Just-Right Reading

Have you ever picked up an article or text book, read a page or even an entire chapter, and then realized that you have no idea what you just read? When kiddos attempt to read books that are too challenging or above their level, they may think they are reading, but they may not be fully understanding the text.  This can lead young readers to have a false sense of what it means to be a reader.

When they read "just-right" books, kiddos are simultaneously learning and practicing reading skills, including decoding, predicting, connecting, and analyzing.  When they read books that are not just-right, they may think they are doing these things, but often they are doing just the opposite!  Instead of decoding smoothly (blending sounds into words), they may skip over words that are too long or confusing.  Instead of making logical observations, they may notice unimportant details.  Instead of making helpful connections to the characters or situation in the story, they may miss details and nuance.  Instead of analyzing the text as a whole, they may simply get the gist and then move on.  

Early in the year, I use the analogy of riding a bike to help my kiddos understand the importance of reading just-right books. When you ride a bike downhill, you ride so fast that you don't have to work at all; similarly, when you read a book that's too easy, you read quickly and may not think about what you're reading.  When you ride a bike uphill, you have to work so hard that you get tired easily.  Likewise, when you read an "uphill" book, your brain has to work too hard and your reading sounds "bumpy."  Riding a bike on a mostly flat path allows you to work your muscles and the more you do it, the stronger you get.  That's how just-right books work too -- you "grow your brain" each time you read!

Get this  Just-Right Book chart and more!

Especially when kiddos are just learning to read, it is essential that they spend the majority of their independent reading time with just-right books.  Just-right books are books that they can read with strong accuracy and fluency and comprehend deeply, using a variety of skills appropriate for the level of the book.  My kiddos know that "when books are just-right, we can think, talk, draw, and write about them."

Friends Move On

Our school isn't in a particularly transient area, but we still typically have one or two kids who leave before the end of the school year.  It's always hard to know how to say good-bye and good-luck to these friends mid-year, but this year I created a little "scrapbook" to record memories and wishes.  It was a big hit with all of the kiddos, and a special memento for the family.

A few days before Luca's last day, I sent him to another teacher's room to read while the rest of my class worked on their pages.  The kiddos drew pictures and wrote kind words to remember their friend. I compiled all of the pages and put them together in a report cover.  On Luca's last day, we invited his mom and little sister into class and presented him with our scrapbook.  He was thrilled (and mom cried). We miss them already!

These aren't the best pictures, but you get the idea.  I actually realized that we needed a picture box next to favorite memory so I updated the pages after this.  Download your own FREEBIE copy!

Word Study Updates (and UPDATED FREEBIE)

This fall, I changed up the way that I do Word Study in my classroom to try to make it "stickier" for my kiddos.  (I blogged about it here: Words Their Way Vocabulary).  During the first semester, I liked the new routine and on my mid-year Spelling Inventory assessment the kiddos showed growth as well.  However, I noticed that not all of the my kiddos were making adequate progress.  

As I thought about why this might be, I realized that some kiddos were not using their practice time efficiently or productively.  In the building stations (like letter magnets and letter cubes), some kiddos were just playing with the materials, not actually spending time practicing the words from their sort.  In other stations, the kids were quickly writing a few words and then spending the rest of the time drawing.

I decided to make some changes for the second semester to ensure that all of the stations were equally productive.  First, I added an extra day to our routine to focus on writing all the words in the sort.  The kiddos write the words and underline the spelling pattern.  After they have written all the words, they can highlight over them or "rainbow write" (trace over the words with three colored pencils).  The kids love these options and it ensures that they have all write all of the words at least once.

I also created a new recording mat for students to use in the building stations.  When the kiddos choose a station, they have to start by writing 6 words that they want to build.  Then, as they make each word, they have to check it off on the recording mat.  When they use stamping letters, they can actually stamp the words right on to the mat! 

With these additions, I'm more confident that my kiddos are getting adequate practice writing their new words.  Given that my ultimate goal for Word Study is transferability to writing, this is very important.  Plus, I've increased the accountability so I can follow up with any kiddos who do not complete their work during Word Study time.

We've been using this system for the past 9 weeks and I can already see the improvements!

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