A Good Day

Today we worked on some selective highlighting.  I had seen this idea of selective highlighting presented during our last early release.  I actually had tried this strategy before today, but I had to use different color post-it notes instead of highlighters.  The inclusion of the multi-color highlighters peaked the classes interest.  I loved seeing the faces of the students as they were being passed out.  All they wanted to do was use the different colors.

The idea of selective highlighting makes students search for evidence in a text and use different colored highlighters to mark where they find that evidence.  The text we were using today was a Native American story that included a coyote.  The students hunted for evidence of the coyotes persistence, evidence of the lesson in the story, and evidence of coyotes plan backfiring.

I love this idea of selective highlighting.  I wish I had learned this when I was in school.  To bring the point across about why we use this strategy I always start by having a student hunt around the room looking for something.  The only problem is I just tell them to find me something...not what to find.  The student walks around the room picking up random objects hoping they have found the object.  Unfortunately they never find the object.  Then I call on another student and ask them to find whatever I was looking for.  The student quickly picks up the object and brings it to me.

We have a discussion as a class about who had the easier job.  Obviously they know it is the second student.  Then I try to connect this with our reading.  When readers read with a purpose, reading is easier.  When the class knows what to look for in the text their reading becomes easier.  I hope the class will understand this connection of having a purpose when they read and better reading.  You can find the text we highlighted in the reading folder and if you want you could talk about why it is covered with all the different colors.

During writing we took some time to notice what Cynthia Rylant and the publishers of her books do to create the books.  The classes created an amazing list of what they noticed in the books we had been studying for the last few weeks.  After we finished our list, I passed out the bare books.  The class is going to take their first draft, which they have been working on revising, and start to create their Cynthia Rylant-ish book in these bare books.  In one class after the bare books had been passed out I saw two students reach across their desks and high-five each other.  I love this excitement for writing. I love this excitement for school.  This is what makes my job amazing.  It was a good day.

Hope you are all having a great week.  Tomorrow is the best lunch day of the year...Thanksgiving Lunch.  If you want to join us, lunch starts at 11:20.  You will not be disappointed in the pumpkin whip.