By Laura Robb –

Robbie, a fifth grader, loves to read and always has a self-selected independent reading book on his desk. He tells me that if the book’s close by, he can read it after finishing class work.  Frequently, Robbie’s book travels home with him when he’s “into it and can’t stop reading.” Most days, Robbie reads more than one hour: twenty minutes during independent reading at school and up to one hour at home. It’s no surprise that Robbie scores high in reading comprehension and vocabulary on annual state tests. The volume of reading he does allows Robbie to read more than two million words a year, and he enlarges his vocabulary by experiencing how words work in diverse contexts and situations. 

The research of Richard Allington (2014), Steven Krashen (2004) and the scientific study of the benefits of voluminous reading by Samuels and Wu (2004) reveals a high correlation between time spent on independent reading and students’ achievement. Access to books, culturally relevant classroom libraries and time to read at school can make a difference in students’ reading growth and achievement.

In 1977, Richard Allington wrote this article: “If They Don’t Read Much, How They Ever Gonna Get Good?” and his words still ring true today! Forty-six years have passed since Allington published his article, and a quick “fix-it” program for literacy instruction still doesn’t exist. According to the Scholastic Teacher & Principal School Report, only 36% of teachers set time aside for independent reading and/or read-aloud every time class meets. Nearly two in three teachers (63%) say they wish they had time for independent reading, and even though many schedules it as the last learning experience, time runs out, and students don’t read.        

There are school districts where administrators still believe that allowing students to read in class is an ineffective use of instructional time. Yet, these school leaders usually understand that students must practice daily to develop an outstanding school sports team or band. The same is true for reading: daily practice is critical for success. A school-wide belief that volume in reading matters starts with the principal, who can rally teachers, students, and parents around an independent reading initiative by doing the following:

1. Finding funds for culturally relevant classroom libraries and ensuring that all English Language Arts teachers have libraries for students to self-select books they can and want to read.
2. Setting aside funds to annually update classroom libraries and encourage teachers to ask students for suggestions for new books, turning the library into “our library.”
3. Showing the support of teachers and students by visiting classes to celebrate the independent reading of self-selected books.
4. Creating class schedules that have enough time for independent and instructional reading at school.
5. Finding the time in a busy schedule to read aloud to classes and send this message to faculty and students: I value and enjoy reading!

Developing a Culture of Reading

Support from the principal can make a huge difference in how teachers feel about students reading at school.  When teachers know the role independent reading plays in developing students’ literary tastes and personal reading lives, when teachers are readers who enthusiastically share their book love with students, they become the reading role models who can empower others to read.     

If students look forward to independent reading at school and develop the stamina to concentrate deeply for 30 minutes, they are more likely to read at home. Moreover, a combination of daily reading at school and at home can result in students “meeting” up to three to four million words a year.  The ever-increasing reading mileage measured on students’ “book odometers” ensures they meet words used in diverse contexts, resulting in continual vocabulary growth. In addition, they build background knowledge of how topics and genres work, develop fluency, learn new information and concepts, and experience the pleasure of discussing books with peers.  However, students need access to books at school and home to continually grow as readers and thinkers.

Access is Key

When students have access to books through classroom libraries and their school’s media center, they can return a completed book and then check out a new one as they shop for books in their classroom libraries. A strong school media center with a certified librarian is also important to students’ growth as readers because it offers a larger book collection with more choices and an expert who has a deep knowledge of the collection to share with and support teachers and students. 

According to a study in The Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Volume 2, editors: Susan Neuman and David Dickinson note that (page 31, 2006), in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio of age-appropriate books per child is 1 book for every 300 children. Research cited by Alia Wong (2016) supports studies completed in 1996 and 2013: 61% of low-income families with children have no children’s books in their homes, and only 61 percent of poor families with young children have internet-enabled mobile devices. In addition, according to Wong’s Atlantic article “Where Books Are All But Non-Existent” (2016), poor families tend to underutilize public libraries, whether it’s because they worry about being charged late fees or they’re reluctant to put their name on a card or due to their lack of experiences with public libraries, they don’t use them. 

Because a large percentage of families living in poverty don’t have books at home, the responsibility of developing access falls to principals, teachers, and the school librarian, who can encourage students to take books home during the summer, on school nights, weekends, and over holidays. If you want your students to love reading and choose reading at school and home, they need continuous access to a wide range of books that will keep them engaged throughout the year.

Closing Thoughts

It’s time to recognize that access to books for all children and scheduling independent reading of self-selected books each time class meets is an effective, research-tested way to increase students’ reading achievement and love of reading! To become readers, children need to read books they choose—books they can and want to read- that are relevant to their lives! Yes, reading volume matters!

References

Allington, R. L. (1977). “If they don’t read much, how they ever gonna get good? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Newark, DE: IRA, 21 (1), 57-61.

———. “How Reading Volume Affects Both Reading Fluency and Reading Achievement.” International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, vol. 7, no. 1, 2014, pp. 13–26.

Krashen, Stephen D. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research. 2nd ed., Libraries Unlimited, 2004.

Neuman, S. B. “The k\Knowledge Gap: Implications for Early Education.” Handbook of Early Literacy Research, volume 2. Editors: Dickinson, D.K . & Neuman, S. B. New York, NY: Guilford Press, 29-41.

Samuels, S. Jay, and Yi-Chen Wu. “How the Amount of Time Spent on Independent Reading Affects Reading Achievement: A Response to the National Reading Panel.” CiteSeer, Jan. 2001, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.539.9906.

Wong, Alia (2016). “Where Books Are All But Non-Existent.” In The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/07/where-books-are-nonexistent/491282/

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By Laura Robb

Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything. Plato

“The only way to read the world is by traveling the world!” Unprepared for these words recently spoken by a first-year teacher during a collaborative conversation on independent reading, I delayed responding. As everyone filed out of my office, I asked the teacher to remain. He insisted that travel was better than reading books—it was “direct” experience, not reading about the experiences and lives of others. My issue with these beliefs is that they affected independent reading in his seventh-grade classroom: The twenty minutes a day required of ELA teachers occurred from zero to two to three times a week.  My concern with his reasoning revolved around depriving students of access to books—having opportunities to choose and daily read culturally relevant books that reflect the diversity in our country and the world.

Access and Opportunity Can Lead to Equity

Access means that students can self-select books from a range of genres and reading levels that they want to and can read in their classroom and school libraries.  Classroom libraries put books at students’ fingertips, allowing them to return a completed book any school day and browse to find a new one.  A well-stocked starter classroom library has 600 to 700 culturally relevant books on a wide range of reading levels and genres. Over time, the goal is to have 1,000 to 1,500 books that include recommendations from students, transforming the collection into our library.

            Access can lead to equity as long as classroom and school libraries have culturally relevant books that permit all students to read and learn about diverse cultures and lifestyles.  In addition, course opportunities, books, materials, technology, and professional learning are also factors influencing access and equity in schools. The most inclusive schools tend to focus on how staff can create opportunities that reach and meet the needs of all students no matter their socio-economic status and/or reading abilities.

To read is to know people and places we’ll never meet. To read is to step inside a character’s skin and live life as that character. To read is to visit the past, live more deeply in the present, and glimpse into the future. To read is to know our selves better by knowing and empathizing with others. To read the world, students from all cultures and ethnicities need access to books that represent the diverse populations and lifestyles in our country and across the globe.

Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors

While many teachers and school leaders continue to dedicate themselves to developing classroom libraries and curricula that include culturally relevant texts, there is still much work to do. One pathway to creating better opportunities for students is to consider the role of books in your school using the reflections of Rudine Sims Bishop:

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created and recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection, we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.” (1990, p. ix-xi)       

You can meet the diverse reading needs of students in your classes by providing access to culturally relevant and diverse texts, daily including independent reading, and then offering them opportunities to choose what they want to read. Then have students engage in partner and small group discussions because reading is social.   

Reading is Social: Give Students Choice and Voice

Recently, I finished reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and at different points in the book I felt compelled to reach out to a friend to discuss my feelings. Through impromptu conversations with classmates and friends, readers satisfy a desire to share books.  Yes, reading is social and it’s important for teachers to keep in mind that besides choosing their books, students crave opportunities to spontaneously share a favorite part or comment about their book with a peer.

            Besides formal partner and small group discussions, set up independent reading so that students can be social and have whispered, unplanned talks to express their feelings and/or thoughts about a book. Independent reading is often not silent nor is it noisy. Instead, the sharing is spur-of-the-moment, and students might ask a classmate to listen to a powerful passage or explain an emotion or a connection to a character or event. The social aspect of reading is also a terrific way to advertise beloved books to peers!

Thoughts That Linger

When students have choice and voice, they engage deeply with texts. Encourage them to stack a few “I-want-to-reads” in their cubbies, keeping books at their fingertips, so they can start a new book after finishing and returning a completed text to their classroom library. By offering all students choices of culturally relevant books that interest them—books that they can read, enjoy, and talk about, you move a step closer to the access and equity that is the civil right of all students. Moreover, you provide reading experiences that prepare them to participate productively in a global society.

References

Sims Bishop, Rudine (1990). “Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors,”

Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3), ix-xi.

Miller, Madeline (2012). The Song of Achilles. Boston, MA: Back Bay Books.

By Laura Robb and Evan Robb

Classroom libraries can be conduits for change, providing all children access to texts that affirm who they are, open possibilities for what they can become─and help them to develop the habit of reading. Teachers have tremendous power to amass text collections that develop students’ academic, emotional, and social selves. In this blog, we share the ins and outs to create a classroom library that adds joy to your school days─and affirms for all children that they belong.

The academic payoff of classroom libraries is old news…

There are decades of research to support the adage that children get better at reading by reading. In fact, whether you are a teacher or a leader reading this blog, we encourage you to use the research on why students become readers to advocate for funding classroom libraries. Developing successful, lifelong readers has everything to do with reading volume, offering students choice in what to read, and using outstanding children’s and young adult literature (Allington, 1997, 2012, 2014; Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding, 1998; Krashen, 2004). Yet, it’s important to acknowledge that we are all newbies regarding how to use books in ways that align with culturally sustaining pedagogy.

…but how teachers create an optimal collection is breaking news

Regardless of background, all teachers need guidance and assurance on finding books that provide positive, identity-building stories for all children. The field of culturally sustaining literature has exploded in the last few years, and the benchmarks have shifted. For example, publishers have recognized that it’s not enough to show characters of color or sprinkle them into storylines; they need to seek out own-voice writers and illustrators representing a wide range of ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds.

Children want to see themselves as protagonists, not slated to secondary characters. All children crave involving, entertaining, and nuanced stories and themes; they want normal, not noble. They know darn well when a book is pandering to stereotypes rather than written from an authentic perspective.

Luckily, great books in just about every genre abound! Tap the expertise of your school librarian and see the box below on a few of our favorite sources for diverse literature. Then, use the tips that follow to build the classroom library of your dreams.

1. Define diversity

Having a working definition of diversity helps you gather a strong collection. For example, you want to think about diversity in terms of abilities, race, ethnicity, culture, home language, gender identity, and so on. You want to reflect on what it means to shift away from assuming that white, middle-class, English-speaking is the norm. It’s not. Diversity is inclusivity. It’s not just about cultural and ethnic breadth.

2. Be asset-based

How you select a read-aloud, and how you talk about book characters, influences students’ sense of one another and themselves. For example, if you have bi/multilingual students in your classroom, select books that reflect their backgrounds and celebrate those learners’ ability to develop more than one language simultaneously. Also, pose questions in ways that are open-ended and invite all kids to respond. “What is familiar here?” “What is the character realizing now?” Older books in your current library? Scrutinize them to make sure they don’t perpetuate negative, patronizing stereotypes.

3. Be ruthless about relevance

What engaged you in terms of topics and authors as a youth might not resonate with most children today. So, fill the shelves with books that are relevant to students’ interests and life today.

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4. Consider reading range

Include lots and lots of books on grade level, but plenty below and above grade level.

5. Go big or go home

Each classroom library should have a minimum of 600 unleveled books and a goal to increase the collection to 1,000-1,500 over a couple of years. Pumping up students’ reading volume requires a voluminous approach to books. A few favorite diversity resources:

• Lee & Low Books, which was founded in 1991, is now the largest multicultural book publisher in the United States.
• Reycraft Books, a relatively new book line, publishes and licenses books for all children by authors and illustrators around the globe that have unique stories to tell.
• Wordsong is this country’s only imprint dedicated to publishing children’s poetry.
• Versify is a children’s imprint launched by award-winning author Kwame Alexander. It publishes books that celebrate the lives and reflect the possibilities of all.
• We Need Diverse Books is a nonprofit organization of book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.
• The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers. Their flagship initiative is 28 Days Later, a month-long showcase of the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult novels written and illustrated by Black creators. You can read more about the members of The Brown Bookshelf here.
• Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards (CWAs) is a scholarship program designed to highlight, encourage, and support diverse student voices. Eligible for high school seniors, please visit the link for more information.
• Corwin Press has an equity line of professional books for teachers and leaders. Launched by Dan Albert more than 20 years ago, its authors have been at the forefront of culturally sustaining pedagogy.

6. Stock all text types and genres

Use these ideas (and the linked book lists) to help you make your library diverse in terms of genres.

• Poetry
• Picture books
• Graphic novels/manga
• Realistic fiction
• Historical fiction
• Science fiction
• Fairy tales (include renditions authored and illustrated by people of color/representing versions of the tale from various countries/cultures)

• Fantasy
• Humor
• Mysteries
• Informational books
• Biographies and memoirs
• Magazines and newspapers
• Folk tales (include renditions authored and illustrated by people of color/representing versions of the tale from various countries/cultures)

7. Connect instructional and independent reading

The classroom library should feel recess-like recreational to students! You want them to view books as a break from some of the tasks and learning at school that might be harder for them. That said, as you plan your units, from ELA to math, to science, to history, add books to the library on topics your curriculum addresses.

8. Keep the library kinesthetic, not static

As the teacher, you are wearing the hat of the bookseller. And as every bookseller knows, the secret to success is to entice browsers with appealing, new features. Students will love it! Invite students to help you organize the library at the start of the school year. Hand out a student reading interest survey, so you discover kids’ interests and what kinds of books they like. Every few weeks, layer in newness.

For example, display “This week’s picks” and invite students to do the same in subsequent weeks. Place a box in the library for students to make anonymous suggestions for books, topics, authors; sometimes kids are too shy to ask for a topic publicly. Invite students to schedule 60-second book talks to promote favorites to peers. Invite your principal to get on the school’s intercom once a week and tell about a favorite book, and have students also share favorites that way.

 9. Advocate for classroom libraries

We believe that with a little ingenuity, any teacher can develop a class library, even in schools whose leadership don’t see classroom collections as a priority. Advocate for the principal to shift budget money allocated for a new reading program to stocking every classroom with an abundance of books. Collaborate with other teachers to make classroom libraries a school-wide initiative, a badge of honor!

10. Collaborate and coach one another

Launch a professional development inquiry around best practices for cultivating independent reading. To help you and others develop excellent practices throughout the school, use the following checklist. (Many more checklists can be found in our book Schools Full of Readers.)

What tips do you have to create a classroom library? Share in the comments below.

By Laura Robb

“The kids who can’t read the grade level text listen to it so they are on the same page as students who can read the text. That’s the only way I can have every student experience the required text.” This explanation illustrates how a sixth-grade teacher coped with a one-novel per semester curriculum in her classes. None of the teacher’s three ELA sections had all students reading on grade level or above. In fact, in this school students in all ELA classes, excluding two gifted and talented classes, were reading from grades one to seven —a range that’s similar to many middle schools throughout the country. 

            Despite the fact that teachers have classroom libraries and students read self-selected books for fifteen minutes each day, students reading three or more years below grade level don’t make enough progress in one year to learn from social studies and science textbooks.  In fact, these developing readers, often feel discouraged throughout the day because they can’t read texts in content subjects and therefore, don’t fully participate in discussions.

            More than forty years ago in his article, “If They Don’t Read Much, How Are  They Ever Gonna Get Good?” Richard Allington affirmed my observations and beliefs for developing readers: to improve their fluency and comprehension as well as enlarge their vocabulary and background knowledge, they need to read engaging, authentic materials throughout the day (1977).  Middle school is, most likely, the last opportunity teachers have to meet the needs of developing readers and by eighth grade have most students reading on or above grade level.  

When ELA and content area classes have books that represent students’ interests, cultures, and reading levels, students can read all day, every day. Equally important, as they improve reading skill and successfully participate in class discussions, students develop self-confidence and the perseverance to improve their reading. In addition to volume in reading, developing readers benefit from short, guided practice lessons that can also improve reading skill.

The Why Behind Guided Practice

Guided practice is instructional reading using a poem or a short text, and you facilitate the lessons that can be completed in 15 to 30 minutes. If you’re unsure whether students have absorbed information from a series of mini-lessons, you can use guided practice lessons to gain insights into their level of understanding. Moreover, during mini-lessons, you might identify a group of students who require additional practice. By supporting students with guided practice lessons, you strengthen their fluency, word knowledge, writing about reading, increase their background knowledge, and improve their recall and comprehension. How students navigate short texts can inform your instructional decisions, as you can:

• Adjust instructional moves by re-teaching a lesson or tweaking students’ goals and workload.
• Present one or two additional guided practice lessons to provide students with the practice that can improve their reading skill.
• Confer with a student to deepen your understanding of his/her work.
• Support a student or small groups by asking them to explain their thinking and then think aloud to model your process and gradually release the responsibility to students.
• Pair-up students and ask them to support one another as they rethink and redo notebook writing.

By observing students during guided practice lessons, you can target interventions and bring all students to a level of understanding that allows them to experience success during instructional and independent reading.

Scheduling Guided Practice

Guided practice Lessons replace all or part of your instructional reading block over two to three consecutive days. You can reserve one week to present a lesson and use it to assess students, or you can set aside three to four weeks and use the guided practice lessons as interventions that boost students’ reading skill.  Guided practice does not occur all year long and daily formative assessments provide the data that informs decisions and schedule adjustments. I have developed two types of guided practice lessons for additional reading practice.

Two Types of Guided Practice Lessons That Work

Both types of lessons build vocabulary, recommend short videos to enlarge background knowledge, invite students to reread passages for different purposes, improve fluency, and provide practice with citing text evidence to infer and support a position.

Partner discussion lessons ask you to do more explicit teaching by modeling how to write notebook responses and use context to determine the meaning of words. Pairs collaborate to complete word work, discuss questions, and choose a prompt to write about in their notebooks. These lessons offer students practice in completing authentic reading tasks and rely on partners scaffolding tasks for each other.

Shared reading lessons invite students to solve reading challenges independently (Burkins and Yaris, 2018).  These lessons ask you to select texts that allow students to solve reading problems independently.  As you pose questions about a short text, you’ll drive students into the text to infer, explore themes, compare and contrast, and enlarge their vocabulary. It’s the students doing the work that develops stamina and confidence to enjoy independent reading at school and home.. 

After students have completed a guided practice lesson, take some time to reflect on your observations and students’ questions and responses.  Doing this can help you decide if all or some students need extra practice with a specific strategy or if you can move on to building students’ reading skill and independence.

Learn More About Guided Practice Lessons

Corwin Literacy has published a book by Laura Robb and David Harrison, Guided Practice For Reading Growth (2020) that includes partner discussion and shared reading lessons for twelve poems and twelve short texts written by David Harrison, so children practice using beautifully written and engaging texts. Below is a shared reading lesson from the book that you can use with your students.

Rain, She by David Harrison

Rain, she watch jungle.
Oh yes!
Rain, she slyly lift each leaf,

tiptoe down trunk of kapok tree,

make sure jungle nice and green.

2Rain, she know when jungle thirsty.

She bang on forest roof,
plunk rubber trees on their heads.

“Wake up! Drink!” she say.

Oh yes!
Rain, she plump up blossoms,
make them nice and fancy for thirsty bees.

3Rain, she not forget animals!
Oh no!
She drench fur of sullen jaguar,

make parrots shake their feathers,

drip off howler monkey’s nose.

Oh yes!

4And rain, she never never forget
to pelt and rattle thatch huts,
drip through cracks, trickle down walls.

“Ha!” she say. “This I do for you.
I keep river full, she happy,
I pour your squash a drink.”

5Then rain, she say,
“This I do for me.
I keep jungle nice and green.

Oh yes!”

SHARED READING OF THE POEM, “RAIN, SHE”

Purpose: To understand how personification and onomatopoeia enhance meaning and support visualizing

Lesson Materials:

• Copies for all students of “Rain, She”
• Students file folders for storing short texts; 4 x 6 index card for covering stanzas
• An anchor chart headed with the title of the poem. Post both sentences on anchor chart:  Personification is giving non-living things the ability to do what humans can do. David Harrison personifies rain by making it a woman who cares for the rainforest. 
• Make two columns on the anchor chart. Title left side “Strong Rain Verbs” and title right side, “What You Picture.”
• Video: “Rain Forests 101/National Geographic” (3:41) or another video about rain forests that’s appropriate for your students. https://youtu.be/3vijLre760w >

Part 1. Pre-Teach

Day 1: about 15-20 minutes

• Watch video “Rainforests 101/National Geographic.” (You might want to watch this twice).  Invite students to share all they remember. Discuss green canopy and ecosystems.

● Show photo of the Kapok tree. Have students look at the person compared to the size of the tree. Connect Kapok tree to the green canopy and point out the animals that live in the tree and connect that to ecosystems. A great online resource can be found here: https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/species/kapok-tree

• Ask students to head a page in their notebooks and explain what the “green canopy” of the rainforest is and why it’s important. Circulate and help students by answering questions or helping them frame responses.

Day 2: about 15-20 minutes

• Give students a copy of the poem and read the poem out loud. Have students

read silently.

• Read the sentences on the anchor chart for personification and personifies. Model how you use clues to figure out the meaning of personification. Invite students to explain personifies using sentence clues.
• Have students turn-and-talk and discuss the meaning of these words using context clues.
• Reread the title and ask students to explain how David Harrison personifies rain.
• Reread the poem and ask students to turn-and-talk and find other examples of rain being personified as a woman.
• Introduce onomatopoeia and explain that words that also create sounds are onomatopoeic words. As an example point to bang in the second stanza. Ask, What kind of noise does bang make?
• Have students find other words in the poem that also make sounds: plunk, shake, pelt, rattle

Part 2. Start the Shared Reading Lesson

Day 3: about 20-30 minutes

• Have students retrieve a copy of “Rain, She” and the 4 x 6 index card from their folders. Students use their index cards to cover up stanzas 3 to 5.
• Read stanzas 1 and 2 out loud. As students follow silently, have them spot words that show what “she” does.
• Have students turn-and-talk, share words, and write these on the left side of the anchor chart.

First and Second Stanzas

How do these words (watch, tiptoe, bang, plunk, drink, plump up) help you see and hear what she is doing? Tell students these are strong verbs because they paint pictures and create sounds.

What other words in stanzas one and two relate to water?

• Read aloud the rest of the poem and students read silently.

Third Stanza

What does she do for animals? What words show you this?

Which words are onomatopoeic words?

Fourth Stanza

How are people in the huts feeling about “rain, she?” Use details from the poem to support you ideas.

How does the rain help people?

Last Stanza

Why does rain say, “This I do for me.” How do these words link to what the poet is saying about rain in the rainforest?

• What affect does repeating “oh yes!” have on your feelings? On the poem’s meaning?
• Reread each stanza. Turn-and talk about the picture you see in your mind and the words and phrases that helped create these. Share with the class.

Wrap-Up: Notice what students did well: finding strong verbs, onomatopoeic words, visualizing, and offering text details.

Day 4:  about 15 minutes

Part 3. Teacher Assesses

Complete the Anchor Chart

Additions and adjustments come from the students. You’ll want to see what they can add. If they add little, then students are telling you they require more practice. You can redo part of the lesson or move on and slow down, checking frequently for understanding.

• Have students retrieve the poem from their folders.
• Ask students to choral read as you reread the poem.
• Review anchor chart notes and have students make adjustments and add ideas.
• Review green canopy, kapok tree, personification, and personify and connect to the poem.

Reflect and Intervene: On sticky notes, jot the names of students who didn’t participate or contribute ideas for the anchor chart. Work with individuals or a small group. Return to modeling and then invite students to respond.

References

Allington, Richard L. (1977). “If they don’t read much, how are they ever gonna get good?”Journal of Adult and Adolescent Literacy. 21(1), 57-61.

Burkins, Jan and Kim Yaris (2018). Who’s doing the work? How to say less so readers can do more. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Miller, Donalyn and Colby Sharp (2018). Game changer! Book access for all kids. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Robb, Laura (2020). Guided Practice for Reading Growth, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Literacy.