I just keep preaching...

I have been teaching literacy in different capacities for the last 21 years.  I taught fourth grade,
first grade, Reading Recovery, and now 5th grade.  I know what early literacy learning looks like, what middle level literacy looks like, and how to help struggling readers.  At each level, I've always been asked the same question..."How can I help [insert child's name] become a better reader?"  I've been asked by parents of ALL grades (especially once someone finds out what I do for a living).  My answer is always the same...THEY MUST READ!!!!!

Many students who do not like to read dislike it because:

1. "It is too hard".  Somehow they missed out on strategies that they needed to know at an early age.  These can be taught at any age, but once a student leaves 2nd grade, the whole dynamic of literacy learning changes.  It makes it so much more difficult for a student to catch up without specific interventions. 
2. "It is boring"or "I don't like reading".  I hear this one ALL the time.  We live in a "microwave" world.  Everyone wants everything yesterday.  We have no patience as a society.  So naturally, this would be evident in our children.  Kids want everything to entertain them.  Well, that is not how real life is.  Everything isn't fun and games.  Sometimes, you have to read stuff that is BORING!  Trust me, I did not find the Scarlett Letter to be a thrilling page turner as a 16 year old high school junior.  Nor did I find Don Quixote to be my favorite in my college literature class.  However, they were assignments.  If I wanted to pass (and I did) I had to read and comprehend the stories.  I tell the kids all the time, "I don't like paying my electric bill, but I do like turning on my lights."  Sometimes, you just have to do things you don't want to do.  That's life.
3. "I read too slow." or "It makes me sleepy."  Do you know how many times my husband and daughter have used that excuse?  If I had a nickel...   One reads slowly or gets sleepy because one lacks stamina.  I am a very fast reader and I can read hundreds of pages AND STAY AWAKE!  Know why?  Because I practice!

That brings me to the solution to all these EXCUSES.  You must practice.  Let me say that again (and louder) YOU MUST PRACTICE!!!!!!!  Okay, no more yelling.  If someone wants to become a great ball player or musician, he must practice.  The same with reading.  There is no magic formula, no quick fix to make it easier.  To become a better reader, to build that stamina, a person must read-whether he likes it or not!

I know that not every student will  LOVE reading.  Some kids will never choose to do it as a past time.I know that some people do not find reading to be a worthwhile hobby, but I would be stunned to hear a person say that reading is not a key to success.   However, I do believe that I can help every student appreciate literature and language.   I believe that I can help students become proficient readers who can function as literate adults. (If I didn't believe these things, I think it would be time for an occupation change!)   One must be able to read and read well.  So, even though I still try to make students love to read, it is not my primary focus.  My main goal is to make them into literate people.  Every activity that I do is designed to make them better readers.  

Every day, I take a "Status of the Class".  During this time, I ask students what book they are reading and what pages they have read.  I can tell from this status who has or has not read during the specified time.    

I provide approximately 20 minutes daily in my class to read.  I know that the other teachers on the team provide time in their classes periodically, as well.  Students are supposed to bring a book to every class every day.  Students are also allowed to stay in at recess or take a book to the courtyard   We give as much time to independent reading as we can.  However, we do have content to teach, so I can not give 85 minutes a day to silent, independent reading.  That is why the ONLY homework your child has in my class is to read EVERY NIGHT for a minimum of 20 minutes. Now, I can control what happens in my classroom.  I can take a "Status of the Class", or dole out consequences for not reading in class.  What I can not do, what I WILL not do, is check up on whether or not they are being responsible for this at home. I do not require a "reading log."  I found that to be more of a hassle and a deterrent than a help.    I'm not trying to meddle or tell you how to parent your children, but if you don't set a time or some sort of accountability for your child's reading homework, he is not going to do it.  Unless you have a book worm, your 5th graders is going to find something else to do instead of read.  

Your child set a reading goal for the year during the second week of school.  We challenged ourselves to reading.  I set a 40 book goal for myself.  The students analyzed themselves and were told to set a goal that would be a challenge, but not unattainable.  I will remind students about their goals.  I check up on their progress periodically.    I will be holding your kids' feet to the fire on their reading practice.  If they set a reasonable goal for themselves, then the only reason they would not achieve it would be because they are NOT reading.

I hope I can count on your support.  I do have your child's best interest at heart.  I am doing everything I can to make your child a proficient and literate person who can be successful in his future.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Until then-

Happy reading-

This is how we do it...

Soooooo...it is about that time...progress reports!

I wanted to take a minute to explain my literacy class.  You notice I said literacy...not Literacy/Social Studies.  There is a reason.  I teach READING and WRITING.  The social studies content (American history) will be taught through those disciplines.  The focus will be on the skills and strategies one needs to know to be a successful reader and writer.  The history part is secondary.  I will use short non-fiction works and picture books (possibly a novel during the Revolutionary War) to teach the basic historical concepts that 5th graders need to know.  Most of this will begin during the second nine weeks when we specifically study non-fiction texts.

I guess my purpose for writing this blog is to tell you that your child's social studies grade at this point is strictly participation in class.  We have not begun to cover social studies standards.  We have been working on procedures, and getting the basics of the workshop model down.  We are still in that process, though we are rolling along much smoother as the weeks pass.

I feel very strongly that if I can get your child reading and writing proficiently, then they will be able to do well in ALL the other subjects they have in school.   American history will not be neglected, but I will not be handing out vocabulary words, taking notes or giving tests over social studies content.  I will be teaching it through reading texts and writing about what we've read.

Constitution week will be coming up in September.  We will be studying the writing of the Constitution and its importance then and now.  Then we will discuss the Native people of our country and how exploration changed both the area now known as the United States as well as how it affected Europe.  We will begin to look at colonization and the Revolutionary war in our 2nd nine weeks.  We will focus on government in the 3rd nine weeks and finish our year with Westward expansion.

If you have any questions concerning social studies or literacy, please feel free to contact me.  Just don't PANIC when your child doesn't have much on his/her social studies progress report.

Happy reading-

Open House info

This post will be short and sweet.  I am going to put the information from open house on this post so that if you need any info from it, you have access.  You just need to click the link and you can view the slideshow. Open House Slideshow 

More photos and classroom updates soon!  Stay tuned!

Do things the "write" way...

In this quest to re-design my classroom curriculum, I attended a workshop by Kelly Gallagher.  For those of you who are not educators or who may not be literacy teachers, Kelly Gallagher is a high school ELA (English/Language Arts) teacher in Anaheim, California.  He is also an author of professional development texts on the subjects of reading and writing who travels the country speaking to teachers about these subjects.

I attended this session knowing that I would be implementing the writing workshop in my classroom.  I needed some new ideas to help my students see the value in writing.  Mr. Gallagher spoke specifically to that topic. It was as if Fate herself knew what I needed to hear that day!

Now, it is confession time...usually when I am at PD, I'm busy checking my Facebook and Instagram, or I'm doodling on my note page...basically, I'm THAT kid (you know the one) in a grown-up body.  If you are not giving me new, interesting and relevant information...I'm tuned out.  Kelly Gallagher was so interesting and everything he said was so ON POINT with my journey as an educator that I actually didn't notice when we went OVER the usually time allowance!  During this 6 hours of PD, I took a whopping 6 pages of notes and began 3 narratives.  I would have had more notes, but I couldn't write as fast as he was giving information.  It was amazing!!
The focus of his workshop was "what makes kids better writers?"  He had 4 main topics that he said improves writing:

• Volume - They have to write a lot.  Students need to have and opportunity to write many, many ungraded, un-pressured writing. 
• Choice - This goes back to volume somewhat.  They need lots of opportunities to write about things that interest them!  This needs to be with the understanding that not all writing has to be done "just to get a grade".  
• Modeling - Students need to see examples of good writing.  They need to read like writers.  They need to see the teacher struggle a little and go through the process herself so that they understand that it is not a "once and done" process.
• Conferring - Students need feedback on their writing DURING the writing...not at the end.  They need just one or two things at a time to work on within the writing piece.  Bombarding them with red ink just discourages the process.

So, what does this have to do with your child?  Well, simply put, this made so much sense to me.  It was like going to church!  I am implementing these 4 things into my classroom so that I can (hopefully) develop a love of writing within my students.  If not a love, then at least an appreciation.  I want students to understand that there are different types of writing genres, just like there are reading genres.  

This is a learning process for me, as well as for the students.  I am hoping that some of my passion and love for literacy will rub off on the students and they will continue to grow exponentially.

I hope this gives you a little more insight into my classroom philosophy.  Feel free to email me or Remind message me any questions.

Happy reading-

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater

I would not describe myself as an adventurous person.  You will not find me white water rafting, rock climbing, or sky diving...I'm probably not even going on a hike.  However, when it comes to teaching, I am definitely not afraid to change.  If you follow my blog (or even read some back posts) you know that I am willing to try new things if I feel that it will benefit my kids.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to journal my journey into a new frontier.  This new school year, I have the privilege of having my students for 2 1/2 hours.  During this time, I am going to be able to implement a reading/writing workshop.  I will also incorporate our social studies standards through our reading and writing.  It is a little unnerving to feel like I am starting over, but I have been reading a lot of research and blogs from teachers who have tried it and implemented it.

The workshop model makes total sense to me.  It will allow students to work on strategies and skills using texts that interest them.  There is opportunity for collaboration among students and it frees my time to differentiate for those who truly need extra help.

Instead of hearing me talk at them for 40-50 minutes, students will listen to a mini-lesson (only 10-15 minutes TOPS) that I present to them.  After that, they go to work.  Using text that they choose, I can conference with students to see where they are applying skills - not just from the daily mini-lesson, but also previous lessons.  Small groups can be formed based on strategic needs.  These are not the "reading groups" of old.  These groups could and should change on a regular basis. A student will not necessarily be with the same students every time he is pulled into a strategy group.  It will be needs based.  In independent work, authentic conversations about texts or about their writing should occur among teacher-student and student-student.

I have struggled to help students understand that there are a variety of genres in writing and that each genre has a specific type of structure.   I am hopeful that a workshop method - that has students write in a specific structure daily and revisits those structures throughout the year - will help students better understand this concept.

So, reader, hold on to your hats because this promises to be an interesting ride.  I plan to record the good, the bad and the ugly in an attempt to get better and provide the best for my students.

Happy reading-

I get by with a little help from my friends

It takes a village...

An old African proverb (also coined by Hilary Clinton) stated, "It takes a village to raise a child."  I believe that to be true.  Mostly because I feel like I am part of the "village" as both a mother and as a teacher.  Over the last 19 years as a public school teacher, I have taught approximately 900 kids.  When the last day of school comes ends, it does not end my relationship with those children.  They are MY kids forever.  What is important to them is important to me.  I celebrate their successes with

them and mourn with them through loss or defeat.  

I have had the privilege of working in some great districts.  When my family came to this district in 2009, my children immediately felt at home.  I was hired 2 years later to teach 5th grade literacy.  Since then, there has been no doubt:  This is home.  If you have never lived outside of our quaint town or had your child attend school in another district, then you may not realize the blessing this community truly is.  This is a remarkable community with extraordinary people.  I am blessed to be a part of this town and your children's lives.  

Can you help our class?

With that being said, I now want to solicit some help from you don't mind. (WARNING!!! Shameless plug coming up!) I have felt that some of my students could benefit from a listening center in this class.  I can get audio versions of my texts that can help students who may struggle with reading due to various reasons (dyslexia, fluency, reading levels below 5th grade).  However, I do not have a way for my students to listen to these audio books.  To get the necessary things for my classroom, I have registered our classroom on DonorsChoose.org, an amazing website where individuals can contribute to public schools.  You can help me by spreading the word about our project to others who might be willing to contribute to the cost of the materials.  Of course any donations you made would also be appreciated! I have included the link here: https://secure.donorschoose.org/mrstiptonliteracyhttps://secure.donorschoose.org/mrstiptonliteracy

Do you know someone who could donate to our project?
 Huh? Do ya?

These materials will help create a listening center for my students and allow me to help all students succeed.  Please feel free to ask any questions you might have regarding the project.  Thank you for your support! 

Happy reading-

You can lead a horse to water...

I like to use stories and analogies in my classroom to make a point, so I have decided that I will begin this blog post with a story.

Imagine a rancher who has 28 horses in a pasture.   This pasture is safe from intrusive predators.  It has healthy green grass for the horses to graze, and there is a beautiful, clean brook for the horses to drink and stay hydrated.  The rancher has spent countless hours fertilizing that grass and protecting the water from pollution so that the horses can get what they need to grow and become productive creatures.

The rancher is proud of the fact that his team of horses is diverse.  There are horses of every color, size and speed.  The rancher has spent time with these horses and knows their strengths.  He knows their challenges.  This rancher is in tune with what each horse needs individually and does his best to provide for those needs.

Now, let's switch our focus.  The horses have everything they need to survive and thrive.  Some of the horses take care of their needs on their own.  They don't need the rancher to lead them or tell them to eat or drink.  A small few of the equine need the rancher's guidance to find the water, a time or two, but once they know where to go, they can make it on their own.  But sadly, this rancher has a number of horses on his team that just stand in the stables waiting on the rancher to bring food and water to them.  The rancher has shown these horses where to get their food and drink but they just won't leave the stables to get what they need.  The rancher, concerned for his animals, pulls them where they need to go and even scoops the water and cuts the grass to give to these particular horses.  After a while, the rancher gets exhausted dragging these animals to where they need to be.  These horses, though capable, are unwilling to take care of their own needs.  The rancher realizes that dragging them to the pasture and brook is not changing their behavior.  Instead, it is creating a handicap in these animals that makes them unfit for any occupation that a horse might be called to do.  What does the rancher do?  How does he change this behavior in his horses?

Animals who are healthy in body and mind will not intentionally starve or deprived themselves of water.  All animals, including horses, will instinctively find a way to meet their needs.  So, what does this have to do with school?  Well it is simple. I share this story with the students so that they can see that waiting on me to do everything or tell them the answer is not helping them.  My goal is to help them become better learners.  They need to know how to find information.  As their "rancher" I will help guide them to the watering hole or the pasture, but they should not expect me to do all the thinking for them.

This is just one of the analogies that I have shared with my students. I tell another story about baby eagles learning to fly.  But probably the favorite analogy this year has been the "stuck on an escalator" story.  There is a video below that I shared with the students.    When I first showed this video, students laughed and heckled the screen.  When it was over, I explained that their reaction to the video is the same reaction I have when I've explained a lesson multiple times and they just sit and wait for me to do the work for them.  We have now coined the phrase "don't be stuck on the escalator".

  The kids in my classes are GREAT kids.  They are talented kids and they are smart kids.  But it is now time for them to take the responsibility of learning into their own hands.  It is up to them to get everything from school that they can get.  We are so blessed in this district to have a group of teachers K-12 who truly love and care for the well-being and education of your children (and my children).  Even though we wish that we could just pour the knowledge into their little brains like Kool-Aid, it doesn't work that way.  They have to pick up what we are putting down.  Things are going to be hard.  School won't get easier and it won't require less of them as they get older.  They have to set their minds to accomplishing their goals.  They have to be willing to walk to the pasture and drink from the brook.  The students have to take the step up the escalator to reach their destination.


We have been working on our double entry journals (DEJ).  Each day this week I have taken each question and I have answered it and explained my expectations.  I have used 2 books from earlier in the year to model what I what from my students.  Most students are getting it done.  They are listening to my instruction.  They are digging into their resources to help compose their answers.  They are getting it done.

However, some are not.  They are waiting on me to drag them to the brook and scoop the water for them.  I will not do it.

Is this assignment difficult?  You bet!  This is one of the most challenging assignments (if not the MOST challenging) that we do all year.  But it does not expect anything from them that they can not do.  They just have to want it.  Their grade will be reflective of their work ethic.  Students who try and dig and write like I ask will make a C or better.  Students who are not willing to put the work into this project will fail.

I've said all year that I am here to help your child.  I will give 110% EVERY DAY.  That's all I can do.  They are going to have to take it from there.

Until next time-
Happy reading!