Reading
Reading instruction in Room 130 aims to take on a balanced approach, varying from teacher-centered to student-centered. There are five recurring activities in our reading program:
- WEB: Wonderfully Exciting Books
- Shared Reading: Esperanza Rising
- Literature Circles
- Read Aloud
- Paper and Coffee
Wonderfully Exciting Books (WEB)
This is our silent, independent reading time. Students and I are scattered around the room reading self-selected books. This time builds a love of reading as students read books related to their own interests. This is also an opportunity for students to practice reading strategies they are learning at other times in the day.
Shared Reading 
This is our shared reading time, where everyone in the room has their own copy of Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan. This is the story of a wealthy Mexican family that suffers great tragedy and is forced to move to the US to start a new life. This book spurs great discussion about wealth, poverty, justice, death, racism, integrity, persistence, and changes. It also places us in a different time, culture and perspective, and correlates well with the students’ student of Spanish.
Literature Circles
This is the engine of our reading program, a time to read and discuss good books. Here, students learn and practice the reading strategies that successful readers demonstrate:
- Questioning
- Visualizing and inferring
- Making connections to the text
- Determining importance and summarizing
The process starts as students get to read from each of five or six book sets that have been chosen, usually around a theme. Based on what they have read, as well as interest and reading level, students rank the books in order of what they would like to read. I use student choice, as well as my knowledge of student reading level and ability, to place students into book groups that best match their interest level to their reading level.
Book groups meet every day, alternating between reading and discussion days. On reading days, students read their group’s reading assignment and write down connections, questions, interesting passages, and illustrations. The goal is for students to respond to the text, not just understanding it, but going beyond it to look at the how’s, why’s and what if’s.
On discussion days, students use their responses from the previous day to discuss what they read, building and extending from the comments of others.
This cycle of reading and discussion typically takes four weeks, with students reading anywhere from 7 to 20 pages per reading day. After the books are completed, a week is taken to complete a project that shares the book with the rest of the class.
The cycle is then repeated, possibly with informational texts.
Read more about Literature Circles here.
Read Aloud
This is the time for me to read to the class, while they listen to a good book. But this is more that just “story time.” I also have a chance to model what fluent readers do. And I frequently stop to ask questions, and look for predictions. Students are not passive participants of this time.
Paper and Coffee
Coffee? Okay, it’s not real coffee, but we do drink it out of mugs! In groups, students read their “paper”, which is a Time for Kids, and drink their “coffee”. We also occasionally read the Flint Journal or the Detroit News.
Reading Assessment
Reading level and growth are assessed throughout the year using a variety of tools.
Twice a year, students are assessed using the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI). This test assesses oral reading fluency and comprehension.
Monthly, students will be assessed using the STAR Reading test. STAR Reading is a highly-rated computer adaptive test that determines a student’s reading level. The reading level is used in class to track growth and to place students in reading groups.
Resources
