Who.s Doing All the Work? Teaching Toward Independence and Proficiency Dorothy Barnhouse dorothyjbarnhouse@gmail.com @dorobarn
Frog ran up the path to Toad's house. He knocked on the front door. There was no answer. "Toad, Toad!" shouted Frog, "wake up. It is spring!" "Blah," said a voice from inside the house. "Toad, Toad!" cried Frog. "The sun is shining! The snow is melting. Wake up!" III am not here," said the voice. From Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Hers answering Frog
Adapted from Dorothy Barnhouse. Readers Front and Center; Helping All Students Engage with Complex Texts. Forthcoming from Stenhouse.
"Did Mama sing every day" asked Caleb. "Every single day?" He sat close to the fire, his chin in his hand. It was dusk, and the dogs lay beside him on the warm hearthstones. "Every-single-day," I told him for the second time this week. For the twentieth time this month. The hundredth time this year? And the past few years? "And did Papa sing, too?" "Yes. Papa sang, too. Don't get so close, Caleb. You'll heat up." He pushed his chair back. It made a hollow scraping sound on the hearthstones, and the dogs stirred. Lottie, small and black, wagged her tail and lifted her head. Nick siept 0n From Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia Maclachlan, Grade 2-3 text exemplar in Appendix B of the cess
:.. :,,", -.. HoVi Tbinki~g'iW0rk$..(Bral.j).. Adapted from Dorothy Barnhouse. Readers Front and Center; Helping All Students Engage
Dorothy Barnhouse, Conference with 2nd grader DB: So Daniel, what's going on on this page? Daniel: Frog is running up the path and knocks on the front door and a voice says 'blah'. DB: Ok, so Frog is running up the path, knocks on the door and a voice says 'blah'. Who do you think is saying 'blah'? Irepeated what Daniel said to buy some time while I thought about my next-steps. was pickingout a sentences to hand to me rather than retell.it was a bit of a red flag.for me, as I see this behavior a lot in struggling readers. Daniel: A ghost. DB: What made you think that, Daniel? Daniel: [points to the picture] The house looks haunted. DB: Ahh. Any other clues? Daniel: Yes. Frog is crying. [points to the phrase Frog cried.] The kid has a point... Holy cow! Where did that come from and what do I do now? DB: Isee. So the house looks haunted and Frog is crying and that makes you think it's maybe a ghost saying 'blah.' Daniel: [Nods and starts to tum the page.] DB: Before we read on can Itell you what I noticed you did? This is a tricky part of this text. The author doesn't come right out and tell us who's saying 'blah' here, right? It just says 'a voice'. It's like the author wants us to turn the page and find out whose voice it is - like a mystery. But still the author is planting clues that help you think about who might be saying 'blah'. -::~~, Buying time again hie; Lhave no clue. what to say An attempt-to notice and name how texts work And you did exactly what the author wants you to do: You put clues together. You looked at the picture and you looked at these words, Frog ~ cried, and put those clues together, like a puzzle.. ". '~ r----------.., That's exactly what a reader has to do when a '. "._ Anattempt to notice writer doesn't come right and tell us something - and name the we have to put clues together. Ican really see you thinking} saw Daniel did that here. do.
Dorothy Barnhouse, Conference with 2nd grader, page 2 DB: I bet you can keep doing that, keep putting more clues together as you keep reading. So let's turn the page and see if we get more pieces we can fit together for our puzzle about who's saying 'blah'. He turns the page. Daniel: Oh. It's Toad! DB: Wow! That's a change in your thinking! What made you think that? Daniel: It shows him in bed. DB: Great. You're using a clue in the picture just like you did before. Let's read the words and see if there are even more clues you can add to your thinking. He reads. DB: Any more clues? Daniel: It says, "Toad was lying in bed." DB: What does that tell you? Daniel: That he doesn't feel like getting up. DB: Wow! Do the words and pictures come right out and say that Toad doesn't feel like getting up? Daniel: No. DB: And do the words and pictures come right out and say that Toad is saying 'blah'? Daniel: No. DB: But you knew, didn't you? You knew because you looked really closely at some of the clues on the first page. Then when you turned the page you got more clues from the pictures and words and realized you had to change your thinking. That's reading!