Chelsie's Classroom 1/20/09

I spent the most wonderful morning today in Chelsie's 3rd grade classroom. (Thanks Chelsie, for allowing me to invade your teaching space and for sharing your amazing talents with me. I learn so much every time I visit your classroom).

I want to blog today about something I call "magic moments". These are moments when everything in a lesson comes together perfectly and all of the students are in-tune and are listening, right there with you in the moment. Well, I was so lucky today to witness one of those moments.

The day started with the usual lunch counts, daily oral language counts and silent reading. Then Chelsie gathered her students at the rug to teach a mini-lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. She began the lesson by asking the students "What do you know about him?" The students actually knew quite a bit and even commented on things they had learned in previous grades. Then she asked, "What do you want to know?" She listed the students answers on a chart and used it to activate the student's prior knowledge and set a purpose for later reading and writing. Then she shared the picture book Martin's Big Words. The students were asked to touch their nose when they heard an answer to one of their questions and touch their shoulder when they heard something they already knew. She also pointed out the text structure of the book, with Martin's quotes in bold, colored letters.

After the read aloud, she gave each student a copy of the "I Have a Dream" speech and the students stood in a circle to participate in a shared reading. I mentioned that the actual audio file of the speech could be found on-line, so we found it and were able to listen to Dr. King himself giving the speech as the students followed along. I thought the students would get bored, but they were amazingly attentive and quiet. It was as if he was right there in the room with us. After this, Chelsie asked the students questions about how the speech made them feel. Several students made comments that brought tears to my eyes. Some talked about how grateful they are for the friendships they have with students in the class of different nationalities. One girl commented on how Dr. King sounded proud and happy of what he had accomplished. It was just magical. Right as we finished this activity, the class watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was perfect. Chelsie commented that she couldn't have planned it any better and she was right. It was so ironic to think that fifty years ago, the African Americans were fighting for their most basic rights and now we have a new African American president. It was awesome and the students were perfectly behaved and attentive. They got it! I loved how well they followed along while listening to the King speech. The most important part of shared reading is that the readers eyes pass over the print with voice support. The students seemed committed to following along and so I would call it a very successful shared reading experience. Listening to the actual audio file also allowed us to feel the full emotion and passion of the speech as well.

Later in the morning, I was able to watch how Chelsie has organized her centers and guided reading groups. I was particularly impressed with a sheet she has created to track her guided reading lessons. She also told me that she has created a great new system of having the students edit their writing at home with their parents. She created a sheet to send home and several teachers at the school have asked her for copies and want to use her idea. Chelsie also mentioned that she had found some good online resources that will help her in working with her high readers in their guided reading group on the book Matilda.

Being in the classroom today reminded me of how much work it takes to stay on top of everything that needs to be done daily in a classroom. Wow!

Chelsie,

I was so impressed today with the depth at which you teach your students every day. It was a highlight to see how you are using assessment to guide your lessons. For example, today you used the KWL chart to get a sense of what your students already knew. Then, as you taught, you supported the students with any new information and used questions to guide you to the next thing you would teach or say.

You also do a wonderful job of getting your students to think critically without just giving them the answer. I saw an example of that when one of your students mentioned that black people use to be kept apart from white people. You immediately began giving clues and using questions to guide that student to use the word "segregation".

I don't know if you realize it or not, but you are skilled at supporting the students with their language skills. You explain definitions, have the students repeat big vocabulary words, teach students the correct way to say words that may otherwise be difficult and you provide visuals and other resources to support language learning.

Your students are so well trained, they knew exactly what to do at every minute. When you simply mentioned that the students would need to create a brainstorming web before beginning their writing on the I Have A Dream writing piece, I wondered if any of the students would actually do it. It was so refreshing to see every single student heading back to their desks and immediately begin work on their webs.

Your enthusiasm for teaching is contagious. After you finished Martin's Big Words, you looked at the students and asked, "Did you love that book?" Well, how could they not? You loved it and it showed. That excitement transferred to your students and set the stage for the later "magic moment."

Here are the things I need to follow up on for you:
Provide the sorting chart that can be used in conjunction with Words their Way
Provide you with a word wall chants, cheers and practice strategies handout I have in my files
Provide Words Their Way resources from upcoming conference
Schedule time to come in and teach guided reading
Get a copy of your Guided Reading Lesson Plan Template with the 3-columns. Could you e-mail it to me?