It seems, in my mind, it doesn’t hold the same validity as novels for readers' workshop. I don’t believe certain forms have those large chunks of text that my students need to develop stamina in their reading. I don’t trust that my students are reading every page. I don’t see it as an easily measurable genre in my workshop format. I need fight this reaction and begin to see all that nonfiction can bring.
Nonfiction November has opened my eyes. I carry biases against nonfiction. Do I read it myself? In volumes! Do I love the pictures and facts in the nonfiction books I purchase for my library? Absolutely! Does my stomach turn when one of my students in my Readers’ Workshop is curled up with certain foms of nonfiction books. Sadly, yes…
It seems, in my mind, it doesn’t hold the same validity as novels for readers' workshop. I don’t believe certain forms have those large chunks of text that my students need to develop stamina in their reading. I don’t trust that my students are reading every page. I don’t see it as an easily measurable genre in my workshop format. I need fight this reaction and begin to see all that nonfiction can bring.
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A number of people have been using the #NF10fo10 hashtag on Twitter to share their top 10 non-fiction books. Although the books that I ordered with the money from the Blue Heron Book Fair aren't all technically non-fiction, there is an informational theme that runs through them, so I've decided they count! If you wish to check out the official #NF10for10 posts go to Julie Balen's Write At The Edge blog and check out the comments section. You'll find lots of links to lots of blogs posting lots of outstanding non-fiction titles that could be perfect for your class! It's not really ten! It's not really all non-fiction! It's certainly exciting and all ours to share with our students though!
At the end of the school year we still had $777 in our Indigo Love of Reading account. I just didn't want to buy books for the sake of buying books. I wanted to buy good books. This summer through Twitter, I found good books of all kinds. You can see all titles purchased if you wish! We don't have that money anymore! How could Twitter do this? Hashtag conversations and meetings are a great way to learn from & connect with amazing people without ever leaving your house. If you want to know more about what that is click here. If you don't read on or just skip down to the images with links for some of my favourites.
Some of the amazing book/education hashtags that I've been following & you could too are #titletalk - meets last Sunday of the month from 8 to 9 online & participants discuss books around a certain theme. (i.e. professional books, picture books, sci-fi,...) #bookaday - started by Donalynn Miller, author of Book Whisperer, teachers challenge themselves to read a book a day during the summer and share their ratings and titles with others. #pb10for10 - every August teachers make blog posts of their 10 favourite picture books and post them to their blog & a host blog gathers the lists. You can check out all 126 posts at Cathy Mere's Jog The Web. Mine was about low down humour #59! Shocking that! Some Of My Favourites With Links to Reviews & Descriptions, Of Course! I've had a large learning curve this year with my introduction to Intermediate Language. I do have a good background in language, but teaching it is another thing entirely. As stated in my title, I did receive a lot of professional development, but it was all on my time, I didn't pay a thing, nor did I leave the house. Meet my two new professional friends. They could become yours too: I Met Pinterest First: Pinterest allows me to browse images that link to great sites and resources. I can then collect the ones that interest me by Repinning to my own online Boards. I found resources, blogs, anchor charts, videos, professional book titles, library display ideas and much more, including recipes, style ideas, hair styles, books, room designs, various ways to tie scarves and other fun things, just for me! Also...added bonus...I have no bursting filing cabinets or large boxes in the basement! Once you find a board with resources that appeal to you Follow the person who created the board or even just Follow that Board specifically. Whenever they post something it will show up on your Home Feed for you to check out or ignore, as you wish. Pretty soon you have great ideas coming to you from minds you admire on a regular basis. We actually have a prolific Pinner on our staff. Here's a peek at Rhonda's page. This image shows just 8 of her 135 boards and a fraction of her almost 3000 pins! Thanks Rhonda! Some other QVPS Pinners, past and present, you may want to check out are Sarah Parry, Susan Geary and Taryn Skinner.
On To Twitter: This is by no means an overview on Twitter, just how I've paired it up with Pinterest. I still have a lot to learn about Twitter. Often the Pins you find interesting on Pinterest lead you to blogs that you might want to follow or receive updates from. Bloggers and Pinners often have corresponding Twitter accounts to share their updates. If you follow great minds, educators and blogs soon you will be inundated by ideas and resources. It's a vicious circle of information on any topic you want.... Happy Exploring, Stef If you are interested in greater exploration, all the above images are linked to the corresponding sites and I have compiled a small list of helpful resources for you below: Pinning 101 from Pinterest Pinterest Cheat Sheet for Educators Twitter Basics from a Prolific Tweeter Twitter Cheat Sheet for Educators Just found http://www.learningunlimitedllc.com/ by Dr. Kimberly Tyson while researching this. She's the Cheat Sheet creator. I'll certainly be following her Pinterest boards and her tweets! |
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Some Great Teaching/Book Blogs Nerdy Book Club Teach Mentor Texts Free Tech for Teachers Reading, Teaching Learning On The Shoulders of Giants Edumcation Two Writing Teachers Dirigible Plum Three Teachers Talk |