Welcome to the 21st Century!

Our world has SO many possibilities. Now, more than ever, our students have to be prepared for the life they will live in our current and future society - a life full of information, problems to solve, and constantly advancing technology!  In fact, www.p21.org is dedicated to help the education world teach our 21st century learners.  21st century learning isn't just about the use of technology, although it's important.  It's about helping our students use the 4 C's of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity to be successful and active members in our world!

Listen to the 2010 Teacher of the Year, Sara Brown Wessling, speak about how to meet kids where they are, build upon that foundation, and then stretch them to use critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

2010 Teacher of the Year Video Link

Additionally, here's a great tool I learned about through one of my graduate classes that you could use with your students to motivate them to READ and talk ABOUT reading! You could have small group discussions and can make them as simple or complex as you like! No logins or passwords to remember - just simple and easy! This is one I created.  It took about 2 minutes!

www.wallwisher.com/wall/coolwords

What Level is this Book?

There are so many ways to level books - Guided Reading Level, Lexile, Grade Level Equivalent, DRA etc.  Leveling books seems to be the trend.  I'm not sure if this was popular in the past and if this is just the pendulum swinging back again.  When I started teaching 5 years ago, I wouldn't have been able to tell you what a reading level was or what it meant.

Now, knowing my students' reading levels is integral to my everyday teaching life!  There are times when I feel that we can become too dependent on a child's reading level, especially when it comes to parents using this as the one and only measurement of their child's reading abilities.

I primarily base my small guided reading groups around levels.  My ultimate desire is to be able to group students by the reading strategies they haven't yet mastered. Meshing level and strategy groups together in a way that makes sense and fits into a reasonable time frame is still a work in progress for me.  Additionally, while reading programs' leveled books are convenient, they may not always be representative of authentic reading.

Here are some websites I use to level picture and trade books that aren't already leveled that I think my students should experience:

http://bookwizard.scholastic.com
http://home.comcast.net/~ngiansante
http://books.atozteacherstuff.com/leveled-books
https://leveledbooks.beavton.k12.or.us/search.php

What's Hot and What's Not for 2010

One of my graduate class professors shared this article with my class.  I found it extremely eye-opening, and it encouraged me to reflect on my literacy instruction and beliefs. 

What's Hot for 2010
http://www.reading.org/General/Publications/ReadingToday/RTY-0912_HotList2010.aspx
This article includes a link to the What's Hot for 2010 Chart.  Literacy leaders from around the country were interviewed either by phone or in person, and their opinions on these areas of literacy were collected and recorded.  Just because these leaders agreed that a particular area was hot does not necessarily mean he/she thought it should be hot.

Highlights of What's Hot for 2010
Some of the "hottest" topics: ELL/ESL, Struggling/Striving Readers (grades 4 and above), Response to Intervention (RTI), Early intervention, High-stakes assessment, Comprehension, and Literacy Coaches

Some of the "what's not hot" topics: motivation/engagement, adult literacy, critical reading and writing, fluency, phonics, and professional development

Look at the chart to see what experts in the field thought SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be hot.  This may be different from what is actually hot or not hot.

Here are some questions to help you reflect on this article:

• What do you think should be hot?

• Based on your school's school improvement goals and professional developments, what does it seem like your school believes should be hot?

• Would your students, parents, fellow teachers, and principal be able to tell what you value by walking into your classroom?

• Which of these areas do your focus on the most in your small guided reading groups?

• How will this list change in 2011?

Do I really sound like that?

Do you have students in your class who are reading accurately, but struggling to put words and phrases together smoothly, quickly, and with expression?  It's hard for students to hear themselves when they are working so hard on reading words correctly in front of a teacher or classmate.

Let them listen to themselves read!  Use an audio recording device or program to record students as they read a selection.  Then, let them listen to it.  The first few times they will be totally entertained by hearing their own voices.  They'll often say "That's not me!  Do I really sound like that?!"

Now that you've got them engaged, ask them to listen for certain things.  Use a fluency checklist (see below) and let them evaluate their reading.  After they have evaluated it (and they are usually painfully honest!), help them pick one aspect of fluency to work on.  Then let them record again.  Play it back to them and let them compare the two readings.  Depending on the age of your students, you may be able to teach them to do this independently or with a buddy.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

If you want to take it a step further, record a small group performing a Reader's Theater.  Some programs, like GarageBand, allow you to add sound effects!  Not only will students be listening to and evaluating their own reading, but they may learn a thing or two about using technology to become better readers!

You don't have to reinvent the wheel!

Teaching students in small groups adds a large chunk of planning to any teacher's plate.  Keep it simple!  Choose one or two areas to focus on with your students during each group meeting, or even for a whole week.  After all, you may only have that group for 10-20 minutes.  Not only will it help you focus your instruction, but your students will have a clear purpose for reading and becoming better readers.  Whether you meet with students by reading level, interest, or reading strategy, here is a great website with a plethora of instructional techniques to use with students.

Visit fcrr.org!  It's the website for the Florida Center for Reading Research.

Use the "Student Center Activities Search Tool" under the link "Instructional Materials for Teachers."  The search is broken down into 7 areas:
1.  Phonemic Awareness
2.  Phonics
3.  Fluency
4.  Vocabulary
5.  Comprehension
6.  DIBELS
7.  SSS (Florida's State Standards)

Some of my students' favorites are the fluency games!  You can print out directions to the game, as well as all the game materials.  Not only can you use this with students during small groups to build fluency, but they can do it independently!  Once they realize that they can read more smoothly and quickly, let them reread a page in a book a few times they are reading to see if they can read more smoothly and quickly.

There's no shame in "borrowing" ideas from a website or a respected colleague.  Try what works and modify it for your students' needs.