Sunday, May 19, 2013

Best Practices in Reading


Best Practices in Reading

Six Key Ideas

·        More Freedom

o   During reading circles, allow them to have discussions. Do not organize all conversations and roles/activities.

§  When I do reading circles in class, I assign each student a role. I tell them what their “job” is during this time. I provide questions and usually guide the conversation. I would like to give them the freedom to discuss their story with less formality. I will model how a reading circle looks and the possible discussions before we leap into it. I think that I will let them pick their roles more frequently. I would like them to experience each role, so I need to find a way to do this without being in control at all times. I want reading circles to feel inviting and fun.

·        Effective teachers set aside a time for individual silent reading each day.

o   I have always thought that I was being lazy when I assigned independent reading time. I very rarely get this in during a regular school week. After reading this chapter, I discovered that students need time to read independently. Most of my students come from homes that value education. I would say that 90% of my kids are very loyal readers. In second grade we require the kids to read at least 20 minutes each night. To receive the top score on their reading minute’s sheets, they must read 40 minutes each school night. About half of the kids in my class reach the 40 minute goal.

o   Next year I plan on finding more time for independent reading during school. I also liked that the chapter suggested that some kids will share books and discuss what they are reading. When we have independent reading time, I always tell them they need their own books and that the room must remain silent. I need to allow the kids to share and enjoy their book discussions. I will monitor this closely, so I know that they are discussing books. J

·        Kids need easy, “beach books.”

o   I level my kids during guided reading or reading circle time. I usually provide books that are a little bit higher than their level. I thought that I was pushing them towards higher level vocabulary. I would like to try reading circles with “beach books.” I might discover that the discussions are much richer, because they fully comprehend what they are reading.

·        Choice Books  

o   Next year, I want to provide more opportunities for the students to pick their selections. I usually have three different books at one time. They are usually leveled for each group. I would like to continue to level books, but allow some student choice as well.

·        Scavenger Hunt the Stories

o   I love this strategy! This would be a great way to address the grammar skills for each week. We could have a scavenger hunt to identify our spelling skills each week. We could also search for similes, metaphors, verbs and so on. I think that I will try this tomorrow with contractions. This is another strategy that is beneficial for all levels of learners.

·        Teacher Modeling and discussing the reading process

o   I want to try this! This would be a great way for kids to see how someone else thinks while they read. When next year starts, I will model the reading process with almost everything I read. This will be a great way to introduce my students to literature circles. They will then know what to think about and what to discuss. Hopefully my kids will catch on to what goes through a person’s head when they read.

5 comments:

  1. Nikki,
    It was so interesting reading your posting on independent reading times because I also had very similar feelings on this!! I wrote that I too had very similar feelings on how "individual silent reading" might reflect a teacher's integrity. I always felt "couldn't this time be better spent with direct instruction, or something?" After reading about best practice and responding with a new goal to make it an intentional practice in my classroom for providing independent reading time I tried it this past week.... and I felt guilty. I walked in and out of my students spread throughout the classroom on their little carpet squares reading silently and couldn't help but feel like I should be doing more. My students were even giving me a look of "you're always busy "doing", what are you "doing"?! I've come to find that this is a skill that will take definite practice for me!!

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  2. As a 4th grade teacher independent reading is a key our reading program. We have independent reading time almost everyday and the students have responded really well to it. For me it works best when I individually conference with them. I try to do a few conferences a day so I see the kids a few times a week. They always want to conference with me and it is so nice to hear them talk about their book. When I don't do the conferences that is when I notice the students aren't on task or they don't stick with a book. Of course I have direct instruction time but read to self is a must in my room daily! I hope you find it to be as valuable as I do next year!

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  3. I was going to respond with a similar post to Courtney's. I think independent reading time is crucial on a daily basis. I've noticed many of my students' love for reading grow because they get to CHOOSE which books they spend their time with. Of course, at this age, some still need guidance as to what a just-right read is but that all comes with the frontloading of setting this time up. I use the first six weeks to very intentionally teach what this time should look like and revisit this multiple times throughout the year. I, like Courtney, use at least one "round" (Daily 5 terms..about 25 minutes of reading/word work, etc.) to conference with students every day. These conferences last only about 5 minutes but are very informational and the kids love being able to tell me about their story. It makes it easy to personalize the instruction to exactly what they need to work on and, usually, they take the suggestions to heart and apply them because they know you'll be checking back in a few days! I know it's hard not to feel guilty but it all depends on how you use this time and I feel its a great use of instructional time!

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  4. Nicki,
    You have some great ideas to implement for next year. As others have said above, independent reading is so important. My students love reading to self. One of my goals with this next year is to allow for more discussion with the books they are choosing to read. I also level my students to help them choose books that are at their level. I know that some teachers use the five finger rule for choosing books. I am not sure how well this would work at a second grade level. What do you use to level your students? Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Hi Lori, We use our NWEA scores to level our kids for reading now. This is very hard to do for my kids who are not fluent readers at the beginning of grade 2. We take the NWEA 2-5 test. This test is very hard for my kids who are below benchmark. I am not sure if it is giving us accurate reading levels. We used to have the STAR reading test to level our kids, but we stopped using that a couple years ago. I think that the NWEA test levels our kids above the 50% pretty accurately, but not below. What do you use?

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