For those of you who have followed me for a while, you know that helping students develop a passion and love for reading is a huge part of what I love most about my job. Whether I am doing book talks about new books, or trying to help them learn all the strategies they need to be successful, students hear me talk about books and reading all day long. This year, I have quite a few students ... Read the Post
Launching Reader’s Workshop and Independent Reading
One thing I know to be true about fourth graders and intermediate students is that there is no ONE thing true about fourth graders and intermediate students. It seems like the longer I teach, the more compelled I am to find ways to group and individualize for students, but I have to admit--it is NOT easy for me. It isn't that I don't KNOW who the students are or what to do. It's that whole ... Read the Post
Why Mentor Texts?
There are a billion resources out there that are stressing the importance of using "mentor texts" to help students develop as readers and writers. I couldn't agree more! Studying what other writers do can not only help our students become better writers--but better readers as well! In fact, I think it's so important to dig into these texts that we keep an ongoing list in my class ... Read the Post
Monday Made It Link Up!
I'm joining up with "Monday Made It" over at 4th Grade Frolics! Today I wanted to share with you my new anecdotal reading binder that I have gotten ready for next year! I know it seems early, but I had wanted to make some changes in it and I thought I'd share! First of all, I want to share parts of an earlier blog post explaining my thoughts about my system--so here goes! ... Read the Post
Reading and Responding: Social Issues
Our final reading unit of the year is a focus on "social issues" in texts. So many of our read alouds and shared texts this year were filled with social issues. This was a great unit to finish out the year. We had lots of fun thinking back to some of our favorite books and talking about what "issues" writers choose to put in books for intermediate students--and why they chose them! Starting ... Read the Post
Book talks!
Just a quick post today--we had our "1/2 price book fair" and, of course, I had to make a dent in the inventory! I am absolutely obsessed with getting new books for my classroom . . . I wonder how many thousand I have--I should get my students to estimate that! Just wanted to share what I do when I get new books--I want to get them into students' hands as quickly as possible! First, I ... Read the Post
It's "Wonder"ful!
As you may know, I have started the book "Wonder" with my class as an "enhanced" read aloud. I say "enhanced" because although I choose my read alouds with my students' enjoyment in mind, I do make deliberate choices about what texts will "enhance" their reading strategies and skills and their own thinking. So . . . with "Flutter" we tracked our thinking on some key questions on our ... Read the Post