I LOVE the idea of the book exchange the first day of school. As I am thinking of what the first day in third grade will look like, I envision this awesome experience.
Types of readers:
Developing Readers- readers that are usually labeled struggling readers. Usually for a number of reasons... why do they continue to struggle even with interventions??? usually the lack of reading these students actually do.
Richard Allington found that students in Title 1 & SPED programs read 75% LESS than their peers. It doesn't matter how much vocabulary work, comprehension strategies and fluency we teach, if the students are not applying what they have learned in the context of real reading experiences, they will fail to improve as much as they could. I like the thought about reading... the rich keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer. Readers must read in order to get any better (yes, they must learn strategies, vocabulary, and fluency too).
Dormant Readers - those kids who pass state assessments but who are unmotivated and uninterested in reading. Just doing what they have to in order to get by. I am reminded of my husband, Troy. He is so not interested in reading any type of book or even instruction manual for that matter!!! He did as little as he had to in order to graduate and that was it. The only book that he has actually read since high school 10 years ago was a memoir his grandfather wrote. He flips through his Guns and Ammo catalog and reads the articles that interest him and he also surfs the internet but that is about as far as reading goes. He thinks I am crazy for reading books, especially during the summer. He just does not understand how reading has changed my life in the past 6 years!
"How can they shape a self-identity as a reader if they never get the chance to find out what they like?" Quote on ensuring kids are the ones choosing their books and not the teacher.
"The man who does not read great books is no better than the man who can't." - Mark Twain
These students need to read widely until they have found what truly interests them and becomes the magical hook!!
Underground Readers - gifted readers that find reading that is done in school completely disconnected from the reading they prefer to do on their own. How are we supporting them??? What am I going to do to support the student coming to me in thrid grade who is gifted? How will I meet his needs as a reader?
Conditions for Learning by Cambourne:
Immersion - students are surrounded by books of all kinds ang given the opportunity to read them every day!!! Have converstaions about reading.
Demonstration - students require abundant demonstration on the structure and features of texts, how to use text for different learning goals, and how to access the information in them.
Expectations - Students will rise to the teacher's expectations.
Responsibility - Students need to make at least some of their own choices when pursuing learning goals. "Learners who lose the ability to make choices become disempowered." - Cambourne.
Employment - Students need time to practice what they are learning in the context of realistic situations. Must go back to their own reading, not reading that is assigned by the teacher.
Approximations - Receive encouragement for skills and knowledge they do have to be allowed to make mistakes as they work toward mastery.
Response - Need non-threatening and immediate feedback on their progress. Teachers hold frequent conferences, require written responses about their books, and discuss reading daily.
Engagement - Most important condition for learning and must exist in a successful classroom. Reading must be an endeavor that: Has personal value to students (they must see a reason to read outside of the classroom). Students see themselves as capable of doing (do they see themselves as readers or nonreaders). Is free from anxiety (is the reading weighted down with so many requirements for performace that reading is connected to students' minds with an obstacle course of work and stress). Is modeled by someone they like, respect, trust, and wat to emulate (teacher models reading habits in her own life).
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Key Components of A Reading Workshop
Time:
Students need substantial time to read and look through books.
Choice:
Students need the opportunity to choose reading material for themselves.
Response:
Students should respond in natural ways to the books they are reading through conferences, written entries, classroom discussions, and projects.
Community:
Students are part of a classroom reading community in which all members can make meaningful contributions to the learning of the group.
Structure:
The workshop rests on a structure of routines and procedures that supports students and teachers.
Students need substantial time to read and look through books.
Choice:
Students need the opportunity to choose reading material for themselves.
Response:
Students should respond in natural ways to the books they are reading through conferences, written entries, classroom discussions, and projects.
Community:
Students are part of a classroom reading community in which all members can make meaningful contributions to the learning of the group.
Structure:
The workshop rests on a structure of routines and procedures that supports students and teachers.
The Book Whisperer Chapter 1 Thoughts
Reading Donalyn's experiences with books I think back to my own childhood. I remember walking to the library from my grandparents house where I stayed every summer. I would browse through all of the books looking at the pictures, checking to see just how many pages each book had, and if I thought I could really read it. Finally, after all the work I had put into browsing I would settle on checking out a movie. I loved The Babysitter Club movies, I liked the books about the younger sister because they were so much easier to read.
My reading experiences as a child are few. I struggled as a reader, not only did I not know the words, I didn't know any strategies to learn to read the word. When I had finally decoded the word, I had no idea what I had already read. The vicious cycle repeated itself. Finally in third grade I went to special reading class, Title 1 reading, there I learned a few "tricks" to read a little. By 6th grade we were each required to read a different Don Coldsmith book and write vocabulary words we didn't know and define them and also write a summary for each chapter. I didn't finish mine, I can still remember the grade I received, 54% F. I hated reading, I hated my teacher, and most of all I hated myself. Reading was hard but I was smart enough to get through middle school, high school, and college with A's and B's.
It wasn't until I actually started teaching that I started to understand the rules to reading and how having strategies could help me understand what the author was really trying to say. Graduate school taught me so much about being a reader and how readers learn to read and understand. I had a wonderful professor that helped me not only as a teacher but as a reader. She actually lent me this book to read! It has become my mission to learn as much about teaching young children to read and LOVE to read that it is what I work on all school year and summer long.
I love the credo by Susie in the book, "If you ever think you have all the answers, it's time to retire." I totally could see that, the fixed mindset of some that just won't budge or even think something else my be better or work more effectively. I feel like I am Donalyn when she was looking for and reading every resource that should to fix how she taught reading. I find myself doing the same thing but not just in reading but also in writing. How can I connect the two to make it true, good readers are usually good writers and good writers are good readers.
Note to self, read:
In the Middle by Nancie Atwell
Mosaic of Thought by: Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman
Students should spend MOST of their time reading and writing independently! I have the same feelings Donalyn has had when she is falling short of obtaining the perfect classroom with kids fully engaged. It is so hard to follow the "perscription" from a book. This is something I see now, that I need to follow my students needs and not try to stick to the books example.
My reading experiences as a child are few. I struggled as a reader, not only did I not know the words, I didn't know any strategies to learn to read the word. When I had finally decoded the word, I had no idea what I had already read. The vicious cycle repeated itself. Finally in third grade I went to special reading class, Title 1 reading, there I learned a few "tricks" to read a little. By 6th grade we were each required to read a different Don Coldsmith book and write vocabulary words we didn't know and define them and also write a summary for each chapter. I didn't finish mine, I can still remember the grade I received, 54% F. I hated reading, I hated my teacher, and most of all I hated myself. Reading was hard but I was smart enough to get through middle school, high school, and college with A's and B's.
It wasn't until I actually started teaching that I started to understand the rules to reading and how having strategies could help me understand what the author was really trying to say. Graduate school taught me so much about being a reader and how readers learn to read and understand. I had a wonderful professor that helped me not only as a teacher but as a reader. She actually lent me this book to read! It has become my mission to learn as much about teaching young children to read and LOVE to read that it is what I work on all school year and summer long.
I love the credo by Susie in the book, "If you ever think you have all the answers, it's time to retire." I totally could see that, the fixed mindset of some that just won't budge or even think something else my be better or work more effectively. I feel like I am Donalyn when she was looking for and reading every resource that should to fix how she taught reading. I find myself doing the same thing but not just in reading but also in writing. How can I connect the two to make it true, good readers are usually good writers and good writers are good readers.
Note to self, read:
In the Middle by Nancie Atwell
Mosaic of Thought by: Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman
Students should spend MOST of their time reading and writing independently! I have the same feelings Donalyn has had when she is falling short of obtaining the perfect classroom with kids fully engaged. It is so hard to follow the "perscription" from a book. This is something I see now, that I need to follow my students needs and not try to stick to the books example.
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