Informal Reading Conferences

On Thursday when I meet with my 5th grade buddy, she will read from her self- selected book. I will then get a chance to perform an informal reading conference with my buddy. In reading Routman second grade teacher Robin Woods says, " I love the personal structure of a reading conference, since I get to talk with the children about what they have chosen to read. I get to discover how students select books, their reading interests, where they understand text and how and why they don't." (p.101) I have only met with my buddy one time. She read me her writing on a class camp experience. She told me some of the books that she is reading, but I have yet to see her reading. I do know that she is a very good writer. She uses well chosen words and paints a picture by using good descriptive words and phrases. I also know that she is a very good speller and did well on the spelling inventory. So well in fact, that she needs to go to the intermediate level spelling inventory. I believe that this is an indication that she is most likely a good reader too. I am not certain that I will know if she has chosen a "just right" book for her level of reading, especially if the book that she chooses is not familiar to me. Routman says to "flip through the pages and chapter titles, and try to get the gist of the story. When a student knows what's going on, his retelling is full of details, his language makes sense and has a flow, he has an obvious sense of what the books is about and his pleasure is evident."(p.103) As I plan my conference with my reading buddy, I will ask her to bring me a book that she thinks is "just right" for her. I'll ask why she chose the book and what the book is about so far. Then we will read several pages silently together. I will be looking for how fast she reads the pages, and I will be looking for words that might difficult for her. After we finish the pages, I will ask her what she remembers about what we just read. We can then talk about her strengths and set goals to work on for the next week. Some of the goals could be predicting, decoding and understanding difficult words in the text. Also, she could set a goal for when she thinks she will complete the book. By conferencing with students in this way, teachers can monitor their students' progress and set goals that foster high expectations for reading in their classrooms. I believe more importantly that students will have a clearer sense of their own expectations for books that they choose to read and their ability to comprehend what they are reading. I look forward to seeing my buddy this week!

Literacy, Week 2

Sulzby & Teale:
Think about classrooms you have visited. What aspects of emergent literacy have you observed in young children? How have you seen teachers support the growth of young children's literacy?

While reading Sultzby and Teale's article about Emergent Literacy; I reflected on my experience in my main placement in a 2/3 multi-age classroom. I saw various levels of emerging readers and levels of fluency. I especially liked the way my master teacher set up her literacy block. The second grade team is collaborating this year using the ideas from The Daily Five by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. The reading starts out each morning with students finding their reading basket filled with 4-5 "just right" books for them. They know to find a comfortable spot either at their desks or on the floor with a comfy pillow to read silently for 25-30 minutes. Voices are quiet and students are arms length from their neighbors. This was modeled during the first few weeks and stamina was built together as a class as norms were set. This is the time that ELL and Title 1 students are pulled out for extra help. Some days students are reading aloud in partner groups and sometimes they are writing about their "just right" book. I really enjoy this kind of literacy development. Students are finding quite a bit of reading independence through this pedagogy. They are so excited about what they are reading!