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

Non-fiction predictions

Toady in 601 we used non fiction books to help us predict. To start with when I told the, I chose words from the glossary someone right away said they must be non-fiction since that is a text feature. That opened up for us a discussion on text features in books. In groups of 3 they read five vocabulary words and then made some predictions about 1 of 6 mystery books. They made predictions on the vocabulary.  By the time they were dome they made predictions that the books were about animals.  Some had started to categorize the animals on vertebrate and invertebrate. It also provided us the chance to connect to science and learn some new vicabulary as we'll. each group made one final prediction on the topic of their choice and together do a written response to support their thinking. 

 

Online reading

It's interesting to think that we live in a time when online reading is an essential skill. Why not teach these skills to our students!  I particularly like the small group fish bowl approach. 

http://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2015/10/02/showing-what-they-know-with-online-reading-strategies