In first grade, we do not give homework, however, students should read a minimum of 20 minutes nightly. During this nightly reading, try having your child set goals for their reading and then reflect on their goals.
This week in readers’ workshop, we focused on setting goals for our reading. Each day as I dismiss students to go to read to self (independent reading) I give each student a sticky note. Students take this sticky note and write their name and the number of books they want to read during read to self on the sticky note. They then make a tally mark for each book they read during this time. At the end of read to self, we reflect-were you able to meet your goal? Why or why not? Maybe you wanted to read 10 books, while a worthy goal may be a bit unrealistic for the 15 minutes we have built our independent reading stamina. Or maybe you beat your goal! Wahooty! Then for the next day, you know to set your goal a little bit higher. By teaching students a book goal setting strategy, students are able to learn and reflect about themselves as readers. They also learn to set reasonable, attainable goals for themselves. Additionally, making sure they meet their goal can be very motivating.
In first grade, we do not give homework, however, students should read a minimum of 20 minutes nightly. During this nightly reading, try having your child set goals for their reading and then reflect on their goals.
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When I first heard about using books clubs in primary grades, I was a little skeptical. I didn’t quite understand how a book club would translate into the first grade classroom. This year we decided to give book clubs a try and after our first book club this week, I can say we are hooked on book clubs! Last week, Mr. Elliott, Mrs. Leland, Carol and Heather came in to model a book club for the class complete with snacks and lots of conversation. On Monday before school, I snuck a book into each student’s book box with a large pack of sticky notes and a pencil. Students could not wait to read their book! In order to prepare for the book clubs, student read their book 3-4 times and placed sticky notes throughout the books. They sticky noted connections and questions they had while reading. Most books were bursting with sticky notes! We met on Thursday in our first book club groups. We could not stop talking about our thinking and referring back to places in the book that were meaningful to us! The room buzzed with excitement! On Friday, the groups met again to write and draw about their connections and questions on a large poster. The work that was created is thrilling-all students made great inferences and connections to their books. Book clubs will become a regular part of our reading throughout the rest of year. It is my goal to do 1-2 book clubs a month in the classroom. Upcoming Events this week: Monday: Library- please return books.
Wednesday: PE Thursday: Art Friday: PE Text to self-connections are vital part of reading comprehension. This year we have been making text to self-connections orally during read aloud. This week we took our text to self-connections to next level by documenting our connections by using sticky notes to jot down our connections. Text to self-connections are when we relate with a characters feelings, actions or a situation in the book. During read to self-time on Monday, I modeled making connections and then writing or drawing my connection down on a sticky note. Each student was sent off with 5 sticky notes and told to jot down their connections and then place the connections in their books. Then during read to someone time, we shared our connections. Our reading time hummed with a sense of purpose as students busily made notes and placed them in their books. Next, we shared our connections with our reading partners. The excitement about all the similarities between our lives and books was contagious! The really cool thing about our sticky notes is we will leave them in the books as little notes to the next reader. Already, we have begun to find these connection notes made on Monday in other students’ books. Below are photos of us sharing our text to self connections with each other. |
AuthorHi I'm Ms. Smith. I am thrilled to be teaching first grade at Queen Anne Elementary. I am passionate about teaching and learning. Please stop by often to watch us grow as learners and citizens! Archives
March 2015
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