Today at reading workshop I introduced the reading strategy: making connections.
Using the "whole brain teaching" method, I often ask the children to teach what they have learned to others this not only helps them when hearing the information again from others it also cements their understanding.
Take a look at this chart and then watch the video of the "teachers" below.
This Friday will be our very first kindergarten reading roundup! I am so excited because I get to teach the first lesson. The idea of reading roundup is based on our reader's workshop. We are planning on teaching a reading mini-lesson to the children but also to all of the parents who are able to come. I think this is a great opportunity for parents to get a sneak peek into what reading looks like for kindergarten and also something that they can take away and do at home to better help their beginning reader.
Our first lesson is called; The 3 Ways to Read a Book, inspired by a lesson at the learning pad.
Kindergartners often tell me "I can't read" when I ask them to read a book. This lesson hopefully will give them some strategies that they can use even this early in their reading life.
The lesson:
How do you read a book?
You read the pictures, read the words, retell the story
The teacher will…
Model reading the pictures of a book
Model reading the words
Model retelling the story.
The children will then practice reading one of the three ways with their parent (or shining star 5th or 6th grade helper)
After a set amount of time we will gather together to talk about how it went and which way they were able to read their book.
In the classroom we will create an anchor chart that shows the three ways to read a book.
Now we are on our way to becoming great readers...yeee-haaw!
Over the past few years I have slowly implemented it in my classroom but this past year I went full force. I was a bit nervous about how it would look in kindergarten but it really was an amazing success! Every one of my students were reading on or above grade level by the end of they year! This for me was a huge accomplishment because many of the students did not come in to kindergarten with a lot of literacy background knowledge.
We started from scratch and they were amazing workers. I was impressed by how far they came at the end of he year and how driven they were every day! I started slowly in the beginning of the year and by December we had a full fledged running workshop! Here is a short video from last December in my classroom during Readers Workshop. We were working on the strategy of Questioning, so you will notice them reading, thinking and sharing some questions they had.
This year I plan to continue Readers Workshop and I am so excited to start! This summer I have been working on some new lessons and activities but mostly refining some of my favorites.
The Learning Pad is probably the BEST resource I have ever come across for teachers beginning their workshop. This teacher is amazing! It is designed for a second grade classroom, but can be easily modified for kindergarten or any grade. The lessons are posted for each day/lesson including the exact mini lesson, the strategy AND even the mentor text that pairs with the lesson! I can't say enough about how much this site has helped me organize and feel comfortable teaching Reading Workshop.
If you are a teacher beginning this approach or just someone in need of ideas, check out this site. If you are a parent interested in doing more at home or just want to see what reading looks like in our classroom every day check out this website.
I am planning on sharing some details in my next post about a really fun mini lesson that I can't wait to try in my Reading Workshop this year. Stay tuned! And for those of you beginning your school year like me after labor day, good luck and have a great year!
