Week 11
Comprehension- Recognizing Literary Elements-
This week one of my upper grade teachers used a resource from the DRA Teacher's Guide for her mini-lesson.  The form was asking the students to look at the literary elements.  The teacher used a familiar text, The Three Little Pigs during her modeling and guided practice.  The students completed the form below with a partner.  Then the students used the form in their independent reading time.  This mini-lesson will lead up to summarizing the text.

Week 10 Conferring-
   Conferring is one of the most important components of the Café time.  Teachers meet with individual students to discuss goals they need to work on as a reader.  Teachers find this the most valuable time because they truly get to know each of their students.  The students feel connected with the teacher and know that the teacher really cares about them as individuals.
  Conferring can be a little intimidating until you have had a little practice.  Carl Anderson had a simple starting point for conferences...just start with "How's it going?".  Let the students guide the conversation and you will be amazed at how much you learn from your students and how much they benefit from this one on one time.
  Teachers often have questions about how often to meet with students.  Most of my teachers try to meet with their students as often as possible, but as we all know assemblies, field trips, etc. can interrupt our normal class routines.  BUT...don't let scheduling get in your way of getting started.  Once you start, you will realize the students you need to meet more often with and the ones that can be given goals that you can check on a little less frequently.  Below is a copy of some of the notes from a 4th grade teacher's conferring notebook.  I will write more in the future about conferring because it is so vital to the success of your readers!

Week 9


This week teachers were pulling small groups.  In our primary grades teachers pull for guided reading.  They have spent several hours completing DRAs with their students and are able to begin small group instruction.  To help with lessons for each group my teachers have been using The Next Steps for Guided Reading.  Teachers find this resources valuable because it is easy to read and has clear lessons on what to do with each group.