Thank you, Patricia. You have given me many ideas on how to improve our reading comprehension in class this year.
Lucinda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Patricia Sankey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 6:20 PM Subject: Re: [LIT] Encouraging student reading...how do YOU do it? >I teach 6-8th grade students who have scored non-proficient on the >Wisconsin exam. > > In my 7th and 8th grade class, we begin with SSR time. They respond to > their reading either on post-it notes or in their reflective reading > journal. They are responsible for dating and noting each day. On > Fridays, they reflect on their reflections...what did they notice about > how they read this week? The kids are often honest with themselves on > their reflection. They hand in their post-its on a piece of paper with > their reflection written on the back or their reading journal with their > reflection written in a different color pen at the end of their last note. > I write back a small note. I will often use their reflection for an > informal conference on Monday with each student as well. > Part of their participation grade is their ability to stay S and S during > SSR time. They also get points for handing in their written reflections. > > I read aloud in class as well. I have the kids respond in various ways. > Sometimes they draw pictures about what is being read, sometimes they > write a prediction, sometimes they question the author, sometimes they > summarize. We share a few of these each day and keep them on a huge piece > of paper for us to cross check and reflect upon as we read. > > I involve the parents for the outside reading. I allow the kids to read > virtually anything at home...magazines, hypertext, website text, some > video games, books, instructions, manuals, textbooks, picture books to > younger siblings, or anything else the parents can come up with. I ask > them to read 20 minutes 5 days a week. The parents are required to note > what was read and sign off on the log. These logs are worth some points, > but not a huge amount of points because I don't want to force parents to > lie for their kids. What I like about this is that the parents and the > kids are talking about literacy at home. I also love the phone calls > regarding "what I count as reading". We've had some fantastic > conversations about the amount of reading some video games require and > excellent discussions about how much reading happens at computers. Often, > the kids will ask to share something that they read outside of class. We > have an active bulletin board that we use to note the forms of literacy > that we have read over the week. One boy last year brought in a greeting > card that he didn't "get" because he didn't understand the humor. He > brought in a fantastic "on the fly" lesson about humor and use of > language. It was great! > > For the 6th grade students, I am in their House classrooms during > Literacy, but they come to me during lunch for book club twice a week. We > choose a book to read that is at our reading levels. Then, the media > specialist gets us all the book and we assign pages or chapters to read. > During lunch we talk about what we read. I require the kids to make notes > about what they read on post-its. They use these to help with the > discussions during lunch. The kids get invited to this book club (based > upon a nonproficient Wisconsin test score or upon teacher recommendation) > and feel honored to be there, so they keep up with the reading. It's > actually REALLY fun, and they tell me it's the first time they felt like > real readers. > > I hope this helps. > > > Patricia Sankey > Reading Specialist > Templeton Middle School >>>> "Lucinda Marcello" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 08/09/07 7:38 PM >>> > I am curious what ways you are encouraging your students to read in and > outside of class. > > It seems more and more that reading competes with Xbox, text messaging, > Myspace, etc. > > Do you keep them accountable? Do you grade their effort? Do you use > reading logs? SSR? > > If so, how do you manage it to make reading effective? Share what works > for you, please. > > As a newer teacher, I am all ears! > > Thank you. > Lucinda > Secrist M.S. > Tucson, Az. > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > This email was Scanned for Virus & Malware prior to entering or leaving > the Hamilton School District network. If you have questions please e-mail > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > This email was Scanned for Virus & Malware prior to entering or leaving > the Hamilton School District network. If you have questions please e-mail > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.8/941 - Release Date: 8/7/2007 > 4:06 PM > > _______________________________________________ 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
