Creative mini-lessons to inspire critical thinking Dr. Tammy M. Milby, University of Richmond Dr. Joan A. Rhodes, Virginia Commonwealth University

Session Description Participants will be actively involved by participating in a variety of mini-lessons activities which utilize children’s literature to support strategic instruction. Throughout the session, presenters will model how to effectively guide children through a piece of literature. Presenters will begin with a thematic topic and will show how to seamlessly integrate the strands through mini-lesson instruction. Presenters will focus on how to use mentor texts successfully for research and writing instruction. Presenters will also model think alouds focused on comprehension strategy instruction and critical thinking, and will share techniques for building vocabulary knowledge. Tips for embedding multimodal literacies will be also included.

VDOE English SOL Institutes 2018 Thank you for attending our session! October 11- Newport News October 18- Richmond October 29- Staunton

What does it make you wonder? Opening Activity Look at the picture book illustration See/Think/Wonder What do you see? What do you think about that? What does it make you wonder? Visible Thinking, Harvard Project Zero, file:///C:/Users/tmilby/Desktop/VT_SeeThinkWonder.pdf

Book Cover

Structure of the Day: Reading Workshop Where does a mini-lesson fit in during the language arts block in your classroom? How do you use the Standards of Learning to plan your mini-lessons?

What does the research say about effective mini-lessons in reading? MATERIALS Familiar text Unfamiliar text Fiction Non-fiction Multimedia STEPS Connect Name It! Model Engage Link to Reading Confer

Let’s give it a try together! Storyline Online http://www.storylineonline.net/ Mini-lesson Focus: Inferring character traits

Sample Lessons

Structure of the Day Mini-Lesson (quick 5-7 minutes) Watch the time! Independent Writing Students Write/ Teacher Conference Sharing Author’s Chair, Partner Share, or Spotlight Writers

What does the research say about effective mini-lessons in writing? Connection/Quick Review Teaching Point Active Engagement/Link

Connection/Quick Review Student learns why the lesson for today is so important/ connect to prior knowledge Introduction of the mini-lesson Teacher reviews the teaching point from previous lesson Share your one teaching point for the day

Teaching Point Learners are taught a new strategy or skill that they can use often when they write State the teaching point and explain when/why/how a writer might want to use it Show (select one): Through modeling with your own writing By demonstrating on a shared writing piece or through an anchor chart Noticing the craft that authors use in children’s literature Guided practice / scaffolding

Active Engagement/Link Students briefly try the strategy as the teacher provides support: Repeat the teaching point to get students ready for what they will practice & then students try it out (learners try what they were just taught by writing in their writing notebook or through “Turn and Talk” discussion) Link: Off you go to _____________(launch) Get students excited to try what they learned Remind students how this teaching point can be used in the future.

Sample Types of Mini-Lessons Introduce a Genre Model the Writing Process Explore Strategies, Procedures, or Issues Author’s Craft or Trait Focus Voice, Word Choice, and Sentence Structure Grammar and Conventions Research

Let’s give it a try together again! Storyline Online http://www.storylineonline.net/ Mini-lesson Focus: Small moments

Sample Lessons: Children’s Literature as Mentor Text Read Notice craft Model craft Use Encourage children to give it a try!

Mini-lesson Activity Divide into teams by grade level: K-1, 2-3, 4-5 Review the provided collection of children’s literature focused on the theme of Investigation/ Solving Problems (See attached book list for more specifics). Select a text and create a sample mini-lesson (reading or writing) with a partner. Fill in the graphic organizer template. Post & Share

Resources Professional Book List (See supplemental document) Check out some of our favorite professional books which can help you implement successfully. Bibliography of books on our theme of investigation/solving problems (See supplemental document) Explore a list of children’s book titles which can help you to create effective mini-lessons. Websites (See supplemental document) Tips to help you integrate technology within your instruction.

Contact Information Dr. Tammy M. Milby tmilby@richmond.edu Dr. Joan A. Rhodes jarhodes2@vcu.edu

Disclaimer Reference within this presentation to any specific commercial or non-commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Virginia Department of Education.