Thursday, August 28, 2008
Welcome back!
Welcome back to another fun filled year of learning and LITERACY! We just want to take this opportunity to get those of you who enjoy blogging on board with us here at the literacy thinkaloud! We hope to use this as a way to share our learning with you and have you share your learning with us as well. To kick off the new year please take some time to comment on your thinking process as you begin your literacy block. What are the "tried and true" ideas that you use every year? What do you continue to struggle with in setting up your classroom? As your kids enter into the picture, what things do you find yourself changing to fit this particular group and why? What are some great books that help get your kids back into the swing of reading and writing? You all have such a wealth of knowledge, new teachers and veterans alike may find a nugget of information that may help to get things off to an even better start!
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2 comments:
My tip is to start "say something" buddies right away. They are such a valuable learning tool! Students may need a minilesson or two on what to do in a say something partnership. At the beginning of the year I tend to mix say something buddies up more frequently so that students have a chance to get to know each other. It helps me to keep them engaged by stopping often to give them a chance to "say something" (for every 10 minutes of information given students need 2 minutes to process). It also helps me to assess their learning by listening in on those conversations. At the beginning of the year it also helps me see who may tend to be a "quiet voice" and who may naturally emerge as a leader, what students may or may not work well together, etc. I use say something daily in reader's workshop, writer's workshop as well as in the content areas. Say something helps me tap into the idea that learning is a social process. Goodness knows I love to be social!
Social book clubs are another great way to get kids moving in the direction of productive talk. At the middle school level they are ready to get cooking with book clubs day one! They have had such great experiences in the world of book clubs at the younger grades that they are ready (as readers) to start book clubs on their own...including book choice, meeting times, lines of thought to follow in book clubs,how the group will function, etc. I am amazed at what these adolescents can do. Set them off and running right off the bat!
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