Miller section 2
I
really loved every part of this section. I love IR and all that it offers to
the students and teachers. As we all know, reading is connected to almost
everything and anything that we can do to help our students be the best readers
that they can be is worth having a designated daily spot in the classroom
schedule. It is so important to get students excited about reading. Introducing
students to all the reading possibilities and genres can really help students
find books that they enjoy and can relate to. I love investing in and expanding
my classroom library. Every year, I give my students a survey on what they like
to read and then I try and make sure to add to library based on their answers. I
also try to get my students to venture out of their comfort zones and explore
new genres or authors. It is amazing how surprised some students are when they
discover how much they enjoy nonfiction books. I have my classroom library
organized by genre and the AR level is on every book. That way my students can
easily find books based on their interests and know what books would be right
for them when looking at the AR sticker. Our IR time is 30 minutes and student
can choose their books and get comfy anywhere in the room as long as they are
actively reading. As the students are reading, I will walk around and just stop
and chat with the students about their book. The students love sharing and I
will ask questions that tell me about their comprehension. I will also ask
students to read their book aloud to me so that I can hear them reading. Another
activity that we may do during IR is called Book Buddy where they rotate to a
new buddy and discuss their books. The students love talking about what they
are reading and students love to read books that other students have told them
about.
I know
some teachers are hesitant to incorporate IR in the classroom for various
reasons, but if done correctly it can truly help students flourish as readers.
I know I have seen so many students get excited about IR because they have
choice and they have access to many books that they don’t normally have at
home. Especially at Lone Oak, students don’t have a lot of exposure to a
variety of texts and good reading being modeled outside of school. So allowing
the students to have this time in the classroom is so important. Also, Miller
mentioned how beneficial IR is for ELLs and I have found this to be so true. I
will never forget how valuable the purchase of one biography text was to my
classroom library. Sonia Sotomayor: A
Judge Grows in the Bronx, sparked an interest and love for biographies in
my ELL girls! They were so intrigued and inspired by her biography that it
truly made me realize how important it is to make books available that all my
student can connect and relate too!-
Such a great description of your IR time! I love that you give the kids a survey at the beginning of the year. I also love the idea of revolving book buddies! I know you are a great inspiration to newer teachers, keep it up. Check out the literacy closet for more resources for those ELL girls. You may even want to place a request with the librarian for future purchases!
ReplyDeleteHi Lacey,
ReplyDeleteI cheered when I read that you provided students with a survey at the beginning of the year to find out what this group of students' interests were and how you use that to influence your classroom library and your instruction. I also appreciate how you are taking time to conference with your students about what they are reading. This is how you learned how interested they were in Sonia Sotomayer's biography. Knowing this interest can guide you to a genre study on biographies or even a literature circle group for that group of girls to read and write biographies of their own. Thank you! Dawn