Need some help summarizing two chapters and a article

I;A CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS G

E' Vtitt., H. & O'Keefe, T. (1999). What really matters is literacy If instruction. The New Advocate, 12 (1),39-54. f

' Reprinted with permission.

F

h What Really Matters in i Literacy Instruction? t ' I

i I

Heidi Mills with Timothy O'Keefe

Basic skills, intensiue and systnnatic phonics, high test scotes, Engtish mly Wo- g1ys, discipline, Basic skills, intensioe and systunatic phonics, high test scores, En- glish only Programs, d-iscipline. Basic skills, intmsiae and systanatic phutics, high test scores, English only programs, high test scores, disciptinZ. And so it go"r. rtrit *Tq" fills newspapers, school board roorns, political party headquarters, and staff development workshops. The extensive nature of current atticks on edu- cation is astonishing, shameful, and intimidating. Even the most thoughtful and successful teadrers are being questioned and are questioning themselves.

Tim O'Keefe and I realize our teaching practices are certainly not yet main- gtream, although we thought we had finally lived through and sunrived the hazards and dominance of textbook-driven curricula. Unfortunately, we once again find ourselves and colleagues across the counfrry in the midsf of profes- sional turmoil. We are saddened by the fact that politically driven atticla on our practices have caused many of our colleagues to question their own judg-

T*t and-professional autonomy. others have rebeated to the "good teaihing

-tt o.ly safe behind closed doors" syndrome. We sincerely believi we were just beginning to access the potential of a holistic, literature-based model of in- sbrrction when our professional integnty and children's leaming potential were severclyundermined. In this article, Ttm and I hope to remind reiders why it is absolutely essential that we continue to strive for what is possible ratherthan reEeat to what has been typical in literacy instruction.

Tim and I have been working together in various parts of the country for eighteen years. Most recently, we have been collaborating with a $oup or re- markable colleagues at the Center for Inquiry, a smallpublic school of choice in Columbi+ South Carolina. Tim is the second/third grade teacher there and I

Heidi Mille is a Professor in the Departnrent of Instnrction and Teacher Educa- tion at the University of South Carolina. Tim O'Keefe is an elementary teadrer at the Center for Inquiry in Colurnbia, South Carolina.

Volume'1.2, Number 1, Winter 1.999

I I

40 TluNewAdooute

am a member of the University of South Carolina curriculum-research team. Before operring the Center for Inquiry,I spmt one day a week for eight years living and learning in several of Tim's classrooms, exploring how children leam language and mathematics within the context of a holistit, inquiry-based cur- riculum. The classrooms feafured in this piece represent a range of districts and leamers. Howeveq, they are all united by a teacher who carefully creates curriculum by looking closely and listening carefully to his students. I hope to challenge the restricted vision of education portrayed in public venues by in- viting readers into the thoughtfuI learning communities Tim has built and, in so doing, reframe what counts by examining what matters first.

Fundamental Beliefs that Inform Our Practices As holistic educators, we ground our literacy inskuction in powerful pieces

of literature, writers notebooks and frequent, focused leaming rifuals built upon reflection and conversations about the leaming process. As we consider the essential feafures of thoughtful classroom engagements that are anchored in writing and talking about children's literature, it is the general stance we take as teachers and learners that makes the difference. We have leamed to critique our classroom dialogue by asking whether or not our literature study group discussions reflect the passion, interest, and commibrrent we find in adult read- ing guilds (Short & Harste with Burke,7995).

We wrderstand that as teachers we have the right and responsibility to provide intentional, thoughtful instruction within the context of literacy en- gagements, but we must do so carefully so as not to "basalize" the experience. While Tim provides daily opportunities for children to learn about language,he does not frame such discussions around powerful literafure in contrived or artificial ways. Instead, he creates a balanced duily schedule or curricular frame- work so that children willlearn langmge,lurn about language and learn through langwge eadt day (Halliday, L982). Children learn language as they use it for various purposes; they leam about language as they consciously reflect upon its processes, skills, and concepts; and they leam through language by explor- ing content across disciplines via oral and written language. Tim accomplishes thisbalancebycreating a daily schedule that indudes demonstrations, engage- ments, reflectiorL and celebration:

Demonstrations of language, skills, concepts, and strategies in use; Extensive opportunities to engage in unintemrpted reading, writing and conversation; Individual, small gFoup and.whole class reflection sessions; Daily opportunities to celebrate accomplishments with others in the classroom or school.

This curricular frarnework reflects our belief that children leam best when skills and strategies ar€ taught within the context of authentic literacy engage- ments (Avery, 1995; Freppon & Dahl, 1991).In so doing, we create curriculum with andfor children (Mills, O'Keefe, & Stephens,l992). Our learners are pro' vided opportunities to intentionally and systematically uncover the skills, strat- egies, and concepts that accomplished readers and writers trnderstand and use.

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Wlut Really Mntters in Literacy InstructionT 47

We have successfully taught children to read and write while using reading and writing to leam (Short & Pierce, 1990).

Tim and I realize that it takes a tremendous larowledge base, and a great deal of thought, planning, reflection, and revision to truly operationalize these beliefs. In fact, we agree with ]erome Harste $99n when he suggests that it is a lot easier to make a classroom look holistic than it is to make it sound holistic. It is not enough to purchase tables or move desks together, to bring in high- quality children's literafure, to publish children's writing, and to encourage clrildren to talk about and/or write about books. It is the stance we take as teachers toward texts, knowledge,leaming, other leamers, and our role in the world that makes the critical difference. And because of this stance, our children's insights, ideas, questions, Poems, and stories are heard, valued, and

used as both anchors and springboards for curriculum development.

Valuing the Informative and Transformative Role of Literature Before we share the engagements that frame our reading and writing in-

struction, it is important to look closely and listen carefully as Tim O'Keefe

leads a literafure discussion. We begin with the "talk" because we have found

that the ways in which the teacher interacts with the children and the sense of

community that pervades the classroom profoundly influence the moment-

by-moment incidents that make orbreak a strategy lesson, classroom ritual, or

evaluation device. We join Tim's third grade class immediately following th"."-uqg of two

books from an intergenerational text set. On this particular day, he chose The

Sunshine Home (L994) by Eve Bunting and The Sunsets of Miss Oliaia Wiggins (1998) by Lester Laminack. It was late in the year, which meant that Tim had

already negotiated the structure of the day with his children. It Was decided

early in thJyear that whole gFoup responses to literature were most engaglng

when the cftildrenhad some unintemrpted, yet focused time to respond through

sketching or writingbefore talking. Reflective writing or sketching in response

to poweiiul literatuie had become a habit of the heart and mind for this grouP.

This ptan encouraged more children to participate because they had time to

think-about individual insights, questions, and corutections that would thenbe

woven into the fabric of thgconversation. Ln fact, the group developed a shared

code or shorthand ("lessons and connections") that they often accessed when

interpreting texts. They found coulmon themes such as the search for personal

connections, connections across literafure, and the identification of lessons

learned to be useful lenses when responding to literature' Lovely classical music filled the room as the children wrote and wrote and

wrote. Uft ite there was a predictable structure to literature study, the class was

so corurected that Tim simply "read" the gfoup to determine when they were

read.y to return to the carpet for their shared book talk. When he noticed that

*ori of the children were finished writing or sketching, he changed the music

to signify the transition to the whole group gathering area in the classroom. ii* op"t "d the conversation by saying,

"Who would like to start us off in

this discuision? Remember, you don't have to read your notes, you may just U i @ g @ L s g s t " Y Y ' , J

- - - - - -

want to have your notes in front of you and say what's on yout mind."

cz ltu Neu) Adoocate

suzarurah began by reading her written reflection: "This story really makes

rne think alotaboutmy $and;awho died inahospitalandhow thingswould

h4ve been if she *u, rti-ll alive." she paused, eyes glancing doryl her paper,

then continued,, "And, uh, Eve Bunting is one of the best-writers' She can exPe-

rience love and sadness and hope in Ler stories. And to do that is one of the

best gifts in the world." fi* responded,

"Nice comments. One of the things I wonder is how an

author can do that? How can an author move you to tears in iust a few words?

Edward, your go."

We were j*t begr,nntng to o*cess the potentinl o{

a hoListin, LLtecatuee-based modeL o{ Lnsteuctipn

when ouc peo{essianaL tntegvtty and chLlAeen's

Leaentng potentral weye se\recely wndeemLned.

Edward. responded, "corulections and lessons. I learned that some grand-

mas and grandpas live in nursing homes and some don't. And my favorite part

was when Mrs. Nelson was puizled and said,'Was that the boy that came in

just a minute ago?"' Tim said, ,,So you liked the hurror in the story too. And it,s

nice that she

put some humor in thuru,'cause if it was all sort of sad, if it was all the same

lmotion, I don't think it would be such an interesting book' So the little things

around the edges of the story make abig difference"'

Rebecca in--quired, "I wonder if Mis; O[via had some kind of memory ot

thinking d.isease since she didn't talk or anything. And if she did, I wonder

what thl disease was?" Ti* responded,;Do you remember the dedication in Lester's book?" ,,I think it was his grandmother. she died of Atzheimet's disease"' "I think he was deJcribing her as having Alzheirner's disease-where

she

is apparently able to think ab6ut things but really can't say t!em."

Several child.ren chimed in, "It's a really bid disease. Some people die

from it." Tim paused and spoke softly,

"Both of my wife's grandparents had that

before theY eventuallY died." Aaron was next io speak,

'Well, one of my connections is that you see

these two books remind me of when I go and see my q"ndP?.And a lesson

was thatyou d.on'thave tobe afraid to go into anursinghomebecausll: one

is toing io hurt you and nothing is Sorng to,faq9en,to yotl' Um'.and it was

kind of scary formebut thenl goiki"i of ised to it and thenlwasn't as scared'

RIra, *y f".Ur,gs about this iere both sad because you could feel how they

would be in boih books. And I know what it was like"'

Tim reacted warrrly, "so you can relate to it personally, can't you?"

|x

erttFe.,

Wlut Reatly Mntters in Litnacy Instruction? 43

Mattsaid.,,,Ithinkitjustmadeyouthinkabouthowthepeoplef"lt.TF" nursins home and thA;Pl" visiung ttrere' ry,y$:v***t*T"tjm5 tTEf#il-,il:;;=rir;;Hr;;,;rr""h"us'allvnadto.talktowereotherold peopleinthe,.*,i,.gho*"*athe,.ursesthatdidn,tknowaboutherlife fef6re she was in the nursing home"'

Rosa jumped in, ,,I somJtimes get butterflies in my stomach

when I go to

placeslikeVancouverwheremygralnylives.Itwasthefirsttimeformetosee lrcr.I didn,tknow;"th;;;UlcioffJr to

takemy chances' I tookarisk' Once

I knew her a little more, I did the same with m1 glandpa'"

Tim asked ,ul$eyou glad you took that risk?"

.tiT; joinedtheconversatiSl."rhis*-"-"f 9:t^H*f-:*r),*oo4ut *hyi;i:il#; ri- ;; F; hi' q;g.:' Yn^f::ii':?:"Tl;

Tim asked, "Do

You have fi ?i;"thts about why he might have been

"Yeah."

uo*filu"rd respond ed,,,!have two Firg, !g

share. Lrguaurylg thought that

his srandm" *ight;;'hiv" been abte to"tuil. or anything and he might have

beei afraid to see her"' Tim added ,-ii^athat shehad changed

so strgnglv" .An. I bet that Eve B'nting *a ruri"r ale serious

writers' 'cause they

bothwrite about serious things"'

And so it *er,i. T,h" conv-ersation continued for some time' with the chil-

dren and teacherbuilding on, confirm^S;-*a sometimes revisingeach others'

ideas.

Reflecting on the Book Talk

When.u,.r.,uyanalyzingthechildren,swrittenresPonsesandtheconver. sation that follow"d, *. found patterns

that reflected the essence of literature

study. This particular literacy "r,gug;u"t sounds much mone like an adult

reading g'ild tfran a formaliessJntesign"-t*o teach reading' However' we

havebeco*uq,,i*p"ssionateaboutthen"eedforengagementsthatinfornand transf orm .r..1ar",tni?;;;;;;;it*t'

*a memberllf a democratic society'

The children in this classroom r"u*"-i U*e skills and' strategies that count in

elementary school.In fact, their stand'ardized test scores were quitehigh'Most

importang th"u;;1, tilt i"amed what really mattered in literacy (Stephens'

rggo). They did so in part because of their Lxposure to and interaction

with

high-quatiry .hii;;; tterature. T1l;;;rkr riattered a great deal,but good

booksalonearenotenough.Itis.howwesituateourselvesinrelationtothe books, how we dt"pr;"?h. !o-o*

in relation to other texts we have enco'n-

tered, and how ,t;il;i*a.hild;;;;-create individual and shared inter-

pretations or tne i"*ts. The teactre, *a the teaching make a critical difference'

We have leamed that it is essential that the teacher

.aPPreciatesthepowerofstoryasarrniversalwayofknowingandcom- murricating'

ounderstandsthatleamingbeginswithpersonalconrrectionsandinter- pretations of text. compreheirsion is

assumed while inteqpretation of

the texts rs exp)icltly encouraged'

M TluNattAdoocate

allows stories to glow out of stories. The children tell stories to explain

and extend the meanings being constructed by individuals and the

group as a whole L*r"r that multiple perspectives are best uncovered throughconver-

sations as all members ofth" leaming community share stories, per-

sonal experiences, and significant memories'

allows new ideas to be bom, refined, and revised as drildren make

connections with others' contributions'

values the way genuine conversations Promole- a s9y1 of wonder and

"n"o,.,r"g" g}llfit"" to make predictions, to identify lessons leamed

and knowledge gaind' o participates in conversations by naturally validating, supportin& and

ixtmding ideas genreratedby the grouP'

o prorrotes inquiry and co-creates curricuh::rt with the children so that

hunraness is^acfrrowledged and celebrated. The literacy endeavors

begin, evolve, and end uitlt" heart of things . . . what really matters'

o honors literature and accesses it as a tool for inforrdng and transfomt-

ing our understanding of ourselves, each other, and the world'

The previous conversation illuminates the ways in which the children used

languagi and literature as tools for learninSlThey explored the writing strate-

6uJ"uJt author enployed , analyTldcritical issues in agrnq and inter-genera-

tionalrelationshipr,-J#ia#aana/orreconsideredpersonalrelationshipswith their own gt*di;ts, and so on. The texts, reading, writing'

and dialo.gue

worked in concert to ..s"t" that all who entered into the experience left as

different readers, writers, and members of their classroom and family cotruru-

nities.

The Habit of Kidwatching

Teaching from a holistic, literature-based perspective seems so simple and

lo6cJon oi" n*Jy"t so complex, demanding' and compellinS.ol.$e.other'

There are so many Jhoi..t, .hiidt"tt, good bo-oks, strategies, *1 tyb

!o "tt-

cover, and learning .o*-*tities to beiuilt. Many teachers wonder how teadr-

ers like Tim make "curricular

decisions. what makes the critical difference? Put

ar,other way, what is truly basic? For us, kidwatching (Goodman' 1978).is at

the heart of it all. Intensive and extensive kidwatching is central to Tim's in-

stnrction and evaluation. He can teach responsively because he truly knows

his children. Suctr responsive teaching leads to intimate instmction' AS Ayers

(1993) suggests, to make teaming g"ti,tit", it must be intimate' The informa-

ioo'ii-!itf,"tr *a i"t"rprets fliough his daily kidwatching rituals allows

him to make informed instmctional decisions'

From Kidwatching to curriculum: strategy-sharing sessions

children in Tim's classroom function as teachers as well as leamers' Tim

builds time into tt" aury schedule to highlight strategies he notices children

"ri"g effectively and to irovideopportunities for the children to reflect uPon

*a "-uf.u

expfcit the sicills and ltrategies they find especially useful wheni

Wlwt Reatly Matters in Literacy Instruction? 45

readingandwriting.Thesestrategy.shafingsessionsarequitegenerative.The clildren who present a strategy must consciiusty lena{

yon and explain their

thinking, which often leads io gr""t"t d"Pth and breadth in the quality of the

original idea. Additionally, theiry*g *il"uryu: oftenlake corurections with

theirownhabits and sh# similarstories o"'ii"tiot.r" onthetheme' Theteactrer

talks too and, in so doing, offers his personal experience and expertise regard-

ing the concePt, skill, or strategY' Tim forrrally i*iit", individuab to highlight

their work while also provid-

", ,#';;i;ith ;;*ship gf Fo nft"r"r. ryn"" children recognize that

they have an insightio share *iu,, uo"it youn€ colleagues, they simply sign the

il#;;ililfist posted o..the boa.i "ud a"y- Due to the predictable class

schedule, the child.ren know tf,"y *iU fe invitei to share strategies immedi-

;ilf"ll;*ing literature study and writing workshop'

Reflecting on Reading Strategies

WhileTimhasfoundwholegrouPand'-small.souPdiscussionsessential in his teaching, h;-il;t" come io Uii"n.

that it iJcruiial to get to know each

child well * " r="a"i. To do so, he bejan:olll:ti"q,regular individual confer-

ences during liter"t"* t*ay ti^" ffJ"aft this timel'coaching'" During

"coach-

ing,,, he meets with indiviiual *uJuir *d. asks them to read from the book

they are in the *iart or exglgling jnJividually gt *19 a grouP. He takes thor-

ough notes *g*;;g t{," q$.gl"i,: **"r utrd reading strategies, makes gen-

eral comment, uborr-t the children'".o*p"tunce and c6nfidence with the text

and the sttrdents'iun".tio* on their t"iaiog strategies' He uses this time to

provide focused suppott for indiviJu-al rea{irs byvllidating effective strate-

gies and ̂ utirriJ.'o*endations that will proTgte growth' Additionally'

Tim uses U,r" a"iu i" iath.rs from inJividual coaching to sharg important in-

sights with the *totJ.urs auti"g st ut"gy-tt"ihg sissions' In this way' he

attends to individual needs ard interests #hile also gathering information that

willbe instrumental in fostering growth in the class at large'

Sharing Reading Strategies

After,,.ou"hiog" unir-a grdder sana as she read and reflected onshiloh (1991)

by phyllis n"y^orf, Naylo"r, nm.asked sana for permission to share some of

the ideas Urcy ais.,rrr"dar-,rir,g tnull.ou"ni"g" sJssion with the class for their

dailystrategy-sharingritullGiventhatit*u",*honortobefeaturedduring strategy-sharing sessions, S*u ug;J without.hesitation'

At the close of lit-

erature study, tie children met "" ii" ;*pet |o. shle their progress within and

across titurut rr" ,toay gro"pt. N"*t, n* tuia tn"t n" wanted to highlight some

of the things he noticei Sana doingas sheread illgitt"tsed Shiloh'

Timbegan,;ir,oti*a that the"unusual grammar in the story didn't phase

sana. she read fluently. To me, it wus a signlrrlt s1e was tnrly immersed in the

story and. had t"urr,"d to think *i tl"Jifke Jfe characters in the story' In fact'

when I asked her to reflect on what she fotrnd interesting i" th"-.tlo? she said

she liked the 'old timey language'' What a nice *"{ t"

111:t *::,sPecial language or dialect in good_boot, tttut makes the characters

come alive and

6ve the story its color and shaPe'"

r

46 TheNew Adoocate

Next, Tim told the class that Sana identified some words she found fasci-

nating. she looked for word.s the author used effectively' Titt lLli".d

her to

sharebysaying,"sana,telluswhatyouthoughta!o{theword'slinks'"' using her hands to show the mo-tion, she said she figured

out that "It must

mean d.uck down *a go away because that is what would work in the story' I

also had a little troubie with the word 'pneumonia'. I knew that'p' and'n'

don,t usually g" t;;th.; *a ro I had to ,s. what was €uound the word, I

mean knowing that someone was really sick. I paused and thought about it

and then remembered that it mustbe pneumonii and so I didn't need to make

the'p'sourtd." To close the stratery-sharing session, Tim invited sana

to share how shehad

changed as a reader. Sina l,new Tim was$o{rg to-ask her to share sudr thoughts

so she read, her written reflection mtitled"'HJw yve Changed as a Reader":

I've been reading so much faster than the beginning of the year' so far.I've

read three .h"pfr;il. i ""L"""r""rning-a_iot ?om reading. From reading,

I,ve leamed tt "i*t "t"s used to live on lan?. I've been learning harder words

like for "*"*piu li"itt.rriurtically." I'm using- differelt strategies for reading

like looking "t,n" pi"t"res and the words ilose to it and not using simple

,,sounding o"r,,. ilil",ii", i;; th" reading strategies forwriting to help me

figttre how to sPell words'

BeforeSanahadachancetositbackdown,heryorrrrggougpue;started making connections between their own reading

habits and the ideas she men-

tioned. Tim reviewed the big ideas Sana dem;nstrated, such as reading flu-

ently and, attending to thg beau.f *J *iq"gness o! the dialect in the texu and

using what yo' Lio* about the world, *ttut is happening in the story' the

word that pvould make the most sense in the sentence, and phonics knowledge

to figure out unknown words' Timthankedherforsharingwiththeclass.EveryoneuPPllld*l.ncon.

cert, and Tim introduced the ""-t .t"J. This brief yet prediitable feature of

the curriculum fostered sey-refl".tior,-Utut led the tttitat|" to analyze and. gain

control over their own strategi"t *hilJo rtapi"g others become accomPlished

readers and writers.

Sharing Writing Strategies

The strategy-sharing session that follows emerged in the same third grade

classroom immed.iately following ;titi"g worksliop ' Zacbegan"'lkay' the

strategy I did toffi t"'l *o"fg gJt *y tra]n of thought started' I read over my

piece 6efore I started writing"' - Tim validated and extended this notionby respondiog,

"tlow many of the

r e s t o f y o u d o u , . u t z r t i s a g r e a t i d e a a n d l a l w a y s d o t h a t e v e n w h e n l a m reading to get i"io tf',. train;f thougl! u:-Zu:said'

Great idea' Zacl"

The whole class admire d,Tacfor"his id.eabecause they 4l*"y

it was often

difficult for him to find his stride as a writer during woikthop' He.senyd the

gtoup,s respect ;Jrigh"a as he retomed to his "it"t" of friends on the floor'

Frances made her way to the front of the gloup and began,

,If I didn't

know how to rn*;;"rJi wo.tld look it up in the dictionary or ask someone

how to sPell a word."

Wlwt Really Mnttqs inLituacy Instruction? 4Z

Tim reacted, "AIl right! Another good strategy." Looking to the group he continued, " Any other strategies for words when you are not sure how to spell it?"

Shelby said, "When I self-edit it,I, urn,I circle it." Tim inquired, "So when you write it you circle it and when you go back

over it you see if it looks right?" She nods. Robert chimed in, "Sometimes when I come to a word.I an not sure of I

just break it up into parts." Tim responded, "So you spell one word part at a time?" Radrael added, "I write it on the side three times and then whichever one

looks the best I put it down but I still circle it just in case." Tim verified the usefulness of using visual memory while also giving Zac

credit for spreading the good word. He said, "That's what we called Zac's strat- egy at the beginning of last yean"

It U a.bsolutely essential that we continue to stetw

{oc what is possible ea,thec than eetyeat to what

has been typinal Ln lttecacy Lnstcuction.

Zac reacted sincerely with "But I leamed it from you." Phillip jumped up and spread his anns open wide to demonstrate his strat-

egy. "Sometimes let's say if there is a word in a sentence I don't know it's like let's see." He pointed to a spot in the air and aske4 'OK" what's that word? OK I'11 come blck to you. 'Blank' is where sun'nrakes life for plants." He pointed to a spot in the air for each word as he said it. He looked down to his frimds at his feet and continued, "That grves me a clue because I remember my dad told me that word was 'photosynthesis.'Because I know what it means then I can use the words around it [acting it out in the air] to help me."

I was videotaping and chimed in, 'That makes sense to use the words around it to figure out what it means."

Tim added, "That is really a reading strateg:y, isn't it?" Philtip intemrpted by saying, "Besides, that is also corurected. You see if

you know how to read better, you also know how to write better because you know how to write those words because you have read those words."

Tim smiled and sai4 't',[o kidding! The betbr reader you are, the better writer. And the better writer you are, the better reader you are. Good connection."

It was Tim's tum. He followed the pattem established by the class. 'The strat- egylwould like to share is aboutmaking paragraphs, going downto theno<tline and indenting five spaces or so. Robert, may I shale your autobiography?"

Robertbeamed. "Sule!" uOK, as I read along, if you think the sentence I start belongs in a new

paragraph, why don't you give me the thumb up. Of course, the first sentence you write will be in a new paragraph so you will indent." Timbegan reading

L, 4ru

'l'lrcNew Adwu.te

and the children listened carefully, responding eactr time the subject in Robert's text changed. After completing the autobiography, they reflected on why they made the decisions they did, and sunrmarized important points to remember about making paragraphs

The third graders featured in this conversation had the privilege of work- ing with the same teacher for two years through a looping orgarrizational stmc- hrr€. Ori this particular day they learned a stratery for recormecting to a work in progress; various spelling strategies (self-editing, using a dictionary, asking an expert, using visual memory breaking words into syllables); the value of skipping an rurlcrown word and using context clues to figure it out; and the importance of reading like a writer and writing like a reader.

The richness of this leaming rifual takes on new mearring when we multi- ply the insights shared during this single event by three hundred and sixty days. The opportunity to live and leam together intensively and extensively for two schoolyears resulted in children who,by traditional standardized lests as well as holistic measures, beca:rre accomplished readers and writers.

The Universal Nature of Good Teaching: Strategy Sharing Across Contexts

Tim has come to believe that he is at his best as a teacher when he canteach out of and into children's immediate work. The previous classroom exarnple feafured a few specific strategies that were on the teacher's and third graders' minds at that particular point in time and Tim employed the same reflective device with other classes. The culhrral, economic, ethnic, and academic gxoups Tim has worked with over time have varied from school to sctrool, yet Tim's beliefs about teaching and learning have been anchored in a transactional/ holistic model of literacy. Although the content in the explicit curriculum dranged from district to district and grade level to grade level, he found that teadring practices such as strategy-sharing sessions supported all leamers all of the time.

When Tim taught transition-first-grade he spent a great deal of time help- ing children leam letter sound relationships. He intentionally and systemati- callyhigNighted the role of phonics in reading and writing so that the children would come to understand and use the graphophonic cue system effectively. Tim puts it this way: "Idhile graphophonemic relationships are highlighted in my dassroont, I make an effort to get children to focus on the multiple cue systems available to them, for no cue system by itseU is sufficient for effective comrrnrnication. To the students in my class, letter sounds were only one way of supporting the meaning-making process, and it only worked when used in concert with other cue systems" (Mills, O'Keefe, & Stephens,1992,p.t).

Phonics instnrction often involved making the children's implicit under- standings explicit. While Tim planned demonstration lessons and literacy en- gagements that foregrounded consistencies and inconsistencies in letter sound relationships, the fonnal mini-lessons did not follow any predeterurined, arti- ficial sequmce. Instead, he looked to the children to deterrrrine when, hoq and why he should address particular skills and strategies. He created a curricular framework that ensured daily opportrrnities for children to have direct erperi-

Wllrlt Real$ Mnttcts in Lituacy Instruction? 49 ,

enceswTthlanguage skills and strategies, and he employed kidwatching strat-

esles to determine ;hi.h individuaf, small groups, and the whole class might

;H;il;;[if6,.i"tiln this way, the currlcutum was shap-ed and reshaped

by each new insight or question' .' Ti,,,u for stratefr;fttid was built into the daily

schedule mudr like it is

in Tirn,s third grad! classroom today. In the transition-first-gfade-classroom'

Tim found that it *"*"Ju"st to use-brief yet focused texts rather than power-

fulchildren's literature or even the children's personalnarrative texts forwhole

class reflection *trio"t. Tim used predictabie books or pattem bge t9 fea-

ture language concePts, conventions, skills, and effective reading strategies as

tools to teadr clnild;L io read. After reading-a predictable book together as a

class, the teacher *a.nifatot ofte' discussed'lel9t n"n"* relationships' words

they recogniz"d, the punctuation used, the pictrrres, and t}re strategies they

used to make, confirm, or revise predictions. ritrt wanted the children to first

enjoy the story an'construct *e'"trit g from the text. Then he used the sarne

familiar pattem ,;;il;h;ip m: child;n develop a knowledge base about the

ways in which f"i"*, *ordr, illustrations, and tlxts are structured'

As teanhees, we ha,ve the crght a,nd eesPonsihtLtty

to pyodd'e Lntentinna'\, thowght{uL trtsteuctinn

wtthtn the context of LLteeacy enga'gernentq

but we n'urst do so cace{ully so a^s not to

lrosaLLre' the exPeci,ence'

Tim established a class ritual of reflecting on entries from the daily class

calendar to foreground phonics generalizatiois and other skills and concepts'

For instan.., *t "r, J-yuar-old ior,y wrote a message on the class calendar to

perrnanenoy record an impgrlant event in his leaming history he said'

"I'm

ffiG; [fJl' He spelled, three. out of four words ionventionally and ex-

plained to the s;p tiat he simply remembered how to spell the word book

tfr;;Ji"g itl ft ii ".pi*"tit" illuseated that he used

visual memory as a

primary strategy. d;tTi"t;;k;-d ht* to share his thinking regardin g making'

which he spelled m"acking,he explaine d, "l've seen you put clc on the end of

words. Then Ii"J;;;i;ih; * uraure i uy listening to the so'nds and thm I

wrotetheing,"showingasensitilftocommonletterpattemsinwords' 'How ala Yot know theing?" Tim

asked'

Tony alswered. quite matter-of-factly, "You taught me that they go together'"

Tim noted that Tony d.esronstratea'nf undeistanding-thatck *1 inr, go

together. rr" ,i*iy #**t+zed the ck in this instance' He also stated that

he figured out the begirming of tfru worJ ,ma,bylistening to the sognds' Tony's

explanationtrighfighftd hoi he "*a *"ftipf" ttt"ttgi"Jto construct and share

*iut it g (Mitf O;Keefe, & Stephens'1992)'

50 TluNew Adaocate

strategy-sharing sessions- such. as these are used to publicly recogruze

children,s effective ise of skills and strategieg. Tr1'3 larefui

kidwatching al-

lows him to teach ini ina out of c11ildren's n[eds and interests and' in so doing'

he validates, expands, and fine-tunes children's competence while building

their confidence as language users'

when Teachers and Parents Become Kidwatching Partners

Duringeighteerryearsofteaching,Timhastaughtpreschoolthroughsixth grade in four rt"t"r.'Wt'tite tfte poUdcal times

and'specific teaching contexts

have varied tremendously over-time and space, he has.consistently been pro-

vided professional autonomy. As we refleited upon_ this fact, we wondered

;dil;"uld teach in ways tha! welg consistent with his beliefs when so many

of his colleagues ;; required to-'follow the book"' We first thought that it

was because of his .o**itn.t t to his beliefs' However, in these political.times'

some of the most passionate and knowledgeable teactrers are being-denied ac-

cess to informatioit"gtta^gh"Uttic instriction and arebeingmonitored care-

fully to make sure thly "ar!.tnrg to the new party line," which often means

using intensive *a-ryJt"*atic phonics. So, how can we learn from our past to

J"A?ff".ti"ely with ihe present and our future?

As we took a second, closer lofiat the supPort Tim has received for his

instruction, *" ,""tiruJ ti "t he establishes an inlimate' collaborative relation-

ship with r.,i, .n1ar*,s parents, lusi as he does with his students. In other

words, he holds U"u ,r11t"'*odel *tr-en working with parents that he employs

day in and day ""i*itf, Ut ir cSildren. He exteirds anopen invitation for par-

ents to visit, worCfiu", a"d leam in his room. He also writes extensive narla-

tive report, "u.f,'g*atS_nq"".1 whether or not he also has to respond using

traditional t"tt", g"rua"r."Si*,.ffottt, *ttif" essential' do not alter the hierarchy

that is often established between teachers who kttow and parent s who ura Thle

singlemost"r".tiu"-."sqgg*"1*.Timhasdevisedovertheyeafstopromote genuine .ottuUor"Uoi*"itfrnit children's palentl

emerged when he began in-

corporating pu*iir; ir,sightl and questions into his weekly newsletters'

Tim sends a newsletter home ;;twednesday. He usually begins each

letterby rt uri1gn.*;; the classroom. He weaves inhis philosophical Po-

sitionby "showing " and interpretint Ury gnifaren's.work' The focus

is always

on the children aiid the rich fiarnini taking plT" in the classroom' The par-

ents, who f.r,o* *a.ut" a""pty aboirt their-ciritdren s g13wq*lTpiness'

are delighted auout the learning i"uit"tio"r and evaluitiot strategies simply

because they make sense when presented in this way' He doeq not compare his

teaching approaclres against " -ui*t*am norm' tnstead' he illuminates the

worth of using childrcri,s literahrre and authentic writing projectsby feah$ing

the ctritdren's insights, and accomplishments'

Timhasalsoadaptedthe,.*.reflectiveengagemenlsthat*o'\inthe classroom for use in the newslettei He extends

in invitation to parents each

week to ",,g"g" tt."i, crtaltenl in the same kinds of activities the children use

during literature study,-wri1ing, *d o,uth workshop' Tim begins with a dem-

onstration"rirrf * "t'tifact rto". tt. childreniust ashe doeswhenpresenting a

new skilt, strat|gy, or concePt in the classrooh' Next, he invites the parents to

WIut Really Mattqs inLiteraq Instruction? 51

. \ t i 6

,'44 1 l

' "'?i"

use the 3+'s and a wish format when interpreting their children's response td the activity (Mills & Clyde, 1990). Lr so doing, he has invited the parents into his "kidwatching club" by explicitly valuing their insightg and questions. Fi- nally, he fosters collaborative and informative conversations among parents by publishing their written comments in the next newsletter. He vatdltes their ideas, insights, and concems just as he does their children's and lets them know that their wishes become goals for him instmctionally. This strategy allows the parents'voices to be heard and valued and provides the opportr,urity for par- ents to teach each other as well. He eams their trust and respect because he has leamed how to hold his model with all leamers, tall and small.

Newsletter, 11nA97

Dear Parents, Things have been going great in the third grade. Over the last two weeks, as you

must know, we have been doing quite a lot with our literature study of Charlotte's Web . Someone asked the other day, 'Mr. O'Keefe, will we be doing Charlotte's Web allyea(|" The answer is NO but what we have done with it has far exceeded my expectation. The children have really developed as readers and writers through this book. Most children became very good at writing and responding to literature. The literature discussions were priceless. Several children got the chance to lead discussions and everyone rose to the occasion. Even children who hardly ever speak out in class were wonderful at leading the small group discussions of this marvelous book.

Thanks to the Mehmood's for loaning us the video. The children had the unique opportunity to see the film just after reading the book and the compadsons were great. To top it off, the play at the TownshipAuditorium, while ditferent, was also enioyable and gave us yet another look at this great story We have created a three way diagram to compare and contrast the three versions of the story. The children wrote papers com. paring the film and book. There are almost constant connections to the story throughout the day. Ahhhl lt's a good feeling when something comes together as nicely as this literary unit has.

I want to thank you for the responses to the written conversations about the story. The children and you wrote such wonderful, thought provoking questions. The depth and clarity of the responses was great. Am I wrong, or did I spot some tear stains on the papers? Some of the connections to other books and people in your lives made your written conversations exciting to read. Many ol your papers were so personal that it felt like lwas eavesdropping on an intimate conversation.

Your comments about your child as a reader were right on target. Some of your comments are listed below:

Thomas is very good at understanding the meaning of words he's not familiar with. He uses the context of the sentence to help leam the meaning of the new word. . . He got into the emotions of the story and idEntified with how Wilbur felt about Charlotte. . . Reginald is getting more out of stories. Not only is he reading better, he's listening to what he's reading. . . Each character had a different voice or timing . . . She has a good use of emotion when she sees the exclamation marks . . . She brings interest and excitement bychanging hervoice when reading ditferent characters and displaying differentsentiments , . . She's

52 ThcNcu Ailooute

leaming to inject emotion into what she is reading ' ' ' I've noticed improvement

in his retention as well as relating what hJ reads to other stories and

eventrs. . . Reading this chapter togJther led into some healthy discussion of

life, death ano trieriostrip. . .'. He isieading new words and building endurance

to read tonger . ff " dtt a real kick-out oithe funny partg and really "feels' the

sad parts . . . She .-i6.rt" what she reads and writes about it confidently ' ' '

There were so many excellent comments and observations from you' I continue'to

be impressed about yo, ",'Kidwatchers." Of course' there were many wishes for your

children as well. Your wishes for your child as a reader become my goals' Your feed-

back is so important. I know it takes a lot of time to complete an assignment like this but

your work makes such an important ditference'

We will be reading another chapter book as a class. The books is Shrtoh by Phyllis

R e y n o | d s N a y | o r . | t i s a w o n d e r | u | s t o r y a b o u t a c h i | d a n d h i s r e | a t i o n s h i p s w i t h a n animal and his family,There are lots of lessons in the story'

l'm sure that you would like

to read it along with your child. lf you were able to keep up in the book' you could have

some wonderlul liteiature discussions at home. l'll let you know the cost as soon as I

contact the bookstore. lf you have the book at home, let me know so that I can order the

right number for our class. The field trip to see cwwas a nice success due, in large

part' to the parents who

camea|ong.oursincerethankstoKatyandGaryHassen,RubinaMehmood,Susan Bergmann, claudia Johnson, Lark Francis, Karen colburn,

and Frankie McLean' lt is so

nice to have such a supportive group of parents along'

This weeKs n"rnrl"ii., assignment is for the children to complete the multiplication

problems created in class. These demonstrate that the children really Do know what

multiplication is and how it is used in a practicalway in our daily lives to figure out real

problems. Most ol these stories involve multiple sets but a few deal with arrays (rows

and columns). The children are supposed to wdte an equation forthe stories and solve

them. Everyone knows that they also need to write the unlts fo1 91h

problem by their

answers. As always, your comments to me about how your child did on this assignment

would be helpful. Let's have these completed by Monday'

That.sa|lfornow.Thanksforreadingandthanksforal|youdoll

in ,as r f l

o u t !,,,r1'J5'

"t\

a l l

ftteg an tr" I frs

What Really Matters in Literacy lnstruction? 53

Eqrh "lov !, u"url1 f". t,:o' rttin. ;

T qel '?.00

{o1'a -,),. Ho, -orr1,

)lr" L n* k;/ ehinip

When What Matters Counts 'lbaching

during these political times canbe discouraging whenbest prac- tices are under constant attack by politicians and the media. As educatori, we are constantly reminded that we must focus on basic skills, in other words, on what counts. However, the teacher and children featured in this piece have.very different notions about teaching and leaming than those often iound on edito- rial pages in'newspapers. It it ^y hope that our profession will continue to look closely and listen carefully within the walls of our classrooms. In so do- in& I am confident the children will simply remind us that what matters is re- ally what counts.

References Avery, c. (1995). And with a light touch. portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Ayers;{il'. (7993). To teach: The journey of a teacher. New york: Teachers col-

lege Press. Bunting, E. (1994). Sunshine Home. New york Clarion Books. Freppon, P., & Dahl, K. (1991). "L,eaming aboutphonics in a whole language

classroom ." I-angwge Arts, 68, L9C-il97 . Goodman,Y. (7?79r. Kidwatching: An alternative to testing. lournal of Na-

tional Elanmt ary S cho ol P incipals, 57 @) : 22-27 .

_ Halliday, M. (1982). Three aspects of children's language development: L:ryhg language, learning tlrough language, learning about language. kr oral and wrttten language dnelopment research, edited ui v. Goodm-an,'M.H. Hausslel, and D. strickland,T-79. urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Harste, J. Q99n. Semiotics and educational change. Speech at the Intema- tional Reading Association Preconference Instifute on Inquiry. Atlanta, GA.

Laminack, L. (1998). The sunsets of Miss oliaia wiggins. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers.

Mills, H., & clyde,I. A. (Eds.). (1990). portraits of whole language classrooms. Portsmouth, NFI: Heinemann.

54 TleNew Adaoute

Mills, H., o,Kee fe,T.,& Stephen s,D, (L992). Looking closely: Erp|oring the

rote of phoni* in on}ilriti 1ongu;gt aotniii'. UrUana,.ti: National Council of

Teachers of English' Nayror, p. [rggr). shitoh'New York'lTlT oi"l:1T:*

;t#?:, ff;;, J., with Burke' c' (1ee6)' ctuting ctasxooms for authors

and inquirers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann'

Short,K.,&Pierce,K.(Eds.).(1990).Th|kingabautboo|cs,Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann.

Stephens,D.(Ed.).(1990).W|wtmatters:Aprimerfortenchingreading.Ports. mouth, NH: Heinemann'

Editors, Note: The Children's Voices section in this issue features the reflective

writing of Tim,s ,toa",,t, as they '.'po"a"a b The Sunshine.Horrre (Brrnting,

tsg')and'TheS"";;;-;iMissotiiiawiggint(Laminack'1998)'