I am collecting a list of online places to read and/ or listen to stories in English for elementary school students and families.
What great sites am I missing?
Please let me know and I will add them to my list!
Any time we can help students organize their thinking, plan their learning, make their learning visible, we are helping them build connections and increase the number of synapses– that is learning! With graphic organizers we can increase literacy, too.
In a guided reading group one of the goals is to have students read text while supported by you, the teacher. Remember the idea of gradual release of responsibility:
I do, you watch
I do, you help
You do, I help
You do, I watch
Using staggered-start can be both of the last two bullets; the key is that the student is ‘doing’ while you watch or help:
When you stagger the start, each student has a copy of the text;
One student student begins with the first paragraph (first page, first part,…);
When the first student gets to the second paragraph (second page, second part, …) student number two begins with the first paragraph while the second student continues on;
When student number two gets to the second paragraph, student number three begins with the first paragraph while the previous students continue reading;
While students are reading you are monitoring, taking notes and coaching.
When a student finishes s/he goes to the beginning and starts again and all students stop at the same time.
Did that make sense? The idea is that each student starts and continues reading through to the end. Because each student begins at a different time, each one has to appropriately-struggle with the whole text. No one is getting nervous about everyone listening; no one is counting ahead and pre-reading his or her paragraph. This is not round-robin reading!
As coach, you cue students as they are reading and take notes about their struggles. I always ask students to use their finger or a ruler while they are stagger reading so that I, the teacher, know where they are on the page and I can match the text with their speech as I quickly check in with each student.
Remember, this is one step in a whole process; it is one way to have students practice their reading in a guided reading group. Staggered reading will mean nothing if students do not understand what they are reading. Reading= comprehension.
Literacy Creates Justice (and it’s fun!).
Here is a group of teachers practicing staggered reading:
Thank you for the question about Modified Guided Reading. Let me start with the link to the original article and a link to an article that explains the original article.
The results are amazing when done carefully. In order for this to work, though, we have to think about our students and what they know and what they need to learn. When I use this format I pre-teach the aspects that my students will struggle with (you need to know your students!) and work on building oral language around those ideas. By the time they get to the text they will be in that wonderful Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky) and understand most of what they are reading. I try to leave appropriate challenges along the way so that their reading is in the Goldilocks-Zone.
Try it and let me know what you think. If you want some additional coaching please let me know. Remember: Literacy Creates Justice (and it’s fun!).
This is worth looking at- “NASA’s Earth Observatory has tracked down images resembling all 26 letters of the English alphabet using only NASA satellite imagery and astronaut photography.”
Language and content go together. We cannot learn language first and then learn content; nor can we learn content if we do not have the language. Learning to teach in this way is truly worth your while. I have compiled some resources for your continuing education.
1. Name of the place you will be writing about (e.g. Minnesota)
2. 1st introduction: You know/ You don’t know
Minnesota, located in the United States along its northern border with Canada, is known for cold, bone chilling cold and -40ºF wind chills. As a matter of fact, International Falls, Minnesota is called The Nation’s Icebox! Did you know, though, that Minnesota is also the land of 10,000 lakes for fishing, swimming and water skiing? (And water skiing was actually invented in Minnesota!) Here are some beautiful summer places to explore Minnesota.
3. 2nd introduction: In the middle of it all
As I ride my bike around Lake Harriet in the heart of Minneapolis I hear the sounds of Jazz coming from the bandshell and the ropes clanging against the sailboat masts. A group of runners pass me going in the opposite direction making way for the older couple out for an evening stroll. This is summer in Minneapolis and I have only begun to taste what summer in Minnesota has to offer.
Last Thursday night we arrived in Lima, Peru! This will be home for the foreseeable future.
We have been enjoying the company of family and friends; we have been searching out places to live; we have been learning from and working with some amazing people; we have been looking for and creating work, ways to share what we know while continuing to grow in knowledge.
There are amazing possibilities in this city of 10 million! If you are looking for a literacy/ language teacher and coach please let me know; I would love to talk to you about the possibilities.
When working with my students in language and literacy I am always looking for data. I don’t, however, rely much on standardized scores and summative assessments. While helpful in a very small way, those types of assessments give me information more about me, the teacher, than about the student. I look for data that I can use.
Every time I have a conversation with students I make notes about their learning, sometimes mental notes and sometimes written notes. I try to keep track of their use of language and their thinking. Every time I read student writing I make notes about their use of language, their ability to express themselves and their accuracy. This is the data that I use.
This is the real-time data that shows me what students know and can do right now. That data is then turned into large group, small group and individual instruction as needed to move all students forward. I encourage students to make mistakes, use big words, enter into debates and not be afraid. It is through making mistakes, I tell them, that I can know what the next steps are in their learning. All done in a supportive environment.
Give it a try; it’s not rocket science. When we pay attention to the students they will show us what they need. When we listen and watch, we will know what to teach.
S. T. Fleming 