This week, we launched into "Read to Self." The children brainstormed what this would look like, sound like and feel like in the classroom. They agreed that it meant kids would be reading the WHOLE time, staying in one comfortable spot, getting started right away, and being quiet. They also agreed that we read to ourselves to learn and to become better readers.
As part of our launch, we've been building our stamina (ASK your child what they think stamina means!) As a whole class, we talked about building our stamina. Our first goal was to read (without stopping, being quiet, not getting up, etc) for 3 minutes.
Lots of children were disappointed, "We can read so much longer than that!" I explained that we are building stamina and it's like training for a really long bike ride. We don't just wake up one morning and decide to ride our bike nonstop to Burlington! We are slowly adding more each day so we are really strong at reading to ourselves.
We stuck to the 3 minutes and they discovered it was a lot harder to do it in a classroom of 16 other kids than at home. After two tries and reflections on Day 1, we had successfully read for 3 minutes as a whole class.
All of the children - even those who were confident in their reading skills and were unhappy that it was only 3 minutes learned that it was really hard to stay reading the whole time, sit the whole time, and be quiet the whole time (see a pattern?). They discussed why and realized it was challenging because sometimes you choose a spot that's not the best or you don't have the materials you need. Sometimes it was challenging because you wanted to see what others were reading or share with them what you were reading. Sometimes it was hard because other classmates were whisper reading or moving around.
We're really building stamina minute by minute so we can become better readers and can really focus - especially when groups and other things are happening in the classroom other than just "Read to Self."
Here's our stamina chart, we're on Day 3 and as a class, we exceeded our goal of 5 minutes and read for 6 minutes without stopping!!! This is a HUGE success for the whole class and should be celebrated!
This week, we also started using our CAFE menu. Our CAFE menu has different reading strategies that will help us become better readers. We will be adding different ideas to it throughout the year! So far, we've learned about "Check for Understanding" which is a Comprehension skill, and "Cross Checking" which is an Accuracy skill.
Children listen carefully to the strategy, I show them how to use it through a read aloud and then someone volunteers as an "expert" on the strategy. S/he makes a card to go on our CAFE menu and signs her/his name so we know who to go to if we have questions. ASK your child about the two strategies of "Check for Understanding" and "Cross Checking."
We also learned about the 3 ways to read a book! It was incredible to hear the buzz in the classroom as children were reading pictures, reading words, and retelling stories.
Try one of these strategies (or one of the ways we can read a book) when you read out loud to your child OR have them teach YOU how to use one of these strategies.
Happy Reading! :)
Miss Snyder
