to grow this thinking. Kids in the club can also come up with their own system for keeping track of their ideas and learning. Of course, the teacher may have already modeled various ways of doing this, and kids may choose to use one of these methods, but they could also create something completely new to show their thinking. I am excited to see this year how much my kids will extend their thinking on a topic while in reading clubs. **
 * --Kristy Weberg-- **

I think the Big Ideas for teaching comprehension within reading clubs on pages 63-66 was great. I didn’t notice any pieces that were missing. They are activating prior knowledge, doing a skim through the book to get themselves ready to read, retelling the story/text, making mental pictures or movies in their heads and learning how to know they’ve lost their focus or their understanding has broken down. The strategies seem to take into account many scenarios and it would be easy to develop mini-lessons based on them. I recently read the book __7 Keys to Comprehension__ (I can’t remember the author off the top of my head but it was a good quick read) and I will probably look back at my notes from that book just to see if there is anything else I may need to specifically address with the whole group, small groups or 1:1. –Jodee Tuttle
 * 1) 3. Kathy states that each cycle of reading clubs also has its own set of comprehension issues. As you read over the chart, Figure 4.3, on pages 63-66, share your thoughts with us.
 * Respond Here: I thought that Kathy covered all the reading/comprehension strategies just fine and as Jodee said, I did not see any pieces missing and I think the overall BIG READING IDEAS were there. The strategies and reminders seemed to cover most potholes the kids might run into and really by now at this time in third grade they should (key word is should) be utilizing these strategies naturally and without too much hesitation. I liked the part; readers have strategies to understand their reading, which involves retelling, discussing, and talking book ideas over with each other! Everything looked great to me! SLG**
 * Respond Here: I thought that Kathy covered all the reading/comprehension strategies just fine and as Jodee said, I did not see any pieces missing and I think the overall BIG READING IDEAS were there. The strategies and reminders seemed to cover most potholes the kids might run into and really by now at this time in third grade they should (key word is should) be utilizing these strategies naturally and without too much hesitation. I liked the part; readers have strategies to understand their reading, which involves retelling, discussing, and talking book ideas over with each other! Everything looked great to me! SLG**


 * This chart did a good job of covering most of the bases, but I would probably add a bit more with my class. One thing I would like to hone in on is a strategy stating that readers recognize when they are not understanding what they read and know how to stop and try to fix the problem. The chart covers the areas of kids getting ready to read so that they can understand better, such as by activating their prior knowledge, thinking about the genre, and skimming the text. The chart also talks about readers using strategies to understand their reading. These same strategies would be utilized with the big idea that I would add to this chart about knowing when you are not understanding. The chart covers other areas as well. But overall, I think all of these big ideas and strategies need to be taught explicitly and practiced if we expect kids to use them with ease in reading clubs. We may have a chance to reinforce these during a conference with partners in a reading club, but mostly kids need to have practiced them beforehand to that they can practice using them independently, just like they will need to in real life. **
 * --Kristy Weberg-- **

Chapter 4 Question #3 from Bobbi Friend – Comprehension issues in reading clubs does not need to begin with getting ready to read strategies because sixth graders can already read texts. They will need to use multiple strategies to activate prior knowledge and then apply it to use with new texts and new genres. In the area of readers have strategies to understand their reading, I will have my students write down some of these when they are reading to use as assessments. Because I have to keep track of so many students, these will be the most important way for me to be certain that they are getting it. They can retell briefly, put text into their own words, and talk with others about what they are reading and record some of that conversation. I will use these brief written documents to hold students accountable for their reading. Finally, readers need to know what to do when they are confused such as rereading and need to be able to figure out unfamiliar words. Even older readers need these skills because they are going to find much more difficult texts with harder vocabulary.

When teaching K, I am already concerned how the cycle of reading clubs will have comprehension issues. For the most part, until the second half of the school year, most children are just beginning to put letters and sounds together to read simple words. I have had children by December that can read a simple beginning reader book and they are able to take an AR test on the book with little help. I know that I can use these students to model, help...in the classroom for reading clubs but for the most part the children will not be able to fully read the books. Of course they can picture walk it and have some wonderful ideas about what is taking place in the stories that they are reading. J. Baker

The charts are a wonderful resource for me to have to help me (and the reader) to name what I am observing. I highlighted the following quote: "When we confer with partnerships during any cycle of reading clubs, we'll want to watch and listen for how we can support students' comprehension in ways that will help them no matter the book or the setting in which they are reading." The charts will help me help my readers and their individual needs. Fran Olesen

On the subject of comprehension there were many great ideas. I liked was have a reader first read an easier book on a topic to get some base ground information. That is sure a great idea for Science and social studies. It would help build a base vocabulary on the topic. Confidence would come. Some knowledge that would allow you to talk to others and then in turn increase the students knowledge on a topic and begin to read a book at the just right level for reading (and now comprehension too). KDN


 * 1) 4. Finally, Figure 4.4 explains instruction that needs to be covered but may not fall into broader categories. Now that all of the necessary instruction has been mentioned that your readers will need, think about your particular grade level and what usual interests your students have. As you consider reading club cycles for your classroom, how do you envision yourself teaching these strategies to prepare them? Share your ideas.
 * Respond Here: I will have to /need to and always start teaching/reviewing good reading strategies and things that good readers do at the beginning of the year. My reading instruction for all of these strategies will be taught separately before the clubs even begin as I start out the year in this manner. We work on one or two strategies as a review per week (or 2 depends on time) so by the time we will start the book clubs the kids should have already been "re-taught" or have been briefly "re-visiting" them and book clubs will allow them to opportunity to put the show on the road so to speak. Once we start the book clubs I will again take the strategy or chunk the strategies together and reteach with mini lessons again and remind them what to do, etc... I am essentially thinking just teach explicitly as that is one of our best practices! SLG**
 * Respond Here: I will have to /need to and always start teaching/reviewing good reading strategies and things that good readers do at the beginning of the year. My reading instruction for all of these strategies will be taught separately before the clubs even begin as I start out the year in this manner. We work on one or two strategies as a review per week (or 2 depends on time) so by the time we will start the book clubs the kids should have already been "re-taught" or have been briefly "re-visiting" them and book clubs will allow them to opportunity to put the show on the road so to speak. Once we start the book clubs I will again take the strategy or chunk the strategies together and reteach with mini lessons again and remind them what to do, etc... I am essentially thinking just teach explicitly as that is one of our best practices! SLG**

**These 2 big ideas given are important and useful for so many reasons. The first one about having a variety of purposes for rereading should be easy to cover. Because the statement is true, that there actually are so many reasons to reread, there will be lots of opportunities to point this out to students. As adults we reread all the time. It is probably the main strategy I use as an adult reader when I don't understand something. So I model this with my students as well. Reading clubs really lend themselves to this, because when students come to a part they are not understanding, they can reread and then talk together about what they think it means. That is so just like adult readers!** **The other big idea is about reading affecting our lives. I cover this a few times a year when I talk about ways that reading really has affected my life. There have been several books I've read that really have motivated change in my life or caused me to think about things completely differently. I point out these books to my kids and explain what it felt like when this happened. One year the author of one of these books spoke in Grand Rapids and I was even able to take my students to hear him. All of these makes the purposes behind reading so much more real and allows kids to see how it will be important to them in their futures.** **--Kristy Weberg--**