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Oct 28

Reflections from Keystone State Reading Association

by Lynne Dorfman & Janice Ewing

Keystone State Reading Association’s annual conference provides opportunities for friends and colleagues from across our state to gather in one place to listen to thoughtful presentations. A variety of speakers from many states as well as Pennsylvania deliver new ideas and make powerful connections to classroom experiences. One of our mentors, Janet Allen, opened with a statement that made us continue to think about implications. Basically, Janet told us that with all the mandates that are coming to us from the federal, state, and local levels, we are still trying to improve literacy without increasing the number of minutes that children read each day. Read more

Oct 18

Common Core State Standards and PAWLP Continuity: TIEing it All Together

by Janice Ewing

      Saturday PAWLP days are a mix of interwoven threads. On October 12th, several of us  started the day at 9:30 with our iPad study group, facilitated by Judy Jester. This is a group that started meeting last year, with the goal of trying out and sharing our experiences with educational apps. We decided that this year we will each pursue an inquiry of an app that seems useful or interesting and will report back to the group at our next session, on November 9th. Any interested PAWLP folks are welcome. Read more

Oct 16

Magic Cupcake

by Rita Kenefic

As a child, I relished a visit to Gruber’s Bakery for a “magic cupcake”.  What was so special about this chocolate treat?  The dab of whipped cream in the center made an already delectable cake something special.  These weren’t just ordinary cupcakes.  They contained an element of surprise and magic that kept you coming back for more. Read more

Oct 10

Starting the Year with Mentor Texts

by Lynne R. Dorfman

The beginning of the year is a perfect time to choose a multitude of favorite texts to share with students as read-alouds. These selections serve as mentor texts that you can return to again and again for many purposes over the course of the school year. First, begin to introduce these texts as read-alouds. The rich talk that accompanies a read-aloud creates a comfort level and interest in the text, and often, in the author as well.

These mentor texts help students take their first steps as writers in your classroom. They provide gentle nudges to try out new strategies, organizational scaffolds, or write in the persona of another – to name a few. Kelly Gallagher urges us to do more than model. In Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling & Mentor Texts he explains: “Beyond teacher modeling in the classroom, my students benefit immensely from closely examining writing from the real world. … Yes, it is important to show students how the teacher writes, but it is also of paramount importance to provide students with mentor texts so they can see how other writers compose.” Read more

Oct 3

Why Teach Poetry in the Age of Common Core?

By Lynne Dorfman

During a recent staff development day that I was conducting, one of the participants asked, “So what you are saying is that we need to force our students to read and write poetry?”  Implicit in her question was that she felt many of her students would be resistant and would not choose read or write poetry unless forced.   I answered by saying that we need to expect our students to read and write in many genres.   We need them to take risks and try to convince our students that the ability to independently read and write poetry and myriad genres is a way to explore the options that are available to them.  Rather than to force your students to read and write poems, invite them to grow their capacities as learners and investigate new worlds through the promise of poetry. Read more