Literacy in the Classroom

So far literacy instruction has been somewhat sporadic in the classroom but I do see some elements of the book club model. Because we have not assessed all of our students with their DRAs yet, we have not started guided reading but we have been incorporating mostly the read aloud models so far. We are trying to engage students and start to get them thinking about concepts such as characters, setting, conflict, solution, author’s intent, and self to text connections within the book. After each read aloud in the afternoon, we go over elements of a story and often pause during reading to reflect and model good reading strategies. We stop and ask questions, make predictions and ask why. The goal is to get students thinking about these questions on their own, which will take a great deal of modeling to reinforce.

Until guided reading and book groups begin in the classroom, reading is seen throughout the student’s day in smaller doses. When students finish any task at their desk they have it checked by a teacher and then must get a book out of the classroom library to read. After lunch students are also expected to silent read for 15-20 minutes. And lastly the teacher will do a read aloud everyday in the afternoon. Book Club Plus really reinforced this concept of reading to students each day and it is especially important in our classroom because half of the class is ESL learners. Even if students do not fully understand the words they are being exposed to reading, intonation, illustrations and the language. Writing occurs each and every day both in their journals and we also just began going over the stages of writing so students have been writing about what is important to them.

We have not, however, written much about the books we read due to the fact that reading groups have not started at this point in the year. Speaking happens often when students are able to work with one another and share ideas. Students also have one day a week where they can share during our classroom meeting. Listening is beginning to become a problem in our classroom and we have to reinforce that it is polite to look at and listen to the person who is speaking. We are working on mechanics of a conversation and how students need to listen to each other when they share. All of these are building blocks to their book clubs and guided reading groups. Students need to begin thinking like good readers, listen to each other’s ideas and share ideas with their classmates.

As for writing into, through and out of a unit or text my students are practicing these skills verbally with guidance from the teacher for now. As a class before any reading we access prior knowledge and ask questions we may have just by looking at the cover of the book. While reading we identify important information, details and vocabulary and after reading students are able to make connections. Once we begin reading groups this will be student driven as opposed to teacher directed.

I am excited to see how book clubs and reading groups progress throughout the school year!