Exactly what I believe. I had to take a class to get certified in teaching Gifted and Talented (I taught a GATE class one year) and I argued with the professor a bit because she would always say, well here are strategies for your gifted students. Or, what are you going to do different for your gifted students? I argued that these were great strategies for ALL students, but she didn't want to hear that. Really frustrated me.
Then at the beginning of this year, it was my 2nd year at this particular school, and I had a number of parents pull their kids out of the "gifted" class and put into mine - classes with many kids who were not proficient. So yes, the same strategies work for everyone, you just have to know how to scaffold properly. Also, putting the right book into the hands of a struggling reader is a must. If they can get that one book, they will become readers. On 7/4/07, Caroline Mooney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > wendy, as for the below basic kids, dalton public schools is moving > towards the reading workshop. these kids simply need to read. in nanci > atwells' first edition of in the middle, she showe exactly why we need to > read. it's a neat lesson, and one i leave up all year long. the kids refer > to my drawing, and they know that the more they read, the more they will > comprehend. it's a number's game. > > dalton is doing something called literacy collaborative (google it), very > similar to nanci atwells' workshop. the kids continually read, teachers give > mini lessons, and the class comes together at the end of the period to > discuss skills and strategies. > > if you think about it, most--and i'm not including students with > disabilities--poor readers don't like to read. they ususally don't even know > what kind of book they like, because they dont' know how to choose books. > their time is wasted, and they know it. they are school readers and not real > readers. > > expect that your low level readers will become real readers. let them read > real texts and intervene when you need to. share your enthusiasm; they don't > know how to think! they want to be real readers, but they just don't know > how to do that now. i believe my expectations for students have been too > low. i've upped the ante this year, so we'll see how it goes. > > bottom line--do for your low level kids what you do for your > advanced--adjust the pace or level--but do the same. i've struggled with > this for two years now, and i've come to the conclusion that low level > readers need exposure to printed texts. period. mini lessons are perfect for > students, because they give them something to think about while reading. > mostly, these kids just need to read , write, and talk about thier reading. > > i hope this helps. you probably already knew all this, but as a new > teacher, i'm learning all this the hard way, and this is what i've learned. > they didn't teach me this in grad. school:) > > caroline > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- - Heather "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." --Clarence Day "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little good evidence exists that there's any educational substance behind the accountability and testing movement." —Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. " —Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
