WELCOME TO THE BLOG, OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT!

We've tinkered long enough! We now formally launch this

Photo credit: from the Oakland North website, December 29th, 2009

blog, and if you are here reading this, it may be because you received an email invite. There is still much to be done on the site, but there is enough to get our conversations started. We hope that your enthusiasm for Reading Workshop and building a vibrant reading life for ELLs brings you here often to comment, connect, think and perhaps even contribute a post!

We recommend you start with the ABOUT US tab to see how the site is structured and then start exploring.

A shout out to the four schools in Oakland that form the core of the ELLs in Reading Workshop Inquiry Collaborative: Acorn Woodland, Ascend, Think College Now and Greenleaf. Thanks for your talent, dedication and your past and forthcoming contributions. And thanks to Leah Jensen for helping Mike Ray get up to speed on the blogging format.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SPREAD THE WORD AND FOLLOW US BY EMAIL IF YOU FEEL SO INCLINED! The sign-up box is on the right column of this screen. 

And stay tuned for these new posts in the coming weeks:

• ELLs and Visualization in Reading Workshop by Dale Rogers-Eilers, OUSD Bilingual and ELL Specialist and former Manzanita SEED teacher
• Storytelling by Kyle Smith, 2nd Grade Teacher Leader from Think College Now--video included
• Yours-Mine-Ours: Choosing Just Right Books with Students by Chuck Erdmann, 4th Grade Teacher Leader from Greenleaf Elementary School
• Matching Students with Text: All Things Teacher's College by Jennifer Kaufman, Bilingual and ELL Specialist, OUSD

Look forward to working with you soon!

Michael P. Ray, Bilingual and ELL Specialist, OUSD
Jennifer Kaufman, Bilingual and ELL Specialist, OUSD

GUIDED INDEPENDENT READING

Category of Inquiry: Building Reading Strategies

Post Written by: Michael Ray, Bilingual and English Learner Specialist at Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction in Oakland Unified School District

Source: Emily Rinaker, 4/30/13, Chuck Erdmann 9/26/13, coinage by Mike Ray, 4/30/13

Problem of Practice: There is sometimes a lack of evidence that ELLs are learning and using the many skills taught in Reading Workshop mini-lessons and conferences.

Essential Question: How can we provide instruction that allows ELLs to learn and fluently utilize the reading strategies taught in mini-lessons?

Instructional Strategy: After the mini-lesson, ALL students practice the skill from the mini-lesson for five to ten minutes and later use it in paired talk. This approach is analogous to the Six Traits "guided writing" in which a mini-lesson on a author tool such as dialogue is followed by kids going to their writing folder, pulling out an existing piece of writing, and applying the mini-lesson skill to that piece of writing. In this way, all the teacher conferencing during the independent portion of the Reading Workshop focuses on the teaching point from the mini-lesson.

Rationale: Though the Teacher’s College mini-lesson format includes time for practice, it does not usually hold students accountable for practicing the skill during their independent reading time, instead inviting students to use the new strategy if they want to or if they find it useful in their reading. This approach mirrors what good readers do, and ultimately it is what we want our students in Reading Workshop to do. However, given the many challenges ELLs are facing as they build their independent reading life, largely related to grappling with vocabulary, background knowledge and language structure, they may be too overwhelmed to apply a new strategy unless we give them sufficient practice and feedback. With this instructional strategy, students know that they will be held accountable for practicing and using the skill from the mini-lesson that day. 

Tensions and Areas for Further Inquiry: Not every “independent” encounter with text should be “guided,” since that might undercut the independent reading life and make independent reading less authentic. Perhaps alternating between the guided approach and the “use it if you want” approach would be helpful. Also, not all mini-lessons will translate very well to classwide independent practice immediately following a mini-lesson.  

NOT “JUST RIGHT BOOKS”

Category of Inquiry: Matching Students with Text, Building Reading Strategies

Post Written by: Jennifer Kaufman and Michael Ray, Bilingual and English Learner Specialists at Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction in Oakland Unified School District

Source: Monica Purdy (Kinder) at Think College Now in OUSD

Problem of Practice: Often the texts that pre-readers and early readers have in their book boxes are too simple to provide meaningful practice and interaction with the objective of the mini lesson.

Essential Question: How can pre-readers and early readers engage with meaningful text to practice strategies in mini-lessons when their just right books are too simple?

Instructional Strategy: Use rich picture books above students' level in kinder to make conversations richer and more aligned to more complex content of mini-lesson.

Rationale:  Using familiar picture books and popular read alouds during independent reading time gives students more points of entry with engaging with rich text to help the mini lesson come to life.  These texts also foster meaningful partner talk and motivation. 

Tensions and Areas for Further Inquiry: The tension is ensuring that students have time to spend reading books that are on their level as well.

PROCEDURES, PROCEDURES, PROCEDURES...

Tessa Strauss in her 2nd Grade Class 
at Ascend in Oakland
Category of Inquiry: Cross-Cutting Practices

 

Post Written by: Michael Ray, Bilingual and English Learner Specialist at Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction in Oakland Unified School District

Source: Chuck Erdman, Tessa Strauss, Sarah Horwitz, Edy Scripps, Kate Snyder, Monica Purdy

Problem of Practice: ELLs often have trouble orchestrating the many routines and habits around Reading Workshop that will help them build a vibrant reading life.

Essential Question: What can we do to make the procedures and habits of Reading Workshop support the vibrant reading life of ELLs?

Instructional Strategy: Make roll-out of procedures and reader strategies methodical and thorough by:

• repeating really important procedures
• practicing the procedures with familiar material
• using visuals and posters
• keeping vocabulary consistent and clear

We have noticed many of our Oakland teachers treat each mini-lesson as a precious, unrepeatable moment to clarify some vital aspect of building the reading life. We wish we could have videotaped it all so far!

Rationale: A focus on procedures introduces a level of predictability into the structure for students so that they can understand what they are supposed to do, and be held accountable for it. 

Tensions and Areas for Further Inquiry: We don’t want to make things so simple or move so slowly that we are withholding the richness and challenge of Reading workshop. In some sense it’s the old question of “When do I take away the scaffolds?”

Completed Poster from Mini-Lesson on Solving Problems in Reading Workshop from Kate Snyder's 2nd grade at Ascend in Oakland

Poster from Mini-Lesson on Reading Behaviors

from Kate Snyder's 2nd grade at Ascend in Oakland

A "JUST RIGHT" BEGINNING

 Poster from Kate Snyder's 2nd Grade class at Ascend Elementary in Oakland

Category of Inquiry: Matching Students with Text

Post Written by: Michael Ray, Bilingual and English Learner Specialist at Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction in Oakland Unified School District

Source: Joyanne Mcclamroch and Megan Hatschek, TCN, Spring, 2013, in conversation after an observation of Joyanne's class.

Problem of Practice: Often ELLs seem to not comprehend, be able to accurately decode or read at basic rate the books they choose even when they are within their identified independent level as measured by a running record.

Essential Question: How do you make sure ELL students are matched with a just right book?

Instructional Strategy: Begin the year with four to six weeks of conferences focused on "just right books."

Rationale: The main justification for this strategy is that the Reading Workshop depends on students having access to and knowledge about how to choose a "just right" book. All the richer conversations and conferencing that you might focus on later depends on this as well. In particular for ELLs, they need to gain an awareness of what gets in their way as they read and what helps them, and then become proficient at getting a book that works for them. It is a responsibility that they will have to assume if they are to build an independent reading life, and knowing that the teacher is going to be focusing on just right books will hold them accountable. In addition, exploring with ELLs why a book feels just right or not to them will provide a more complete picture of what they need to take into account to get a really strong match with a book, and this in turn will lead to important mini-lesson and focuses for conferencing.  On-the-go running records (or RALLI one-minute tallies, see P 31 of RALLI binder) during the research phase of conferencing before the teaching point can add important data to conferencing about just right books.

Tensions and Areas for Further Inquiry: There are a lot of other things to work on early in a Reading Workshop, so it might be hard to dedicated the kind of focus to this instructional strategy called for in this description.