Well, it's back to school time for me, and a big part of my classroom preparations involved "tidying up" my classroom library. I always have lots of good questions about how I organize my somewhat ridiculous collection of books. I thought I'd share a little bit about how I get my library ready so that my students can really dig into their reading from that first week of school! Getting ... Read the Post
Creating a culture for successful independent reading
I highly doubt there are many teachers out there who debate the value of independent reading for elementary students. The NCTE has created a statement on independent reading that states the following: Independent reading leads to an increased volume of reading. The more one reads, the better one reads. The more one reads, the more knowledge of words and language one acquires. (See where ... Read the Post
Taking Reading Status with Independent Reading
Today I want to share with you a little something that I have done in different forms for YEARS. Do you take "status of the class"? It's so much more than tracking student reading. Taking reading status is literally one of my favorite times of the day. I call it... THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS! One of my favorite (and most valuable) times of my school day begins after lunch when my students ... Read the Post
6 Amazing Back-to-School Reading Lessons and Activities
At the beginning of the school year, teachers need to establish so many routines and procedures. When it comes to planning back-to-school reading lessons and activities, it can be overwhelming to say the least! Check out this blog post with 6 strategies to consider when planning your back-to-school reading! 1. The Power of “Status of the Class” To begin, one of the most powerful routines ... Read the Post
10 Ways to Create a Culture for Reading
Developing a love of reading seems to come naturally for some students, but for some--it takes a loving teacher to make the magic happen! Check out these ten tips for getting started building a culture for reading in YOUR class! 1. Share YOUR love of reading. Whether you are in a "grown up" book club of your own or can simply model your love with HOW you read, how MUCH you read, or your ... Read the Post
Novel in a Day? A Collaborative Reading Comprehension Lesson
I am always looking for ways to keep reading interesting and exciting for students while still working on comprehension skills and reading behaviors and processes. I have done this novel in a day activity for more than 20 years, and I thought I’d finally put it in a more useful format! What is it? Novel in a Day is a way to take a chapter book, divide it into sections, assign a section ... Read the Post
More Than a Graphic Organizer! Written responses to reading
As you know, the purpose of a graphic organizer is to help students (or adults!) make sense of information and organize it into a visible, usable fashion. Sometimes using an organizer is all we need from students—a way for them to represent the information we are asking for. Sometimes, however, we want students to organize information for other reasons…like to do a piece of writing. I wanted a way ... Read the Post
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