Where we are as readers...

Hi Crew,

Thank you for making the effort to leave your busy lives on Friday.  Every child had someone special in the room supporting them.  I was amazed and so very happy for the kids.  They were just beaming weren't they?  We really enjoyed our first Reader's Theater experience.  In the upcoming months we will give this another go.   And the singing...such joy.  Such community.  We are happy.

                                               Reading Lesson:  Revisiting Just Right Books

Yes, the kids were spellbound when I pulled out these magazines.  I'll do anything to drive home an important point with them! 

 I gave the crew this reading lesson on Friday.   At this point in the year many of the children are really taking off into longer books with less picture support.  Since the winter break we've been working on "thinking" skills such as wondering, questioning, "making a movie in your head" while we read, and the higher level thinking skill of inferring. 

One of my fears is that now that a child can "read" many words without help,  they sometimes forget to "think" and comprehend along the way.  If no one is with them to chat about the book and check on this, a child can begin to think that reading is just reading all of the words in a book and that's the end of that! This is one of the reasons that I'm reminding them that they should be reading to or with someone for their nightly homework and that reading "just right books" is so important to their understanding of the story.

The above lesson went like this:

1.  5280 magazine:  "I know Tim Tebow is so popular right now, that I just had to buy this magazine and read up about him.  But I know so little about football"....  (then I read the heading of the article and a few lines, stumbling on words along the way).  "Well, I can see that I am not able to figure out what this is trying to say.  Too many words that are tricky for me.  And I don't know enough about football. I guess I'll have to read it this weekend with my friend who knows a lot about football." 
2.  Better Homes and Gardens:  "Let's see.  Here is an article about how to get your child to like reading.  Oh, I do love reading and I am a mom." (I read some lines fluently and shared what it said).
"Yes, I can read this smoothly and understand this article.  It is a just right read for me".

Lesson take-away: My background knowledge and interest in a book might help me read something new.  But if the words are too tricky, that might not be enough to help me understand my reading.  I need to know if a book is an independent book for me or if I need someone to read it with me. If I don't understand what I'm reading I need to do something about it!


Have a great week ahead!
Mary Beth