What's the Difference? by Natalie Graves

Hello, my name is Natalie Graves. I am an Intern in the Supportive Reading class with Mr. Lagana and I have taken over his blog for the day.

Today marks the third week of my return to the public school system. Even though it has only been a few years since I have been in the student’s desk of a public classroom, I can note several changes that have taken place in my absence. I am glad to report that most of the differences are ones that have left me thinking, “Gee, I wish my teachers did that for me when I was in school.” I have thought this, specifically, in reference to the increasing emphasis on differentiated instruction in the classroom.

If you’re like me then the phrase “differentiated instruction” might have just thrown you through a loop. That is okay; you are not alone. Really though, the concept behind the jargon is simple. It just means that teachers should be making changes in their instruction based on the varying needs of students in their classroom. No two students are the same, and teachers are finding ways to switch up how they teach in order to bring all students to the same end.

Over the last few weeks I have observed several methods teachers have implemented to make differences in their lessons. Sometimes it is as simple as giving a student a ruler to help with a map activity in Social Studies; or folding a bubble sheet on a test so that one section shows at a time to help relieve a student’s anxiety. Sometimes the differences are more obvious, such as creating completely different activities in a math class to help students become familiar with the different ways that numbers are presented.

It has been a good experience to see the ways in which teachers are recognizing their students as individual learners. The tools teachers are giving students today will help students to become more effective learners in the future. Ultimately, the differences teachers make in their instruction might just be what makes the difference in how well your student learns.

Thesaurus Rex!: The Thesaurus, still King and far from Extinct.

     Remeber the old days, when finding just the right word to describe a feeling required finding a dusty tome with the word THESAURUS emblazoned across it? A bit of a nuisance wasn't it? At least, that's how I recall it being for me quite often.

     Leaps in technology no longer make the time component an issue. One need only type thesaurus.com into a laptop or phone and the entire catalogue of English verbiage is at one's fingertips. It's truly amazing. And yet, somehow, it remains a challenge for teachers to have students access and use these wonderful tools. I, therefore, made it a point to directly instruct my reading students in the use of the thesaurus, both online and via a word processing program.

     I started by asking the students to list three words to describe themselves in a span of one minute. The word choices were fairly typical: nice, fun, happy, funny, kind, helpful, smart, etc. These are standard word choices at almost any age and I do not fault them in the least for falling back on them given the minute they had to create a list. We are creatures of habit and fall back on what we hear and use the most in daily communications. Again, completely expected and normal. So...

The students got a quick lesson on using Thesaurus.com and the thesaurus readily available in Word to make improvements to their orginal choices: kind became compassionate, happy became cheerful, funny became hilarious, and smart became clever. All improvements over the original choices and all completed in mere seconds.

     There were some other useful benefits to pursuing this activity too. The students had an opportunity to discuss multiple word meanings. Smart can refer to the intelligence of a person and also his manner of dress. We took time to talk about the parts of speech and how words used to describe ourselves are adjectives. This helped narrow down selections when online.

I do believe the students were quite pleased with their new word choices at the end of the acitvity, and they felt a little more empowered. It didn't hurt either that when using the thesaurus within Word it required a few simple clicks of the mouse to change a word. I gave the following sample sentences as an example: It was a bad day because of the rain. The weather put me in a bad mood. So, I did badly on my tests. Of course the students laughed recognizing both a lame set of sentences and my weak reliance on the word bad. But, in less than fifteen seconds I turned three lame sentences into three servicable sentences. It was a terrible day because of the rain. The weather put me in an awful mood. So, I did poorly on my tests.

     Shakespeare would hardly be envious of the changes, but that doesn't mean we didn't improve our word choices. The sentences convey much more now. Apparently the weather affects some of us quite dramatically. Long live Thesaurus Rex!

Shelfari

Not sure I can claim to have stumbled upon Shefari as it is a wholly owned company of Amazon.com. Still, it felt like I found it by accident. Either way, I like the site quite a bit.

Put simply, Shelfari let's its members show the covers of the books they've read, are reading, and plan to read. Of course, as will all dot.com companies there's more to it than that.

Here's what Shelfari lists as its member uses:

• Build virtual bookshelves to express themselves to their friends and to the world
• Discover books that are popular in their trusted circles of friends
• Influence peers by rating and discussing books online
• Discover and learn from people with similar reading tastes
• Participate in online book groups to further explore literature and share ideas
• Interact with and learn from authors

This is good stuff and it's a very nice way to build a sense of pride and accomplishment in reader's of any age. It does also lend itself well to finding new books to read. I've found most reviews to be fairly delivered. And, because it is a subsidiary of Amazon, there's also the option to purchase a discovered book online.

Shelfari will keep your identity private from others, unless you note otherwise. You can limit who sees your actual name to friends you invite.

Summer in the Amazon

Summer approaches and that means vacations, camps, relaxation, and required summer reading. We don't like to think of it as "required" reading, but, nevertheless, it is expected of all of our students.

The summer list, as noted on the Portal, is not exclusive. It is a healthy sample of books from which students are welcome to choose two books they'd be interested in reading prior to the commencement of seventh grade. The question many of our students face is: which two books?

There are other questions too, such as: Which two books are the most interesting? Can I pick from any genre? Which are the shortest? Which books are the easiest to understand? The answers to these are often a matter of preference and ability, depending on the student asking.

So, how do we pair students with the best two books -or hopefully, three, four, or more books- during those fast-moving summer weeks? I like to use Amazon.com.

Amazon offers superb methods for reviewing books from the comfort of home, or, better yet, by the poolside using a wireless computer. One can examine the summer list for potential reading matches. Then, while visiting the site, search for the book and select it for review. Amazon has a "Search Inside" label, which when accessed, allows a visitor to see and read the front and back covers, see the table of contents, and read the first five or so pages. It's a superb way to taste a book and see if it's palatable without running to the stores or library to hunt and peck.

Amazon, also, surprise, makes it fantastically easy to purchase books. Buyers get a complete list of sellers ready to part with their copies of books -both new and used. In many cases, the new copies are cheaper than Amazon's listing. I've bought books from Amazon, Amazon-approved sellers, and even private sellers without issue over the years.

Using Amazon's tools, my students and I took part of a class to examine books from the summer list, and we discovered much. Page count was a big concern, but more than half realized page count didn't matter when print was large or the reading was easy. Seeing and sampling the writing was a powerful experience in this way. We also spent some time looking at reviews by professional editors and those John Q. Public types that decided to give their two-cents. Again, this helped students make better-informed decisions. Many students, I felt, left eager to continue searching the summer list using Amazon.

So, if you're not an experienced Amazon user, you may want to give it a go. You can turn to your son or daughter if your get stuck on anything. ;)

Summer LOOMS

Summer looms...hmmm...LOOMS is an interesting word and subject to interpretation. As a father of three boys, summer absolutely LOOMS ahead. I'm already dreading the cries of "I'm bored" and "I don't want to read". And, if you are twelve? Well, LOOMS is about as off-the-mark as a word choice there can be to describe the delicious freedom summer brings from school.

I digress...

The aim of this entry is to offer some summer suggestions to encourage reading and further the continued development of your growing adolescent. If your child cannot agree that summer looms, then you can bust out the, more appropriate, phrase "seventh grade looms." No one wants to go to the next grade level too far behind.

Summer Suggestions

I am asked each year by concerned parents what activities or steps they may take to assist their child with his or her learning over the course of the summer. I’ve put together a short list of suggestions, which while not popular with the kiddos, will help immensely.

Have your child read regularly from books of his or her choosing. This means agreeing on a schedule for reading during the week and sticking with it. Routine reading helps to improve the reader on so many levels. It builds the reader’s vocabulary and overall comprehension. It exposes them to different cultures and points of view. It builds discipline. It also helps to make an individual into a lifelong reader.

Call Smith School and acquire a list of the books your child will be reading next year. Knowing what books will be read next year can alleviate some of the stress for a child. Especially if some of the more challenging books are read by your child before the beginning of the year. If possible buy copies of some of the books and let your child write notes within the pages and/or highlight confusing parts. When school begins he or she will be better prepared to discuss the book and share his or her confusions for clarification. This is particularly helpful if you know your child is slow to complete homework or if your child tends gloss over read books.

Insist that your child writes. Writing is by far the most difficult form of expression. It requires clarity in the writer’s mind before something can be placed into writing. Ask your child to write short, concise summaries of what he or she reads. If your child can hold a whole chapter’s worth of information in his or her head, then have that summarized in writing. If your child is more forgetful, or prone to skipping portions of texts, then insist that short summaries be written after a couple of pages. In time, your child’s memory will improve. Your child will also learn to attend more to the text. Your child will hold an internal conversation in which he or she continually asks, “What has happened? Does it make sense to me? How would I write that?”

Hire a tutor. Sometimes the best of parent intentions turn into a war. The child refuses to work, or pays lip service to your requests. The best way to solve this event is to remove you from the problem and hire a tutor to be the bad guy or gal. Tutoring doesn’t have to occur every day to be effective either. Meeting twice a week, or alternating between twice a week and once a week, can be effective. It is always a good idea to give the tutor a specific idea of what skills you wish to have him or her develop.