What a wonderful Christmas tradition this would be!  Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Teaching reading also teaches thinking!!

Building a reader

This article has some fabulous inspiration for talking to those learning to read (our students or our children). It gives ideas of how to build the confidence that is crucial to becoming a reader!  

http://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2015/12/08/be-a-mirror-give-readers-feedback-that-fosters-a-growth-mindset

Oral Reading

We all know round robin reading is an ineffective teaching strategy (in terms of fluency, deciding and comprehension) but what do teachers do to replace it?  Here are some great reminders of what can be done instead:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/alternatives-to-round-robin-reading-todd-finley?utm_content=blog&utm_campaign=alternatives-round-robin-reading&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_term=link

Rising STARS

Davison Elementary School’s Rising STARS (Students Achieving Reading Success) After School Reading Program

Davison Elementary School is currently running its third year of Rising STARS – An after school reading program targeted at struggling readers as identified by their teachers. Students are paired one on one with a high school mentor from Melville Comprehensive School. Meeting twice a week, the partners spend an hour reading a variety of texts, practicing spelling and writing strategies and playing an assortment of literacy games.

Both students and mentors gain valuable lessons through this program. Our students are given a pressure-free environment to practice the reading skills that they are learning in the classroom with guidance from their mentor. Mentors are given the opportunity to build a relationship with their buddy, develop leadership skills, and model responsibility to their buddies. Upon completion of our program, both mentors and buddies leave the program with a sense of success.

This program was funded through grants in our initial year from SIGMA and the Early Literacy Foundation. With these organizations’ generous contributions, we were able to purchase a wide assortment of texts (a variety of genres and levels) so we have our own collection of books for students to choose from. We were also able to purchase many different literacy games (scrabble, boggle, bananagrams, etc…) and other manipulatives and supplies to provide our students with the opportunity to practice all literacy skills. Every year, we ask for muffin donations from our school community so that when our buddies and mentors meet they can socialize and develop their relationship, as well as get rid of any hungry tummies that might distract from the task of reading. We are never disappointed with the number of donations that are received.

To date, we have had over 40 buddies and 40 mentors participate in this program. We look forward to continuing our success with this program in the years to come!  

Give them a reason to read!

In 501 we were using vocabulary words to make predictions about non-fiction books. Through our inquiry, the students identified tricky words. Mrs Waldbauer and I posted the words at the end of our lesson and challenged the students to locate the meaning of the words using the writers tools. Before the class was over the kids were already trying to search for the definition. Give them a reason to read and they will!!

Motivating Readers!

Helping students to feel motivated is always a struggle....especially if a child chooses a book which may be of high interest but not quite the right level. This article is an interesting viewpoint of this struggle. 

http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25919971&bcid=25919971&rssid=25919961&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Few%2F%3Fuuid%3D0D60596A-6B6D-11E5-8A22-71C9B3743667