Cunningham onset/rime patterns

Students attach the ‘onset’ deck cards to the chart. Extra words are generated as the class thinks of more words. The words that do not fit the simple rhyme are listed at the bottom of the chart.
Words that rhyme with bad. Students tell the teacher a word or they record their letter to generate a word. The students help to create a sentence on the chart. Then the students all create sentences with a partner or alone.
Words that rhyme with stop. In the middle of the chart the students helped generate sentences with the teacher. At the bottom of the chart, the teacher and students thought of bigger words.

” Rhymes with then” This teacher labels the words that don’t fit the rhyme ‘venn diagram’ since the students are familar with this organizational graphic tool. “Again” fits under the Venn Diagram label. At the bottom of the chart, the children and the teacher have constructed a silly sentence using the words.
This chart is ready for the “rhymes with not” lesson today.

The Onset Deck

Single consonants: b c d f g h j k l m n p r s t v w y z
Digraphs: (two letters, one sound): sh ch wh th
Other two-letters, one sound combinations: kn qu
Blends: bl br cl cr dr fl fr gl gr pl pr sc scr sk sl sm sn sp spl spr st str sw tr tw

The Single consonants are written on one color of index cards. The digraphs are written on another color of index cards. The other two-letter, one sound combinations are written on a third color. The Blends are written on a fourth color.

rimes with one common spelling pattern

ack ad am an ap ash at ake ar ark art ay aw ank ang
ell en et
ick ip ill it in ice ine ing ink
op ot ock ob orn ook oom oy oil out
ug ut ump unch

The Lesson by Pat Cunningham (pages 137-143, Phonics They Use, Edition 5)

Pass out all the cards in the onset deck.
(The teacher has already chosen a rime based on the needs of the class.)
The teacher writes the rime (spelling pattern) on the chart paper approximately 10-12 times. (Another option is that the teacher also passes out the rime to every child so the child can figure out if (s)he is holding the word.)
Invite all the children who think they have a card that makes a real word to line up next to the chart or overhead.

(Another option is to have the children bring their own onset and rime cards to the pocket chart and place them in the pocket chart. The teacher stands their monitoring. It is quick. I have seen teachers do the pocket chart method after introducing the activity so that the students understand how to complete the activity. Then after the words are in the pocket chart, the students and teacher discuss the words using the words in complete meaningful sentences. Then the students pick one word and write a sentence using a word on a sentence strip and then put the sentence strips in another pocket chart.)

As each child shows the card, blend the onset and rime together to make the word and decide if the word is a real word. Use the word in a sentence. Have the student record on the chart. Some teachers have the children recording the words in their own notebooks. One child makes the word on a file cabinet, another writes on the overhead, and another writes on the chart paper. Three more children get a turn on the next word. If a word does not fit because it belongs to different pattern, include it at the bottom of the chart in a special box. If there is a missing letter, give a clue, “I think the person with the F card could come up here and add f to ad to make the a word we know.” We add common listening vocabulary words. Pat writes this activity up in her book. A teacher asked about it recently so I thought I would remind us all how to do this activity here. Enjoy!

Book Club Group: Beyond Retelling

Book Club Discussion: Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking and Big Ideas

The teachers are collaborating while involved with a book discussion about Deb Renner Smith and Pat Cunningham’s book, Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking and Big Ideas. There were 12 in the group that met for one year (5 missing in picture). They read ten books this year and discussed all ten books.

• Jane Harriger writes, “The format in the book, Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking and Big Ideas, fosters active engagement and focused discussions with students. Kids can’t help but be focused on the text and the question at hand – the greatest interactions have happened. Also, the kids internalize the theme and bring me books that echo the theme. They have a greater depth of theme understanding through experiencing Thinking Theme instruction.

Favorite Quotes:

• My favorite quote in Beyond Retelling was, “A steady dose of recall questions and retelling can dampen your students’ enthusiasm for books and reading higher-level purposes, by contrast, increase motivation for reading because students are reading for the real reasons people read and don’t dread the inevitability of the after-reading check” (page 3). Rosemary Datema explained, “This is because at the Middle School where the students have done recall forever, they need to develop more higher-level skills.”

• Megan Jones said this quote struck her: “Tradition is the most powerful force in everyone’s teaching.” (Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking and Big Ideas, page 5) because we only teach how we have learned in the past. We can’t teach what we don’t know.”
• Jody Seabert from the Middle School chose the quote, “Your students will soon learn that their opinions are valued, but must be backed up with evidence from the text” (Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking and Big Ideas, page 10). Jody said, “This quote is my favorite because Middle School students love to give their opinions, and now I always have them back up their opinions with their evidence.”
• “If the theme is the big idea that a story is about, then the characters are what give life to that theme (Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking Big Ideas, page 36).” Michelle Krynicki writes that she chose this quote as a favorite because “getting to know the characters, really understanding them, helps to understand the theme.”
• Mary Kay Murphy chose the quote on page 37 in Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking and Big Ideas, “We teach students to link characters to theme by leading them to think about what the character does, why the character acts that way, what the character might get out of doing this, and whether this action is an example or nonexample of the theme.” She compared interacting with text to an interactive sport. “If we are not interacting with the text, then we are not solidifying our thinking. When the students are interacting through the thinking theme chart, I know what they are thinking.” She also added that she explained this quote so many times, she feels it is a core understanding to the book! She connected this quote to the quote from Mosaic of Thought, “Reading is an interactive activity.”
• Janna Schneider picked the quote, “Deep thinking is seldom neat and tidy (Beyond Retelling Toward Higher Level Thinking and Big Ideas, page 93).” She writes, “Whew! It was a relief to realize that sometimes no one is sure what information goes into a thinking theme column. It is okay to put question marks in that box and move on so the deep thinking can continue.”

Training Matters

Deb Renner Smith and Pat Cunningham presented Thinking Theme at IRA 2007 in Toronto. We hope to see you in Phoenix in February, 2009!

Training Matters

A literacy coach wrote, “The cohesion that occurs after spending several trainings together over a length of time is the best! A group forms that draws on and from each other. This happened with our literacy practicum group this year. We are all in different situations: classroom teachers, literacy coaches, and reading teachers. However, we have many ways that we can and do support each other. This group was a phenonminal resource for me to draw on. The teaching ideas and suggestions helped a lot too. Deb’s video clips were particularly effective. Seeing is very powerful.”

Writing Wall – Beginning Middle End UPDATED

Here is a picture of a Writing Wall that shows the Snake that swallowed the mouse to support beginning, middle, and end with more poster support. Teachers add posters as they teach the skills.

Writing Wall

Beginning Middle End

Snake Swallowed Mouse

Teaching the Youngest Writer by Marcia Freeman

Modeling Matters

Deb is modeling a shared reading lesson to teach character traits with the students on day 1. On day 2 the students completed the lesson with partners. On day 3, the students worked independently. All three days the students worked on character traits. Deb modeled all three days to introduce the lesson.

Deb is modeling how to read a reader’s theatre. Don’t read the little words. Read the words after the colon. The teacher (Deb) is read the words fluently. The children are echo reading after Deb. Modeling lessons for teachers is part of Deb’s job. When combined with training, coaching, and collaborative conversations, it works!

• One reading teacher writes, “I Love Watching Modeling of Lessons for New Ideas! It’s always helpful to see lessons in action. Deb brings lessons to life. The students are actively engaged. There is a clear teaching point. I especially like seeing a lesson in action after reading about it in one of the books we reading in the Literacy Practicum.”

• “Turn and Talk” Works!

One coach writes: “I watched Deb model a lesson. I took careful notes so I could model the lessons in my teachers’ classrooms. “Turn and Talk” is a component in all of Deb’s lessons that I now incorporate into all of my lessons when I model. When I coach and discuss lessons with my teachers, I encourage my teachers to also incorporate “turn and talk” during their lessons too. This turn and talk encourages better thinking, creates dialogue, and engages all students. The students are becoming better thinkers and writers as turn and talk spreads throughout the school. Modeling works when combined with collaborative discussion and analysis of the lesson.”

• Lesson List

One coach made the suggestion of making a list of all the lessons that Deb and the other volunteer teachers have modeled at the literacy practicum as a future reference. The lessons are readily and easily imitated by the coaches and teachers in their classrooms and other teachers’ classrooms. It is an immense resource.

Coaching Matters

The “Coaching Corner” is a special place in a school. This is a place where adults discuss lessons and reflect on their instructional practice. The conversation is between the people who participate in the conversation and not evaluative. Megan Jones, an incredible teacher at Godwin Heights Public Schools of Wyoming, Michigan, has decorated this coaching corner.
I have conversations with reflective teachers at this school system.
Megan Jones (on right) discusses a lesson with a teacher, who has dropped in for a quick conversation and a cup of coffee, during his recess break. A welcoming environment, salty food (chips), chocolate, and caffeine (coffee or soda pop) will attract our teachers to our classrooms and rich literacy conversations.

• One coach reflects on learning about coaching from Deb: “It’s not so much that I learned about coaching from one single lesson. No, it’s really the cumulative effect of watching, dissecting, than planning and modeling a coaching conversation. It is the effectiveness of verbal positioning. It is building relationships and coaching situations. We focused our work during the literacy practicum on trying to help teachers to be reflective about their practice and hopefully to effect their what their own practice in their situations are. When we are self-reflective, we become better at what we do: better coaches, better teachers, better people. When we pay attention to the how and why, we reflect on our teaching practice or our decisions.”

• Self reflection was the purpose of the coaching part of the practicum. Helping others to reflect is the wonderful goal we all have.