Week 2:

Week 2 is where the first, second, and third grade teachers really focus on Read to Self.  Now that the students have built a little stamina, they will start to put more than one book in their book box and will be able to read for longer periods of time.  Both the first and second grade teachers are excited to see how much quicker the students are able to get into the routine of Daily 5.  Since our goal is to get kids to read independently and practice the strategies they are leaning in the mini-lessons of Daily 5, we are excited to see the students already motivated to read for longer periods of time.

In first grade, the students have all found a good fit reading spot and are able to read for up to 8 minutes now!  We are plugging along with our stamina!

 

Café in our upper grade (4th-6th) grade is underway too!  All of our classrooms have their Café boards up and have already covered a few strategies such as Cross Checking.  It is always great to walk in a classroom and see 4th and 5th graders using their bodies and chanting "Does it look right (cross arm), Does it sound right, (cross other arm), Does it make sense (open both arms)?  This strategy really seems to help with helping students to monitor their reading.

 

I had the pleasure of watching my multi-graded 4/5 teacher teach a lesson on expanding vocabulary, Tuning into Interesting Words.  She was using a read aloud, Smoky Night, and sharing words like, hooligans, that stood out to her.  She also used Oh the Places You'll Go, to share some interesting words.  She then asked the students to go back to their just right books and use post-it notes to write down some interesting words.  It is always great to see how teachers share their thinking and model for their students what proficient readers do to make meaning as they are reading.  This lesson was only about 7 minutes long, but it will give the students a great strategy to help monitor their understanding.  In future lessons, the teacher will introduce a tool for the student to use to collect their interesting words!