Renata Brown Post 4: Reggie Routman Chapter 4 "Teach with and Sense of Urgency"

I enjoyed this chapter because I felt it validated many of my believes regarding how to help students become better readers.  In the beginning of the chapter, Routman shares some ideas that would ensure students to become excellent readers.  I agree with many of them but my "top six" are: 1) having lots of books to read, 2) a variety of genres, 3) allow students to choose their books, 4) link learning to the curriculum,  5) teach strategies and 6) evaluate and provide students with regular and immediate feedback.  These ideas, plus the others listed, suggest "good teaching"  in my opinion.  And it's what I feel has driven my reading instruction for many years.  "Focusing on the kids" and their needs as readers... and fueling that with support and encouragement. What I hope to improve upon in my classroom are opportunities for my student to interact more with each other during their reading time. My controlling nature drives me to want to always have students talk to me.  This is because I can control the conversations and trust that most everyone is on task.  However, I do realize the on task engagement between one student and another is very beneficial... especially in building understanding and other key communication and writing skills. Creating our own text for shared, guided and independent reading is another area that I feel I can do more to improve upon.  We do a little bit of this in fifth grade, as well as, in previous grades I've taught.  But I'd like to do more with publishing works so that we can tie in more integrated lessons across the curriculum.  I believe that I have high expectations for my students and I am confident that they can met those expectations.  I constantly remind them of how great they are (regardless of where they come from) and that they can achieve greatness as readers and writers with constant practice and the right attitude.  So in teaching my students with urgency and love I can/will help them become excellent readers.

Collaborative Inquiry: From Kidwatching to Responsive Teaching Reading Process by Mills and O'Keefe for November (Kathey Tate)

  "  Kidwatching " is at the heart of responsive teaching. Talking is also at the heart of true responsive teaching. Responsive teaching is the conversations that teachers have with the students and the students have with one another. This is the critical difference. When teachers invite the children into the process of conversation, they make space for planning with and for the students.
       The three critical dimensions of collaborative inquiry are teachers knowing students, students knowing each other, and seeing the teachers as readers, writers, and learners. Students knowing and getting in touch with themselves as readers, writers, and learners. The classroom teachers are most responsive when they invite children to construct new insights and share burning questions with one another. It is through capturing and interpreting children's talk that teachers gain power to better understand children's thinking. Teachers promote literacy growth by being deliberate about helping children get in touch with themselves and the process. When children learn to reflect on themselves as readers, writers, and learners to intentionally outgrow themselves, they become reflexive.
        Reflexivity leads to a planned action, which,  in turn, fosters identity and agency in learners. The students are engaged in reflective conversations around reading strategies. The teachers know their students, and the students know each other. The teachers create the curriculum with the students. The students begin to know themselves as readers, writers, and learners.

Emily Hammett-Blog Post 4-Chap. 4 Teach With a Sense of Urgency

"Do not let your students down. The data are stunning: we expect very little form poverty-stricken students in financially strapped schools. Children in these classrooms must have meaning-oriented instruction in order to succeed at high levels." Routman stated this in one of her last paragraphs of this chapter. This statement truly hits home for the class that I teach. I believe each of my students are just as great and capable as the wealthiest student in Spartanburg. Before I began this chapter I thought it would be a little different, but while reading I realized that it was focused more on a specific model of teaching reading/writing. The thing that I loved most throughout this chapter was how Routman stresses the importance in believing in our students and holding them to a higher standard. I want my kids to know that I believe in them and that they are awesome!

I liked that in this chapter Routman gave expectations for students to monitor their selves, Sometimes I need to take a step back and ask myself questions. An important question to me that I always need to ask myself is, "How is my instruction helping students become independent readers, writers, and thinkers?" I believe that if I don't question myself then I am not making appropriate accommodations as a reflective teacher.

In the beginning of this chapter, Routman briefly touched on time management. Time management is essential to successful teaching. I have become a firm believer in setting timers for myself to make sure that I don't spend too much time on one subject and not enough on another. Another thing that I agree with that Routman wrote was that reading and writing are taught as one. I firmly believe that they go hand in hand. Without one, it's hard to complete the other!

Although, this chapter isn't what I expected it was a great read! :)

K. Malmquist post 4: Routman, Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

I believe in having a huge classroom library.  The more books we are able to put in our children's hands, the better it is for everyone.  This goes back to student choice as well because we want to provide the opportunity for students to have the choice of saying they do not like a book or want to try something new.

On page 64 Routman says, "children read a great deal more when they have easy access to books, and well-designed, organized, ample classroom libraries provide the easiest access for students."  We need to give the students books, and make sure they are easy to access and understand.

One thing that I think we need to remember is, as Routman says on page 65, "It really doesn't matter much what kids read as long as they read and enjoy what they're reading."  Sometimes we tend to get caught up in what we "think" students should be reading, we forget to celebrate what they are reading.  I remember being so excited as a child going on road trips because I could read the signs and figure out where we are going; this is such an everyday thing that I experience as an adult that I could discount that excitement I had as a little girl being able to "help" my dad as we went on family trips.  The same goes for what our students are reading and not reading; we should celebrate that they are taking the time and reading a book (that they hopefully enjoy) instead of focusing on what they are not reading.  By showing them the love of reading today, they can grow into that great reader.

On that same note, on page 69 author says, "Students do not naturally gravitate to leveled or overly structured collections.  When they can choose from a rich and varied assortment, a leveled book or a phonics reader is not usually a first choice." This is the first year that I have worked with kindergarten students, and on the first day of their related arts I was a little worried about what books I would have picked out for the students.  I wanted to make sure that the students were choosing something that they could possibly pick out a few words in, and that would make them into better readers.  Ha ha ha.  I probably chose some of the worst books for the group because I did pick out the phonics and beginning readers.  I learned my lesson, and while I still strive to find books with a larger font and less words on the page, I also look for books that will interest the students and they can read the pictures.  I also included a lot of nonfiction for the students to choose from because we have an amazing selection.
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While it would be improbable to rearrange the library year after year (it's almost impossible), I do need to make sure that I am advertising the books.  We have baskets throughout the library with popular series to help students locate books, and to help catch the eyes of browsers.  

We need to be excited about our books, and sell what we have available.  I love promoting the public library because it increases our access to books.  If one of my students has read all of my books on cheetahs, they can go to the public library and find even more.  The same is true for the classroom library: a teacher may have one or two books in the series and I might have a whole collection for the students to read.

Melissa Wells Blog Post 4: Routman Ch. 5

After labeling 2200 books in the past few weeks, I'd say classroom libraries have been in the back of my mind pretty non-stop recently!!  :-)

I love how Routman calls classroom libraries a "literary necessity" (p. 64).  Not only do we have to entice readers with thoughtfully-organized libraries, but we also must entice them with personalized invitations to read.  Those invitations might be in the form of new books based on students' interest, or something as simple as daily book talks.  What would happen if we took 30 seconds a day to do a book talk on the announcements to share with the school?  Over the course of a year, kids would have "met" 180 new book friends!

Routman also values "light reading" as "essential for turning our struggling readers into competent readers" (65).  I know we feel like we have so many standards to cover and high-stakes testing at the end of the year that we always have to push our readers, but "light reading" is still reading that helps grow readers.  I used to love hooking my 3rd graders on series books.  Now that I think about it, I was also a series reader as a kid--The Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Boxcar Children, The Saddle Club--all were books I would devour!  I think the predictability of the books and the characters became like an old friend, which was comforting to me.

While putting 2200 stickers on books may have been tedious work, I think you all have the harder job right now.  How will you add these books into your existing collections?  How will you make your books easy to access?  How will you appeal to the unique interests of each reader in your room?  How will you focus on students' interests and de-emphasize levels?  How will you involve your readers in co-creating this library space?  How will you create a library care system (including checking out and returning books)?  How will you create a community of readers in your room?  You each have shared some marvelous ideas with me (in blog or human interactions), and I can't wait to see your renewed libraries taking shape.  :-)

Melissa Hawkins-Plan for and Monitor Independent Reading/Make Assessment Instruction's Working Partner

I must admit that I struggle in this area of creating a good independent reading program.  I am trying to establish a good reading program for my students where we can fit in more independent reading and also small-group guided reading while trying to teach comprehension strategies which my students desperately need.  But while implementing an independent reading time frame, how do you really know if every student is reading and comprehending what they read?  I was happy to read in this chapter the differences between Sustained Silent Reading and Independent Reading.  I have been having my students read in Sustained Silent Reading but I will incorporate Independent Reading and use the strategies listed in the book to monitor student comprehension by asking the right questions during teacher conferencing.
Students need time to read but they also need to know how to make choices that are best for them.  Students need to:
-be matched with a book.
-read a text they enjoy.
-practice and try out strategies that are demonstrated and worked on in class.
-be monitored , assessed, and evaluated on the books they are reading.
-be taught strategies and how to apply them to problem solve and read independently.
-set and work on goals to further improve their reading competency.
Students that use these strategies are more likely to become better readers and are better able to comprehend what they read.
Incorporating independent reading programs are essential to a successful independent reading instructional program.  A successful reading program is fun for students and they love reading what they are interested in.  A successful independent reading program has the following components:
-a well-designed and well-stocked classroom library.
-sustained time each day in which to read.
-"Just-right" books.
-An array of genres.
-Time for sharing and book talks.
-One-to-one student-teacher conferences.
-well-maintained reading records.
-procedures that have been developed in connection with the students, then modeled and understood, and that are followed by everyone.
The teacher needs to set up classroom procedures and have students use strategies when they are reading that have been discussed as a class.
Chapter Seven gives teachers guidelines for assessments that work for the teacher and the student.  I will be incorporating questions provided to use when I want to know student understanding.  The framework provided for an informal reading conference student reading goals will be very beneficial to a teacher that needs to know how to guide student conferences to assess for understanding.

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Jennifer Jowers - Blog Post 4 - Routman Chapter 10: Examine Guided Reading

This year one (of the many) struggle I have had has been wrapping my head around guided reading and the best way to implement it. I have watched videos, attended training classes, read books, researched online and I still don’t feel like I have a good grasp on this concept. I liked the author’s description of what guided reading is on page 151. It is a way to build on the child’s strengths while supporting and demonstrating the necessary skills to move a child towards independence. This made me stop and really focus on what my main target is for guided reading. I know that I want my students to love to read as much as I do, have confidence and gain the necessary strategies to become better readers. Now that I have figured out what my main purpose is for guided reading, I feel like I have a direction to go in. Before I felt like I was just trying to squeeze it all in and read, read, read even if it wasn’t very effective and practice writing a sentence that goes along with the text. After reading chapter 10 I feel like I am not locked into the traditional guided reading.

In years past when we had reading groups, very often students were moving around from group to group but it was all based on how they compared in reading to others in the group. Since we have started using the miscue analysis to better understand our students reading abilities I can begin to group them more effectively. I can put them with others who need help on the same skills. I feel like I am headed in the right direction.

One of the hardest things for me to do to prepare for my groups is to pick out guided reading texts that fit my groups. The lesson will only be as good as the book stated on page 153 made me stress a little. We have had the same leveled readers since I started almost 12 years ago, and as far as I know have not added any new ones recently. I can bet that there are much better leveled readers available today. Here is where I get a little frustrated. If having the right books is so important in guided reading then what can we do when we are limited with our texts. Often the texts are outdated or pertain to subjects our students have no concepts of. When we do find a text we think will be great there are only 3 copies and non-fiction options are extremely limited. I understand that budgets are tight, but it is difficult to push the importance of something when we don’t have the proper tools to do it with. I love building my own classroom library and try very hard to buy books that I can use, but I can only provide so much and buying 6 copies of a book can get costly. I would love to know how to best utilize the titles we already have. As a grade level we try to look at the books and decide what works best for our students and what we think would benefit them, but we have limited options available to us.

I said a loud Amen to the section talking about flexible kindergarten guided reading. It is so true that we feel the need to push through everything and having students reading by the end of kindergarten is a necessity nowadays. I feel like my students are getting all the reading and writing and math they can handle but they do not know how to socialize, play together, or any of the great lessons they learn when they get to play in centers. The problem is we can’t go back and teach like we used to unless all grade levels drop back. I loved reading about the kindergarten teacher who did not have guided reading groups. Her students are much like ours and the experiences with books are few and far between. Having a print rich environment and books always available along with experiences was her way of teaching students to read and it was successful.

This chapter was very helpful in my understanding of guided reading and calmed my crazy a little letting me know that guided reading is not the only way to teach reading. However, I would like to be able to see what other kindergarten classrooms are doing. I am very visual and I can read books until I am cross-eyed but I have to see it to understand. Like it said in the chapter, students need constant demonstration and opportunities to practice what they learn and that is exactly what I need when it comes to guided reading. I need to focus on what is the best way to teach them and since I am the one that knows my kids the best it is my job to make the best decisions I can to help them be successful. I just hope that I make the right ones.

Melissa Pruitt's Blog Post 4: Conferencing

                Conferencing with my students provides me with vital information about them as readers.

All of my students are struggling readers with a diagnosed disability, however, they all have very

different strengths and weaknesses in reading. Conferencing helps me determine which skills I need to focus on with individual students and which skills are weaknesses for the entire group.

                Through conferencing with my focus group I have learned that JE decodes grade level texts

 fluently but he struggles with understanding vocabulary meanings as well as answering inferential

questions. He gets frustrated easily and is quick to give up. He needs more positive reinforcement then most of my students.  SM also reads grade level texts fluently. She is often unable to recall basic

information from a text and has to look back to answer questions. She has difficultly answering

inferential questions.  She has gained more confidence when reading. TN struggles with basic decoding skills. He reads at a fast rate paying and often guesses words that look similar instead of applying  decoding skills he’s learned. Although he misreads many words, he is generally able to make connections, answer most comprehension questions and retell a story.  AS struggles with decoding lengthy words and often lacks focus when reading. She does use context clues to help her when reading. She does well answering comprehension questions and looks back for details if she needs to. JT has difficulty with decoding and his fluency rate is very slow. He is unsure about vocabulary meanings and will often ask what words mean before trying to answer a question. He always puts forth his best effort and looks back in passages to double check before answering comprehension questions. JT loves to read. JLP struggles with decoding skills as well. He lacks focus and often says that he can’t concentrate on what he is reading. His comprehension skills are inconsistent. At times he is able to answer details questions and other times he cannot. He has difficultly with inferential questions. He often needs more time when conferencing and needs lots of positive reinforcement.

                My students and I both grow during our conferencing. During this time the students are able to learn more about their individual strengths and weaknesses in reading. It gives me opportunities to model specific strategies that the student needs when reading. Conferencing gives me information that helps me pair students so that they are able to work together and help one another. It also helps me to determine which skills I need to focus on with individual students and which skills I need to focus on with the entire group. I have realized that the students in my focus group lack vocabulary knowledge and struggle with inferential questions. Most importantly, conferencing helps me build relationships with my students.             

                                      

K. Riddle - Teaching with a sense of urgency

Expectations high.....check
Make every day count....check
Bond with students .... check
Gradually hand over responsibility for learning .... check
Promote joy in learning .... BIG check!  (I adore teaching and making the kids think learning is the coolest past time in the history of the universe!)
Monitor their learning ....  half and half ... I stink at grading papers and keeping up with grades, but I get constant, immediate feedback as I observe them as to their achievement, frustration, success, distraction, etc.
This chapter was a nice summation of many different practices that I use.  It was positive and didn't leave me feeling like a moron for not jumping on the latest and greatest bandwagon to pass by.  Many of the suggestions in this chapter are common sense, salt of the Earth, good core teaching.  
Favorite quote:  "I am relaxed and happy when I am working with students, but I am also mindful of where I need to get them and how little time I have in which to do it."  (I think Routman plagiarized that from me! :)

Lucile Kershaw's Blog-"Teach Comprehension" by Regie Routman- Reading Essentials

     I enjoyed reading this chapter, because as educators, teaching comprehension is our ultimate goal.
Routman jumps right in and tells us to teach comprehension right from the start in preschool and not to wait to teach children how to comprehend in the upper grades.  According to( Routman, p.117), "If we want kids to wind up with comprehension, we have to begin with comprehension."  We should start teaching comprehension strategies with the texts students are reading and guide students toward texts that encourage critical thinking and problem solving.  I have always believed that comprehension strategies should not be taught in isolation, because students end up with lots of skills and no knowledge of how to transfer or apply them.  Most reading programs will have the children practicing a skill for a week.  When the next week comes, they move on to another skill and the kids usually forget about the previous skill if it is not continuously practiced in their reading as well as in their writing.  Students need to practice strategies that they are learning in multiple ways.
     We as teachers need to re-evaluate some practices that we use in the classroom to ensure that what we are teaching or how we are teaching will be beneficial to our students in helping them to become more proficient independent readers.  We never want to make reading hard for our students.  We hope that they will enjoy reading and become lifelong readers, so we need to equip them with the necessary skills.
       After reading this chapter, I realized that I was not using the 20% to 80% rule.  I was probably using more time in teaching reading strategies than allowing students to spend 80% of reading time in the actual act of reading.
     Teaching reading strategies is great, but what the teacher does as a reader is far more important,
according to (Routman, p. 121), teachers should make their reading and thinking process visible to their students.
     I learned that the most useful reading strategy for any age is rereading.  When students are given the opportunity to reread, their comprehension always goes up, (Routman p. 122).
     In my classroom, we always preview a text before reading.  I ask them to read the title/heading and turn it into a question.  Then, we look at pictures or just thumb through the book to get a feel for what it is going to be about and make predictions.  All of this sets a purpose for reading.  I tell them to formulate questions and as they read or I read to them, their questions will be answered and comprehension will be enhanced.
     We should formatively assess our students to ensure that they are comprehending and not just word calling and that they are unconsciously using the strategies that have been taught.
         
   
   

Keri Lyles-Post 4- Reading Essentials Chpt. 10

     Let me begin with a confession.  I did not want to read anything related to school in the month of November because my mind has been consumed with thoughts of what is about to happen with Claire and Jamie in Outlander (which is my current "read for fun" book!).  However, I made myself put that wonderful book down to read a chapter from Routman about guided reading.  I'd say the chapter was worth my time (but not necessarily as entertaining!!).  :)
     A few years ago we began "guided reading groups" in 4th grade.  We spent a lot of time looking for quality literature that we thought our students would enjoy and I have loved having the groups-for the most part.  I do not think I have been successful at meeting with groups to focus on certain skills.  I find myself doing this more in mini-lessons than actually pulling groups while others are reading.  I prefer to sit with groups and listen to them discuss (which I guess is actually meeting with a group...).      This class and this textbook have really made me think about the lack of daily independent reading time in my classroom.  I have been convicted when it comes to this.  Emily and I have been constantly discussing how we can restructure things so that our students have at least 20-30 minutes of independent choice reading every day.  I appreciated Routman's discussion of guided reading and it's value in the classroom, but I also heard loudly that guided reading should not be completed daily and it SHOULD NOT take the place of independent reading.  This has often happened in my classroom.  I think that one of the most important things I gained from the chapter (again!) is the fact that I need to set and not compromise my independent reading time.
     I also loved Routman's view of reading aloud.  My first year I did an excellent job of pausing every afternoon for at least 20 minutes of reading aloud.  I don't do that anymore and I miss it.  It seems that I have exchanged that time for cramming in some more social studies or science.  Is it worth losing my read aloud time?  I'm not sure.  I'm trying to figure out how to finish all the things I need/want to finish in a day.  I'm going to try out the proposed schedule on pg. 158 and see how it goes!
     I see value in guided reading because it allows me to focus on skills with certain groups of kids who may be struggling (or excelling) with the same kinds of things.  I just need to figure out how to balance both guided and independent reading in my classroom!  I'm up for the challenge!
And now, I'm back to reading Outlander!  :)

Kim Riddle - conferencing with their focus group of students

My focus group has one particularly special child that can call words with great fluency but his reading comprehension is very, very, very low.  He is very attuned to spoken word in our classes and lessons specific to science and social studies texts.  I wonder how he can hear himself call the words and not understand what the text is about.  Does he really hear his words?  Has he turned off his ears and focused mainly on the speaking portion of reading aloud?  He can listen to his partner read in peer reading and have total recall of details.  I think I will work with him some more to compare his ability to make meaning from silent reading as to reading aloud.  The brain research nerd in me wonders if there is a condition for this...Am I making sense?
Another student in my focus group mumbles when she reads aloud.  However, her comprehension is outstanding.  Her reading log is a joy to read because she makes entertaining connections to her text.
Motivation still continues to be the elephant in the room.  The majority of my students hate to read, but love a read aloud.  They are struggling to choose books they can both read and books they enjoy.  Perhaps I need to focus more on a wider variety of genres so they can find their groove.

Julie Niedrach - Blog Post #4 Teach Comprehension (Routman)

     I couldn't wait to read what this author/reading teacher said about teaching comprehension.  This is what I have been working toward with my students each year.  I'm always looking for better ways to increase the students' comprehension in reading. Comprehension is the basis of deep level learning. If we want kids to end up with comprehension, we have to begin with comprehension. (Routman, p. 117)  I agree with this author, because I have seen how much my students struggle with comprehending text when we try to break it down into learning the meaning of new vocabulary.  That needs to be studied too, but sometimes they can comprehend word meaning while reading for clues in the sentences.

     It is interesting to note that Routman states facts about impoverished readers. (Routman, p.118)  She states that they learn to read the words, but by the time the focus shifts to comprehension, they have lost years of knowing what real reading is about. (Routman, p. 118)  This statement would apply to some percentage of most of our schools today, so this information was very helpful.  She also stated that many students are held back by too much explicit instruction and too little guided practice in reading.  She suggests using the 20 percent to 80 percent rule, where the teacher gives 20 percent of time on instruction, and 80 percent on guided reading.  Some of the strategies that are discussed in this chapter will be helpful while teaching reading.  She suggests using re-reading as a good strategy for students to use to attain comprehension.  Also to make connections to other texts, to yourself, and to the world.  Some others are monitoring your reading for meaning, visualize your story as you read, ask questions while you are reading, make inferences, and apply new knowledge to what is known.

     Surveying the text is another strategy that would get the students interested and peak their curiosity in a story or book.  When I am going to begin a new story with my students, I always tell them to look at the title and author.  Then they look at the beginning of the story to see if they can tell me the name of a character or two.  We try to find the setting, so we can find the place on a map.
In a way, we are surveying the text.  I will keep using my strategies that I know are working, and I will add to them some of the strategies that I have read about in this chapter.  I would like to work on using a self-monitoring checklist, so the students will learn to self-monitor as they read.  Since most of my students are Ell's, I will use texts that are meaningful enough to support comprehension.  When I give them a formative assessment, maybe there will be improvement in their comprehension. I look forward to seeing them trying to reach new goals this year.
 

Lisa Littleton Blog Post #4 Chapter 4 Teach with a Sense of Urgency Reggie Routman

This chapter was not what I expected.  I think that most teachers do teach with a sense of urgency wanting every minute to count.  I have high expectations for my children because I want my children to become independent learners. 

I like the Optimal Learning model because it helps us understand and determine what our children need to learn new skills.  The table on page 44 makes the model easy to understand.  I think that we have been following this model with our Readers Workshop and didn’t realize it.  We have been modeling how-to with our students, we practice with them and then we have them use what they have learned to practice on their own.  

I agree with Routman’s statement on page 51 that learning stalls or regresses in students who do not have adequate and rich language to scaffold their reading and writing.  We as teachers need to read, read, and read to promote talk about stories that will expand language development.  Kindergarten students who know nursery rhymes will most likely read earlier than those who do not know nursery rhymes. We know that through nursery rhymes, children develop phonemic awareness.  Invented spelling is one of the best ways for children to acquire phonemic awareness.  We love stretching out the sounds in kindergarten.  (I love the expressions parent’s when they see their child’s writing for the first time.  They have a hard time getting passed the spelling issue.  We call it reading kindergartnese.  A language of our own.) 

I also agree with Routman that if we expect our children to achieve, we must model carefully, provide demonstrations and guided practice where they can try out what they have been taught.  Through this model, I believe children will be successful.  Our students are smart, willing and eager.  We must teach them with a sense of urgency to challenge them in appropriate and meaningful ways.

Lyndsey Gantt- Blog Post #4 Examine Guided Reading-Routman

After reading Routman’s chapter 10, Examine Guided Reading I felt good about the things I am currently doing in the classroom this year as well as learning a few new things. I am currently conferencing with students and forming small strategy groups to meet student’s needs and help them grow as readers. Conferencing is what drives my guided reading. I have struggled with grouping students all year. I have implemented the daily 5 and CAFÉ model which allows me to plan for mixed-ability groups. I use my conferences and students needs to form my groups and I am always finding that my students for the most part need the same strategies. It is hard to not use leveled text to teach my first graders the strategies they need to become readers. Routman says that he makes an exception for developing readers with similar needs, those students who are learning to read and focusing on reading strategies as they make sense of the text. He also states that this is where leveled texts are very helpful. Yay, so it is okay to use level text with beginning readers. I still find it difficult to have access to the text I feel are high quality and that promote reading for understanding.

             I also found it very interesting that Routman suggest that in first grade it is important to see your readers as often as possible, which I agree but he also says that meeting with four guided reading groups in an hour is very doable and I just can’t see that yet. I am hoping that comes with experience. I love our schedule and we are able to see our students two-three times a week and our struggling readers a few extra times. I believe the key to guided reading is management. The framework/model that we chose to use allows students to spend most of their time in the reading block reading. I feel as though we do a great job with this. Our students are with a small group, reading independently, or with a partner the majority of the time. This helps save a lot of time planning busy work and additional activities for students that are not in the guided reading group.

             What I found most beneficial for my growth as a teacher in this chapter was the excerpts from guided reading groups. I love the “Framework for Thinking About Guided Reading” for planning and working with students. The examples helped me answer some questions I had about the process of teaching guided reading lessons. I hope to continue to grow and learn as I teach guided reading.

Kim Anderson- Blog Post 5- Teach with a Sense of Urgency-(Routman)

Before I read this chapter I had a preconceived notion on what it would probably be about, but soon after I began reading I realized that it was nothing like what I expected. Teaching with urgency is what most teachers do daily.  It is deliberate. It is engaging our students so that they gain the most from each and every moment inside our classrooms. It is being mindful of each and every student and meeting their needs as individuals. It is making sure we are prepared and making sure that our students find a way to take some responsibility in their own learning. It is setting our expectations high and push our students just a little farther each time we step in front of them.
We need to draw our students into our teaching, so that they become part of the teaching experience. We want our students to become independent learners so that even when no one is in front of them teaching they are still learning. It is often better for students if you integrate smaller skills inside challenging more relevant information. For example, grammar can be integrated into narrative writing. This way students can not only work on grammar but work on it using their own writing. I also believe that when other subjects are integrated into reading the students have a better understanding of that subject. Such as social studies integration into language arts. Our fifth grade team has been doing this for years and I truly believe it helps student grasp the information better and apply it in different ways.
I love the section about interactive reading. I believe you can tell more about what a student understands by talking with them during certain portions of reading. Allowing them to discuss it with their peers and as a group helps with comprehension and vocabulary development. 
Also the connecting reading with writing is something I do daily. We practice  "Reading like Writers". We scavenger hunt or sentence stalking for sentences that we think are amazing. We talk about what makes them amazing and how we can utilize what makes them great sentences in our own writing.
Taking the time to create an environment that is conducive to our students success is of the utmost importance. We can do this by setting our expectations high and our students will meet them.  We can model and support our students through their learning. We can make sure they take responsibility in their own learning as well. Making sure we are prepared and mindful and our students are engaged and understand our high expectations will help make sure they are successful.

Summer Southerlin Blog Post 4, Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library, Ch. 5 Routman

     I had many different "take aways" from chapter 5 of Routman. One of the main aspects that jumped out at me, was allowing students to be involved in setting up the classroom library. I always figured students would "mess it up," or not understand how to properly put one together, but why can I not teach them? I can! As I continued to read about the idea I thought to myself, "my students understand genres, they know different authors, and have already began to show their interest. Why can't my students help me improve our library?" So I realized, this will be one of my new goals for my students. The library will not only be set up based on their interest and genres, but what makes sense to them as a class. I also feel allowing them to help in improving our library, it will cause them to have more ownership and pride in the books. They will take the time to set it up based on what is important to them, I just feel that pushes a sense of pride into their hearts.
     Another idea I took away from this chapter is having more nonfiction books. A lot more! On page 70, it discusses the study second-grade teachers constructed in New Jersey and how outstanding their students test scores were because they simply used nonfiction books to teach reading. Nonfiction books are not only vastly informational, but can be of extreme interest to students. The students are able to learn how to read, learn how to navigate nonfiction books (very useful in higher grades), and as the book said, learn about the world they live in. For students such as ours, I believe this is very important. They lack books at home, as well as simple experiences. No, a book can not replace an actual in person experience but it is better than never having the opportunity to learn about it in some form.
     My new goal I have set for my self after reading this chapter, is to redo my library with my awesome kiddos help! I want to learn more about their interest, encourage book talks, and have them help more organize the library based on genre, interest, and what makes sense to the students. I can not wait to see how they improve our classroom library.

Kim Anderson- Blog Post 4- Not This (Miller/Moss)

Time for specials, time for awards day, or we have a special presentation today in the auditorium.  Don't get me wrong, I know all of these things are important but it is so hard to find the necessary time to dedicate to uninterrupted reading. With so many interruptions during the day I have found it very necessary to become extremely creative when finding time for my students to read. I mean wholesome, "in the zone" type of reading. Where they are so immersed in a book they don't even notice that it's time for lunch or that they haven't gone to the bathroom in 3 hours. I understand that for this type of reading to take place it has to be practiced. The only way to practice is to find time to practice.
 First, lets get to know our students as readers, What do they like? What are their hobbies? How do they feel about themselves as readers? Do they even like reading? Once we have answers to these questions, we can better help our students utilize their reading time appropriately.
Next, look to see if there is anything we can condense or eliminate to make more time for reading. We must also keep our reading block pure. Sometimes we bog down the time we have set aside for reading with mini lessons that turn into not so mini lessons because we find teachable moments. It is difficult to walk away from those moments. I guess we have to find a way to make sure those teachable moments don't impede on our students reading time. It is difficult. It is something I struggle with daily. I want to make sure that my students get the needed time to truly focus on a book without being distracted or rushed.
Students need to be guided during this time as well. When getting to know our students as readers it is necessary to find out not just what they enjoy but also what they struggle with. We can focus our mini lessons on ways that the student can practice during reading time what they have the most difficulty mastering. We can also focus on helping students pick out just right books so that reading time is meaningful and productive.
Finding time is one of the most difficult task I believe all teachers face. I also believe that it is one that we face head on each day. I believe that all teachers want their students to become better readers through immersion and practice. However, I do not believe that there is one solution that will answer the question for every teacher. Hopefully one day each teacher will find the solution that works best for their students.

Confer # 4 - Routman (2003), Ch. 3 : Share Your Reading Life

 

          After reading from Routman’s Share Your Reading Life, I was really drawn into this chapter especially when the author was describing how important it was to start off the school year by talking to your students about the importance of reading. I liked everything she did with her students especially when she brought in all the books that she was reading at that point in time. I read a lot at home for relaxation and pleasure and there have been times in the past school years that I have brought the books that I was reading into my classroom to show the students. I would always do this when we used to have DEAR time. When I did this, I felt like the students really were excited and interested in what I was reading. I haven’t done that this school year yet but I plan to.

I agree with the author that what you model for the students when it comes to reading will help them understand the importance of it. She gave many ideas for teachers to do in their classrooms and even independently like reading journals and reading logs where the parents are not responsible for them but the students are. Helping the students who struggle with what books they like will help them more likely learn to like reading than if you assigned a book or if they just had to find one. I also liked that she introduced different genres to her class and how they each focused on a different one as they chose their books.

The biggest hurdle that I would have as a classroom teacher is sticking to a continuous reading journal for myself and remembering to write everything down from a book that I just read. I like it for the students to do as they read a book but I can relate to not exactly wanting to do it for all books read. It also made me realize that I do not give my students enough time to spend reading independently and that I need to work on that because how important reading is to becoming a successful individual.

Blog #4 Routman (2003) Chapter 8: Teach Comprehension- Rosie Vargas

Blog #4 Routman (2003) Chapter 8: Teach Comprehension- Rosie Vargas

For this blog I chose the chapter on Teach Comprehension. I know that for me personally I often have to reread text in order to comprehend it well. Just like the students I can read the words in a paragraph and still question what it was about so I thought this would be a good chapter to help improve comprehension. It happens too often when students read a text flawlessly and can only state simple facts about the text but not analyze it. I thought it was interesting that the author explains that perhaps too much emphasis is given on word calling, automaticity and fluency in the early grades often at the expense of true comprehension (Routman, 2003). I think in our school with such a high percentage of ESOL students it is important that we don’t mistake fluent readers with high comprehension readers.  In other word, simply because a student can read words without mistakes it doesn’t mean they know the meaning of all the words well enough to apply them to a deep level of comprehension. According to Routman, another reason some students may not achieve full understanding is because they lack the background, prior experiences, or knowledge of the way texts and authors work. There have been many times where I have stopped a reading to show an image or explain about a word in order to clarify meaning for the students.

This chapter has a lot of great strategies that readers can use in order to become more proficient. The three that I found most useful are; make connections; visualize and make inferences (Routman, p.118).  However, the text does caution against excessive use of strategies and the amount of time spent teaching all of them. Routman explains that students are spending large amounts of time learning and practicing these strategies often without knowing how to apply them.  I learned that like most things we must find a balance between teaching strategies and application. For this Routman suggest a 20-percent to 80- percent rule: We learned that on average, dedicating about one fifth of each period to explicit strategy instruction was sufficient to provide students insight into comprehension skills, which they then applied and extended in the remaining four fifths of the period (Routman, p.120).

Lastly, from this reading I have taken away that interacting with peers about what you read can help increase comprehension and enjoyment. I think this is a great strategy for students because they enjoy working with partners and getting a chance to talk to each other. Routman suggest that we provide more opportunities for students to talk with others about what they read through interactive reading, shared reading aloud, reciprocal teaching, literature conversations and partner reading (Routman, p. 127). I’m looking forward to reading more about ways to use these in the next chapters.

Singleton- Routman (2003), Ch. 12: You Only Have So Much Time

The biggest struggle I have as a teacher is that I only have so much time. This became especially true when I switched from having my students all day in a self-contained setting, to only having my students for 50 minutes a day.  I had to start doing a few things differently in my classroom to try and get the most out of my time. I had to start making word more meaningful and simple. This means I no longer can do as many fun crafts. If I do a craft I try to make it as simply as possible and include as much of my lesson into the craft as possible. I had to start incorporating assessment into things such as games. I will often play a game to keep learning fun for the students. They must write their answers on a white board. I keep points for correct answers. What the students don’t know is that this actually helps me assess each individual student to see who understands the skill and even what individual part they don’t understand. I also had to keep the class going at a lively pace. The book mentions that students often only hold their attention for 10 minutes unless they are interesting and working at a fast pace. I believe this is very true. My lessons are a very fast pace, we do not have long transition times where their attention could wander.

I would have loved to have read this chapter when I was teaching all subjects in a self contained class. This book gives so many ideas on how to keep learning meaningful all day. I love the idea of the transition times turning into teaching times. It is such a great idea to ask students spelling questions while they are cleaning up or walking down the hall. That gives the teacher a lot more time! 

Blog Post 4 Amanda Maciejewski- Routman Chapter 10

     Chapter 10 of Regie Routman’s book Reading Essentials, is another chapter that spoke to me. I chose this chapter because I feel like this year I have struggled with guided reading. I thought this chapter was going to tell me how guided reading is to be taught, but honestly it made me examine my own guided reading and also validated what I am already doing.
     One section that truly opened my eyes was the discussion on “broadening your groups and shortening the time you meet with them.” This year has been a bit challenging when it comes to our guided reading groups and time. In the years past we have been blessed to have a two push in reading teachers. This allowed us to see four groups in thirty minutes. I now see what a blessing they were to us, because it is hard for me and my assistant to see four groups in thirty minutes. This section made me think about how I could possibly allow my students more independent reading time during that guided reading time. This would also give my readers that need extra help that one on one time they need.
     Chapter 10 had a section just devoted to Kindergarten and guided reading. I must say many of her comments about Kindergarten were exactly how I feel. We have eliminated many of the crucial activities because we are so focused on our students being able to read. When I first started teaching Kindergarten I had centers twice a day. Now I am lucky if my students get ten minutes. Routman gave a list of classroom activities one kindergarten teacher had and stated that her students read just a well as ones with guided reading. Many of those things are present in my classroom today. Some I had to get rid of because I did not have time. This statement made me think about the way I taught when I first started to teach kindergarten. Those students were just as good of readers as the ones I have now. I seemed to have more time to address student’s needs back then too. I do not want to get rid of guided reading in my class, but I want to examine what I am doing so that I continue to, “embrace all aspects of child development.” (159)
     The discussion of what the other students are doing while you are teaching guided reading was also a wakeup call. I should have modeled more during the beginning of the year as to what the students should be doing. I have many students coming up to me during the switching of groups. They know what they are to be doing, yet they still wander over to see what I am doing. Modeling and acting it out would have been fun to do at the beginning. I am keeping a notebook of all the wonderful things I am learning this year that I would like to do next year. This one is the top idea on my list.
     Guided reading has always been one of my favorite times of the day. It is that time of the day when I really get to see my students growing as readers, because they are able to read to me in a small group. I feel like during my guided reading time I learn so much about my students and gives me a time to address individual needs. I have never questioned whether I needed to have guided reading in kindergarten as Routman states many kindergarten teachers wonder. I have always felt like it is a must in Kindergarten. I just need to spend more time examining what I am teaching and the time I am spending with my groups. Many of my students this year need small groups. Guided reading is giving me time to address all their needs.

Jessica Amsler's Blog Post 4: Routman: Chapter 4: Teach With a Sense of Urgency

This chapter was very interesting to me and pertained to what we are doing in first grade.  I really liked the teaching tip on page 49 because it is so important for us as teachers to reflect!  I got a lot out of reading the section: Integrate basic skills into challenging relevant curriculum on page 50.  I know I’ve mentioned it a lot in my past blogs, but I will mention it again.  This book is great to read if you are doing the Daily 5!  I used SRA since I started teaching.  That’s all I knew and I was scared to move away from it but I think my kids this year are better readers than my kids in the past.  They are not learning phonics and then reading a story that is hard to follow, they are reading what they choose to read.  Routman states that “focusing excessively on skills in isolation limits learning possibilities” and “Isolated drilling in the basics hampers low performing students because they fail to learn how to process new information effectively.”  I feel that my students are becoming better readers and learning this skills through integration rather than isolation.  

The teaching tip on page 51 that stated “instead of giving a test to see whether a student has phonemic awareness, examine a writing sample, such as a journal entry.”  This made me think about the Dominie writing part of the assessment.  First grade has always used Domnie to level our kids and this year we were introduced to the writing portion.  It was interesting to see my students’ results and helped me plan what I needed to teach.

The section about including Interactive reading was also helpful for me.  I am always asking questions during read alouds and my kids always answer.  They are now able to predict my question and I love to see their eyes light up or them wiggling on the rug because they want to tell me whether it is fiction or non-fiction or tell me who the main characters and the setting.  I often wonder if I should wait until the end to ask these questions.  I use turn and talk for other things, I think it will be good to have my students turn and talk to answer questions about the story.  I would also like to make a bookmark of the questions on page 53 so that my students could answer these questions on their own during silent or partner reading.

 As I read this I know that I have so many things to work on and I know I am going to become better with the Daily 5 over time.  It is nice to be doing what the author is discussing and get tips to become a better teacher rather than want to throw out what I’m doing and start over. Routman’s book has been very helpful so far!  I feel good about my teaching and our curriculum.  I’ve never had this feeling before-it’s a good feeling but a strange felling.   My grade level and I were discussing things that we can do better next year and years after that.  I am really having a hard time writing in my pensive as I’m conferencing with my students.  As I am working with them I am thinking “I need to write that down” and I plan to do it but it never happens.  Melissa shared an app called Evernote with our team but I haven’t taken the plunge yet.  If anyone has any tips for me, I would appreciate it.  I know how important it is but I just get wrapped up in the moment.  It will help me make every moment count and ensure that I am making good teaching decisions.

Cassie Heinz #4- Organize an Outstanding Library

I enjoyed reading Routman's section "Organize an Outstanding Library" and got a lot of ideas about how to improve my own classroom library. Routman states that a library should be the center of the classroom, which is something I also believe. When I student taught, I became just as frustrated as the students because of the little variety of high-interest books for the students. I felt that they were not engaged in reading due to the lack of books in their classroom they were interested in. I made it my goal to have a good library when I got my own classroom. My second year teaching, I became an even bigger advocate of a good classroom library when I had some difficult boys who tended to get in trouble after they finished their work. These boys were intelligent, but just got bored after finishing their assignments due to lack of engagement. I found out that they enjoyed non-fiction books about disgusting parts of history and went and bought them every one I could find. Once I got them reading How They Croaked and How They Choked and Disgusting History, all of the behavior problems went away because they were too immersed in a book to stir up trouble.

 Children should feel comfortable visiting the library and should have a cozy place to enjoy their books. I allow my children to visit the library whenever they need to and I allow them to sit wherever in the room they would like. I like Routman's emphasis on creating a library based on the children's interests. I try to accommodate my students' interests in my library each year. Some years I notice the students enjoy certain genres and titles more than others. My classroom library has turned into an eclectic and diverse mix based on the students' desires during the different years. One area of my library that has grown this year is the graphic novel section. My students have gravitated toward them more than ever. We are currently planning a graphic novel unit for the spring because of the students' interest. I pick up new book ideas when I work at Barnes and Noble. Working there allows me to look at the new books and discuss books with customers. I get a lot of different suggestions that I use when it comes to adding new books to my library.

 I also like Routman's emphasis on the fact that the school district leaders need to allocate money for classroom libraries. I have always believed that a classroom library should be the focus in a classroom and it is the gateway to helping a child learn. My textbooks that I'm sure cost a lot of money sit on my shelf every year and collect dust- they get used during tornado drills, but that is it. I wish the people in charge of the funding would ask the teachers what they really need. I know I would say that I need more high interest books in my room instead of these textbooks that might cover some of my standards. I can find fiction and non-fiction books for my library that teach the same material, but in a more authentic and engaging way. I'm sure that I could get 10-20 books in place of each textbook. I would like for the people higher up to realize that the money could be better spent on high interest picture and chapter books instead of textbooks- maybe these people should read Routman's book and other educational books that support this idea. :)

Dawn Mitchell's Blog Post 4: Conferencing Experiences and Regie Routman's Chapter 7 – Make Assessment Instruction’s Working Partner

Dawn Mitchell's Conferencing Experiences and Regie Routman's Chapter 7 – Make Assessment Instruction’s Working Partner

During the month of November  our application of formative assessments such as analysis of miscues, conferencing, kidwatching, reading response and more to guide our instruction and provide valuable feedback to our students.  

In November’s blendspace you will find a variety of resources including examples of using msv to analyze running records, yyn to analyze miscues, conferencing questions to guide both peer and teacher- student conferencing, excerpts of articles, suggestions for strategies to use with students after analysis, and relevant activities to help you to apply authentic reading assessments with your students.

This month I worked to apply the informal conferencing strategies that I learned about from Routman’s chapter 7 Make Assessment Instruction’s Working Partner.  In last month’s blog post I shared Routman’s Framework for informal reading conferences she outlined on page 104.  I loved how she began by asking students to bring her a book that they could read pretty well. 

Last week I met with my focus group of second grade students before school and we had a group reading conference.  I wanted to share that transcript with you and then share what I learned about my students from it. 

Favorite Book Conferencing

11/5/2015

7:15-8:15

Student I:

Book chosen: “Miss Fox’s Class Goes Green by Eileen Spinelli”

Why did you choose this book:  “Because her whole class had to take care of the school.

What did they do:  “They helped pick up trash.”

What else did they do? Can you give me some more details?:  “They all saw the principal and the teacher riding a bicycle.  Then they tried to ride a bicycle too.”

Would you recommend this book to someone:  “Because it’s helpful.”

What did you learn:  “Always try to help your school.”

Can you point to your favorite part and tell us a little bit about it?:  (Turns to page 26 and 27).   “They pick up trash without the teachers telling them to and they have a surprise party for the teacher because it is her birthday.”

Will you read this favorite part for us?  “Yes.”

*reads with accuracy and fluency

Would you like to write a book review?: “No, I want to write my best friend a letter about this book instead.  She will want to read it then.”

Okay, Let’s talk about what you could put into your letter?:  “I want to tell her how this book will make you want to take care of your school!” 

Student K:

Book Chosen:  “Meekats by Kari Schuetz”

Why did you choose this book:  “Because they stand on two legs.” 

What did you want to learn about Meerkats: “They dig holes.”

Why did they dig holes?  “They need homes.”

What did Meerkats make you think about:  “They have black eyes.”

Okay, I want to model/show you how to do a nonfiction book talk.

*I modeled how to do a book talk on Sharks. Student P engaged and discussed what he learned about sharks and student I chimed in and we had a shark talk.

What did I do in my book talk about sharks that you could do in your book talk about Meerkats?:

“You told us cool things about sharks and you told us that Eli used to be scared of sharks and wouldn’t get in the water but now that he has learned about them he likes learning about them and he knows they probably want eat him in the ocean because they like fat seals.”

Okay, so can you try out looking through your Meerkat book and decide what you want to tell us about Meerkats?”  “Yes!”

*After Student P shared with us about Henry and Mudge, Student K said he was ready to share with us about Meerkats.

“Meerkats live in groups of mobs.  One mob can have 40 meerkats.” He asked, “What is a mob?”  We talked about how a mob is a large group and how meerkats live together in big families.

Next, student K said, “They eat scorpions and insects, and bird eggs!”  Student C said, “What! That’s crazy!”

Student K shows us a grasshopper!  Student C says, “They have a stinger in it and they could sting the meerkats!” 

“How do you think the meerkat keeps from getting stung?” Palmer said, “I think they bite the tail off.” Student C says, “I think they use their teeth to crunch it up.”

Student C said he could learn more about them on direct tv on called Nat Geo Wild!  “I watch it with my dad sometimes!  They show us about meerkats sometimes.”

Who do you want to recommend your book to a friend?:  “Yes!”

Student P said, “Pick me!  I want to read this one.  I want to learn about animals and I like that scorpion page!”

Student K began writing his letter of recommendation to Palmer.

Student P:

What book did you choose:?  “Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All by Cynthia Rylant

Why did you choose this book:  “Because the dog is so big and he jumps all around and he licks a little boy.”

What is the little boy’s name:  “Henry, but what I don’t like about it is that they don’t they don’t tell you Henry’s mom and dad’s name.  They just tell us Henry’s mom and Henry’s dad.”

Student P can you give us a book talk?”  “Henry has a birthday and they have a piñata and they have it outside.  They bring a fish birthday cake! (He shows us the picture! Student K laughs and says, I love this book too).  They have these three games that they made.  They had ring toss, go fishing, and a potato sack race.  The winner got rings and baby goldfish.  The winner of the potato sack race got potato chips.

Who would you recommend this book to?:  “My friend Will B.”

Why:  “He’s your friend and he goes to my church and he was in first grade with me last year.”

Why do you think he would love this book?:  “He has animals at his house too. I think he has a kitty.”

What is your favorite part that you want to read to us?”  “He chooses page 24 -26 where they hit the piñata.

He read fluently and Student K began reading with him. They both proceeded to read together through page 29.

Student K asked, “What is taffy?”  (Taffy was in the piñata)  We discussed what taffy is.

Student P began writing a letter like Student I to his friend Will to recommend this Henry and Mudge book.

Student C:

What book did you choose?:  “Big Max by Kin Platt

Why did you choose this book?:  “Because it’s about a detective who is helping people find their missing stuff.”

Can you do a book talk on this book and tell me your favorite parts?”  Student C begins to read it out loud.

*One thing I noticed is that Student C substituted cell phone for telephone in the text. J

Student C said, “I already took an A.R. test on this and I made a 100 on it.”

What is your favorite part?:  “My favorite part is when the elephants dance.”  He turns to page 54 and begins to read with expression.  He paused for punctuation.

Tell me why you loved this part?”  “I loved this part because it’s about a birthday cake and my birthday just passed.  I turned 8.  I had birthday cake too.”

Student C would you recommend this book to someone?:  “Yes, I think they might like it because they might like detectives too.”

Who do you think would like it?:  “Haden because he probably likes detectives like me.”

Would you like to write him a letter too?:  “Yes.”

On page 107 Routman reminds us to teach intentionally.  She says, “Any time we spend with a child is an opportunity to teach.  If we make an assessment and don’t use it to move teaching and learning forward, the assessment is largely a waste of time.  Use your informal reading evaluations to do need-based teaching.  Ask yourself “What’s most important to teach in this moment for this child to move him forward?”

In conferencing with my small group I noticed that our students were re-telling their books or starting from the beginning to read the book without really engaging in a conversation. After “I”s conference I asked her if she wanted to do a book review because she seemed to really love her book and she said that she’d like to write a letter to her friend K instead.  We went with this and I saw it as a teachable moment.  While she was starting on her letter, student “K” began his conference and while he told us random facts he really struggled to engage us in the book or to cohesively really explain why he chose the text and what he got out of it.  I saw this as an opportunity to introduce the concept of a book talk. 

The book talk mini-lesson provided students with a model for talking about their books and it served to inspire the rest of our focus group to consider writing a letter to a friend to recommend a book. After modeling a book talk about an animal Eli and I loved learning about, “sharks”, we discussed how a book talk allows you to really share not only what you read but what you learned, why you loved it, and how to engage others in wanting to read it to, kind of like “I”’s letter only in person.  It worked and inspired “P”’s book talk, “K”s book talk, and “C”’s and it led us to want to use the same language and purpose in our book talks in our letters to our friends recommending the book to them.

I enjoyed my conferencing time with my small focus group this past week.  That time was valuable for us to share books of choice that we’d read about topics or characters that we were interested in.  I learned a lot about my students which by itself was a valuable outcome of our time.  Having the opportunity to connect a real world experience of sharing our love of a good book with our peers through a letter (which wasn’t even my idea but “I’s”!) made me thankful for the reciprocity of reading and writing and for the teachable moments our students provide us. 

Sincerely,

Da