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From The Big Book of Details by Rozlyn Linder
"If...Then" Details are sentences that suggest a relationship between two events, ideas, or concepts. While using the if/then structure implies that there is a cause and effect relationships, the If ... Then move may be a little slipperier than that. While this move can be used in narrative writing, it’s most common in arguments and informational texts. Writers use this move to help lead readers from an idea they can likely get on board with to an assertion that may be new to them or that they may not already believe or agree with.
Try this:
Our chart captured the student examples and generated lots of discussion about the power of If…Then sentences, but it also reinforced the idea that these sentences aren’t based on fact, they are simply predictions and inferences, but they seem to lead the reader to the notion that they should accept the relationships as valid and factual.
From DIY Literacy by Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts
People in retail and sales say that one of the keys to successful sales is making sure an item is rotated around a brick-and-mortar store from time to time. It’s a magic trick of sales—leave a shelf of Chia pets alone for too long and they won’t sell. But rotate them around the store and the products will move.
Perhaps this is due to people falling into patterns as they shop, not seeing the newness when immersed in a totally familiar landscape. Or maybe there is something more mystical involved, some kind of energy around objects that shine brighter when attended to. Whatever the cause, the result is the same: if we want people to notice things, we have to change them up.
In your classroom, if you leave a chart or a micro-progression up all year long in the same place, it’s likely that students will stop noticing it hanging there. It becomes background noise that is vague, indistinct, and uninteresting.
Here are a few ways to maintain the energy of the space and keep the tools fresh and useful:
While these tips are focused generally on the tools that get hung up on the classroom walls, such as charts and micro-progressions, the same theory can apply to other teaching tools. This kind of “upkeep” helps assure that your teaching tools feel fresh and useful.
From More About the Authors by Lisa Cleaveland.
The idea that we need to “teach the writer, not the writing “ has been spoken and written about so many times now, it's easy to forget the important message of those words. What does it really mean to do this? How does planning a unit of study look different if we aim to teach the writer, not the writing? How does conferring sound different? How do we ask students to work at their writing when we aim to teach the writer, not the writing? How do we ask them to share with other children? I believe a focus on teaching writers instead of writing impacts every single decision I make about my teaching, and nowhere is that more clear than in the role that mentors play in that teaching. In my classroom, authors and illustrators are mentors, not texts.
Try making books in your classroom because making books:
Children learn indirectly from their mentors because they are reading like writers and illustrators. As the teacher, the “like “ part is all on me because I'm in charge of what children are asked to do in my class. When you think about it this way, some of the simplest decisions make such a difference. The first paper we use is blank paper because people who make picture books don't use lined paper. We use color because other picture book makers—like us—use color. We spend a long time on our covers because covers are a big deal to other picture book makers. The “like “ part of reading like writers depends on all this, and the like part is what leads to so much indirect learning that I just don't believe happens when the focus is on texts instead of the people who make them.
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