Allie Meier Blog Post 3-Why Not? What Works? Miller and Moss

Independent Reading is an essential practice at any grade level and so students can  develop background knowledge, improve their fluency and comprehension, heightens motivation, increases reading achievement, and helps students broaden their vocabulary and in our school, expanding our students vocabulary is essential and necessary. As teachers we should provide practices that are supportive to our students based on their needs.  Practices that are critical for effective independent reading, which have been utilized this year by my classroom on a daily basis are classroom time to read, to choose what they read, explicit instruction. My job to support this process is to question my readers about what they read, support them with strategies and know what books my students have in their book boxes to make sure of variety and relevance. The teacher must play an active role in knowing their students and the process as a whole.  The teacher must structure, guide, teach, interact with, monitor and hold students accountable for time spent reading independently and silently. This chapter explains how important and crucial  This will help all teachers understand the purpose of independent reading and the correct way to implement it in the classroom. This year has been a year to implemented and now that it is the end of the year I can see how effective the implementation of these principal help they end up where they need to be as reader by the end of first grade. Motivation has been so high this year and I have truly seen the power that self selected, independent reading time each day has on my students. No turning back now for this teacher!

Rosie Vargas. Blog # 7 Routman (2003) Chapter 2: Bond with Your Students

This was by far my most favorite chapter in this book. I highly recommend it to be a must read for all teachers. I personally enjoy bonding with my students and getting to know them. Sometimes it is hard for me since I teach the entire school but it helps that I am able to see these students grow as learners year after year. I really like the quote Routman shared from Don Holdaway when he told his child’s teacher that “you don’t have to like my child, but you must bond with her if she’s to learn anything at all! That’s your job as a teacher (Routman, p.11).” I think it is our job as teachers to get to know our students in a way that will make them feel that we care about them. If our students know we care about them and want them to be successful they are more likely to believe in themselves. Routman explains that “unless we reach into our students’ hearts, we have no entry into their minds (Routman, p.12).”

As a teacher in a Title I school I have come to realize that we have many students that need good role models and that we are not just teaching reading, math, science and social studies, but we are often teaching life lessons. We model respect by the way we treat our students and other teachers in our school. We have to constantly use words of encouragement with our students because they may not hear it at home as often as they need to.

Lastly, I really enjoyed the section on Enjoying Your Students. Routman recognizes that joy is missing from too many of our schools and classrooms. Routman describes the difference in the students of teachers who were joyous and those who were not. The students of the joyous teacher were drawn to her like a magnet and that they were eager and accomplished readers and writers and the burdened teachers’ students reflected their teachers’ demeanor where work was getting done but there seemed to be no enjoyment in doing it and very little pride in accomplishment (Routman, p.22). Sometimes with all that is required from teachers outside the classroom lessons it can be easy to forget to be joyous. However, we must always remind ourselves of the reasons we got into this profession and find a way to keep that joy alive.   

Blog 7: Jessica Amsler’s Routman Chapter 12: You Only Have So Much Time

I was not going to read the last chapter and write about it for my final blog but it was recommended to me and I’m so glad I read it!  The chapter is titled “you only have so much time” and this week was the perfect time to read it!  I planned on coming back from spring break feeling well rested and ready to finish out the year.  Instead I came back and faced another mile long to-do list.  I felt this way when we returned after Christmas break and I don’t know if there will ever be a time that I do not feel like this.  I feel as if I’m drowning all of the time and I can’t keep up with all of the things I need to do.  Routman says that teachers need to stop consuming themselves with school work and do something for themselves, I did that over spring break and now I’m struggling to stay afloat and its only Tuesday!

I really liked Routman’s ideas of how to cut out the things that are not meaningful to student learning.  I feel that I’ve done pretty good with this so far this year compared to years past.  I feel like having a two hour block for reading really makes a difference.  I think it would very helpful if it were uninterrupted! On page 211, Routman talks about listing our interruptions in two columns-“in our control” and “not in our control”.  I think this would be very eye-opening if we did this! I feel that I spend so much wasted time opening the door every day for reasons that I can’t control.   I also like the idea of limiting the announcements to one day a week rather than every morning.  I think this would save a lot of time! I liked the suggestions she gave on page 216 for school wide conversations and professional development.  Having students come in late or leave early so that teachers could meet and have professional development would be amazing! It would really help with our families and our lives outside of school.

The suggestions that Routman makes about word walls on page 210 were also great for me to read.  I think I have a beautiful word wall that is not used very well.  It is actually covered up with a RAN chart for our science unit.  I need to make it a point to use my word wall effectively or use the space for something else.  I am also going to reevaluate my morning routine for next year after reading this chapter.  Routman made a great point about adults coming in and getting right to work-we do not do this! We socialize and talk about things that went on but we don’t give our students time to do this.  They are around each other for thirty minutes or more in the hallway but they are supposed to sit silently and then come in, unpack, and get to work on math.  I would hate to give up the math in the morning because it is a review of skills that we’ve done throughout the year, but should I give them time to read or talk amongst themselves?

I have really enjoyed reading this book and I have many things to consider for next year but for now I am going to enjoy some time outside of school and be an interesting person!

Blog 6: Jessica Amsler’s Routman Chapter 8: Teach Comprehension

As I read Chapter 8 I thought about what I’ve taught my students about comprehension this year and what I’ve taught my students about comprehension in the past.  I also reflected a lot on teaching SRA.  I can see how SRA can be beneficial to a small group of students but as a whole group I did not know what all of my students were capable of.  I know that when I used SRA my students were able to word call and go back and find a few details about the story but they were not able to dig deep into a story and make any meaning out of the stories.

In the past we used SRA as our reading instruction and some students were great at word calling and had really good grades while others did not do so well on the timed fluency checkouts and daily worksheets.  I felt that the stories were not great to discuss or make inferences with.  There was not much in the story so it was hard to make connections or inferences with them.  My students were not learning skills that good readers need.  They were not learning the strategies that they needed for their future.  Now we use balanced literacy and the students are exposed to strategies that help them comprehend, read accurately, read fluently, and expand their vocabulary on a daily basis.  I can see that SRA could still be beneficial to a small group of my students but my students this year seem to be on higher reading levels than students in years past.  I am not trying to bash SRA but I am interested to see how this group of students do in the future compared to past students who were not exposed to “Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary” during balanced literacy every day.

I really like that Routman talked about how important it is to for the teacher to model how he/she reads.  I think we can show many strategies but we need to show our students what we do as well.  I try to talk to them about strategies that I use when I read new books and even how I pick out books.  After reading this chapter, I showed them this book and where I have sticky notes, where I’ve highlighted, and where I wrote in the margins.  I stressed that we do not do this unless the books belongs to us but I wanted them to see what good readers do and that I would be able to answer comprehension questions about what I read.  I showed them how this would help me use what I read and how it helped me become a better reader.  Another thing that really stood out to me was on page 118, Routman said “You can’t start teaching comprehension in grade 3.  You start teaching it the day kids enter preschool or kindergarten.”  I think this is so important and it helps our kids so much! As our school year comes closer to the end, I hope my students will take these skills with them and use them in the future

Keri Lyles- Blog Post 7- Routman Ch. 12-You Only Have So Much Time

    A long time ago I remember saying that I didn't have enough time to do something and the person I was talking to looked at me and said that we all have the same 24 hours in a day and we have to decide the things that are worthy of that time.  I have often thought of that conversation (even though I can't even remember who I was talking with!) in life situations but also in my classroom.  I make time for the things that I value-like reading Outlander or watching NCIS: LA. :)  However, time is still elusive and slips away from me!  I loved the excerpt from Better Than Life from this chapter:  "Time spent reading is always time stolen"..."From life's obligations" (p. 217).  That is such a cool and different way to think about reading-stealing time.  I love it!!  It is important that I remember that I have to take the time to read as well as show my students that reading is an action worthy of our time.  As I was reading the chapter I found myself thinking of our schedule and how we are trying to tweak it to allow us more time for independent reading.  This is something we are working on for next year and I am excited.  I also miss my daily read-aloud time, but it was something I just didn't have time for!  That's so not true!  I just need to "steal the time" to do it every day!  It would be worth every second.
     I also like the idea of presenting mystery words every day or so for the kids to solve.  I think it would be so much fun to give them a clue and some of the word's letters and have them investigate the possibilities until they found the correct word!  I think this would help them to get excited about new words and make them more aware of new words they may encounter when reading independently.
    I appreciated the way Routman ended the text with a discussion about "ensuring that our students love learning" (p.218).  This has always been my number one goal as a teacher and I have often told those around me that test scores do not matter that much to me.  What matters is that I helped to spark a fire: a love of knowledge and learning that will last forever.  If someone learns to love learning they will never stop learning and that is what I hope for all of my students.
    This year has been especially tough for many of us and I think a lot of that is because it seems like many people continuously try to suck the joy out of teaching.  We can't let this happen-as I constantly have to remind myself.  As Routman says, "If we are to create a thirst for knowledge and learning in our students and ourselves, we must put the joy back into our lives, savor the small victories, cheer our students on, and be unwavering advocates for them.  Do whatever [we] need to do to guarantee that each and every student not only can learn but also savors learning" (p.221).

Amen.  I agree with every word of the above quote and I hope I will always remember the truth and importance of her words.

Rosie Vargas. Blog # 6 Routman (2003) Chapter 12: You Only Have So Much Time

Rosie Vargas. Blog # 6 Routman (2003) Chapter 12: You Only Have So Much Time

I think this is a problem that many teachers face. It often feels that there is just not enough time in the day to cover everything that needs to be taught. My lesson planning is a lot different than a homeroom teacher so I do appreciate that. However, I am involved in afterschool program, adult education and HOPE class so I often feel like there isn’t enough time to get everything done. In this chapter Routman gives a lot of great tips on how to better manage your time in the classroom. In order to make every minute count Routman suggest that we continually ask ourselves when planning, How is this activity helping my students become more independent as readers, writers, and thinkers (Routman, p. 205)? And if it is not than we should consider putting it to the side for the time being.

Something else I thought was interesting in reading this chapter was the section about fighting for more time for students who struggle. Routman states that we sometimes send our struggling kids out of the room for skill and drill and “corrective” programs and that because of this they miss valuable instruction time that they need most. I have heard many conversations about this from teachers. However, my understanding is that this is usually not in the teachers’ control. Some of these services are mandated by the state or the school leadership. I know there are some students that get pulled out for more than one service and this makes it hard for the teacher to find the best time for that student to leave the classroom.

 Another helpful tip I learned is to combine activities and integrate learning whenever possible. I try to do this during my Spanish classes especially in the upper grades. I try to find lessons where I can teach a core subject during my time with the students. For example, with my fourth graders I recently taught a lesson where we learned about the Spanish explorers and their expeditions to the Spanish-speaking countries.

This chapter was very helpful on making the most of your time at school. 

Blog Post #7 Lyndsey Elliott's Routman Chapter 6&7: Plan for and Monitor Independent Reading/Make Assessment Instuction's Working Partner

After reading Routman's chapters 6 and 7, I realized independent reading has been my main focus this year with some focus on assessment. I focused so much on structure and procedures this year that next year I will fine tune my independent reading and focus more on assessments that will drive my instruction. Implementing independent reading this year has taught me more about my students learning than any other structure or program that I have used in the past. Everything I have read in the last couple of years has supported independent reading and the research behind it. Routman states that just adding more time and space for independent reading is not enough. I agree with him and believe we need a carefully designed, structured reading program that includes demonstrating, teaching, guiding, monitoring, evaluating, and goal setting along with student choice. Yes! This is what our school needs to move students forward. I strongly believe that having a structured reading program such as the one just mentioned will help improve student reading achievement, overall. Routman and I believe that any reading program that substantially increases the amount of reading students do will impact their reading achievement. I am still concerned about our struggling readers. According to Routman and other research our low achieving students need far more real reading and writing using authentic texts. Right now my lowest students are the ones only getting direct instruction programs and they are missing out on independent reading time in the classroom. My plan for next year is to try and schedule my lowest students’ time during the day for independent reading even if they are out of the classroom most of the day for direct instruction programs. I know that I have had a difficult time with giving students enough teacher feedback during independent reading. I conference but not as much as I should or would like to. I plan to ensure my students are applying what I have been teaching them so that we continue to grow and set new goals together. Reading for understanding is the most important part of the reading process to me, and I hope to do a better job monitoring students understanding while reading. Beings that I am confident in my independent reading program next year I plan to work on perfecting the program with additional resources. Another goal I have for next year is to add a variety of reading materials other than books to my classroom library. Now I need to spend some time gathering reading materials, such as, magazines, catalogues, instruction booklets, student-published stories, newspapers, comic books, raps, and poetry. I want my students to have access to lots of reading material that interest them.      


          Our Daily 5 reading workshop framework lends itself to almost everything in chapter 6 and 7. I feel not only my independent reading time but also how I use partner reading in my classroom. I think it is very important to allow student to partner read a lot in primary grades because they learn so much from one another as well as how to collaborate and discuss books. Just-Right Books is something I spent 6 weeks teaching how to do this year and I feel as though it has been successful but I will need to monitor my students through conferences a little more than I am currently to make sure students are reading the majority of just-right books. One of the things suggested in chapter 6 is to bring in text in which I can read the words but don’t have the background and vocabulary to understand it. I am looking forward to adding this activity when teaching about just-right books next year. I feel good about my reading instruction and the way I assess with the framework I use but I do plan on doing more conferencing and informal assessments during reading. I will refer to the framework in this book for informal reading conferences and child-friendly reading goals. Working on the way and amount of informal assessment I use will hopefully teach me to teach more intentionally. I know the importance of looking at what a student needs at the moment and moving them forward even though it’s hard to do consistently sometimes without addressing the entire class. To conclude my thoughts on chapter 7, I wanted to say that implementing SLO’s this year is accountability for teaching reading and because of them our school now has a policy in place that will hopefully contribute to student success in the future.