The conversations I have with students during small guided reading groups are always enjoyable to me. It seems to be a time set aside only for them. No other students should be interrupting us since we've set up independent routines, although there are always those emergency situations. When I hear my students making connections from a story to their lives, it helps me understand them a little better. I wish I remember what it was like to be 7 or 8. The things that are important and big to them are far different from an adult. My perspective on the school day varies greatly from theirs. I think that's why it's so important that we build those trusting relationships with our students first. While this may seem easy enough, when you have a class of 25 or more students, this can become a challenge in itself. I think it's great to use small group time to get to know your students better, not just as readers and writers, but as people!
The following video was shared with us at the beginning of the school year. It reminds me of the things that are important to kids and to not always take things so seriously - to relax and focus on the positive!
Showing posts with label Connections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Connections. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Give them a CHOICE!
So far this school year I have spent a lot of time trying to pick out just the right book for each of my reading groups. Sometimes my long searches have resulted in less than what I'd hoped for. I have two little boys who both moved here from different countries just this school year. They are incredibly eager to learn and enjoy learning new words and having conversations about the new things they are learning here. Today I decided that I would show them 3 different books at their reading level and let them decide together which book we would read. They both agreed very quickly that they wanted to read the book about animals.
Before I read a new book with any of my students, my first objective is activate my students' prior knowledge and help them connect to the story. While doing this, we also take a picture/word walk through the book to preview it and help our thoughts. Depending on the students and book, you may have to ask questions to get them to share or think. Other groups may go on forever and ever! That was the case today with these boys. I didn't intend for our 20 minute group to be a discussion all about animals without actually reading the book, but before I knew it the boys were hooked on the pictures of bats in the story.
I just happened to have another book (at a much higher level) at the table for another group that has incredible pictures of animals. The book is called Animals Nobody Loves. The boys looked through that book completely on their own. I simply sat and listened to their conversation. They discovered hyenas and how they are the same animals in The Lion King, and they learned the word poison because some snakes are poisonous. They talked about how big an octopus brain might be and wondered if a bigger brain means you're smarter. They repeated words for each other when one of them was saying a word incorrectly. They told stories of a time when they smelled a skunk.
I was totally amazed at the large amount of rich language these two boys were using with each other. It was like I wasn't there. They were helping each other, asking and answering questions, and laughing through it all. This greatly veered from my original plan, but what they experienced with each other was much more meaningful. I was reminded that students should be the ones doing most of the talking and discussing in a classroom and that giving your students choices is a very powerful thing!
Follow one 7th and 8th grade English teacher's journey to motivate her students to read:
A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like
Before I read a new book with any of my students, my first objective is activate my students' prior knowledge and help them connect to the story. While doing this, we also take a picture/word walk through the book to preview it and help our thoughts. Depending on the students and book, you may have to ask questions to get them to share or think. Other groups may go on forever and ever! That was the case today with these boys. I didn't intend for our 20 minute group to be a discussion all about animals without actually reading the book, but before I knew it the boys were hooked on the pictures of bats in the story.
I just happened to have another book (at a much higher level) at the table for another group that has incredible pictures of animals. The book is called Animals Nobody Loves. The boys looked through that book completely on their own. I simply sat and listened to their conversation. They discovered hyenas and how they are the same animals in The Lion King, and they learned the word poison because some snakes are poisonous. They talked about how big an octopus brain might be and wondered if a bigger brain means you're smarter. They repeated words for each other when one of them was saying a word incorrectly. They told stories of a time when they smelled a skunk.
I was totally amazed at the large amount of rich language these two boys were using with each other. It was like I wasn't there. They were helping each other, asking and answering questions, and laughing through it all. This greatly veered from my original plan, but what they experienced with each other was much more meaningful. I was reminded that students should be the ones doing most of the talking and discussing in a classroom and that giving your students choices is a very powerful thing!
Follow one 7th and 8th grade English teacher's journey to motivate her students to read:
A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like
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