Lauren Paz

ELD 307
McKool
Reading Log # 8
Calkins Chapter 6,7,8,9
Chen Chapter 5
Observations
• Calkins
Chapter 6
• Three different types of conferences are content, expectation, and process and goals conferences
• Content conference: learn the content of child's writing and decide that the child needs our help
developing this content (done early in the year).
• Expectation conference: observe the child doing something and interview the child to see if they know
what they are doing and then we decide to redirect the writer. We then help the child get started doing
what we hope the child will do
• Expectation conferences are usually "double-decker" conferences turning into either content or process
and goals conferences
• Process and goals conferences: split in half to teach children a new strategy and help them reach for a
new goal
• Majority of effective conferences are process and goals conferences
• In process and goals conferences teachers learn the process and goals that are already in play for a
child and then teaches in ways that lift the level or alter those processes and goals.
• A writing conference includes research, decide, teach and link. (pg 64-69)
Chapter 7
• In order to develop English language skills, all English language learners need good linguistic models
in English.
• It helps to partner children so that children who have more and less language proficiency are partnered
with each other.
• It is unacceptable for the child who doesn't speak English to work and learn in isolation.
• English learners need more interactions with people than less.
• Wait after asking an English learner a question, do not jump in to answer the question. Try rephrasing
the question before you intervene to help answer it.
• ELL require intensive support because not only do they need to develop English language skills, they
also need to develop the conceptual knowledge about literacy that has already been developed by many
other children their age.
• ELL need scaffolding in order to do cognitively demanding tasks that involve critical thinking, synthesis,
and analysis, but they do not profit from being asked to write lists of words while other children do
demanding work without them.
• The most important thing we can teach children is to help them feel like part of the community of literacy
learners, with strategies to try in instances of difficulty and people to turn to when things get tough and
when it's time to celebrate.
Chapter 8
• In order for children to write stories they need to be immersed in storytelling culture.
• It is important that schools provide as many opportunities for children to tell stories to each other and to
hear stories told by other as well such as teachers, peers and authors.
• Some schools start the day with storytelling. Parents, teachers and other adults come to the classroom
and tell the students stories about their lives.
• Other classrooms use snack time as an opportunity for students to share stores about themselves with
one another.
• Interactive writing allows the teacher to provide students with feedback on their writing. Reminding
them to use capital letters, listen for and record blends, leave spaces in between words etc.
• It is important to have each student writing at their seats whether it is on white boards or paper so the
teacher can visually see what each students needs to work on.
• Word wall is an alphabetical display of high frequency words. Some classrooms have personal
dictionaries of high frequency words.
• Having students write about their experiences at home teaches the students to plan their writing.
• Students will write about what they did over the weekend.
• Phonemic awareness is the basis of literacy. Without learning the sounds of the letters we wouldn’t be
able to read.
• People who struggle as readers and writers do so because they never developed a foundation of
phonics.
• It is vital to teach students that books and reading are important.
• There should be a book hospital of some sort for damaged books. This way the children can see what
happens to the book when they do not treat them with respect.
Chapter 9
• Assessments allow teachers to reflect on their teaching, the work the students have done, and the
progress they have and have not made.
• These assessments are done with intention to learn what teachers can do better next time and plan for
the new year ahead.
• The teachers will assess
• What worked
• What didn’t work
• What have students learned?
• What do students need to learn?
• Other assessments will help teachers plan for the first few days of school.
• Some teacher do “up and down” visits. This is where they visit a classroom from the grade level below
them (second grade teacher goes to first grade). They are able to teach the class so they can see where
the students are at and appropriately prepare for the year to come based on their abilities rather than
underestimating what they can do which often happens.
• Teacher may also send a letter to the parents of their future students asking them about their child.
• When teachers assess a child as a writer they are trying to see what they child can do independently so
that that they can determine the next step for that child.
• First tool for assessment is a writing folder; every student should have a writing folder that has samples
of writing they did all on their own.
• Teachers and children should work toward clearly specified goals within a unity of study throughout the
year.
• Assess during one to one conferences. Be sure to teach the students a lesson/tool when conferencing
with them. Check-in at a later time to see if they have applied what they have learned.
• Chen
Chapter 5
• Guided reading: teachers have a chance to work with small group of students around a common need.
• Lessons of guided reading focus on learning to read and equipping students with word-attack skills and
reading comprehension strategies for independent reading.
• Listening to each other's responses, ideas, and oral language will help students learn from one another.
• Assessment is a tool used to verify that the students are receiving the proper lessons.
• Assessments include a running record with miscue analysis, notes from reading workshop, and an
analysis of students performance on program-specific assessments.
• Running record: analysis of student's independent reading behaviors.
• A miscue analysis will give you insight into the cueing systems a child uses when reading
• When conferencing with students during reading workshop teachers will keep records of their work with
each students.
• When analyzing the complexity level of a text, keep the following in mind: contextual supports, amount
of text on a page and layout, length of words and sentences, and types of sentences.
• Guided reading is effective with early readers because it includes the integration of print strategies in
reading.
• Guided reading in addition to independent reading for early readers is central to their development as
readers.
Wonderings
• How often should assessments be conducted? Is it possible to conduct to many assessments or are
there specific times throughout the year when students should be assessed?
• After conferencing with students, should the teacher inform the class about lessons or tools that they
have taught another student or should this be done over time when each student is ready?
• What should the teacher do when an ELL refuses to use oral language in the classroom? How can they
encourage the student to use language?
Observations
• In Calkins chapter 8 she talks about how students need to be taught to respect books and mentioned a
book hospital. I immediately thought about how Mr. Jones has a book hospital in the classroom and has
the students place books in the bin that are falling apart or have ripped pages. The students are able to
see what has happened to the books because it is displayed in the classroom, this is a reminder to the
students of how careful they should be with books.
• I also made a connection when I read about conferencing with students. Mr. Jones does this with his
students. He sits with a few students each day and observes them, he then provides them with a tool to
help them improve with reading/writing. He also keeps a record of what he has seen and taught each
student.