Reading Program

Our Reading Program changed in 2014 to a Reader’s Workshop Approach in collaboration with Columbia Teacher’s College. We believe that students need large periods of reading time with books that are exactly at their independent reading level. We help students find books that are of high interest to them, of appropriate content and at a level that they can read right now. They “Shop” for books once a week and practice reading and rereading these books during independent reading time.

A reading block would generally look like:

· A 5-7 minute mini lesson at the carpet in a whole group on a skill that 2^nd graders need to work on. During this time the teacher will model the skill with a book and have students turn and talk, try it out on their own or practice it actively in some way. We often used books we have already read to the children so the focus is not on the reading and comprehension, but one specific skill.

· Independent Reading Time. This takes most of the reading time. It is quiet and focused. During this time the teacher will be conferencing with individual students on skills and goals we see they need work on. Teachers will work with small groups of students sometimes on the same book (Guided Reading) if they want to practice decoding or discussing that book together. Teachers may pull students into a small group to practice a certain skill that they all happen to need work on at the same time. Students mark their thinking with post-its during reading time and share some of these thoughts with their partners.

· Partner time – students have been assigned a reading partner who is reading at a similar level to them to practice discussion techniques about the books they were just reading independently. There may be a certain topic they need to discuss or they can choose from a variety of discussion starters as they get used to just “talking about books”. Partners change several times a year for each unit. They could work together to create reading goals and monitor progress. During the non-fiction and character study small group units, two sets of reading partners meet together to form the small group and practice facilitating larger discussions.

· Sharing Time – we review the strategy being taught or some smart work students are doing on past strategies that others can learn from. We may feature a specific student or group and ask him/her to share the work done today for our benefit.

· Reading Logs – We keep track of the titles of books and our opinions on books we are reading. This shows patterns of our reading – what kinds of books we like help the teacher and our partners recommend books to us. Looking at the genre might help the teacher to push us to explore our horizons. Seeing how many books we read in a week or how long it takes us to complete a book helps us make stamina goals that will increase our practice time and our skills. We keep a class reading log to refer back to titles we have read

Read Alouds are an important part of our Reading Program, but can occur at any time of the day, not necessarily in the reading block of time. Teachers use published children’s trade books to model and have children practice thinking about the surface and deeper meanings in the text. At certain points they turn and talk to their reading partners and some individual students may share aloud. Teachers model their thinking and show how they are using comprehension strategies to understand the book, encouraging students to try this on their own.

Other reading activities that happen throughout a month are buddy reading, charts and poems for fluency, use of Scholastic magazines for non-fiction text feature review

Guided Reading

Our balanced literacy reading program consist of a variety of methods and activities to meet the needs of all beginning and developing readers. For the first month of school, we will review and discuss strategies learned in first grade that smart readers should use. I need to make sure that even advanced readers have all of these strategies. At this time, I will be assessing children’s reading and writing abilities with our standard assessments. We will be establishing routines and practicing the use of new materials.

By early October, we begin our guided reading program. The children are broken up into versatile leveled groups based on reading abilities. They will meet with me at my reading table several times a week to work on books at their appropriate reading level. We will practice decoding and comprehension strategies. Children may move between groups if they demonstrate much more growth or need extra practice. Developing readers will meet with me more frequently while more advanced readers will see me less frequently. They will do some independent work that we will meet up to review. As children advance in reading, they will have written responses and projects that go with their books on days they do not see me.

*** Children can phonetically decode words often before they can understand the concepts of a book. Comprehension is very important. A child is only considered reading at a certain level when they can answer the comprehension questions I ask about the story, retell and make predictions. They should be able to understand most vocabulary words and use context to make a sensible guess at others. This may be why some books come home that you will consider “easy” for your child. This is expected. Also, these are books that we have worked on together already. All of the hard work and practice have already been done in school. The book is coming home as reinforcement and a chance for your child to celebrate what he/she has accomplished. We may choose books that are easier in order to practice reading fluency, non-fiction book components, and various targeted word patterns. Remember to praise your reader for their improvements and efforts. The first weeks of books will be very easy for your child. My goal is to use books that they can already read as we develop our routine for how to conduct reading groups and to boost or maintain confidence in learning to read and discuss books.

Children are reassessed throughout the year as their reading improves to make certain they are being taught at the appropriate level. While I am meeting with reading groups, the other children will be engaged in independent, small group or partner activities.

Guided reading books will go home with your child on the days that we read them in a plastic bag labeled with your child’s name. Books no longer come home after a certain reading level. Please return these books the next day or as soon as possible. Your child will not be able to bring home the next book until the first is returned. Your child should read the book to an adult at home, and perhaps siblings and stuffed animals as well. You can ask your child questions about the story too.