Principal 11
Enthusiasm for Reading and Writing
Accomplishing this Principal in the Classroom
As educators our goal is to create lifelong learners. Which means it is also our goal to teach our students to love to read and write for enjoyment and personal growth, they will then be motivated by this love to continue reading and writing outside of school and for the rest of their lives.
Specific Anchor & Grade Level Standards from CCSS
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3: One way to create more enthusiasm in readers and writers is to allow them to write about themselves. These can be both fiction or non-fiction pieces. What is important is that they are using writing technique to write about something of their choice rather then something assigned.
Instructional Practices
FORMATIVELY ASSESSING STUDENT INTEREST
It is important to know your students in various aspects in order to teach them in a way that interests and motivates them. At the beginning of the year I will give students an interest survey. I will ask questions related to literacy such as their reading habits, if they have a favorite book what is it, do they prefer a genre, and overall if they enjoy to read. They will be able to share with their peers so that their classmates can better understand one another. Furthermore, I will pay keen attention to all of my students. What do they like? What sports do they play? Are they scared of spiders? These may seem like extraneous variables, but they are all important. I want to be able to provide my students with literary experiences with books that are meaningful. I will do this by supplying a classroom library that is leveled and unleveled, rich in various genres for student choice, and by getting to know my students so that I am able to recommend excellent literature that I believe will interest and motivate them to love to read. It takes time to create a strong bond with students, and depending on their disposition some may be harder to get to know than others. This challenge is always present, however by creating a safe and caring environment for my students and providing plenty of opportunities for whole class, small group, and one-to-one sharing this is possible.
READ ALOUDS
This practice, which I have mentioned before, is critical to modeling a love for reading. I want to make sure that I create a daily, predictable schedule for reading aloud to my class during homeroom. I will read a short story or book that is unrelated to the content of instruction in ELA or Reading. I want to expose my students to various texts that I do not have time to read in the ELA or Reading blocks. Reading aloud models how building fluency and comprehension enables a reader to thoroughly enjoy their book without constantly stressing decoding. Children love routines, they will look forward to this simple unstructured introduction to their day in which they are allowed to relax and be read to. My hopes are to inspire my students to grow as readers and writers by exposing them to broad range of genres that are culturally diverse and peak my students to wonder about their world and the worlds of others. As long as I pause to check for active listening and ensure comprehension of the vocabulary and meaning of the text I do not see issues with this practice.
CHOICE
In the ELA classes there is a mandated curriculum which I must follow, I do not have the liberty to allow student choice in this class. Nor do I have much liberty to allow this during the reading intervention classes due to the strict Lexia Core 5 and iReady reading time requirements. When possible I want my students to be able to make decisions for themselves in both their reading and writing. I will do this by allowing them to chose any book of their choice for independent reading. It may be from the classroom library, from home, an article from one of the news webpages I mentioned earlier, or an eBook on MyON.com. As long as it meets their reading level as a “just right” book they may read whatever they chose. In addition, they also have the choice of what kind of book report they will fill out for the book. My cooperative teacher has this practice in place and each type of book report identifies with a specific genre and then a specific learning style. For example, there is one that is all open ended response, while another for visual learners allows students to also draw diagrams and fill in graphic organizers. This teaches my students to be self-sufficient readers that read texts that they love. There can be an issue with allowing students to be too self-sufficient, therefore I will provide formative feedback on all book reports and ensure that all students are reading books on their grade level. They are also required to finish a book and report every two weeks, which will ensure active reading.
It is important to know your students in various aspects in order to teach them in a way that interests and motivates them. At the beginning of the year I will give students an interest survey. I will ask questions related to literacy such as their reading habits, if they have a favorite book what is it, do they prefer a genre, and overall if they enjoy to read. They will be able to share with their peers so that their classmates can better understand one another. Furthermore, I will pay keen attention to all of my students. What do they like? What sports do they play? Are they scared of spiders? These may seem like extraneous variables, but they are all important. I want to be able to provide my students with literary experiences with books that are meaningful. I will do this by supplying a classroom library that is leveled and unleveled, rich in various genres for student choice, and by getting to know my students so that I am able to recommend excellent literature that I believe will interest and motivate them to love to read. It takes time to create a strong bond with students, and depending on their disposition some may be harder to get to know than others. This challenge is always present, however by creating a safe and caring environment for my students and providing plenty of opportunities for whole class, small group, and one-to-one sharing this is possible.
READ ALOUDS
This practice, which I have mentioned before, is critical to modeling a love for reading. I want to make sure that I create a daily, predictable schedule for reading aloud to my class during homeroom. I will read a short story or book that is unrelated to the content of instruction in ELA or Reading. I want to expose my students to various texts that I do not have time to read in the ELA or Reading blocks. Reading aloud models how building fluency and comprehension enables a reader to thoroughly enjoy their book without constantly stressing decoding. Children love routines, they will look forward to this simple unstructured introduction to their day in which they are allowed to relax and be read to. My hopes are to inspire my students to grow as readers and writers by exposing them to broad range of genres that are culturally diverse and peak my students to wonder about their world and the worlds of others. As long as I pause to check for active listening and ensure comprehension of the vocabulary and meaning of the text I do not see issues with this practice.
CHOICE
In the ELA classes there is a mandated curriculum which I must follow, I do not have the liberty to allow student choice in this class. Nor do I have much liberty to allow this during the reading intervention classes due to the strict Lexia Core 5 and iReady reading time requirements. When possible I want my students to be able to make decisions for themselves in both their reading and writing. I will do this by allowing them to chose any book of their choice for independent reading. It may be from the classroom library, from home, an article from one of the news webpages I mentioned earlier, or an eBook on MyON.com. As long as it meets their reading level as a “just right” book they may read whatever they chose. In addition, they also have the choice of what kind of book report they will fill out for the book. My cooperative teacher has this practice in place and each type of book report identifies with a specific genre and then a specific learning style. For example, there is one that is all open ended response, while another for visual learners allows students to also draw diagrams and fill in graphic organizers. This teaches my students to be self-sufficient readers that read texts that they love. There can be an issue with allowing students to be too self-sufficient, therefore I will provide formative feedback on all book reports and ensure that all students are reading books on their grade level. They are also required to finish a book and report every two weeks, which will ensure active reading.