I’d like to share a picture book by Jacqueline Briggs Martin that connects wonderfully to many different types of lessons. Snowflake Bentley won the Caldecott Medal in 1999. It could be integrated into science, literature, a snow and winter theme, a study of biographies, symmetry, art and beauty, and in addition could be used to [...]
August 2008
Monthly Archive
Primary/Intermediate Book – “Snowflake Bentley”
Primary/Intermediate Book – “Capyboppy”
Everyone knows the whimsical fantasies of Bill Peet, but you may not be familiar with his less well-known non-fiction book, Capyboppy. It’s one of my all time favorite children’s books! Capyboppy is the true story of a South American capybara that was brought into the Peet home by Bill’s oldest son, a natural science major in [...]
High School/Adult Book – “The Paradoxical Commandments”
I just got a book out of the public library entitled, ANYWAY – The Paradoxical Commandments; Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World by Kent M. Keith. In this book, the author tells the story of how the Paradoxical Commandments came to be written. They are sometimes attributed to Mother Teresa but were in fact [...]
Using DWS to deal with younger siblings visiting in the classroom
Throughout this summer, I’ve been emailing back and forth with one teacher in my province who wants to learn how the reading program my partner and I have developed, works in our grade one classroom. She is also quite interested in a program our K-6 school has instituted called “The Whole School Read,” in which [...]
Choice-Response Thinking – In a Poem!
Recently I came across this poem by Portia Nelson. AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS by Portia Nelson I I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost … I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out. [...]
What is the correct way to introduce the Hierarchy?
QUESTION: What’s the correct way to introduce the DWS Hierarchy to primary students? I want to do this right! RESPONSE: There isn’t any one correct or best way to introduce the DWS Hierarchy to students but I can share a few starting points that seem to work well for many people. On pages 70-72, of [...]
Where can I find the primary book that’s used to teach the DWS levels?
QUESTION: I’ve heard there is a book written by a primary teacher that can be used to teach the DWS Hierarchy to young students. Do you know this book? Where can I find it? RESPONSE: Yes, there is such a book! It’s called, Children of Rainbow School. The author is Tanis Carter, a primary teacher [...]
An example of developing procedures proactively to avoid problems.
The more I use the Discipline without Stress approach, the more I appreciate that Step One of the Teaching Model is key to the whole plan. We’ve just started a series of swimming lessons at our local Community Center for all the primary students in our school. This year I decided to be more proactive [...]
The most effective procedures are those that are carefully planned and explicitly taught.
Recently, the following post was shared on the Kinderkorner mailring by Marybeth Quig-Hartman, who generously allowed me to reprint it here. Note the amount of “teacher thinking” that Marybeth puts into developing her routines and the amount of class time she devotes to the teaching of procedures in the beginning of the school year. Such [...]
QUESTION: I understand what a Level B student is but sometimes I hear teachers asking, “Do you want me to become a Level B teacher?” Can you explain what this is all about? RESPONSE: One important understanding students receive when the teacher introduces the DWS Hierarchy in the beginning of the year is that people [...]
