Saturday, August 31, 2013

Shared Reading Vs Interactive Read Aloud

Someone emailed me asking on clarification on the difference between these two types of whole group reading. 

I know watching these videos and reading the websites takes time away from planning; however, the better your understanding is of these structures, you will be able to plan better and quicker for using them.

Notice I got very excited about one video in particular. I hope you take the time to look at some of these resources. 
Remember, these are good examples of how you CAN do these types of whole group reading instruction; they are not the perfect way that you must do it.

I get emailed when you leave comments, so feel free to comment any questions or reflections.




Shared Reading

This website illustrates an example of shared reading in a primary classroom.
It also includes:
- why its important
- benefits
- two strategies

Shared Reading Video pt.1
- This lady talks to us more than she models. She does which back and forth a little between talking to us and modeling.

Description of Shared Reading Video
- teacher models what she would do with a class, and talks to us directly
- this video may be more helpful


Interactive Read Aloud

Description of Interactive Read Aloud and suggested interactive read a loud books from the Reading and Writing Project website.

***Love this Interactive Read Aloud Video***
- My favorite reading expert is Debbie Miller. I am 90% positive this teacher is also a fan of Miller's by her anchor chart and how she talks to her class.
- While this teacher uses a picture book, I do a similar interactive read aloud with 4th graders using a picture book and focusing on the Great 8 strategies as well.
- *After searching for 45 minutes, this is my favorite video! I am so excited for all of you to watch it!**
- NOTICE how she tells the students what  she will be thinking about while reading, and how the students will have a turn to try
- NOTICE how when she is thinking out loud she puts the book down/closes it most of time, so students know she is thinking aloud and not still reading
- NOTICE how she has the students turn and talk about the teacher's thinking... later they talk about their own
- NOTICE how the main focus is on word solving strategies, but they are using other strategies previously practiced as well (inferring, re-reading).
- I rarely make a chart, most of the time I have the students "turn and talk" or "stop and jot" down their thinking in their reading notebooks, after I have modeled my own.


This video says Primary Shared Reading but to me it seems more like an Interactive Read Aloud since the kids aren't doing any reading. Furthermore, the teacher is sharing a LOT of her thinking and the students are responding with what they think or if they agree.
- 30 minutes... has 3 lessons from 3 days in one video. I only  watched the first 10 minutes straight, then fast forwarded and stopped at a couple parts for the rest

Video: Close reading and accountable talk in an Interactive read aloud
- Caulkins endorsed ;)
- this is special kind of interactive read aloud... not your typical one, but a neat example.
- specifically incorporates common core standards


UPDATE 9/15/13

FnP videos modeling Shared Reading and Interactive Read Alouds - Click here (must be signed into Google Docs)



Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Docs for Planning Workshops

Here are some documents to help make your planning for readers' workshop clear and concise.


RW Mini-Lesson Planner
- questions to help you consider everything you might need to prepare for a lesson
- prompts to help keep your teacher talk focused

Month by Month layout of Readers and Writing Workshops

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Summer workshop Sites

  • you have to be logged into your district google account
  • has slideshows and downloads from the summer workshops

Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop google site
- structures of workshops
- what to do within the structures
- additional resources and organizers

Guided Reading
- videos modeling for each grade level
- slideshow of structure and instruction

Close Reading
- how it relates to common core
- what it is
- why we do it
- questioning strategies
- tips
- resources

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Reader Interest Inventory (reblog)

In the link below, there is a reader interest inventory to give to your students. This will help you get to know you students as readers.

The information these type of inventories provide can be useful when recommending books to students, choosing books for students in a guided reading or small group work, and choosing read alouds for your class. It may also help you understand how your students see themselves as readers, and inform you if any activities to boost attitude toward reading are needed. Students' motivation to read is affected by their interests and attitudes.

I have text books with many different reading interest inventories as well as attitude surveys. Email me if you are interested in looking at some more options.

Home Celebration: A Blog Of Comfort and Joy: Reader Interest Inventory

Book Leveling Resources

Reading just right books is important for students to feel like successful readers.
They should be able to read most words (less than 5 errors on a sample of the text), and be able to understand or retell the important parts. It is a good idea to post book levels on the inside of books. When posted on the outside of a book, students may not be thinking about their interests or purpose for reading when choosing a book.  Classroom libraries are best organized when they are sorted using a combination of genre, series, and/or author. We want our students to think of themselves as "readers", not just a letter.

Below are some resources to help you find book levels...

Fountas and Pinnell (FnP) use various factors to determine a book's level.

____________________________________
FnP doesn't have the book you're looking for? Find the lexile, then use a conversion chart to find the approximate FnP level.

Lexile determines a book level only on semantic (vocabulary) and syntactic (sentence structure) elements of a text. Its better than nothing, but not as accurate as FnP.
Conversion chart

UPDATE 9/15/13

Another chart that shows the correlations between FnP, RAZ-kids, and Common Core Lexile standards - color coded by grade

Ideas for classroom library

Here are some book lists from the International Reading Association.
A book list is created each year. You can look at lists from up to 15 years ago. Each list has books for primary and intermediate. It includes the title, author, and a short blurb about the book. You may want to look at these lists before submitting your book orders.

Teacher Lists
- identifies about 30 books rated by teams of teachers, librarians, and reading specialists as outstanding for curriculum use
- you may find some good books to use in mini-lessons

Children's Choices
- recommended by children themselves
- you may find great books to add to your classroom libraries


Some other book lists...
- from Amazon: Best Books to Read Aloud
- from Booksource.com: Favorite Children's Series Books (grades k-2)
- from Booksource.com: Common Core State Standard Exemplar Texts grades 2-8 (click on a "collection title" and you will see specific book titles)
- sorted by comprehension (thinking) strategy for each grade: K-2 list , 3-6 list


Don't forget!
Make sure you have a wide variety of books in your classroom libraries. 
  • Check book levels before ordering to ensure your library will reach all your readers' needs. 
  • Numerous genres should be represented in your library. Remember to include not only realistic fiction, but also
    •  mystery/ thriller 
    • historical fiction 
    • fantasy/sci-fi
    • graphic novels/comic books
    • biographies/autobiographies
    • information texts (animals, machines, space, plants, hobbies, etc.) 
    • magazines
    • poetry
    • traditional literature (folktales, fables, nursery rhymes, tall tales, etc.)