Thursday, January 22, 2009
Chapter 3 Essential Question
How can we use the five-step process in classrooms that are driven by curriculum needs and state testing? Is there time to identify topics of interest and appropriate leveled materials that relate to curriculum? When does the time come in for uninterrupted time to read when considering classtime and homework demands? Will students write about what they have read in journals/notebooks, how can we promote this skill? What products can be produced so students are able to interact with the information?
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As so aptly put , time is of the essence. Four years ago I started having book reports due each quarter. I found success when students related their readings to the class and to life. However, this year we no longer require the book reports because the sdtudents do little outside work and the assignment would lead to many The block scheduling doeas not help. It would be good if their was time in the day that everyone in the school could read for 15-30 minutes.
ReplyDeleteAnother local district does a year end project. A crsoo curriulat theme is chosen and students work all year to produce a final project that is presented to an audience at the end of the year. It helps students use their strengths and to realte all learning to a purpose.
According to the research, SSR is most beneficial when used for a long period of time. What if this was started in the lower grades and then continued into high school? Not only would students get into the habit of reading silently, but would also be building background knowledge. The silent reading station is part of the Read 180 program. This is not as productive as it should be, even when using the 5 steps as much as possible. The conductive environment is not that easy in a regular classroom. I certainly have no room for a couch and comfortable chairs. It would also not be a good idea to send students to various places in the building that have more comfortable seats. The idea of nonaccountability surprised me at first. Read 180 includes a quiz on each book. However, we do use follow up activities such as small group discussion. The idea of nonlinguistic representations would help students who hate to write. I like the idea of the pictographs and graphic organizers. Cooperative learning groups organized by common interests have been successful in many situations. However, they are time consuming and difficult to monitor especially if the students are not motivated. I have seen reading content area high interest novels to the class being more productive than letting the students read silently on their own.
ReplyDeleteThink back to what was one of your hightlights of your career as a student. I know one teacher who loves to recite something she learned in kindergarten. It stuck. There is always something that someone remembers - – something interesting – something that was perceived as fun - something that has meaning.
ReplyDeleteI’m hoping that will happen with a new project that I’m working on with a third grade teacher and our art teacher for animal fiction/nonfiction Floating Bookmarks. If all goes as planned we’ll have over 20 floating bookmarks of animals hanging in our courtyard.
Another curriculum/interest combo is the use of Smart Parts to choose a biography for their biography boxes. Students usually choose someone who shares their Smart Parts. Students use objects that they have or make to help tell the life of the Smart Part person.
At least we know we are on the right track with providing students with an array of subjects of interest in the school library. In addition, the “encouragement” is really evident in the HS Library with the READ posters. The Hill School and Oliver are working on book review podcasts that are on their websites. Regarding comfy furniture- well with fire codes, gone are the days of couches in the classroom but at least we have some comfy chairs in the library (thanks to the 10,000 grant!).
Last, but not least: I was curious about the SSR time throughout my building and am considering doing a quick email poll to find out who is doing it and for how long.
At the beginning of each school year, our librarian meets with each class and introduces the variety of genres that are available as well as the 5 finger readability rule which works really well with my 4th graders as they pick out their library books or DEAR books each week. Throughout the year, I incorporate each genre into our curriculum by creating a variety of book projects that the students get really excited about. To begin each project, each student chooses a book that is available in our classroom library or school library according to its genre and readability level. Sometimes students prefer to use a book from home as long as it fits the genre that we are studying. Book project choices include creating a timeline, scrapbook, mobile, diorama, board game, ABC book,... Once the projects are completed, we spend 2-3 weeks presenting each one where students share the story elements, their favorite character or part, and their honest opinion about the book. Each student receives a packet which contains the title and author of the books that will be presented. During each presentation, students are encouraged to write down 3 facts or ideas about each book as well as a positive comment about the presentation. This helps to develop listening skills and often leads to a discuaaion regarding each book. Students keep these packets and often refer to them throughout the year when choosing books for their RAH (Reading At Home).
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