Comic Strips as Book Reports

This month's edition of The Reading Teacher, a publication of the International Reading Association, suggests using comic strips as an alternative to book reports.  The article provides excellent suggestions for older students and a link to an online comic strip generator (http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/comic-creator-30021.html). 

It seems that this could be an excellent alternative for book reports and could easily be adaptable to younger students and to a paper-pencil format.  While the article suggests a 6-panel comic, I would recommend 3-4 panels for younger students.  In this format, the student could use the first panel to show what happened at the beginning of the story, the middle panel (or two) to show what happened in the middle of the story, and the final panel to show how the story ended.  This not only reinforces the concepts of beginning, middle and end, but also reinforces left-right progression.

The panels could be as simple or as elaborate as the student would like to make it.  They can be  visual complex for those students who like to draw or quite simple for those students, who like me, would be regulated to stick figures.  They can contain as much text as the student would like to provide.  

Having a chance to create a comic strip rather than having to sit down and write a book report, would be much more motivating for many students.  Additionally, it gives those students who have a difficult time expressing themselves in writing the opportunity to demonstrate what they know without having to generate too much text.

A comic strip is very easy to create in Microsoft Excel.  I have one, but cannot link it to this blog.  If you would like it, pop me an email and I'll send it to you.

Misty

(2012), Using Comic Strips as a Book Report Alternative. The Reading Teacher, 66: 149–151. doi: 10.1002/TRTR.01114

Getting Children to Read

Getting students interested in reading and ensuring that they have sufficient time to do so is vitally important to growth in reading ability.  Research shows that the poorest readers read the least, which widens the achievement gap over time.  The only way to start closing that gap is to get those struggling readers to read more.

Literacy educator Shelley Harwayne suggests encouraging students to "read widely and wildly".  Wide reading involves reading a variety of materials (books, magazines, websites, etc.) and a variety of genres (mystery, nonfiction, historical fiction, etc.).  Wild reading refers to reading voraciously. 

In order for students to want to read widely and wildly, they must first have a wide variety of reading materials available and those materials must be at the correct reading level.  To help navigate the wide variety of materials available, the students have to be taught how to choose a book.  Trying to read something too difficult becomes frustrating and reading something too easy can be boring; both are very demotivating.  Learning the "five finger rule" will help students to choose books at the right level.

The next step is learning to choose an interesting book.  Students need to be taught to examine the cover of the book, look at who authored the book, read the blurb on the back, look at illustrations (if available), and read the first page or two of the book to see if it seems interesting.  Introducing students to authors or genres through read-alouds is a way to encourage them to branch out from their current reading choices.  

To get students to read wildly, we have to give them time to do it.  With constantly increasing curriculum standards and pressure for standardized testing, many teachers feel that it's not possible to provide free reading time.  Sometimes, free reading time has to be found in unusual places.  In the classroom, that can be the 5 minutes before lunch or the end of the day when some students are getting ready to transition.  If a student completes an assignment before other students, that student can read while waiting for others, or if there is an interruption in class, everyone can have a few minutes to read.  Outside of the classroom as well, students can be encouraged to always have a book with them.  Some students can read in the car.  I explain to my students that I always have a book with me to give me something to do while I wait for a doctor's appointment or for my meal to be served at a restaurant, and encourage them to do the same.  One of my favorite days as a Reading Specialist was when I walked out to the playground and saw one of my formerly struggling students reading a book instead of playing on the equipment; that was her activity of choice that day.

"Wide and wild" readers will quickly start closing that achievement gap.

Misty

Handwriting Without Tears

Handwriting Without Tears is a developmentally appropriate handwriting program, created by Occupational Therapist, Jan Olsen.  As an OT, Olsen analyzed the tasks involved in handwriting and developed a clear, systematic way of teaching them.  So, what are the components of this program?

• It is developmental.  It takes each child's developmental level into account regarding handwriting expectations.
• It is sequential.  It first teaches the letters that are easiest to form, then teaches the remaining letters in logical, similar groupings.  The method and sequence  are designed to alleviate those persistent letter confusions like "b" and "d".
• It is multisensory.  Children don't just sit at a desk and write; they use their whole bodies and multiple senses in learning to write.
• It scaffolds the learning for each child.  The first task the child is asked to accomplish is imitating what the teacher does.  The second task is copying from a model.  The final task, when the child can copy well,  is independent writing.

While the lettering system of Handwriting Without Tears is not the most exciting lettering, it is taught with the understanding that once we learn the basics, we all develop our own style of handwriting anyway.  This program simply provides a solid foundation in a simple lettering system as a way of developing basic skills and self-confidence in a child.

Misty

Why Trust is Critical

I have long believed that one of the absolute first tasks I have when working with a new student is to earn that student's trust.  I have to show each student that I am worthy of their trust, that the program that I am using to teach them will be effective, and that the room in which we work is a safe place.  They must feel safe physically and emotionally.  It takes a lot of trust in someone to be willing to make a mistake in front of them.  And, as I explain to my students, their mistakes are what allow me to see where we need to focus our attention.

So, while all of this made perfect sense to me, there was one aspect of trust of which I was unaware and makes that relationship even more critical.  When input enters our brain, the first area through which it passes is the area in which the brain determines whether that input is dangerous.  If it's perceived as dangerous, it is immediately passed along to the "fight or flight" area; the brain can't send it anywhere else until it determines whether it is truly a danger.  Given that information, I now realize that if my student, for any reason, feels that what I might be telling them or asking them to do presents any danger to them, that information will not make it into the deeper processing areas of the brain.  This perceived danger can be something as simple as a fear of failing. 

What this means for teachers is that, if a student doesn't trust us to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment at all times, our best efforts at teaching can be thwarted.  Establishing trust is a critical component of any relationship with our students.

Misty