Tori Miller Teach with a Sense of Urgency Chapter 4 (Feb/March) Blog # 6

These pictures are from the insect unit discussed in the blog below: 

As I read Routman’s chapter 4 I responded to the statement that the author said she always asked teachers: Name the top 5 things you do in your classroom to ensure excellent readers. I would have to say… 1. I read to them A LOT!! 2. I have lots of books available for the students to read that have different topics and genres. 3. I do independent reading, giving students individual times to conference with me. 4. I provide inviting places in the room to encourage reading throughout the day. 5. I allow them to read with their peers and other students in the school-sometimes even 1^st and 2^nd graders! And then I could not go on without adding number 6. I teach them that they can learn and find information that they would like to know from books. I have shared many times about my reading experience throughout school and at home and how it was short of teaching me to love reading, so my desire is to teach my students to love books and enjoy when they have time to read them.

This chapter also spoke of guided reading practice and how “trail and error supported by judicious teacher feedback, allows the learners to develop a self-improving system.” This statement I have found to be very truthful. Although it’s very hard at time, like watching your own children struggling to do something independently and you just want to jump in and do it for them BUT what will they learn from that. Teacher support and feedback is essential to a kindergarten learning to read and write and feeds the growth of every student. However, I know that I’m guilty of just fixing it for them and moving own because our time may be running short. And this brings me to my next point (from the book)…Promote joy in learning!! To me this is just as important for the teacher as it is for the students. The 3^rd year I taught kindergarten at LOES the district had adopted the Journey’s series as its ELA curriculum. I must say that was the most boring year of my kindergarten life thus far! I used those units religiously and taught it just as the teacher book told me to do and by December I was ready for school to be out so imagine how those poor kindergarteners felt. Over Christmas break I pulled together units and books that I thought would be of interest to my students and was very excited to go back and January, those 5 months were much more enjoyable than the first. This year I have worked a lot with my students to research subjects that I introduce to them that they would like to know more about (animals, insects, Spring). This has been so much fun and the students come in every Monday asking, “What are we learning about this week!” I even have parents contacting me when my students are absent to ask, “What are you teaching this week because he/she is home sick today and crying because they are missing school?” My most recent (currently in progress) research is on insects. Now I have to tell you that the students were so involved that I didn’t get to the author study of Eric Carle that I had also planned this week that is on my LRPs but we did discuss him during a few of our mini lessons, sometimes promoting joy in learning means penciling in and scratching out things on the LRPs! The students are so excited and have such a joy while learning.  The students are researching their favorite insect using books, computers, observations of crickets in our classroom and a fabulous animal habitat that my assistant made (pictures attached above). The students are collecting their thoughts and gatherings and using Storymaker (link on abcya.com) to type and create their own insect books, using inventive spelling as mentioned on page 51 of this chapter.

Raise your expectations and your students will grow…”If you expect them to achieve and take time to model carefully, provide lots of supported demonstrations and guided practice in which they can try out what I am teaching, and continually support their growing approximations, they always succeed (page 62).”

Teach with a Sense of urgency no matter how much time it takes!!!!!!

Pictures from insect unit below: