Introduction to the Reading and Writing Life - Grade 6
In Introduction to the Reading and Writing Life students are introduced to many of the habits of lifelong readers and writers through a “starter” set of exercises, dispositions, and habits essential to the reading and writing life. The unit is intended to provide teachers with a structure and a vision for how to get independent reading, independent writing, and literacy notebooks working in their classrooms. In other words, it is designed primarily to introduce tools and set in motion ways of working that can be developed, extended, and drawn on throughout the year.
Table of Contents
Writing Tasks
Title: Day 1 Showing, Not Telling
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 2
- Explain to students the importance of showing, not telling. In a nutshell, when you use vivid detail, you are allowing readers to see and feel things for themselves. This allows you to make your point clear and memorable. It also generates emotion within readers about the subject and forges a connection between speaker and audience.
- Considering the above description, explain to students what “show, not tell” means. Use the following example.
» Consider this tell sentence “He was nervous.” Now compare it to its revised show version: “His head was spinning as his palms began to sweat, and he couldn’t catch his breath.” Invite students to offer further revisions or possibilities.
- Ask students to revise the following tell sentence to create a show sentence (or paragraph) in their notebooks:
The music sounded sad. - Have several students share their revisions with the class. Wherever possible, notice and highlight successful showing moments, and invite students to spot and share good examples of showing that they noticed, either in their own writing or in a peer’s. Be mindful of focusing on the positives and small successes.
- Once you feel your students are ready to write more extensively using show, not tell, assign the following prompt: Revise one of the following tell sentences into a show paragraph.
I was not excited about lunch.
or
The house was old.
Title: Day 2 Showing, Not Telling
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 3
Title: Book Interview
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 3
Display a copy of the “Book Interview” for the class to see and distribute paper copies to students. (See example nearby or the Appendix for a copy-ready version.)
Using the book you just interviewed, show students how to fill out the sheet.
Pass out three books to each student.
Give students time to make an entry on their “Book Interview” sheet for each of the three titles.
Title: Day 3 Showing, Not Telling
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 4
Remind students of the two previous sessions’ focus on showing, not telling, and the goal of these fluency exercises. Encourage students to have fun and try new things.
Consider taking a moment to allow students to share strategies that worked well for them in their earlier attempts. Then instruct students to revise one of the following tell sentences into a show paragraph or two (or more, of course!):
Title: Day 4 Showing, Not Telling
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 5
Remind students of the two previous sessions’ focus on showing, not telling, and the goal of these fluency exercises. Encourage students to have fun and try new things.
Consider taking a moment to allow students to share strategies that worked well for them in their earlier attempts. Then instruct students to revise one of the following tell sentences into a show paragraph or two (or more, of course!):
Title: Day 5 Showing, Not Telling
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 6
Remind students of the two previous sessions’ focus on showing, not telling, and the goal of these fluency exercises. Encourage students to have fun and try new things.
Consider taking a moment to allow students to share strategies that worked well for them in their earlier attempts. Then instruct students to revise one of the following tell sentences into a show paragraph or two (or more, of course!):
Charts for Discussion
Title: Genres
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 2
Write “Genre” on a piece of chart paper and ask students what kinds or types of books they like to read. List these on the chart (Leave some room between the word “genre” and the list of kinds of books. You will insert a definition at the end of the session.)
Title: Taking Care of Books
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 5
Book care: Create a chart titled “Taking Care of Books.” Because many of the books in the library are paperbacks, without proper care they will soon fall into disrepair. Students should be taught basic, common-sense lessons about book care, including picking books up when they’ve been dropped or found on the floor; caring for book bindings (for example, don’t fold books back, dog-ear, or leave them splayed open on a desk—use a bookmark instead); don’t throw or toss books; etc. Take a minute to add items to the “Taking Care of Books” chart.
Title: Rules for Independent Reading
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 5
Create a chart titled “Rules for Independent Reading.” Collaborate with the class to generate a short list of rules for independent reading time. Your list should include
Read silently.
Stay seated (there should be no moving around the room).
No talking (except for “whispering conversations” or “conferences” between a teacher and a student).
Everybody reads the whole time.
Title: What readers notice when they stop “getting it.”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 6
- Ask students to share some of the things they do to help them get “unstuck” in their reading.
Tell students that over the next couple of sessions the class will consider a few more ways to solve problems that arise during reading.
The teacher should model the steps in the chart for students.
Students should copy (or paste) the chart into their literacy notebook. (Remind
them to add an entry to their table of contents.)
Title: Handling Unfamiliar Words
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 7
Review the previous session’s focus lesson on “monitoring for meaning.”
Learning Objectives
Explain to the class that today you want to talk about one particular problem—what to do with unfamiliar words.
Create a chart titled “Handling Unfamiliar Words.”
Ask students what they do when they encounter a difficult word.
Get these items down on the chart.
Be sure to point out to students the difference between words you don’t recognize and words you simply don’t know. For example, “sound out the word” might be on the “Handling Unfamiliar Words” chart. Sounding out a word can be helpful if you already know the word, but just didn’t recognize it. You might say it all the time, but simply not know it by sight. But does sounding out a word help when you simply don’t know the word? What do you do then?
Title: What Do I Do When I Lose Track of What’s Going On?
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 8
This focus lesson concentrates on questions a reader asks before reading to prevent “losing track” and questions a reader asks during reading to start “getting it” again.
Direct students’ attention to the chart titled “What Do I Do When I Lose Track of What’s Going On?” or distribute individual copies to students.
Ask the class what the difference is between a story and an informational text. Remind students that there are fiction and nonfiction stories. Ask students to use their own independent reading texts to give examples of stories and informational pieces.
Once the differences between story and informational text have been established, ask students to look at the “Before/Story” section of the chart. Ask students whether they think about these things as you begin each day’s shared reading (or, if you ask these questions before reading already, ask students if the questions sound familiar). Remind them that the whole point of asking these questions before reading is to prevent confusion from setting in.
Briefly, use a non-narrative informational text (such as a feature article from Muse or another magazine) to model the “before” process using the informational text questions.
Introduce the “during” questions as well. Use the shared reading time to model the use of these questions for story, as well as the habits of stopping, thinking, questioning, and rereading.
Title: Expectations for Independent Reading
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 9
Ask students to help you create a list of all of the things they have been taught and learned about reading over the last several sessions.
When you have some items recorded, explain to students that during this focus lesson you will create a chart where you make clear and visible your expectations for independent reading. This chart is an answer to the question: “What does a healthy, vigorous independent reading life look like in this classroom?”
Direct students’ attention to the “Expectations for Independent Reading” chart or distribute individual copies to the class.
Ask for volunteers to read the items on the list aloud to the rest of the class. Tell students you will help them set up a reading log to track their reading.
Tell students that at the end of the unit, they will set goals for their own independent reading and writing this year. Every couple of weeks they will do a self-assessment where they reflect on their progress in meeting those goals. The “Expectations” chart will help students formulate their goals and articulate their self-assessments.
Title: Rules for Timed Writing
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 12
Generate with the class the “rules” for timed writing. To do this, you might draw on a resource such as Natalie Goldberg’s chapter, “First Thoughts,” in her book Writing Down the Bones.
Keep your hand moving. (Don’t pause to reread the line you have just written. That’s stalling and trying to get control of what you’re saying.)
Don’t cross out or erase. (In other words, don’t edit as you write. Even if you write something you didn’t mean to write, leave it.)
Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, or grammar. (Don’t even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.)
Lose control.
Don’t think. Don’t get logical.
Go for the jugular. (Essentially, the idea is “embrace the hard stuff.” If something comes up in your writing that is scary or raw, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.)
Ask students to copy these “rules” down in their notebooks and update their table of contents.
Title: Show, Not Tell
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 15
Work with the class to create a chart titled “Show, Not Tell” that provides clear examples of “showing” that students can review during class.
Title: Expectations for Independent Writing
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 18
Ask students to help you create a list of all the things they have been taught and learned about writing in the previous sessions.
When you have several items listed, explain to students that during this focus lesson you will create a chart where you make clear and visible your expectations for independent writing. This chart is an answer to the question: “What does a healthy, vigorous independent writing life look like in this classroom?”
Ask students to continue brainstorming and expectations for independent writing.
As a class, negotiate items to add to the final chart, titled something like “Expectations for Independent Writing.”
Once your chart is final, tell students that in the next session they will set goals for their own independent writing this year and that at certain points in the year they will do a self-assessment where they reflect on their progress in meeting those goals. The “Expectations” chart will help students formulate their goals and articulate their self-assessments.
Title: Rubric for Scoring the Writer’s Notebook
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 18
Explain to students that today they are going to help you create a “rubric.”
Explain that a rubric is simply a scoring guide—a tool that helps a teacher and a student figure out where a student “is at” and also what that student needs to do to get to a better place.
On a chart, write the heading “Rubric for Scoring the Writer’s Notebook.” In Time for Meaning, Randy Bomer recommends that teachers use the following three criteria to evaluate the writer’s notebooks: volume, variety, and thoughtfulness. Set up the rubric so that it looks like the one nearby.
Note that although the criteria (volume, variety, thoughtfulness) are imported into the classroom, the rubric is not. For the rubric to be valid, students must collaborate with the teacher to develop the information that goes in the boxes.
Explain the rubric to the class—that when you look at a notebook to score it, you are looking for three things—volume (How many entries?); variety (How many different kinds of entries?); and evidence of thoughtfulness (Is this student taking this seriously?).
Ask students to look at the chart and think for a minute about how many (volume) entries a student should make per week to receive a “4” for volume.
Write that number in the box and work through the rest of the rubric with the class. When you get to “thoughtfulness,” your descriptors will shift from quantitative (numbers) to qualitative (words like “very thoughtful” and “shows some thought,” etc.). While this row is admittedly a bit more “fuzzy” than the other two, its power is found in its presence— that is, students know that you are looking for thoughtfulness, so they will learn to consider it in their note- book work.
Review the rules for independent writing time. Give students five to ten minutes to write in their notebooks.
Checks for Understanding
Title: Reasons for Independent Reading
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 5
Discuss the rationale for independent reading and display or fill in the chart titled “Reasons for Independent Reading” (Note: Secondary students need rationales—in fact, they deserve them. The purpose of this part of the closing meeting is to provide students with an understanding of the value and power of reading self-selected texts.)
Title: Independent Reading: Problems and Solutions
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 5
Debrief the independent reading time:
- Create a two-column chart titled “Independent Reading: Problems and Solutions.”
- Ask students to help you generate a list of challenges that arose during the independent reading time and list these in the “Problems” column to the left. Then collaborate with students to create possible solutions for each problem and place these in the column to the right. Again, use this time to gather ideas for any mini-lessons that might benefit your students. (For example, if students describe having difficulty figuring out what was going on at the beginning of a book, you might model your own thinking as you open an unfamiliar book. What kinds of questions do you ask yourself? How do you start piecing together the setting?).
Title: Rules for Independent Writing
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 11
As a class, negotiate and create the rules for independent writing time. These should appear on a chart on the wall sometime in the near future. Chart items might include the following things:
Write the whole time.
No talking.
Do your best. Trust the process.
Stay in your seat.
Title: The Four Writing Charts
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 11
Close the writing time by asking a few students to share what they learned during today’s session. Place these items on the appropriate working chart. One item might be “Writers sometimes ‘talk through a piece’ before they write it down.” This could go on the “Things We Know About Writers” chart. Others include “Writing is thinking” (on the “Things We Know About Writing” chart) and “Remembering is one kind of thinking that writers engage in” (on the “Things We Know About Writers” chart).
Session 12
Take a minute to add items to the four charts. For example, “Writers let themselves write badly at first and then fix it up later” could go on the “Things We Know About Writers” chart. Another item for that chart might be “Writers get ideas for writing from what they read.”
Go to the “Writing Strategies” chart. Ask students to take ten seconds to find a phrase or line they wrote about the object that they really like.
Ask volunteers to read their examples aloud. As students read their selections, listen for writing strategies. Do students compare the object to other things using metaphors and similes? Do students tell stories? Do students “anthropomorphize” the object, giving it human characteristics? Listen for these strategies and others and jot them down on the chart.
Take a minute to add items to the other charts. Additions could include the following:
“Writers pay attention to details.”
“Writers look for interesting ways to describe objects.”
“Writing is like long-distance running—the more you do it, the better you get.”
Session 14
Add “emulate or mimic good paragraphs by other writers” to the “Things Writers Write in a Notebook” chart.
Call on students to share their mimics. Invite the rest of the class to comment on similarities in sentences and overall structure. Consider adding these details to the “Things Writers Write in a Notebook” chart as subpoints to the “emulate or mimic” entry.
Session 16
- Take a minute with the class to summarize what Stafford says in these lines. Write these distillations down on the “Things We Know About Writers” and “Things We Know About Writing” charts.
Independent Reading
Title: Reading Log
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Independent Reading
As you transition to independent reading, discuss how students can keep a reading log. Show students how you would like them to set up and use their reading log to record their independent reading this year. An example of one way a reading log could be set up is provided nearby. You may choose to have students create a table in their notebooks, use a pre-made sheet, or a digital format.
Explain to students that they should make an entry in their log only after they have finished a book. You will need to negotiate with students how to handle the entry of magazine readings (for example, entire issues versus individual articles).
After students have set up the log, including proper headings, creating the grid, etc., show students how to make an entry.
Answer any questions students have about the reading log.
Begin independent reading.
Consider conducting individual reading conferences with students as they are engaged in independent reading. In No More Independent Reading Without Sup- port, Debbie Miller and Barbara Moss (2013) suggest that during early conferences, you should listen to students and work to build trust: Ask students how they view reading and how they think of themselves as readers; ask what they are interested in. Over time you can ask more about what they are reading and about how you can help them or what they are struggling with. Use what you learn from these conversations to guide additional instruction with groups or with the class.
Title: Independent Reading – Individual Planning Sheet
Instructions:
Title: End of Marking Period Self-Assessment
Instructions:
Unit Resources
Title: Baseline Writing Task
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 1
When students are ready to begin, give them ONE of the following prompts or something similar. (All students should respond to the same prompt for this work for easy comparison of responses.) For a full explanation of the baseline writing task and its uses, review the information in Developing Fluency in Writing.