The Wild Robot and Peter Brown

Peter Brown starts Roz.

     I recently had the opportunity to meet Peter Brown on his book release tour for The Wild Robot Escapes , the sequel to The Wild Robot. I fell in love with the main character, Roz, when I first read The Wild Robot last year. Roz is a robot who finds herself stranded on an island inhabited by all types of animals. At first, the animals are not accepting of Roz since she is so different. Roz learns to communicate with the animals through close observations, and they learn to help each other. Roz also unintentionally becomes the mother of a goose she adopts.

Peter Brown adding the finishing touches. 

     The bond between Roz and her son, Brightbill, is the driving force of both books. Roz learns that being a parent takes everything she has. I just love how Roz learns how to parent through every situation. My mother's heart was breaking for Roz and her desire to protect and care for her son.

      I think all kids grades 2 and up will enjoy both of these chapter books. The plots in both stories move along with enough action to keep children interested.
     Peter Brown told me that he intentionally made the chapters short so reader could feel the accomplishment of finishing chapters. As a self-described, "reluctant reader", Mr. Brown said that he designed the book to have short chapters and supporting illustrations for all types of readers. I told him that I love to book buzz about his books whenever I get the opportunity.  If you want to learn more about the process Peter Brown used when researching, writing and illustrating his books you should visit his site.

How do I stop talking so much during guided reading?

I've read Who's Doing the Work? How to Say Less So Readers Can Do More by Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris a couple times, and I have questions regarding small group reading instruction. The majority of my day consists of small group reading instruction, and I honestly do too much talking. When looking at the gradual release model, small group reading instruction is the step right before independent reading. Small group reading should be the opportunity for students to show how well they can use reading strategies by themselves under the watchful eye of the teacher. On page 82, Burkins and Yaris describe the teacher's work during guided reading.

"The teacher facilitates rather than directs the lesson, observing students as they resolve challenges in the text and making notes about the reading process. There is is extensive student interaction with the text."

Today I had a couple minutes to talk directly with Jan, and I asked for her about my question...How do I stop talking so much during guided reading? Jan's response was helpful and doable. She said, "Take notes. Take running records. Start writing and keep writing."  While the students are interacting with text I can take notes and running records based on what students are doing.

I think I can do that. Please comment below to share what you do during small group reading so that your students are doing most of the work.

Check back to see how it goes...

Who's Doing the Work? Question #1

   I had the privilege to attend a workshop led by Jan Burkins, co-author of Who's Doing the Work? How to Say Less So Readers Can Do More. Here are just a few thoughts from the presentation. (More of my takeaways will follow in later blog posts. Stay tuned.)
   The first question is, "Are you paying enough attention to how your students read?" Listening to students read and having conversations with them afterward can give a snapshot into their reading processes.

The goal is to have students using print and meaning equally in order to have efficient reading processes.  Students can rely too heavily on print and less on meaning, rely to heavily on meaning and less on print, or utilize print and meaning equally. We can use a Venn diagram like the one on the left to analyze student reading. This will tell us more than just looking at student reading levels. If you would like to dig deeper into this idea, read chapter 1 in Who's Doing the Work.

Questions to consider.

• How do I currently look at the reading processes of students?
• What would a reading process Venn diagram look like for each of my students?
• How could I use the Venn diagrams to make decisions regarding reading instruction?
• What information can I gleam from analyzing student's reading process instead of reading level?