Nicole Brown- Blog Post 3 Miller, Section 1: “Not This: Is There Enough Time? And Is Time Enough to Support Independent Reading?”

This chapter touched on the biggest complaint of every teacher in the United States, “There is not enough time in the day!” Every day is a race to get everything done. I love how Miller points out all the things that we do in our day that may not be giving us the best ROI (return on investment): calendar activities, announcements, transitions, lining up, how we spend our reading block, DEAR/SSR time, testing practice, worksheets, etc.). We all know that the best way to improve reading is by kids being actively, and purposefully engaged in reading. However, often times we don’t make the time to do just that. As I read through the list of guarded benches from the Baltimore school, I knew there must be a lot of teachers feeling offended that they may be doing these things. I think it is important to note that the activities themselves may not be “bad” and may very well have academic merit, but it is the amount of time spent on those activities that can lessen their value. School announcements have been a complaint I have heard from teachers. I am thankful for an administration that responded to this and is now doing announcements prior to the school day (7:30-7:45). 

Can we as a school look at our instructional times and find benches that we are guarding? I hope so. Our children are worth it. We sometimes have to look past our need to keep things routine and the same in order to make changes that will benefit our students. We, in turn, will also be rewarded. We will be able to build deeper relationships with students like we never have before when we bond over books and reading experiences. And believe it or not, this job isn’t all about their education. It’s about the relationships we are able to build with them. They will not remember what we taught them, but they will remember the relationship we had and how we made them feel.

Blog Post #3- No More Independent Reading Without Support Karen Rosenberger

Blog Post #3- No More Independent Reading Without Support

I found Section 2, What Practices Are Critical for Effective Independent Reading? very helpful. I agree that in order for students to grow as independent readers, they must be given the specific tools needed. 

Students must be given classroom time to read. Studies have shown that effective teaching involves more time spent on independent reading. Students also need to choose what they read. I spent the beginning of the school year teaching the IPICK strategy. I look at a book. Purpose- Why do I want to read a book? Interest- Does this topic interest me? Comprehend- Do I understand what I am reading? Know the words- Do I know most of the words? We have it on an anchor chart hanging in the classroom. I see students walking over to the chart when they are choosing “Just Right Books”. Teachers need to model what, why, and how good readers read. Classroom libraries need to be filled with a wide variety of books and access to those books. Finally, students must be given the opportunity to talk about what they read. 

In my opinion, knowing how to choose “Just Right Books” is essential in order for children to grow as readers. I love the Genre Wheel referenced in Section 2 of the book. Students are directed to read at least one book from all ten genres. When they have read a book, they record the title in the correct genre and color it in. What an accomplishment for readers, even struggling readers, to have read such a wide variety of books! In order for independent reading to be successful, teachers need to be guiding, teaching, and interacting with their students.

Blog Post #2- The Habit of Kidwatching Karen Rosenberger

Blog Post #2- The Habit of Kidwatching

While I was reading the article, The Habit of Kidwatching, I became extremely motivated. I felt good about the things I was already doing with my students, but knew there was so much more to be done. I completely agree with the author on so many levels. The value of sitting with a child and listening to them read is so much more beneficial than seeing a score on a comprehension test. You actually get to know them as readers.

Making Kidwatching a Habit was the section of the article that I found most helpful for me. Each teacher has to figure out what works best for them. I like the idea of starting out slowly. Begin by writing one sentence about each child every day. Our comments about our students are much more meaningful than letter grades. This seems difficult for teachers because we always feel we must have enough grades recorded for our students. Kidwatching also allows us to get to know our students more deeply. How much does a letter grade really tell us about our students? Listening and talking to them about what they are reading is the best thing we can do to get to know our students as readers.

Kidwatching is not an easy task. If you are thinking about this type of record keeping, start out slowly. It requires commitment and hard work, but seeing the value in your students and getting to know them on such a personal level is a gift a teacher can treasure.

Blog Post #1- Share Your Reading Life Karen Rosenberger

Blog Post #1

Routman/Reading Essentials/Ch. 3 “Share Your Reading Life”

I have always had a love for reading! Some of my greatest childhood memories have something to do with books. My brother, sister, and I would sit huddled around my Mom while she read to us from Dick and Jane. We would repeat, “See Spot run!” over and over again. I love the idea from the article suggesting to start the beginning of the year by sharing my own reading life with students. Next year I am definitely going to begin with one of my favorite childhood stories.  When I was about 5 years old, I got so mad at my family that I decided to run away. I packed my suitcase and headed up the street. When I thought I was far enough up the road, I turned and went into our neighbor’s back yard. I walked through the yards until I made it back to my house and hid behind the dog house. Little did I know that my Mom had called the neighbors, and they were watching me the entire time. I sat out there until I got hungry, and then went back into the house. The reason I am sharing this story is because it has to do with books and reading. I had filled my suitcase with all of the books I could take, and of course my pink “security” blanket. I sat behind the dog house snuggled up with two of my childhood loves…my pink blanket (which was actually a full size bedspread) and my favorite books!

The article also talked about sharing your favorite books and authors. This is one of my favorite times with the children. When I ask them to join me “in the back” they know I am going to share something very important. I begin by asking them about their favorite authors, and we create a list. Of course I add my favorite to the list as well. Most of my third graders haven’t heard of Karen Hesse, the author of Out of the Dust. I share with them that the book is a novel written in free verse about the Oklahoma Dust Bowl disaster of the 1930’s. When I taught 5^th grade, this book went along great with our study of the Great Depression. The children were just as fascinated with the book as I was and never wanted it to end. They still had so many questions for the author. Questions like: How did you come up with the idea for the book? How did you come up with the format of the writing for the book? Why did you decide on Oklahoma? Did you live there? Does your family come from there? Are any of the characters based on real people you know? When you wrote this book what were some of your feelings inside? Will you write another book so we can find out what happens to Billie Jo? Those are only a few. The children had many more.

So, after a long discussion about what to do next, we decided to write letters to the author. I did a little research and found an address for Karen Hesse through Scholastic.  I really didn’t expect the letters to make it to her. But, after only a few weeks my 5^th grade class received a four page letter from the author herself!  The children were thrilled! Karen Hesse answered every question my students asked in great detail. That is definitely one of my top teaching moments, and I will never forget it. Her last words to my students were to never stop asking questions, and NEVER stop reading!