Jill McDougald's Jan./Feb. Blog Post #6 NOT THIS Is There Enough Time? And Is Time Enough to Support Independent Reading? Section 1, Miller

In Section 1, Miller states that children need to read a lot to be "thoughtful, strategic, and proficient readers".  She talks about students and teachers reading independently during SSR/DEAR.  This is a great idea for all to be reading BUT there are kinks in this practice.  First, she talks about finding time in our day for independent reading time as being very important.  Then students need to be monitored and given feedback to help them grow as readers.  If this isn't done, some students may struggle quietly in their own little reading spot without the teacher even realizing it.

After reading this section, I need to help my students understand before they start independent reading time, they need to be reading books that are meaningful and enjoyable to them.   During my conference time, my feedback will guide them in making their choices next time they are finding "the just right" book for them.  I hope after encouraging them a couple times, they will make the right choice for them to experience successes in their reading.  I also need to help the student gain meaning from what they have read. I know I need to keep my students motivated and engaged during independent reading time. I also realize my students need to be given more opportunities to read during the day not just during independent reading time.

Donna Lowe's Blog #6 Routman, Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

There has been a huge emphasis over the past two years within our district to create outstanding classroom libraries.  Our school and district have been supportive to provide more books and organizational materials to make this happen in every classroom.  "Model classrooms" were created to help provide direction and ideas to teachers.  I appreciate the effort of our district and my principal to provide the books and resources needed to make this happen in every classroom. 

My own classroom library is evolving year after year.  At this point I am waiting for a grant to be funded to provide me with more book baskets.  I know that I will be getting more books for lower level readers and I am running out of basket space and closet space!  I enjoy the way that my library is organized and I think it works well for my students.  In the future I plan to have more baskets and a more topical organization.

One of the requirements for my students is to have 2 books in their reading baskets that are in their own reading range and 2 or 3 more books of any reading range.  They can be books that are too easy or too difficult, they just need to be books for enjoyment.  I appreciated the section of this chapter on "light reading".  More than anything I want my students to enjoy reading.  Sometimes that means reading a book that your mama has read to you 100 times at home.  Sometimes that means picking up a chapter book because it makes you feel so smart and you like to look for words that you know or look at the pictures.  I can appreciate all of these reasons a child picks up a book.  All I care about is that they "pick up a book" and get to know and love books. 

Routman provided some great strategies as to how to include students in creating and maintaining a classroom library.  In my own classroom we have share times after our independent reading time where students get to showcase a favorite book.  This is a great way to get other students interested in more books.  Everyday I have at least one student ask me, "Can I share this book today at the carpet?"

Routman also suggested that having multiple books or book sets can encourage shared reading.  I have found this to be very true in my own classroom.  In fact, I have even had students hunt down multiple copies, bring them to me, and say "I want to start a book club with my friends using these books."  It's a wonderful and exciting thing to watch students find ways to enjoy reading. An organized classroom library definitely helps promote reading!

Beth Sullivan-January/February Blog #6 Routman Ch. 6 & 7: Plan for and Monitor Independent Reading/Make Assessment Instruction’s Working Partner

         I have always thought that I was providing time for my students to read independently but what I was actually having my students do was sustained silent reading. Last school year I began to implement a daily independent reading time. My goal for this year has been to improve on my classroom library as well as finding a conferencing system that works for me and is a benefit to my students.  This chapter provided insight into the difference between sustained silent reading and independent reading as well as the research supporting independent reading.  I love how Routman points out that giving struggling readers good reading instruction is not enough.  They also need time to read!  My students have made great gains in reading this year and I know that it is largely due to the early implementation of independent reading.  Last year I did not begin independent reading until after Christmas this year I started it in September. This chapter also addressed independent reading time in a kindergarten classroom.  Even though, especially early in the year, many kindergarten students are not yet reading there are many important skills that can be taught through independent reading.  Routman shared that independent reading in a kindergarten classroom is a great way for students to develop positive feelings and attitudes about reading.  I agree!  Finally, Chapter Six provided insight on partner reading.  I have had my students do some partner reading but this is an area that I would like to develop and have my students participate in more often.  My kindergarten students are excited and eager to read and are very proud of their own reading progress. I think that partner reading is a great way to help them use new reading skills and gain independence.  I also know that they will enjoy reading together. 

Chapter Seven focused on making assessments count.  I enjoyed the focus on using informal reading conferences to assess the reading skills and achievement of students.  Reading conferences are big part of my reading assessments.  It is so true that reading conferences should be relaxed and a positive experience for students.   My goal is to conference with each of my students at least once a week.  This often does not happen.  Routman points out that teachers should meet with struggling readers at least once a week and the rest of the students at least once a month.  This makes me feel so much better!  I have been very concerned that I am not getting to all of my students each week.  While my goal is still to meet with every student each week I know that my priority should be on my struggling readers.  Finally, I found the framework for an informal reading conference very helpful.  There were many great ideas in this section.  One of the big areas that I know that I need to work on during conferencing with my students is goal setting.  I often feel like the goals are my goals for them and that I have not allowed them to take an active role in setting the goal.   I also need to do a better job of helping them understand what progress they have made in reading and in achieving their goal or goals. I love independent reading time and my students love independent reading time!  I wish I had read these two chapters years ago!

Dawn Mitchell's March/April Blog Post "Examine Guided Reading" Routman Chapter 10

Dawn Mitchell's Examine Guided Reading Chapter 10

During the month of February we are learning about Literacy Development.   In both our choice and our required readings this month educational researchers explain the different ways our students grow and develop as readers and writers and their articles provide us with insight and suggestions in how we can best support and foster the literacy growth of our students. 

In March’s blendspace you will find a variety of resources we’ve included for you including the Notes/Thinking chart from Jennifer Serravallo’s Reading Strategies professional development text to use as you navigate through making connections with the four readings from this month.  Also included is the ATLAS Looking at Data protocol that we introduced to you to help analyze authentic student assessment data that can help you determine where students are as readers and writers and what support they need to grow next.   You will also find in our blendspace this month’s tech tool to take called storybird (www.storybird.com) which is a great web 2.0 resource for student publishing of their own books as well as poems. 

This month for my blog post, I have chosen to read chapter 10 “Examine Guided Reading” from Routman’s Reading Essentials for many reasons.  First, this is a classroom structure that many teachers I have the honor of working with utilize in various grade levels in multiple ways and for multiple purposes so I wanted to find out some basic criteria for effective guided reading that could provide a foundational basis for us as a whole for guided reading. 

Second, this is a classroom structure that I have had experience with as a fourth grade teacher and appreciated the structure it provided to work with a small group of students around a shared text to provide support that scaffolded students towards independence, and I wanted to expand my knowledge base.  Second

To fulfill my first purpose for reading I discovered that Atwell’s holistic definition of guided reading is, “…most often defined as meeting with a small group of students and guiding and supporting them through a manageable text.  Students are grouped with others at a similar reading level and supported to use effective reading strategies.  Often, there are “before, during, and after” activities and discussion in which students talk about, think about, and read through the text.” (page 150) Routman goes on to explain that her view of guided reading is broader and can be any context in which the teacher guides one or more students through some aspect of the reading process. 

To fulfill my first purpose for reading to grow myself as an educator I decided to use Seravallo’s Notes/Thinking Chart to hold what I learned from Routman and what it compelled me to think about.

Notes – What Routman Says	Thinking – My Thoughts
“Be Cautious About How You Group Children.”  Routman says “Once students are already reading, grouping students so narrowly is unnecessary…Personally, I am no longer comfortable ability grouping beyond second grade.  I worry about the message such grouping sends to students – a message that they are somehow less capable.  If you group by   ability, make sure you keep it short (ten to fifteen minutes) and provide daily opportunities for more varied groups – whole-class shared reading, heterogeneous small groups, partner reading, independent reading.	I agree with this thought 100%.  I have ethical issues with ability grouping students in the same homogenous group all year long.  I have seen how this unintentionally labels students and in doing so, limits what instruction we provide and what they can do. I do appreciate the suggestions Routman provides in her section on opportunities for flexible grouping and have tried several of her suggestions. (page 153) *literature circles *Re-reading and discussing a story with a group *Reading with a partner *Reading a small chunk or passage from a *book with a group during whole class interactive reading. *Engaging in reciprocal teaching *Rereading part of a familiar text as Readers Theatre.
“Be sure the texts you use are of the highest quality.  Your guided reading lesson will only be as good as the text you use.” (page 154) “Because the quality of books varies widely, be sure you carefully examine the ones you use for guided reading…For older students, put more emphasis on interest than on levels.  Once a student is a competent reader, you don’t have to worry so much about exact levels.”	YAASSSS!  Preach it Routman!  Too many times we provide students with mass produced “leveled readers” that are boring, have poorly done illustrations, and are not interesting enough to provoke discussions and extended thinking.  I loved the checklist Routman provides on page 155 to identify qualities of an excellent test for guided reading.
“…you don’t need to meet with every group every day…Once students are independent readers at their grade level, you will not need to see them every day in guided reading group:  two or three days a week is sufficient, especially if you have a strong shared reading program and a well-monitored independent reading program.	This is reassuring to here because I have found that many times I need to adjust my structures depending on my students’ needs and what the data tells me they need.  For example, there have been times students’ needed an extended independent reading block because they were “into” their books and we’d extended stamina and I was conferencing with students.  There’ve also been times when we were in a really in the zone with writing workshop and I needed to spend longer one or two days a week to maximize student motivation for the task and to make progress with their student driven products.  Knowing that consistency that you meet with students takes priority over consistency when you meet with students matches what works for me in my practice.
“Make Time for Independent Reading Your First Priority…Be consistent about reading aloud, maintain a daily (monitored) independent reading program, and implement shared reading and guided reading flexibly as contexts for demonstrations, strategies, and practice.” (page 158)	Yes!  I definitely appreciate this clarifier in this chapter.  Everything I’ve read points to independent reading of choice texts is the number one factor in promoting reading growth.  I know firsthand when implementing a new structure it can take over and dominate your literacy block crowding out any time for other equally or even more meaningful structures.  Independent reading and writing are the priority.  Guided reading supplements this.
“Keeping your focus on learner-centered reading instead of on group-centered reading enables you to make the best teaching decisions for your students.  Once again, you teach students, not programs.  Decide first what it is you want and need to teach and then what the best contexts are for teaching to ensure students are learning and enjoying learning to read.” (Page 160)	This needs to be a bill board…A giant poster…A commercial… A required public service announcement that plays repeatedly on all airwaves…Seriously I love me some Regie Routman! #makethebestteachingdecisionsforyourstudents
“Modeling exactly what we expect students to do must start the first day they enter our classroom.  When we have established a classroom where we have bonded with our students and treat them respectfully, they return that respect… Expect students to manage their own behavior. My single best piece of advice is to ignore distracting behavior. Do not intervene unless it’s an emergency.  You are letting students know that the teaching you are about to do is critically important and that they are now in charge.”	Can anyone say Harry Wong?  I had major flashbacks to The First Days of School Text but Routman and Wong and Marsha Tate along with a host of other experts in promoting independent behaviors in students suggest that we must teach students what we expect and showing, not just telling is effective in helping to create consistency in our classroom procedures and routines.  Excellent anchor chart ideas that also reminded me of the suggestions for I-Charts from the authors of The Daily Five on page 164 and 165.
“If the first question we ask students after reading is, “What words did you have difficulty with?” we are giving them the message that reading is about getting the words right.  I always ask first – even with nonreaders – “Tell me about what you just read” so students always know we read for understanding.” (page 167)	Yes! Reading = Meaning We must not reduce our reading instruction to isolated word de-coding, skill and drill, or fact/recall questions.  We read to learn, to know, to grow.
“Don’t jump right in when a child makes an error.  Students need opportunities to problem-solve in order to learn to monitor and correct themselves.” (page 174)	I believe in this whole-heartedly but find that at times I struggle controlling my first impulse to jump in and help students.  I am not helping them when I am doing the work for them.  I am actually sending the message to them that I don’t think they can do it themselves.  I want to build capacity not limit it.
“Underlying all purposes for reading is the question, “How is what I am doing today going to help students become more independent readers?” (page 168)	Yep!  That is the ultimate driving essential question for us as reading teachers.  How are we growing readers into leaders?
*Excerpts From Guided Reading Groups from page 175-182	Must Keep for Future Reference – These transcripts of actual guided reading lessons are a great resource for any teacher, myself included when planning to implement guided reading with their grade level.

Thanks Regie Routman for the wonderful suggestions and advice.  Thanks to Jenniffer Serravallo or the great structure that helped me hold my thinking.

Sincerely,

Dawn

Jayna Lehrer - Chapter 10: Examine Guided Reading Blog #6 (Jan/Feb)

Routman defines Guided Reading as “meeting with a small group of students and guiding and supporting them through a manageable text. Students grouped with others at a similar reading level are supported to use effective reading strategies.” Here at AMES I personally feel that this is one of the most vital components of our kindergarten curriculum. We accomplish these goals through our Read Well curriculum along with literacy centers.

In my Kindergarten classroom I use the Read Well curriculum along with literacy centers to achieve this goal of supporting the students where they are in terms of reading. In read well our role, much like that of guided reading is to evaluate the child’s progress, teach the child what he most needs to know, set goals with the child, and move him forward in the reading process.  Guided practice is given as part of the read well program in which the students receive practice through means such as partner reading, reciprocal teacher, reading one-on-one with a teacher or tutor or shared reading. My literacy centers work much of the same way only focusing in on certain skills that the students need extra practice with.

I appreciate the framework that Routman provided on page 170-173 of this chapter. It is a flexible guide that gives numerous possibilities for applying what I have already been practicing with my students. The other component of this chapter that I took solace in was his advice “to ignore distracting behavior” and to not intervene unless it’s an emergency. It is important to let the students take ownership of their own learning, even if it sometimes may not go exactly according to “my plan.”

 

 

 

Jennifer Pitman: Blog Post #6 Reading Essentials Chapter 9: Shared Reading

There are so many components in teaching reading! There is NO right way which is what intimidates us as teachers, especially right brained ones like me.  In Math, you use operations, equations, formulas, etc to solve and arrive at an answer.  It's "black and white" not gray in finding where the mistake was in arriving at the answer.  However in Reading the options, opinions, teaching solutions are endless which can be fun and challenging in a good way.  I thoroughly enjoy reading but I don't feel as confident teaching reading as I do math and science because of the variety of styles of instruction.  This book has taught me other ways to look at teaching in how to approach all readers.  I haven't been overwhelmed in applying the strategies suggested.

In this chapter I particularly liked the framework for each persons role for shared reading in all grade levels: teacher, student, text, purpose, advantages, procedures, and evaluations.  This chapter helps to open thoughts about how I felt about the lesson and guides you as the teacher how to self reflect upon the lesson.  This is so important and easy to skip.  In doing a self reflection it helps me to evaluate myself along with benefits gained in the lesson.  Keeping track of improvements, strengths along with weaknesses as the teacher and our students will change each year with each class.  In the reading experience, shared reading is one interactive way for students to share the reading of a book or other text while being supported by the teacher.  It is the teachers job to model the skills of proficient readers, including fluency and expression. Our students need to see and hear our struggles, learn from our mistakes, and share our experiences of learning to read.  Many students judge themselves and can't let go to embrace the imagination of reading to allow them a chance to be at ease while learning. I feel this can be done in shared reading time and can be a great learning experience for all readers!

Casey Lyles- January/February Blog #6: Ch. 10 Examine Guided Reading

I personally feel that guided reading is one of the most important times of the school day.  While our Read Well program in kindergarten is not an official guided reading program, it has some of the same components and the same goal can be achieved. Guided reading is a time where the teacher can work with a small group of students who have similar reading abilities and hone in on specific skills that meet the needs of that particular group.  It is important that the teacher build on student’s strengths and support and demonstrate whatever is necessary to move the child towards independence.  Our role during guided reading is to evaluate the child’s progress, teach the child what he most needs to know, set goals with the child, and move him forward in the reading process.  Guided practice should be given as part of the guided reading program in which the students receive practice through means such as partner reading, reciprocal teacher, reading one-on-one with a teacher or tutor or shared reading.  The chapter stresses that we need to be cautious about how children are grouped.  The text states that once children are already reading, grouping students so narrowly is unnecessary in upper grades.  Ability grouping is still appropriate for K-2 as needed.  The groups should be flexible meaning that they are based on student’s needs and interests and that students are not “stuck” in a group for the whole year.  Students need to experience guided reading in many contexts and it is crucial that the text used is of the highest quality so that students are able to problem solve and read for meaning. I found the framework for a guided reading lesson on page 170 very helpful.  A plan is presented that teachers can utilize to examine their guided reading practices.  While our reading program is scripted, I feel like it is important to utilize some of the points made within this chapter in order to make the most of this time. I make a point to teach to my students needs rather than stick strictly to the reading program.  Sometimes what the program asks me to do is not what my students need.  As good teachers, we assess our student’s skills and teach them based on their needs. I feel like I naturally use a lot of the guided reading components during our reading time but there are many more ideas presented in this chapter that I can implement in my classroom.