Reading is my favorite subject to teach. Surely, it has something to do with my own reading obsession. The past two weeks I have been staying up to 1:00 in the morning reading a trilogy. It is not healthy to deprive myself of the much needed sleep required to face 21 second graders every day!
Things I am doing well in the classroom...
I use a variety of graphic organizers, not only in reading but across the curriculum. As a visual learner myself, I know the power that this simple tool has for learning and organizing information. To help my students with summarizing I follow Jan Richardson's method of S-W-B-S (Somebody, Wanted, But, So). This is a very simple way for young students to compose a summary statement, since they so often want to tell every detail. I teach this method during the first month of school and we use it all year. It may look like: Cinderella wanted to go to the ball, but she was not allowed, so a fairy god mother helped her. As the year progresses, students develop the ability to create richer summary statements and begins to look like: Grace wanted to play Peter Pan in her school play, but her friends told her she was a black girl, so she there was no way she could be Peter Pan. Her mother told her she could do anything she wanted if she worked hard enough for it. So, Grace practiced very hard and was picked to play Peter Pan by her friends.
Even though I know the importance of graphic organizers I do not provide them enough for my students. During self-selected reading time, I do not hold my students accountable for what they are reading. I provide some cooperative learning opportunities in my classroom, but they are usually in science or social studies. In the past, it has been difficult to monitor all the groups efficiently. Some of my students still struggle to read, which makes it very challenging for them to keep up with their group. All of the research states that this type of learning is authentic, meaningful, and deeper so this is something that I must figure out
I really like the Table 7.4 (on pages 164) to address the need to hold my students accountable during self-selected reading. I could make this into a child friendly chart for students to keep at their desks for them to write responses after finishing a book. I would also send this home for parents to use as they read with their child in the evenings. I must make more of an effort to provide graphic organizers and have them readily available for students. I think the best way for me to get over the hurdle of using cooperative groups in reading would be to have training. This is a topic I am going to look into for a summer project. I feel like if I had a better understanding of how to address each child's individual needs in this type of group setting then I would use it much more often in my class.
Abbey, I really like your way of teaching summarizing. I realized this year that this is a very hard task for some students. I never thought to teach it this way before. I am going to try this when we begin reviewing for PASS and defiantly use it next year when teaching this skill.
ReplyDeleteAbbey, I have never heard of the S-W-B-S method. But, it sounds very effective. I too like the information provided in the tables in this chapter. The story map worksheet (Figure 7.2)also looks like a great tool for students to use during self-selected reading.
ReplyDeleteAbbey,
ReplyDeleteI love the way you have the students write short summary statements. Even at the high school level this could be addressed.
The cooperative learning opportunities are a great way to allow the slow readers to move forward. What an awesome teacher you are!
Nanelle
Having your students write short summary statements is brilliant! I don't know why this isn't done more often, honestly. It not only checks for completion of the reading assignment, but it also checks for understanding.
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