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Posts tagged ‘Lynne R. Dorfman’

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 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

Sep 2

Physical Environments are Important for a Good Beginning

By Lynne Dorfman

The organization of your classroom sets the stage for learning. It should reflect your personal beliefs and values as an educator.Debbie Miller says, “Classroom environments are organic – they grow as we do. The best of them reflect the hearts and souls of those who inhabit them. They’re never really finished. They’re never really ‘done’.”  Debbie devotes the first section of her book, Teaching with Intention: Defining Beliefs Aligning Practice, Taking Action, to setting up the physical classroom environment and creating an energizing culture through the kind of interactions we value and nurture with our students. She suggests inviting a trusted colleague or two into your classroom in early September and asking him or her to tell you what the classroom environment reveals about your own personal beliefs as an educator. Read more

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