Every morning, from 7:40 to 8:00, we begin our day with individual choice book reading. The students are allowed to read any book that strikes their fancy - or any magazine or newspaper for that matter. I bring in the Friday-Sunday Times from home each Monday, and at least one student spends the week studying the sports page. To me, the most important thing is that the kids are reading continuously. So, if I see a student look up and get that far-away gaze (the pre-cursor to an early morning nod-off), I simply say, "So-and-So, if you don't like that book, please go find another one." The students are allowed at any time to check out a book from my classroom library, and they can also use this time to take a trip down to the school library to check out a book.
Here's what some of them are reading:
During this individual reading time, I want my students to enjoy themselves, but I also want to practice reading skills and build vocabulary. My students are required to find one new word a day, or four new words a week, look them up in the dictionary and record the word and definition in their reading notebooks. On Friday, I walk around the room, checking their nightly reading logs and vocabulary words. I confer with them to make sure they understand the words, and if there are any words that I think could improve their writing, I have them write the word and definition on index cards. (This is considered a kind of honor, btw.)
During this individual reading time, I want my students to enjoy themselves, but I also want to practice reading skills and build vocabulary. My students are required to find one new word a day, or four new words a week, look them up in the dictionary and record the word and definition in their reading notebooks. On Friday, I walk around the room, checking their nightly reading logs and vocabulary words. I confer with them to make sure they understand the words, and if there are any words that I think could improve their writing, I have them write the word and definition on index cards. (This is considered a kind of honor, btw.)The students then take the vocabulary words up to the "Word Wall," which is organized in four categories: "Sizzling Verbs," "Spicy Adjectives," "Precise Nouns," and "Well-placed Adverbs." The students have to determine from the definition and context what part of speech their word comes from. If they cannot figure it out, we work through it as a class. After all the words have been placed, the whole class records the new words, and any student who uses the words gets praise.
The overall effect is kids who love to read and talk about their books, which only leads to more reading, and more word-conscious reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment