What have we been working on in reading?

In fourth grade, we kick off the year with a mini-unit focusing on the habits of reading. This includes how to choose a just-right book, why readers abandon books, how to discuss books, activities to build students’ reading stamina, and so much more. I want students to develop a life-long love of reading and to look at reading as an enjoyable hobby, not just as a requirement tied to school. We launched the year with these activities in order to provide students with a foundation for all of our other reading activities throughout the year. You’ll hear more from me, in the coming weeks, about your child’s “just right” reading level and how you can use that information to support his/her continued growth as a reader.

One of the best ways to grow as a reader is to discuss what you read. Throughout the year, this will be a focus. I want students to learn how to have conversations about what they read, beyond sharing factual information about the book and telling whether they like it or not. Over the years, I have kept track of the different kinds of thoughts readers have about their texts, and I narrowed them down to eight different categories. Listed in the graphic to the left, these ideas help us to make the idea of “Reading is Thinking” more concrete, and less of a nebulous “Gee… I’m supposed to think about… stuff… while I read!” Kids can focus their thinking in different categories, which can help to build these habits so the ideas come naturally as they grow and mature. Students are often encouraged to “stop and jot” while reading and to record some of their ideas on sticky notes, which then get placed in the book. (This is why we may go through sticky notes to quickly in class!) This can facilitate engaging discussions about books. Wondering how you can help your child? Use these eight types of thoughts to guide some of your reading discussions with your child. Rather than asking an open-ended question like “What did you think about _________?”, you can ask a more specific question using one of these eight types of thoughts. It can lead to a great conversation, especially when discussing connections.

With a lot of these foundational skills established, we’re now in the midst of our first core literacy unit. Students are learning about narrative elements (characters, settings, problems, main events, and solutions), and while these are hardly new concepts, they’re learning more sophisticated applications of these ideas. For example, where stories for younger kids have characters who are clearly “good” or “bad”, stories for upper elementary students tend to have more nuanced characters, with flawed protagonists or antagonists who still have redeeming qualities. Likewise, where stories for younger kids have a clearly defined problem and solution, stories for older children will start to have multiple problems and endings that may not solve problems as much as resolve challenges. As you read with your child, or as he or she reads independently, ask him/her questions about these different elements. (We’ve finished learning about the setting, and we’re now learning about characters. Next week, we will begin to work on identifying the problem in a story!

The start of the school year wouldn’t be complete without some reading assessments. This year, we’ve continued to use an assessment tool called aimswebPlus. aimswebPlus is an online tool that allows us to administer and score an oral reading assessment as well as reading comprehension tools. Starting this year, instead of giving students DRA assessments, we will use Benmark Assessments to help me to identify your child’s independent reading level, which will allow me to work with you to help your child to find just-right texts. Like DRAs, the Benchmark Assessments (often abbreviated as BAS) is giving individually to each student. It’s time consuming, but it’s well worth the time, as I’m getting to know your kids very well as readers.

In the next post, I’ll fill you in all about what we’re doing in writing! Enjoy your weekend!

Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss