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
Helping Students Fall In Love With Books: A Reading Intervention
One group of students who I think we often ignore is those students who are solid readers, are compliant--but aren't "engaged readers". We know that students learn to read by READING, so if they aren't reading at home and aren't challenging themselves at school, their progress will be impacted. Getting Students Talking About Books This is exactly what I have been going through with one ... Read the Post
3 Best Books about Teaching Reading!
Today is my day to post over on Upper Elementary Snapshots, and I hope you'll stop by to check out my post about 3 "must read" books...just click the image below to take you there! I'd love to hear what you think...and watch tomorrow for my Monday Made It post--with a brand new multiplication resource that has taken me the better part of a year to finish! WHEW! ... Read the Post
Task Cards, Interventions, Real Reading, and more
One thing that I know to be true is that getting moments of quality intervention time with students is tough--especially if they are receiving other interventions from specialists. I am lucky this year that several of my students receive a daily 30 minute reading intervention with a specialist--but that means that they are in my room for my minilesson, leave for their intervention, and then ... Read the Post
Refocusing on Reading Behaviors
When I start the school year, one of the first things I tackle with my students is "reading behaviors"--how we function within our reader's workshop so that we maximize our own reading and don't disrupt those around us. We talk about just right books...about stamina...about thinking while we read. From the very first week, we work to build these good habits so that we can get TONS of ... Read the Post
“Me as a Reader”…a reading goal project
Every year I love to help my students really reflect on themselves as readers--and I strive to help them understand that reading is more than just getting the words right...as we start the year I really try to help them understand all the different factors that impact the ability to read and make sense of texts... reading "behaviors" such as book selection and focus accuracy and fluency ... Read the Post
“Me as a Reader”
Those of you who have been following me for some time may recognize this project from last year. I saw a version of it on Julie Ballew's website and adapted it to use with my fourth graders. If you haven't snooped around her site, I highly recommend it! We have been working hard at our reading behaviors and I felt my student were ready to get a little more personal--to take all the ... Read the Post