Book Study Schedule Revealed for Serravallo's The Reading Strategies Book!

The book study schedule for Jennifer Serravallo's The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers is ready to be revealed, so mark your calendars!  The #ReadingStrategiesCrew is thrilled to get the book study underway.  It starts August 3rd right here on Literacy Loving Gals and will continue every Monday and Wednesday through September 14th. Grab your copy of Serravallo's book to follow along with us.  If you don't already own a copy, the #ReadingStrategiesCrew will be offering a giveaway for a chance to win a copy of your own!  More details revealed on August 3rd, so stay tuned. :)

Viva Las Vegas! TpT Conference 2015 Linky Party

I'm linking up with Elementary Entourage to share a peek into some of the fun I had in Las Vegas, Nevada for the #TpTVegas15 Conference.  I learned so much in such a short amount of time and met tons of wonderful people.  If I could have attended every TpT session and talked with each blogger at the conference, I would have done so.  This community of teachers is so energizing, motivating and uplifting.

I arrived in Las Vegas onTuesday.  Since the conference was held during the week of my my 7th wedding anniversary, my husband joined me so we could celebrate together before and after the conference.  #MyOneAndOnly

We hung at our hotel pool for part of the day, then went gambling at the Venetian later in the evening.  Just so you know, I am NOT a true gambler.  I put a $5 bill into the quarter slots.  After spending $0.75, I won $16!  I immediately cashed out and claimed my winnings.  I figured I'd quit while I was ahead.  My husband just shook his head with a smirk.  He knows I'd rather spend my money on shoes, clothes and, of course, TpT products for my classroom. :) 

Early evening on Wednesday, I met up with some amazing ladies I collaborate with from The Reading Crew Facebook group at the Grab and Gab Teacher Blogger Meet-Up hosted by Bridget from Literacy Without Worksheets.  She's the sweetest.  Alongside Bridget was Carla from Comprehension Connection.  Carla has been a huge support to me in my literacy endeavors.  I participated in my first blog hop last Fall, which was organized by Carla.  It was exciting to meet her in person. :)   

The following morning, I joined Carla to meet even more members of The Reading Crew for an early breakfast before TpT's networking event.  A few of our crew members were unable to attend the breakfast, or Vegas all together, due to previous engagements.  We certainly missed them, but knew they were with us in spirit.  I especially missed Michelle from BigTime Literacy who is one of my favorite bloggers.  I'm sure she'll be in the picture next year. :) 

After breakfast, the crew headed over to the networking event held by TpT.  I met many of my favorite teacher bloggers there.  Our conversations were enlightening and some of my online teacher friends became friends in real life.  I was unable to get pictures with everyone I met, but I managed to snag a few of my favorites!

Melissa from Mrs. Dailey's Classroom, Princess from Teaching Love Cupcakes, Kayla from Top Dog Teaching, Krista from Creative Clips 

Aly from Just a Primary Girl, Miss Giraffe from Miss Giraffe's Class, Alexis from Eat, Laugh, Learn, Emily from Polkadots Please, Diane from One Giggle at a Time, Crystal from The Balanced Teacher

Deb from Crafting Connections, Emily from Third in Hollywood, Matt from Digital Divide & Conquer, Melissa from A Teaspoon of Teaching

Bridget from Literacy Without Worksheets, Wendy from Ms. D's Literacy Lab, Kristin from Ms. Jordan Reads, Rachel from Minds in Bloom, Carla from Comprehension Connection, Melissa from A Teaspoon of Teaching, Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade, Mindy from Mrs. Thomas' Teachable Moments, Janiel from Janiel's Literacy Page

After much learning over two days, I attended the TpT Happy Hour to meet A Traveled Teacher, Cristy from Kindergarten Squared, Brittany from Tickled Pink in Primary, and Jessica from Mrs. Plemon's Kindergarten for some PhotoBooth fun!  By the end of the two and a half days, the amount of blogger cards I collected was astounding.  I bet I have at least 100 cards from amazing TpT-ers and bloggers! 

Besides the fact it's fun meeting great people, my take-aways from the conference include some quotes and TpT tips from the sessions I attended. 

Quotes from the Welcome TpT Keynote Presentation

Slides from Deanna Jump's and Deedee Willis' Session: Did I Really Sell That??!!
(The second slide makes me laugh!)

Slide from Erin Cobb's Session: From Teacher to Teacherprenuer 
(and Teacher Seller Planner below to keep me on my toes!)

Slide from Stephanie Stewart's Session: Core Creations

Slide from Hadar Maor's Session: Instagram Your Brand One Picture at a Time

Overall, I'm grateful and blessed to have been able attend the TpT Conference 2015.  Thank you to Lockless Creations, Teaching Super Power and KG Fonts for the clipart and fonts in my collages!

July 2015 Currently & 1 Year Blog Anniversary!

It's July?  My goodness, the summer is going so fast.  I'm linking up with Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade for my second July Currently.  Thanks for hosting, Farley!

Listening: I'm on the porch listening to my hubby mow the lawn, while watching my kiddos play in their sandbox.  Having a little down time for a quick blog post is my kind of start to the morning. 

Loving: I'm am absolutely loving the idea of being in Las Vegas for my very first TpT Conference next week!  Back in March, I decided to venture out and learn from the best TpT *teacherprenuers* out there.  

At the time I registered, I didn't know anyone attending the conference.  Since the week of the conference will be my 7th wedding anniversary, my hubby decided to go to Vegas with me to support my teacher endeavors, while extending the stay for a mini anniversary vacation.  Woohoo!  However, after a fun Chicago Blogger Meet Up this past weekend, I'll be meeting up with a small group of new friends at the Venetian.  I can't wait!

Thinking: I can't believe it's been a year since I started up Literacy Loving Gals!  Today is my 1 year blog anniversary.  Shall I say, Blogiversary?  Last year, on July 1st, I attended a blogging PD hosted by Michelle over at BigTime Literacy.  During the PD, I linked up for the very first time with Farley for July Currently.  I also began Michelle's BigTime Blogging Challenge, which she just started again today!  I've learned so much from those in the social media world and have met some very talented people through blogging.  I'm glad I took the step to attend the PD and enter the Blogosphere! 

Wanting: Relaxation and reading are hard to come by, since I'm busy with the kids swimming, painting, camping and so on.  I wouldn't change my time with the family for the world, but it certainly would be nice to have a little more relaxation in the sun.  I have a feeling I'll get to do that next week, since my parents will have the kids while my hubby and I are in Vegas! :)

Needing: Ugh, I'm needing to pack, but I have no idea what to put in my luggage.  My friend is in Las Vegas right now and warns me the weather is in the hundreds even in the middle of the night. Yeowza!  However, every restaurant or indoor area is freezing cold because of the air condition.  I guess I'll just pack some sundresses, swimsuits and sweaters! ;)

All Star: I'm an All-Star addict... of learning, that is.  I love seeking out new strategies and techniques to make me a better qualified Reading Specialist.  I can't help myself.  Perusing blogs, attending conferences, reading and retweeting articles on Twitter, etc. is nearly a constant in my life.  I am currently reading Jennifer Serravallo's The Reading Strategies Book and will be hosting a Book Study with the #ReadingStrategiesCrew.  It starts August 3rd right here on Literacy Loving Gals!  

Anyway, I swore to my husband, I'd take time to relax and let loose a little for our anniversary spent in Las Vegas.  He really wants to go to visit the Pawn Stars shop.  Of course, on my vacation I'll still be learning at the TpT conference (because I'm an addict of learning).  I guess I'll be getting the best of both worlds. :)

Happy July!

Literacy Retreat, Session 2 Recap: Executing Complex Tasks After Reading

Welcome back to learn more from the Smekens Education Literacy Retreat I recently attended.  If you would like to view my first post in this mini-series, Achieving Complex Thinking During Reading, click HERE.  Let's get started!
 
Session 2: Executing Complex Tasks After Reading

You may be wondering What makes a task go from simple to harder to complex?  Well, when students have to juggle multiple thinking processes to complete an activity, the complexity increases.  Having students simply regurgitate information from a text is easy, as can be summarization of a text, which is recalling events and details in the students' own words.  However, when students are asked to break something down, the task becomes much more difficult.  

Kristina Smekens discussed how teachers need to be able to recognize the characteristics of complex tasks before they can create tasks for students to execute after their reading.  Using Norman Webb's Depths of Knowledge (DOK) levels and following the close-reading framework can help guide teachers.


Some attendees at the conference asked Smekens, Is DOK just a new name for Bloom's Taxonomy?  The answer is no.  Bloom's Taxonomy consists of a variety of verbs, but DOK is not about the verbs.  DOK is about the context or the depths of thinking.  Click HERE to get a betters sense of the difference between the two. :)

As an introduction/example activity, the attendees were given strips of paper and asked to place them in order based on complexity of the task.  At our table, we discussed what made each activity more complex.  The example of the strips are placed in order of complexity below.

• Execute a concept I read about in a professional book using the ABC chart.
• During a team/grade-level meeting, summarize the ABC lesson I executed.
• During a faculty meeting, brainstorm applications of the ABC Chart in all content areas/elective courses.
• Plan and present a conference breakout session on 20 different applications of the ABC Chart to target persuasive/argumentative, informative and narrative writing in k-12 classrooms.

Are you able to see in terms of what makes a task more complex based on this example?  It certainly helped me have a better understanding.  At the retreat, we were told to think of the standards as a ladder starting with shallow [tasks], then going into the deeper end of the [task] pool. 

 Teachers need to ask themselves when planning for students How cognitively demanding do I want the activity to be?  In terms of standardized tests, about 20% of the test questions fall under DOK Level 1 and DOK Level 2, while 80% of the questions fall under DOK Level 3 and 4.  This means all students must be exposed to complex thinking and complex tasks. As we know, students are not all on the same learning and thinking levels. Teachers must be prepared to vary their level of support.  Scaffolding is KEY!

In terms of matching the level of the reader and the level of the text, there is definitely a place for that within the classroom.  As it was mentioned at the retreat, the place for leveled texts is in literacy stations and at home for nightly reading/homework, not necessarily guided reading.  Say what?!  Yes, it's true according to Kristina Smekens.  She mentioned  teachers can not have students live in the leveled book zone, if you want them to think on a more complex level.  This is the same claim I heard from Timothy Shanahan at the Illinois Reading Conference last October.  (He's one of my favorite literacy researchers.  He goes against the norm!)

Complex tasks and complex texts should always be done and used in class with scaffolding.  If teachers are there to offer a variety of support to their students, staying on "instructional level" material is not always necessary.  Teachers need to honor different levels of support and guide students to the answers using prompts and cues.  For example, teachers should guide students' eyes to the visual cues in the text.  As teachers, we want students to grapple with the text and their thinking.  We want them to still feel the frustration, but have them know they're not, in Smekens' words, "left alone on an island of complexity!"   

Teachers should allocate time for whole class discussions.  Discussions permit students to pool their thinking together.  Remember, these discussions are complex, so allow collaboration!  We were told to consider it similar to a college study group after a lecture.  You may leave a lecture clueless, but hearing others' thinking in a study group may help you understand concepts more clearly.  

A heed of warning: students can hide in whole classroom discussions.  Have you ever noticed the same three kids participate every. single. time, while others seem to make themselves "look busy"?  That is the time to intervene!  It is important for teachers to move to the small group format for certain students to scaffold their thinking.  Make sure to provide various types of scaffolding, such as teaching comprehension strategies and defining key words for students.  The point of the lesson is not to figure out the meaning of a word.  Teachers, you need to act like a dictionary and define the word for the students, then move on to the heart of the lesson!  

Before the session ended, two technology resources were mentioned.  The Fotobabble App (or website) and the Skitch App can be useful when students are analyzing a text.  Fotobabble enables students to take a photo of any text, photo, illustration, graph, etc. and record an audio analysis of the image.  Skitch allows students to annotate their thinking on any document, including a PDF, photo, chart, map., etc.  I've used Skitch with my students and they love it!

The professional texts recommended during this session were 50 Common Core Reading Response Activities and Reading to the Core.  I do not own these books, but they've been added to my Amazon wish list! 

I hope this information was useful to you.  Thank you to Teaching Super Power and Kimberly Geswein for the clip art and fonts in my DOK image.  The next session I will be discussing relates to writing: Building Stronger Beginnings and Endings.  Stay tuned!

Great Times at the Chicago Area Teacher Blogger Meet Up!

This past weekend I attended my very first Blogger Meet Up with these magnificent ladies!  It was hosted by Kirstin from Hip Hooray in K, Diana at My Day in K and Marie from Once Upon a Classroom. They organized an amazing meet up.  We played games, received goodie bags, had lovely conversations and learned new ideas from one another.  I'm fortunate to have met these women and delighted to have made some new friends.  I can't wait for the next one! 

Enjoy your last few days in June. :)