Three short observations, turned acts, about a boy who is growing his own literacy one book, one story, one day at a time…
Act 1 – A Reader
“No.”
“Wait.”
“Pppiiills”
“No. Wait.”
“Piiles. Piles of snow.”
I watched as he read. I watched and marveled as he worked his way through the reading process. Confident and aware of his own skills. Determined to become the kind of reader who can work through his process.
Act 2 – A Writer
“It’s all about fishing. We do a lot of fishing. My whole family does a lot of fishing.”
I watched as he wrote. I watched and marveled as he worked his way through a story. Confident and aware of his own skills. Determined to become the kind of writer who knows he has a stories to tell, stories that are worthy of detailed pictures, labels, and lots of writing.
Act 3 – A Thinker
“can. can. c-u-n.”
“can. c-a-n. yeah.”
I watched as he thought. I watched and marveled as he evaluated his own spelling in the moment of the dictation. I watched as he owned the process of crossing out, correcting and moving on. I watched as he used, with the utmost confidence, all he knew by stopping and thinking.
Act 4 – To Be Noticed…
What a unique slice. I love how you noticed all this about a student and then connected it together in this slice.
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I imagine that it’s the way you marvel at these beautiful approximations that has a lot to do with the positive mindset of these children.
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Every kid deserves to be seen (and celebrated) like this. You see what he can do and celebrate where he is in these small moments. He’s lucky to have you noticing and cheering him on.
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Really love the screenplay format that tells the story of a budding literacy life. So great!
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I love that the undercurrent of this post is about what he CAN do, and isn’t coming from a place of deficit or diagnosis. And the format…wow. And your sketch… double wow. Your students are lucky– I read your posts and I want to be around you!
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Thanks Melanie! I could say the same about you! Used a quote from the beginning of your book for our faculty soft start yesterday. One teacher whispered, “I like that word striving. It’s a shift in mindset.”
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Watching a child figure this out really is a marvel!
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