The Magic Has Begun....

A picture is worth a thousand words....

When I'm tired at night, I pull up this picture.  What joy to see three little boys, friends from K, sharing a book together.  

This is why I am here.  Well, one of the reasons.  To inspire and grow life-long readers.  It's my passion.  It is so rewarding for me, and such a gift for your child.

You might be wondering what I'm doing about reading. Am I teaching it?  What are your children working on in reading?

I often feel the pressure of performing "reading miracles" with every child I teach.  Phew!  This is a big order.  I take my job as a first grade teacher very seriously.  This year is a HUGE year for building your child's literacy foundation for life.  

Here is a peek into my mindset and plans for reading for the first half of this year.  The district would call this my "backward plan" for reading this year.  I want to share it with you so you have the big picture.

August: Reader’s Build Good Habits (What does reading look like, sound like? Who am I as a reader? Who do I want to be? How do I take care of books? Getting excited about reading!)

September:  Book Choice /Monitoring Growth/ Reading Tools (taking on new challenges in reading)

October:  Reading Tools/ Teaching how and building fluency/ Reader's Theatre

November: Thinking Strategies/ Growing a Sense of Story: Fiction

December:  Jan Brett:  Author Studies

January:  Poetry Genre Study?  Mental Images...or Wordless Books?

The picture of the boys above really shows what I've been doing with my children these first weeks of school.  I am reading lots of books to them.  The old fairy tale/folktales from long ago.  Rhyming books, poems, song books.  Books that make them laugh.  Books about people who love reading and those who might not like it yet.  Books that keep them spellbound. And they are reading to each other.

And with this, the magic has begun.  Every one of them is growing as a reader without any formal instruction.  I've been sitting with each one of them and taking notes on them as readers.  I've been out there with them, sharing my passion for books.  And it is catching!  This crew can read around the room for an hour at a time.  It thrills me to see it.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll begin formal instruction in small groups.  They will be ready by then. They are beginning to trust me and my love for them.  Once this is established, we can begin the job of taking on reading challenges.  Books will be sent home for nightly reading and I'll write another post that might help you with at home reading.  We are all readers!