Rock to the Core

Lee Ann Spillane, Ed.S.,NBCT

www.laspillane.org @spillarke

Build Community Rank what you believe is most important. Star what you do.

Mind the Classroom Reading Environment

Establish /build/maintain a classroom library. Create themed book displays. Create cozy reading areas. Teach reading routines: check out, check in, sharing, reviewing.

Know Students as Readers

Have students write letters to you about their reading. Ask for letters from parents. Poll students interests. Survey students. Share favorite books and or stories. Share reading or literacy histories Confer with students about reading. Observe students reading. Listen to students read.

Build Reading Community

Screen YouTube author or book trailers. Create book trailers together or individually. Model enthusiasm for books and reading. Read aloud to students. Give book talks to students. Share titles students might find interesting. Read, read, read: build in time to read in class. Use reading as your default activity. Create reading plans for what to read next. Share books you are reading (door displays, discussion, etc.) Connect with other readers via social media. Connect with authors. Celebrate reading and books. Give book gifts.

Book Pass
To preview the books at your table:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Examine the books front cover. Read the back of the book or book jacket. Read the first page. Flip through the book and look at print/pictures. Jot down book information. Pass the book.

Brick,Ashes

Gagnon, DontTurnAround

A.S.King, EverybodySees theAnts

Title

Authors Last Name

About

1-10 Rating

Levithan, Everyday

Green,TheFault inOurStars

Odell, TheHealing

One choice can transform you.

-Veronica Roth, Divergent

Your Name: __________________ Teachers Name:_______________ Class/Period:__________________ September 2010 My title is: _____________________________________________ Assignment: Summer Reading Mini-Collage

1. Make a Mini-Collage representing the choice book you read for summer reading. Your collage should: cover the entire 3 x 5 card have little, if any, background of the card showing include pictures that symbolize something from the book include text that connects to the book include colors that connect to the book the title and author of the book noted in small font at the bottom of the collage

2. Write a 1-page paper which explains the symbolism in your collage. Your paper should: explain the images, texts and colors you used in your collage and how they relate or reveal the choice book you read for summer reading. include a quote(s) from the book that connects to your collage. be typed in MLA format (see the heading on this page for the heading format), MLA format: double spaced, 12 pt. font, header for page numbers with last name and number (Smith 2) printed and attached to this cover sheet

Self Evaluation What do you like best about your collage?

What did you do well in writing up your reflection about the symbolism?

What is one thing you would like to change about your written reflection before turning it in?

Peer Evaluation What do you like the best about your partners summer reading collage?

Choose 1 item from your partners collage. In no more than 2 sentences, explain how it represents the book he or she read.

Lee Ann Spillane Mrs. Spillane English I Sept 2013 One Choice Transforms the rock wall and a life can end. Divergent by Veronica Roth is a futuristic novel where the characters decide on their fates by choosing their faction (future community) when they come of age., Beatrice Prior, the main character, was raised in the Abnegation faction. Selfless, gentle and kind, citizens of Abnegation are peace makers who look out for and one choice can transform you. serve others. Beatrice comes of age and allows scientists to administer the simulation that will determine her future. Connected to brain and body scans, Beatrice runs through the simulated reality. The results are not definitive; her future faction is unclear. Beatrice is divergent. Different, malleable, uncontrollable, Beatrice must choose her faction. She chooses Dauntless, the warriors. How will a girl raised to be selfless, to protect others, fight for her place in Dauntless? Will she even survive the initiation? Initiates to the Dauntless faction must train as warriors and pass physical challenges, tests of their spirit. Dauntless leaders force initiates to face their fears and use their training to conquer them. Those fears are represented in my collage by the snake and the flames. As initiates participate in simulated battles, leaders monitor their bodily systems, portrayed by the body outline. Heart rate, perspiration and respiration all indicate an initiates level of fear. Fear for the Dauntless is a dangerous state of mind. Dauntless fight. In order to fight forcefully and in a way that protects all factions and the future of the dark society faction members must maintain a focused frame of mind, not letting their fears overpower them. The text on my collage represents that idea. Not only are initiates minds transformed, but their hearts and bodies are too which is why I added words: fight, transform, and thrive.

Choices are not always black and white, nor are the futuristic world of Roths novel. Dauntless

headquarters, an underground network of caverns is like a system of burrows. Dauntless live in caves and

tunnels. I imagine the place to be dark and earthy tones: brown, grey, black, hunter. The background of my

collage mimics this underground world. In contrast the fire, red and orange flame, suggest the danger that

Beatrice and other initiates must face. Yellow signals caution and the yellow strip from the map symbolizes the

idea that Beatrice and other initiates must be cautious as they fight to become Dauntless. One wrong move on

One wrong move, one wrong choice, one look, one fight, every action Beatrice chooses has a

consequence. In the dark futuristic world Veronica Roth creates in Divergent, readers realize right away that

Review your reading history on our Reading Record at http://dft.ba/-readingrecord Javier You've read religious/spiritual books as well as books that feature characters relying on inner strength to overcome obstacles (issues in the world or monsters). Choose at least four proverbs or spiritual beliefs that you see working in character's hearts to help them survive and succeed in their fight. Explain your choices by connecting the proverbs to at least four characters about whom you have read. All of the books you have read feature friendships (some successful and some failed). How do friendships help us, support us, or encourage us? Apply the virtues (or vices) to friendship and explain how being a friendeither good or badcan bring out the best (or worst) in our nature. Use examples from these four novels in your response. In several of the books you have read characters maintain or begin important relationships (love, friendships, etc.). What makes a relationshipbe it a friend, sister or spousea good one? What qualities(or virtues) should we nurture in ourselves in order to have good relationships? Apply several of the virtues to the characters about whom youve read which virtues do they have that make their relationships work? Use examples from at least four of the books you have read in your response. Several of the books you have read deal with dangerous situations. How do characters prepare themselves for and survive dangerous or scary situations. Write to explain how teenagers can prepare themselves for and survive what scares them. Support your opinion with several examples from at least the four books listed above. Youve read lots of books where teens make tough choices. Consider the virtues we discussed this semester. Which virtues helped your characters make the right choice? What should teens consider when faced with a difficult decision or peer pressure? Use examples from at least four of the books you have read to in your response. Many of the books youve read contain conflict between characters and society or even within characters own minds. How can we best handle conflict in our lives? Write to explain how to effectively handle conflict. Use examples from at least four different characters in your response Many of the books you have read feature characters struggling in to overcome difficult times. What virtues did your characters call on to succeedbe it succeeding after a crisis, disaster or on an adventure. Write to explain virtues that lead to success in difficult times. Use examples from at least four of the books you have read to support your opinions. Several of the books youve read have characters in combat situations. What does it take to succeed as a soldierbravery? strength? courage? Think about the traits of the best warrior. Write to explain traits soldiers must have to win the war. Use examples from at least four of the books youve read in your essay. You have read books this semester, where characters find themselves, even if just for a moment, in a hopeless situation. How could scripture or faith help these characters face their despair and have strength? Apply what youve learned from your Biblical readings to Dashners Maze Runner series. Use examples from at least four of the books youve read in your essay. Many of the books you readwhether fiction or religious works-- feature characters that have to stand up for themselves or for what they believe. Whats the best way to stand up for yourself in high school? How can you overcome bullies in your life or people that pick on you?

Samantha

Elizabeth

John

Lynn

Karen

Rakin

Brandon

Elizabeth

Hannah

Review your reading history on our Reading Record at http://dft.ba/-readingrecord Charanjeet S Take a Marxist approach and examine the societies (real and imagined) authors created in the books you read. Who has the power? What Marxist ideals can you see working in those societies? How do the societies compare? Does the authors vision of the world work or is it a failure in Marxist terms? Use examples from at least three books you have read in your response. Examine the mistakes characters in your books made through the lens of a moralist critic. Compare or contrast how several characters confront issues of right/wrong. Use examples from at least three books you have read in your response. Youve read many books that feature a variety of female archetypes. Women are often characterized as virgins (pure), victims or temptresses. Which category or archetype fits the girls about whom youve read? Take a feminist stance and examine/analyze the female characters in the books you have read. What stereotypes do they represent or perhaps redefine. Use examples from at least four of the books you have read in your response.

Kassandra

Ariel

IR Essay Rubric
A Writing is clear and full of important, interesting detail. Ideas * Does my paper have a clear focus? * Did I choose interesting and specific details from at least 3 books I read? B Writer is off to a good start. You can see where he/she is headed. * Do I have good but general information? * Are details that summarize the plot mixed in with interesting ideas I have from the books? Readers can follow the writing pretty *Are my ideas in good enough order? * Are my transitions predictable, weak, or boring? C Writer needs more information and a clearer focus. * Do I wander from the topic of my question? * Do I summarize the books MORE than answer the essay question? D Writing is confusing and does not have a clear point. * Did I focus on the topic of my question? * Am I just writing to fill space or do I have real ideas about the question?

Writing is so easy to follow its like theres a road map. * Do I invite readers to read my paper with a strong lead? *Do I use strong but natural transitions between and within paragraphs?

Writing is not easy to follow. * Do I have a lead/introduction that sets up the flow of the writing? * Did I use transitions consistently?

Writing is just a bunch of ideas thrown together. * Do I have a beginningmiddle and end? * Will my readers get lost?

Organization

Explore digital tools that energize readers and amplify instruction. Use Google books as a concordance for analysis, annotate Internet text with Diigo, and more from Lee Anns book Reading Amplified: Digital Tools that Engage Students in Words, Books and Ideas. Teachers will collaborate across platforms or devices as they connect instructional purposes, authentic activities and digital tools. Choose your workshop focus:
Focus on Independent Reading Before Know Students Survey tools: Google forms, Poll Everywhere Know Resources Book Previews: Goodreads, YouTube During Match Students to Books Monitor student readers: track pages with Google Docs Conferring tools After Share Golden Lines: tweet from Kindle, arrange as presentation Blog reviews Voice Thread book talks Book Trailers Use Goodreads to create reading plans Focus on Shared Reading Before Set goals- proficient readers are able to___ Anticipate text with Wordle Visualize Pre-teach vocabulary with Educreations, Vocabulary.com During Annotate text with Diigo tools or other apps (Subtext) Analyze text with Google Books (concordance feature) Digitize literature circles Virtual Book Clubs (for teachers) After Collaborate, create, produce: This I Believe Project for Awesome Individual Synthesis Questions

Lee Ann Spillane, Ed.S., NBCT spillarke@aol.com

www.laspillane.org Twitter: @spillarke

Anticipate and Analyze with Word Clouds

Word Sort Directions 1. Read the words in the cloud with a partner or small group. 2. Consider how the words connect to the title of the text: Hone Students Skills from Reading Amplified. 3. Sort the words into categories of your own creation. 4. Share and discuss.
Questions to Consider
1. 2. 3. What is the authors purpose? What words or word patterns reveal the authors tone toward __? How will this text compare to others you have read?

Funny Books Because my parents had denied me comic books as sordid and salacious, I would sneak a look at those of friends, the bold and bright slick covers, pages rough as news and inked in pinks and greens and blues as cowboys shouted in balloons and Indian yells were printed on the clouds. I borrowed books and hid them in the crib and under shoes and under bed. The glories of those hyperbolic zaps and screams were my illuminated texts, the chapbook prophets of forbidden and secret art, the narratives of quest and conquest in the West, of Superman and Lash Larue. The print and pictures cruder than the catalog were sweeter than the cake at Bible School. I crouched in almost dark and swilled the words that soared in their balloons and bulbs of grainy breath into my pulse, into the stratosphere of my imagination, reaching Mach and orbit speed, escape velocity just at the edge of Sputnik's age, in stained glass windows of the page.

http://is.gd/funnybooks

Morgan,Robert."FunnyBooks."TheStrangeAttractor:NewandSelectedPoems.LA:LouisianaState UniversityPress.http://is.gd/funnybooks

Using Google Books as a Concordance

Google offers a variety of tools for registered users. Google books can be used without a Google account, but registered users have access to the MyLibrary feature which saves titles they specify and allows them to create specific lists of titles. This tutorial uses Google books as an anonymous user. 1. Go to Google and select books from the breadcrumb menu circled in orange in figure one. Breadcrumbs, as in the tale of Hansel and Gretel, leave a trail for users to follow and are usually words horizontally arranged across the top of a page. They are circled below in yellow.

2. Type the title of the book in the search box when it appears. 3. Select the book from the results listed. Here, see that I searched for Looking for Alaska by John Green. I will choose the first title in the results pictured in figure 2.

4. Type the word you are tracing in the text in the books search box circled in figured 3. In this example we will search for smoke. Working with students, I might use this novel to connect the journey pattern: journey to adulthood, journey of friendship, or personal journeys. Imagine I have discussed symbols and motifs. Students recognize the snuffed out candle on the front cover and wonder if the smoke symbolizes lifes end or the transitory nature of life. We could also investigate smoke as rebellion as a symbol of freedom. Fire as Promethean gift, both life giving, freeing yet dangerous if we examine the novel through an archetypal lens. (can this be formatted like an aside? Perhaps a callout box with an In my classroom sort of feelwe used a similar feature in Plugged-in to Reading and Nonfictionis that problematic?)

5. Scan the results found in the book. In this example, as pictured below in figure 4, smoke appears 26 times in John Greens novel. Notice the breadcrumbs circled in red in figure 4. Results are returned in order of relevance, but can be sort in page number order.

6. Click the page link (circled in orange in figure 4 above) to read the context surrounding the target word. Some books are more accessible than others. Availability of pages varies book to book. Books are also formatted differently. Some previews on Google Books will include page numbers as you can see in figure 4, the Looking for Alaska preview does not. 7. Navigate through the examples. There are 2 ways to review the examples returned, click the page link as mentioned above, or follow the blue hash marks in the right scroll bar circled in red below in figure 5. Hover over the hash mark for a snippet view of the target word in context.

If I were using this text to model the process for students (who know I am a Nerdfighter and huge Green brothers fan), I might introduce critical lenses from Tim Gillespies Doing Literary Criticism. We could analyze Looking for Alaska through the lens of biographical criticism analyzing Greens choice of character names (his wifes name is Sara circled above in Green and his brothers Hank, also circled in figure 5 in green) or how his own experience at a boarding school influenced and provided ideas for the setting of the novel. 8. Repeat the search steps with additional target words or phrases. If logged in, save the book to your Google Books library.

Does the tool have a unique capacity? How could it amplify instruction?
SaraKajder Digital Resources

Tool
Todays Meet

Instructional Purpose
Question and discuss ideas in a space that can be archived and stored and shard.

I could

Google drive

Keep a spread sheet status of the class to track readers progress.

Readers Communities Good Reads Nerdy Book Club

Learn about titles to share with students; connect with readers to share and discover books.

Word Cloud Generator

Preview and anticipate text to be studied; analyze text for word choice and connotation patterns.

Educreations (app)

Record, save and share explicit vocabulary instruction.

Web Annotation Tool (Diigo)

Collaborate to read closely annotate text to study connotation and figurative language in order to analyze theme/tone.

Google Books

Use search feature as a concordance to test, verify and support interpretations of texts; hypothesize about texts.

Socrative

Use for formative assessment: sortable, searchable, save-able.

References Allen,J.(1995).Itsnevertoolate:Leadingadolescentstolifelongliteracy.Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann. Allen,J.(2000).Yellowbrickroads:Sharedandguidedpathstoindependentreading412.York,ME: Stenhouse. Allington,Richard.(2012)Whatreallymattersforstrugglingreaders:Designingresearchbased programs,3rded.Boston:PearsonAllynBacon. Allington,RichardandAnneMcGillFranzen,Eds.(2013).SummerReading:Closingtherich/poor ReadingAchievementGap.NewYork,NY:TeachersCollegePress. Atwell,Nancie.(1998).Inthemiddle:Newunderstandingsaboutwriting,readingandlearning,2nded. Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann. Atwell,Nancie.(2007).Thereadingzone:Howtohelpkidsbecomeskilled,passionate,habitual,critical readers.NewYork,NY:Scholastic. Baumann,J.F.,Kameenui,E.J.,&Ash,G.(2003).Researchonvocabularyinstruction:Voltaireredux.InJ. Fllod,D.Lapp,J.R.Squire,&J.Jenson(Eds.),HandbookofresearchonteachingtheEnglish LanguageArts(2nded.).Mahwah,NJ:LawrenceErlbaum. Beck,I.L.,McKeown,M.G.,&Kucan,L.(2002).Bringingwordstolife:Robustvocabularyinstruction.New York:GuilfordPress. Burke,Jim.(1999).IhearAmericareading:Whywereadwhatweread.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann. Calkins,Lucy,Ehrenworth,MaryandChristopherLehman.(2012).Pathwaystothecommoncore: acceleratingachievement.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann. Calkins,Lucy.(1998).Raisinglifelonglearners:Aparentsguide.NewYork,NY:PerseusBookGroup,77. Cunningham,AnneandKeithStanovich.(2001).Whatreadingdoesforthemind.JournalofDirect Instruction.Availableonline. Gallagher,Kelly.(2009).Readicide:Howschoolsarekillingreadingandwhatyoucandoaboutit. Portland,ME:Stenhouse. Graham,SteveandMichelleHebert.(2010).Writingtoread:Evidenceforhowwritingcanimprove reading.NewYork,NY:AllianceforExcellenceinEducation. Kittle,Penny.(2013).Booklove:Developingdepth,stamina,andpassioninadolescentreaders. Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.

Kajder,Sara.(2010).Adolescentsanddigitalliteracies:Learningalongsideourstudents.Urbana,IL: NationalCouncilofTeachersofEnglish. Krashen,Stephen.(2004).Thepowerofreading:Insightsfromtheresearch,2nded.Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann. Miller,Donalyn.(2009).Thebookwhisperer:Awakeningtheinnerreaderineverychild.SanFrancisco, CA:JosseyBass. Miller,DonalynandSusanKelley.(2014).Readinginthewild:thebookwhispererskeystocultivating lifelongreadinghabits.SanFrancisco,CA:JosseyBass. Pilgreen,Janice.(2000).TheSSRhandbook:Howtoorganizeandmanageasustainedsilentreading program.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann. Reif,Linda.(2007).Insidethewritersreadersnotebook.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann. Spillane,LeeAnn(2012).Readingamplified:Digitaltoolsthatengagestudentsinwords,booksandideas. Portland,ME:Stenhouse. Stahl,S.A.,Richek,M.A.,&Vandevier,R.J.(1991)Learningmeaningvocabularythroughlistening:Asixth gradereplication.InJ.Zutell&S.McCormick(Eds.)Learnerfactors/teacherfactors:Issuesin literacyresearchinstruction(pp.185192).TheFortiethYearbookoftheNationalReading Conference,Chicago,IL.