At Woodbury we have a Teacher's Book Club. Last year the book that we shared was "Choice Words" by Peter H. Johnston. The book is about how our language affects children's learning and how it can help us produce competent students that are also caring, secure, and actively literate beings.
Our book for the 2007/2008 school year is "About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers" by Lisa Cleaveland and Katie Wood Ray. We will be looking for more ways to nourish writing right from the start. We meet once a month to discuss our readings.
Proficient Reader Research
There are many things to be excited about here at Woodbury and one of the things we are most excited about is the Proficient Reader Research that all of the staff at Woodbury has been studying. Mrs. Morgan wrote a little about how Proficient Reader Research has affected her as a teacher. She wrote:
Have you ever read a book that changed your life? Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller has changed the way I look at teaching reading. I have always felt that teachers in Sandwich did a great job teaching the skill of reading, but I knew that there was something missing. How do we instill a love and desire for reading? This book uses The Proficient Readers Research as a basis for selecting rich literature that teaches specific reading strategies. It sets high expectations and students do fall in love with reading. This research stresses the importance of giving students choice in reading material, plenty of time to read, and time to respond to their reading either in conversation or in writing. In her book, Debbie Miller models think aloud strategies and questioning techniques. All the teachers at Woodbury have read Reading with Meaning, and we have watched the videos of her classroom and have discussed each chapter.
Proficient Reader Research is strong in phonics and word identification skills but it also helps us to see the need for helping the students develop responsibility and to establish a framework to progress in their reading. We are working at building a community with a culture and climate for thinking and establishing mutual trust. Our proficient reading days consist of helping the students develop the ability to make book selections, reading aloud, and conferring about their reading. You will hear words like schema, test-to self connections, anchor charts, mental images, inferring, questioning skills, synthesizing, and more. Please discuss the meanings with your student.
As you can see we are excited about reading. We have seen first hand how all students can become powerful thinkers and readers when given the time and materials. We want to thank all the families and PPA for the fund raising they did last year that provided the funds to purchase more great literature for all classes.
Fish! Classroom/School Culture
Fish! philosophy asks "What do children need?" The goal of nearly every school is to prepare young people to succeed as friends, citizens, spouses, parents, and workers. The qualities needed to fulfill these roles include a strong foundation of academic knowledge, a commitment to personal responsibility, a respect and concern for others, the ability to think for themselves, and the desire to keep learning for a lifetime.
Practicing the four simple principle of Fish!:
- Be There
- Choose Your Attitude
- Make Their Day
- Play
will be an ongoing project here at Woodbury. If you would like to know more about Fish! or join in the fun please let us know.
Information about Fish! is available from Charthouse Learning.