~"Literature entices, motivates, and instructs. It opens doors of discovery and provides endless hours of adventure and enjoyment." Donna E. Norton
How we are growing as readers:
40 Book Challenge!
Goal: each student to read 40 books from various genres.Purpose: of this goal is for students to stretch themselves as readers and increase their competence, confidence, and reading motivation through their daily participation in our reading community.
Outcome: Students experiencing new genres, growing an appetite for reading, and developing a lifelong habit of reading.
Donalyn Miller is a celebrated literacy researcher, author, and teacher. Her acclaimed book The Book Whisperer discusses her innovative approach to helping create lifelong readers through her 40 Book Challenge.
Donalyn Miller and me at the International Literacy Association 2015 Conference over the summer.
I had the opportunity to again hear Donalyn Miller speak this summer in New York City, attending Columbia University's Teachers College for Reading and Writing 2016.
Surprising Reading Facts
Daily Lesson Format for Reading and Writing Workshops
~Minilesson (~10 minutes)
The teacher chooses the focus of the minilesson based on research proven literacy instruction, student needs, and grade level expectations and objectives. The teacher models for the whole group and then provides the class with an opportunity to practice the just learned strategy before transitioning into their active engagement.
~Active Engagement (~40 minutes)
The students are performing one of the following tasks: working independently, working in a teacher-guided small group, or conferring individually with the teacher. During which time, the children are implementing the skills and strategies taught by applying these through authentic literature.
Authentic literature refers to books found in the library and book stores that includes a wide range of narrative (fiction texts) and expository (non-fiction) text, authentically representing many cultures while doing so from diverse perspectives. Authentic literature presents wonderfully captivating stories to easily become a part of as well as vast arrays of information from which to further learn and grow.
Dependent on the lesson, students will either share their work or continue with active engagement, while both will conclude with a link, restating the purpose and focus of the lesson.
Reading Strategies/Skills currently introduced and being practiced in our classroom:
Making Inferences: By taking the facts/evidence provided in the text and tying our background knowledge-our schema, we are learning to make educated, logical assumptions. We are filling in the gaps or reading between the lines. Our background knowledge-all our experiences in life-help us bring greater meaning to what we are reading. Creating inferences is one of the reading strategies we use to bring stronger attention to the text, providing us with deeper comprehension.
How we are growing as writers:
We are writing personal narratives, and also gaining a deeper appreciation for writing through our writer's notebook. We are also using mentor texts, texts we are reading in Book Journeys, Teacher Read Aloud, and during Writing Workshop to transfer what we notice and appreciate, applying to our own writing.
Communication Arts Mastery Objectives
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