First, there is far, far more to reading than fluency and allowing children opportunities to interact with print and illustrations that are not an exact match is not a bad thing, provided they also have time to spend reading and rereading those texts which are more supportive of helping them break the code. Teachers can monitor reading through conferring and running records. In my own classroom, we simply had two different reading times--one to explore print through approximation, shared reading, picture reading and so on and one that focused children specifically on books they could access with little support. Children can and do learn to access print at different levels because their teachers teach them how through modeling and demonstrations lessons.
Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach and Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 5755 ----- Original message ----- From: Shannon E. O'Donnell <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Date: Monday, June 22, 2009 6:47 PM Subject: [MOSAIC] Independent Reading > I am a graduate student at Manhattanville College. I am currently taking a > literacy course and as part of my assignment I was asked to subscribe to a > listserv and participate in asking questions pertaining to literacy. One of > our required readings is the book Phonics they Use: Words for Reading and > Writing by, Patricia M. Cunningham. While reading the part about Fluency > Activites in the section about Independent Reading I began to wonder how > independent reading programs can be implmented into younger grades like > kindergarten and first grade. When encouraging students to read by > themselves and to choose their own book, how are teachers able to ensure that > they are reading books that are at their level? If students are not reading > their level of books then how can this type of reading promote fluency when > they may not be understanding the words or storylines? Any suggestions or > input would be very helpful. > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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.
