Juli Kendall's Weekly
Reading/Writing Workshop Journal

A MiddleWeb Listserv Project

Members of the MiddleWeb Discussion List and other interested teachers are joining together to explore the Writing Workshop and other ideas about supporting young adolescent writers and readers. Juli Kendall, a reading-writing teacher/coach in Long Beach, California, is helping moderate the discussion. Juli also posts a weekly journal entry from her reading/writing classroom.

This year, Juli will focus on her efforts to integrate subject matter into her reading and writing workshop approach. In her first journal of the year, she explains the rationale behind this move and some of her thinking about how she hopes to accomplish this goal.

Find out more about our project at our Reading/Writing Workshop homepage. You'll find Juli's background article here. Links to many of the tools created by Juli and her colleagues are embedded in these journals. Most often, when you click on them, a PDF file will begin to download. You'll find a list of the downloads here.

If you'd like to join the daily discussion that parallels Juli's Journals, find out how here.


2003-04 Reading/Writing
Workshop Journal
Week #32

The Top 10 Things I Learned
About Teaching Content Literacy


Introspection is good for the soul. Looking back on this year, it's been all about content literacy. I've learned so much both about my teaching and the kids learning. This Top 10 List barely touches the surface.

#10 - Keep your sense of humor.

Meteorologists tell jokes. That's according to Edgar, who made a career decision this year. He wants to do something that will combine his love of jokes and humor with the weather. This is one of his favorites.
Out in Kansas, tornadoes often hit with sudden devastation, and without warning. In one case, a house was completely whisked away, leaving only the foundation and first floor.

A silver-haired farm lady was seen sitting dazed, in a bathtub, the only remaining part of the house left above the floor. The rescue squad rushed to her aid and found her unhurt. She was just sitting there in the tub, talking to herself. "It was the most amazing thing ... it was the most amazing thing," she kept repeating dazedly.

"What was the most amazing thing, Ma'am?" asked one of the rescuers.

"I was visiting my daughter here, taking a bath, and all I did was pull the plug, and doggone it if the whole house didn't suddenly drain away!"

#9 - Inquiring minds want to know

Who would have thought that a tabloid like "The National Enquirer" would be out at the forefront of education? But as I was standing in line at the supermarket, it called to me from the magazine rack: "Enquiring minds want to know."

After a year of learning about content literacy by doing it, their motto says it all.

#8 - Keep moving!

It's been a busy year. But in the midst of it all, I made a renewed commitment to myself to move from exercising, walking, etc., at least 3 days a week to 7 days a week. And that has made all the difference!

How does exercise make me a better teacher? It is a great antidote for stress, frustration, and "not enough time in the day" to get things done.

#7 - Keep your head, when all those around you are losing theirs.

With so many educational directives flying around, it's easy to get confused and lose focus on what works for kids. The book, How People Learn, helped me stay centered on what research says is really important for kids as they learn new content and improve their literacy skills (reading and writing).

The "Curriculum Plan for Content Literacy," which I developed in August, scaffolded my instruction and provided me with an easy way to check up on myself. And it worked! The kids and I made it all the way through our 5 units of study, and I never felt that my instruction was getting out of control. Here's what we covered:

Unit 1: "Reading Informational Texts"
Unit 2: "Comprehension Strategies for Content Literacy"
Unit 3: "Literature Study and Book Clubs (Reading Workshop)"
Unit 4: "Writer's Notebooks, Thematic Units of Study, and Investigations (Writing Workshop)"
Unit 5: "Research Projects (Independent Inquiry)"

#6 - The times they are a changin'.

During our adventures in Content Literacy in science this year we learned that it's not just about Biology, Chemistry, and Physics anymore.

The "Big Ideas" in science (based on the National Science Education Standards) are:

-- Systems, order, organization
-- Evidence, models, and explanation
-- Change, constancy, and measurement
-- Evolution and equilibrium
-- Form and function

#5 - There's no such thing as "Too much of a good thing" when it comes to doing research on the Internet.

In retrospect, our year of content literacy just wouldn't have been as productive without the Internet. For our struggling, reluctant, and at-risk readers, using the Internet provided much needed motivation. I am, however, still investigating the best way to teach kids about using Search Engines to refine their research and revise their questions. Maybe by next fall, I'll have it wired

#4 - It's all about the kids.

Teaching content literacy has reinforced my belief that for kids to learn they need to be interested in the topic/theme, etc. And the idea of choice is really important. It just doesn't seem to work as well when they don't have a choice. By using an umbrella topic, I learned about incorporating choices while still maintaining control over what content we were learning.

In the end, it's all about the kids and how to incorporate their interests. By doing this, I actually saw kids expand their interests and open up to new ideas.

#3 - Let them eat cake!

Our kids will be graduating soon and moving on to bigger challenges. But I feel like they are better prepared than ever to take on learning in the content areas. They've integrated comprehension strategies into their "bag of school tools" and come to see themselves as Inquirers and Researchers. Who could ask for anything more?

So, although I'll miss them, it's time to send out the invitations, inflate the balloons, and order the graduation cake.

#2 - I need my friends.

To become a better teacher, I've found that I need to "talk" about my teaching. And no matter the time, day or night, when I feel the urge to think about instruction, I can send an email to the Reading/Writing Projects listserv. I've asked questions about note taking, resources, units of study, and a bunch of other topics. I've responded to the questions of others. And the whole time I'm learning.

These Internet "friends," people I'd probably never bump into without the listserv, inspire me to keep trying to figure things out. What a puzzle teaching is!

#1 - George Harrison was right.

"The farther you travel, the less you know, the less you really know."

Every year that passes I learn more about teaching, about kids, and about myself. This year I realized how much farther I still have to go.


SEE Juli's new Resource List for Teaching Content Literacy

Watch for new journals in the coming year!

Read last week's journal

Read Juli's backgrounder about her work

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