Blog post for week 9/28- Book Club Plus relation to classroom

Starting right from the beginning of the book there were many things that I noticed are similar within Book Club Plus and the literacy work that we do in my classroom. The five different components of the literacy system that is described within the book is what we use in my classroom. Writer’s Workshop is done every day in my classroom. Students are given a prompt and then are to write for the entire time that we allot for them. Students use scrap pieces of paper to write down words that they do not know how to spell. Most of the writing prompts that we ask the students to write about are based off of books that we have read in class. For example, we read a book called The Selfish Giant. The base of the story is about friends and making friendships. The students then wrote about a friend that they have or a friend that has helped them in some way, based off of the story. We had them make a connection between reading and writing. Teacher read aloud is done twice in my classroom daily and students are asked questions and can make comments at the end of each reading. Independent reading occurs daily as well where the school day is blocked off for about 35 minutes where students will sit independently at their desks and read. They are allowed to get up and get different books and can read aloud if it helps them read better but we try to get students to not read aloud so it does not cause a distraction for other students. Shared reading is done during our guided reading groups where students sit in groups of about five or six working with a teacher on reading and comprehension strategies.
The curricular target areas are similar in which our students are working towards each day when they are writing, comprehending, having conversations and learning about different aspects of literacy. Within writing which has been my class biggest focus for the past few weeks of school. “Writing as a tool for thinking” is a great way to incorporate metacognition into writing as the students make reading logs and think sheets when they have ideas that are not fully developed and need some work. Making meaning in text is very important for students to understand and work within reading and writing as one. I have seen the three principles of comprehension instruction within my classroom. My teacher and I do a great job of explaining the comprehension instruction and making sure that students understand what they are reading and the meaning of understanding a text. The modeling of comprehension for students and what is expected of them. Lastly scaffolding what students need to know and helping them make a connection is a key aspect in making sure that students are comprehending what they are reading. My teacher asks lots of questions and makes lots of text to self and text to world explanations and meanings with my students. Making predications is a great way to get the students involved in thinking about the text and what they feel is ‘coming up’ or will give them their own meaning of the text verses what they are told.
Something that is in the Book Club Plus book that I have not seen happen in my classroom is speedwriting. We do have students write for the entire time that we give them but they can stop and they have to write about a focused idea. With speed writing students do opposite of what they normally would do for a piece of writing. I would like to see this worked out in my classroom. Just last week my students and I worked on a KWL for our meal worm project that we are going to be doing this upcoming week and had students tell us what they know, what they want to know and what they will learn. Many students had ideas about what they wanted during the meal worm project and gave us great insight into what they already know and what we need to incorporate into the lesson.
Writing happens everyday within my classroom right after a story is read to the students. This gets the students making a connection with reading and writing. Reading happens when students are read to and when they read independently. Students are also reading throughout the day when they are reading directions and other subjects that happen during the school day they are reading all the time. Students are speaking when they are having conversations with each other or with the teacher or working together. Even times at lunch and recess are vital to students performances in literacy because it puts them in situations where they have to respond and think of things to say a great practice for student comprehension. Students are listening throughout the entire day when they are listening to directions and listening to each other. Students are viewing words, and reading and writing all day. My classroom has a world wall where there are many different words and names for students to look at. Mostly sight words for students to get familiar with them and know them right from the bat. Other literacies that occur within my classroom during the school week are working with letters and words on the computer and having a spanish instructor come into the classroom three times a week. Students are learning many different spanish words, such as numbers, body parts, desks, chairs, books, labels, etc. It is a great way for students to learn literacy in a different language and have fun doing so.
Students have opportunities to write into a unit/text when we do class work all together about a certain topic we will be writing. When a new topic of unit or text is introduced for students to write about, it is discussed on the easel with the entire class. The entire class brainstorms ideas and ways to start writing about this certain text. The teacher asks the students questions to get them starting to think and focus on certain words that they should be using, as well as giving them real world examples so they can connect to the text they will be writing about as well. Sometimes students are asked to share what their thoughts are or their examples so other students can think about the same things in their own way. Students have opportunities to write through a unit/text when we put everything down on the easel where they see the writing and information happening that they are to be writing about. It is identified what is expected of them, what supporting thoughts or ideas are needed (explaining why “so and so” is their best friend or why they like something, etc.) Students have the opportunities to write out unit/text when they are doing the actual writing and brainstorming of their own ideas. They are relating what they are writing to the text that is the example and being based off of. Students are constantly making text to self, text to text and text to world ideas because they are thinking about their lives, thinking about the book and its comprehension as well as thinking about instances and examples they can bring to their writing.
There is a lot of literacy that occurs within my classroom. Many parents have told me that they have requested my mentor teacher as the teacher for their students because of her focus on literacy. It is great to be part of a classroom with such a great focus on literacy.