Blog Post 2: Chpt. 10 Routman
I chose this chapter since I’m not
feeling confident about how my guided reading groups are going. I feel like a
failure if we don’t get to those reading groups every day. This chapter
challenged me to expand my view of guided reading. While I feel like I should meet with every
group, every day, that just isn’t realistic. I wonder if I can have my ablest
readers begin with the text on their own, on Mondays allowing more time for my
assistant and me to meet with struggling readers on that day.
The author got big brownie points
from me for addressing kindergarten’s unique needs. While homogenous grouping
may not be popular or always desirable in the upper grades, it is still very
necessary in kindergarten. That does not mean students never interact or read
with other groups, but they still have many basic reading skills that are
developing and grouping makes supporting those skills much easier.
There is a definite challenge in
finding interesting leveled readers that are simple enough for a struggling
kindergarten reader. Because there sight word recognition
and ability to sound out words can be low to non-existent, there is just not
enough material available. I’ve tried writing some text that correspond to the
students’ interests, but that is a challenge.
I agree with Routman that
Kindergarten has become high-pressure. The curriculum comes at the expense of
painting, building with blocks and even read alouds. I’m not sure how I’m going
to do it yet, but I will increase the number of books student hear read aloud
to them. Websites like storylineonline might be a good place to start, but I
also want them to see more real people, reading real books. I think this is
crucial for beginning readers and the importance of this activity is diminished
in upper grades. Read alouds are a wonderful way to build vocabulary and expose
students to books that are above their own reading level.
My take-away from this chapter is
“you don’t have to do it all in one day.”
We already loved Regie, and now we love her even more for representing K!! Like you, I noticed that high-interest, patterned texts (the ones that will snag our developing readers) were hard to come by. I started using Google Slides to write class books based on patterns, and then I could send a link home to parents to access on devices. I wish I had more time to finish piloting that idea last fall! I agree that the little ones would benefit tremendously from listening aloud to actual people. What kinds of partnerships can we form--staff without classrooms, local college students, community members, family members? You've got me thinking!
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI want to encourage you to continue writing books for and with your kindergarten students that they can read and when you write them with them through interactive writing, they will want to read them and will more likely be able to because they were a part of writing them, so the writing of the text itself became a scaffolding tool. I want to encourage you including student created books as options for their independent reading as well. I love how you are working to increase the amount of read alouds your students have each week. What about having a time each week where you have an open standing invitation for guests to come in to read to your students during your literacy block? Thanks, Dawn