Literacy Response 2.2

Regie Routman's Chapter on Teaching with a Sense of Urgency disucsses the "Top 5 Things I do to Ensure Students Become Excellent Readers." Of these 5: Demonstrate that I am reader, provide an excellent classroom library, let students choose books they want to read and give them time to read them, teach strategies students need to know to process and understand text, and evaluate students regularly, giving them feedback and helping them set goals I've found them all to be extremely relevant and useful. Right away I want to start discussing a few of these and how they pertain to my own teaching experiences. As a Kindergarten intern I've found myself struggling to help students find "Just Right" books of interest to them. Students so young are still discovering all the different types of books out there. The younger the level, the lack of interest in the reading subject. The truth of the matter is is that there aren't many books available at the A level. So how do I go about helping my students find books they are interested in? Get to know my students!

One of the other things Routman discusses is evaluating your students regularly while giving them helpful feedback. These last few days I've been working closely with 3-4 students a day while they read. I Listen and offer my support when needed. I've found this time to be especially beneficial for the students. They are given one on one time, someone is there to assist them when needed and they have the chance to practice reading aloud. I give at least one compliment and one suggestion for next time. Our meetings are casual, quick, and informational.

While I see all of these ideas as great, it is better to look at them as a whole rather than as separate parts. I strongly believe in allowing your students to see you as a human being. Letting them know that you too read and you have a library willing to share shows the students how reading can be good thing rather than just a chore that young students do.

Read on!