I so agree!!! And I think we as teachers sometimes try to resist the mostly-correct intuitive feeling we have about this subject because we have such a great time reading, too, and we find ourselves feeling "guilty" about having too much fun in this standards-obsessed, accountability-crazed environment we're in. I love Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth's book, Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature, where they recommend up to 6 read-alouds a day. First there is reading aloud at the beginning of the day to build community and do other kinds of things Robin is doing to build background and demonstrate the sound of literate language. Second, another just to "put the sound of written language in the air," and can easily be done as transitions which Robin mentions. Third, the same as number two, but is poetry!! How cool is that? The fourth: just what we've been talking about, to support the writers' (and readers') workshop. The fifth: as part of content study, such as the civil rights movement or habitats or urban spread. And last: at the end of the day after all the "getting ready to go" is completed. "The focus of this selection should be on leading students toward sustaining a story in their minds and features a well-chosen chapter book, even with the youngest children." The rest of the book supports these views. If you can get this book on inter-library loan or from your library, it's well worth your time investment.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 9:03 PM, Robin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This is a really interesting thread to follow. I teach second grade and one > of the things that I often think about is how to blend all the parts. For > example, most of my students have fewer than 3-4 books of their own at home > (if that). These are children whose parents are (mostly) NOT reading to them > at home, not sharing favorite children's books (in any language), not taking > them to story time at the library, etc. > > So for me, I want to recreate the love of reading that my own children > experienced when they were 2 and 3 and 4 and listening to books being read > frequently throughout the day and at bedtime. Books that were often read > over and over and over! > > And yet I also need to use texts during reading workshop to share how > readers think while they read, and during writer's workshop to model how > authors put their words and thoughts together. > > When I have (infrequently) tried to read a portion of a new book to my > students while intentionally trying to use it as a mentor text, I find that > my students have a very difficult time making the connections I want them to > make UNTIL they really know the book. They want to know what happens, they > want to know how it ends, they sometimes need to hear the vocabulary several > times in order to understand what is happening in the story, etc. > > So what I have tried to do is fit in reading to the children at odd times > of the day (while they're eating their snack, first thing in the morning, if > we need a quiet time to relax, etc. And for that first reading, I might do > some brief "teacher-talk" (this is the author, I'm looking at the front > cover and thinking about xxx, or the title makes me think that xxx, etc.) > but I know the children's focus is on the story so that's what I do- I read > them the story the same way I would have read the book to my kids when they > were little. > > And then, later, I can pick up that book and use it for all sorts of things > (so far this week I've used one book for 3 different mini-lessons on reading > strategies) and the children are much better able to delve into the book and > all the learning that I want them to do with that text. > > I think maybe with older kids I could get away with using bits and pieces > of texts, but for my kids I do have a very strong feeling that in order to > help them become lifelong readers I need to get them to love reading and > part of that is sharing great books (the whole book) with them over and > over. > > Robin > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
