Core Beliefs of the Daily 5- Book Study Chapter 9

As the Daily 5 book study wraps up, we’ll return to the core beliefs of the framework.  I love that this chapter acknowledges the realities of a classroom- the substitute teachers, the kids who are always pushing our limits, parent volunteers, and new students- and shares insight for how to handle these situations without letting them ruin the good parts of the Daily 5!

Again and again, the Sisters talk about the core beliefs:
community, accountability, trust, and respect.

And with most of our students, the steps outlined in setting up the Daily 5 allow these things to resonate and really take hold in our classrooms.

A lot of PD books would stop here, but the Sisters are teachers. They GET that what works for 95% of our students the first go-around isn’t necessarily something that works for every kid without some extra support.

They describe that last 5% of kids- the “challenging” kids- as the barometer kids. As they put it, these kids “dictate the weather in the classroom.”

Again, the Sisters’ response to a misbehaving child is not to assume they can do it and are being defiant, but to look at the why, and teach that child to succeed, adding support as needed.

We can’t assume our students know how to meet expectations without teaching them, and we can’t expect that every student can meet those expectations without extra support.

Here are the levels of support in the book:

1. Reflection

This is when we look at ourselves. Did we model? Did we engage the student when we should’ve let him or her be independent? Did we use positive voice and tone? Have we checked his or her book box for engaging, appropriate books, and helped the student choose new books if needed?

Essentially- this is when we look at ourselves. WE are on a behavior plan, and we even ask colleagues to see if they notice anything WE can improve.

2. Extra Support

If a student struggles, they need reteaching and practice. The Sisters suggest doing this during recess if needed to build accountability. By taking just 2-3 minutes and giving that child a specific goal to work on, it builds urgency- and being one-on-one with the teacher definitely puts the goal at the forefront of their minds.

In the classroom, I would likely try this during the reading block when possible. I think staying in from recess feels too much like a punishment, and I don’t want that associated with our reading time at all. Instead, I can quietly confer with the student about a goal at the start of a reading round and then give them a few minutes of specific practice within the context of reading time. Of course, using a couple of minutes of recess could be an option if the student is just not taking it seriously, but I don’t think we should try it first.

3. In-Class Modifications

Just like with any instructional needs our students have, the next step after reteaching is to provide some modifications in class to help our barometer students be more successful.

For this, consider how your student struggles. Having a hard time sitting in one spot? Give them a defined space or “office” to sit on. Having a hard time sitting still for so long? Add small brain breaks with kinesthetic tools in between reading. Essentially, look at what your student needs- and try to offer scaffolding towards that goal.

For my barometer student, L, a couple of years ago, he struggled a lot with staying in one spot and focusing. I let him choose what he felt like he needed to work on the most, and he chose focusing on his book. I asked him what might help, and he asked if he could sit by a responsible student who could give him a silent reminder if he was off-task. She was very patient, and he wanted to do well- so it worked for him! I also contacted his parents to let them know we were working on stamina, and suggested they spend a little time building reading stamina and even stamina to sit still during other activities at home. He began to see success, and as his confidence grew, I saw his independence grow, too!

4. Gradual Release of In-Class Modifications

At a professional development session I attended last week, I heard a sentence I just loved: “Scaffolding is meant to come down.” If we continue to provide the same supports that a student initially needs without ever reconsidering their needs, that student may come to depend on the supports forever. If our goal is truly to build independence, we need to slowly remove the modifications that helped our student succeed.

The Sisters suggest sandwiching quick check-ins within a round. I found that sometimes, this gradual release happened naturally- and all I had to do was check in with students. With my student L, his friend stopped needing to give him so many reminders, and one day he asked me if he could go sit by someone else. I turned it back to him and asked what he thought. He was pretty sure he could do it- and so I encouraged him to go for it and told him we’d check in again at the end of the round. Guess what? He rocked  it. I really think that giving him ownership over the modifications was a big part in his success.

At the end of the year, his mom asked me for a conference. The year prior, he had been a “behavior problem.” This year, though, L loved school- and even though he still struggled to focus at times, his behavior had improved immensely. At our conference, his mom wanted to know what had helped, and what she could do to continue his success- and I begged her to please keep him reading for a round or two every day of the summer. For him, learning to be independent went beyond just reading independently- building stamina and taking responsibility for his choices and success were paramount in his improvement.

Ultimately, I think a lot of why he had been in so much trouble the year before was that his teacher didn’t think he could do it- but the Daily 5’s core beliefs made a difference.

“Trusting children is the underpinning of what makes the Daily 5 work.”
                                                                     - The 2 Sisters

And for this eager-to-please boy, knowing that I trusted he COULD do it and WOULD do it (even if he needed a little help at first) made all  the difference.

The Sisters know that moving to this framework isn’t easy.

They describe the initial discomfort to not having papers that prove your children’s learning (although my students’ reading notebooks helped with this for me). They understand the impatience you’ll feel when it takes days to launch and build stamina. They get that it’s hard for us to try something new and not feel like it’s running perfectly right at the start.

But they remind us of this:
Trust our students and our teaching, and read research to allow the experts in our field to give us courage.

They also provide tips in this last chapter for working with parents (who may be skeptical of something so different), introducing the system to new students, and how to make sure everything runs smoothly even with a guest teacher. The appendices provided have everything you need to know to start the Daily 5- lesson plans to launch it, a stamina chart, the 10 Steps to Independence for each task, sample substitute plans, and even a sample parent letter. If you don’t have the book (or if you only had the first edition), it’s worth it.

 

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Ultimately, the Daily 5 in my classroom was a resounding success. Less busywork for me, less busywork for the students, and kids who went from hating reading to loving it.

I can recall L finally making it to 20 minutes of stamina, and the look of pride on his face. I remember two of my students finding a contradiction about Abraham Lincoln’s life in two different texts, and hunkering down to do research for days to find the answer. I think back to the conversations I had with my students in their journals, and especially a  girl who wrote to me about how she hates books where kids have a perfect life, because she doesn’t- and being able to recommend the perfect book to make her feel less alone.

Reading is powerful- and the Daily 5 will get your kids really reading.
And is there really anything more important than that?

In case you’ve missed any of my previous posts about the Daily 5, you can read them here:

Chapter 1– What is the Daily 5, and How is the 2nd Edition Different?
Chapter 2 – Core Beliefs of Daily 5
Chapter 3 – The Ten Steps to Independence
Chapter 5 – Launching Read to Self in the Daily 5
Chapter 6 – Daily 5 Foundation Lessons
Chapter 7 – When to Launch the Next Daily 5 Task & Introduce Choice
Chapter 8 – The Math Daily 3

Organizing My 90 Minute Reading Block with Daily 5
How I Manage Small Group Materials
Keeping Students Accountable in Daily 5- Without Taking Away Choice

You can also read more about chapter 9 from Primary Inspired (the wonderful host of our book study!) and the other Daily 5 bloggers in the links below. Thanks for reading!

An InLinkz Link-up

Daily 5- When to Launch The Next Task (Chapter 7 Book Study)

Welcome back to our Daily 5 book study!

In case you’re new to the Daily 5, there are 5 main tasks that students perform during the Daily 5 “rounds”:

• Read to Self
• Read to Someone
• Listen to Reading
• Word Work
• Work on Writing

A big piece of the Daily 5 is to introduce the system slowly, and it starts with introducing Read to Self. After that, though, teachers need to know when to launch the next task, and that’s what chapter 7 is all about!

The biggest question to ask: How do you know when they’re ready? The Sisters say, again:

One year, you may move on to the 2nd Daily 5 task in 3 or 4 days. With another class, it might be two weeks. What matters is not the specific timeline, but that you treat this like any other skillset to be learned.

“Every class is different.”

When YOUR class can demonstrate independence and stamina, they’re ready to move on- but the Sisters suggest different limits for different groups of kids.

When I taught with the Daily 5, I waited to move on until my 3rd graders had about 15 minutes of stamina- but we continued to practice it until our graph reached 20 minutes. (We just alternated practicing Read to Self and Read to Someone.) Now, though, the Sisters suggest moving on to Work on Writing next.

(Yes, if you read the first edition, this is a change!)

Basically, they say that writing is too important to wait any longer- and it’s also something that most students should have a little stamina in. 

This summer I’ve been sharing some of my notes on Instagram, and people seem to like them… so I thought I’d share my notes from this section of the chapter:

Just like with Read to Self, we instill a sense of urgency and purpose in our students by telling them that Work on Writing is “the best way to become a better writer.”

Keep in mind, though, that Work on Writing is not replacing your writer’s workshop time!

In my classroom, I wanted my 3rd graders to be responding to text, so we switched “Work on Writing” to “Writing About Reading.” I had to add in a few extra foundation lessons and modeled journal entries to teach my students what this looked like- but then I gave them pretty free reign to write about their thinking as they read, because I didn’t want them to be worried about a formula. (You can read more about our reading notebooks here.)

For those students who weren’t ready yet, I conferred, led small groups, or wrote responses back in their notebook to help guide them in the right direction. It just meant they needed more teaching- not that they couldn’t handle it!

This chapter walks you through the 10 Steps to Independence for this specific task, including giving your students choice. Yes, it’s hard to give up choice- but it’s important. Why? Here’s another excerpt from my notes:

Once you start letting students choose which task they do, you need to give them a little accountability. The Sisters use check-ins for this. And while I can see the benefit of keeping an eye on where your kids are spending their time… I felt like I could usually keep an eye on this by watching my kids’ reading notebooks and glancing around the room. While they use check-ins to make sure an even number of kids go to Read to Someone, or to dismiss in smaller groups, I focused more on teaching my kids strategies for problem solving in those inevitable situations.

I do like the idea of having students set a goal and a strategy they will use to reach their goal- something about voicing a goal helps you make it there!- but taking even a couple of minutes out of each round seemed too much. With older kids, I think setting the goal could be done at the beginning of the week in their notebooks.

As the rest of this chapter focuses on launching the other tasks, the foundation lessons focus on identifying potential pitfalls and setting the expectations before you even get started. Here’s another glimpse at my notes…

If you feel like the Daily 5 takes too much time to get going, keep in mind that you are teaching each one of these things now, so that you won’t have to stop learning much later. I did have occasional times where we reviewed expectations, but it was so much less than in previous years- because we did it right the first time. This is really a case where slow and steady wins the race (and makes the teacher less crazy later!)

And please- if the idea of giving your kids choice is terrifying, read this post from a couple of years ago…  it can work with accountability- and work SO well!

I have so enjoyed revisiting the Daily 5 during this book study. I hope you are loving it as much as I am! You can see everyone linked up to this chapter at our host - Mrs. Price’s Kindergators- or check out the linky below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Daily 5 Foundation Lessons- Chapter 6 Book Study

When friends have asked me about the differences between the first Daily 5 book and the second edition of Daily 5, one of the big ones for me is the detail to the foundation lessons and the lesson plans of the first few days. I feel like this edition is much easier to implement!

Chapter 6 was all about the foundation lessons you teach to prepare your students for each Daily 5 task. By teaching these foundation lessons, you set your students up to be independent and successful… because it’s all about setting the expectations for your kids.

When I read them this time, it hit me.

These aren’t just foundations for Daily 5!
These are foundations for a productive, independent classroom.

Think about it- choosing a “successful spot” or choosing a good working partner lessons are really perfect for any time of day. I always try to empower my students with the responsibility of choosing a good spot when they come to sit at the carpet, or choose a partner in groups- because it asks my students to know themselves as learners and be aware of what works for them.

This is important to me because we are NOT all the same. My mom is a get-it-done-early, sit-at-a-desk, focus-on-one-thing type person. When I work, I prefer to be on the couch with a favorite show (currently Gilmore Girls) on in the background, and usually, I’ve procrastinated- but then I keep tweaking it until it’s perfect! It’s just a different style.

Some of my kids prefer to sit at a desk, where they can have their book on one side of the desk, their notebook on the other, and an easy surface on which to write.

Other kids want to be curled up on a beanbag in the weirdest positions, with a book in the air and their fingers tapping and toes wiggling the whole time.

(This was a picture of my not-quite-finished library at my old school- plenty of different areas for kids, with a few rugs and other areas around the room!)

In any case- it’s important for our kids to figure out what works for them so they can be independent readers and learners even when an adult is not telling them what to do. It also builds a culture of responsibility for our choices.

I always talk with the kids about my own friends. I have some friends I just love, but I know I could not sit next to during an important staff meeting- because we’d be distracted, talking and giggling to each other the whole time. They seem a little shocked that I might ever “misbehave”- but I want them to understand that we are ALL human, and we ALL have to make choices that help us be successful.

Ultimately, these foundation lessons are teaching our students decision-making strategies. I’ve always looked for ways to do this (one of my very first blog posts was about teaching students to use Rock, Paper, Scissors in the classroom!)- but Daily 5 does it in such a structured way.

The foundation lessons also support my very first science lesson of the year- all about our brain, and how we should constantly be working to make our brain stronger.

Teaching our students about growing in stamina and about how to work with a partner are so powerful because they give ownership over students’ own learning. I think my favorite is the “Coaching or Time?” lesson for Read to Someone. In it, students learn that they should give someone a few seconds to try a word before chiming in (or, as I tell them, “give your partner a chance to make their brain stronger”) and then offering two kinds of help. The student can choose if they would like coaching or more time to help them decode the word.

These foundation lessons support my class through every subject, but they’re also vital to making sure my students are independently focused during Daily 5 so that I don’t have to stop my small group and individual instruction!

These foundation lessons are especially important for Listen to Reading and Word Work because of the materials. The materials for Listen to Reading may be tricky to navigate at first- but teaching students how to use them but also how to get them out and put them away is huge.

(Our Listen to Reading station!)

And in Word Work? These were what my students considered to be “fun” materials- so it was especially important to teach the expectations and practice them repeatedly.

Of course, the specific, reading-based lessons are important… but my big takeaway from this chapter was just how much Daily 5 contributes to student success all day. If you want details on the foundation lessons taught, I’d definitely suggest getting the Daily 5 book!

You can also read more from my friends in the book study, starting with our host from Sarah’s First Grade Snippets! She has a great primer on all of the Daily 5 foundation lessons : )

[Note: This post contains affiliate links.]

10 Steps to Teaching and Learning Independence- Daily 5 Book Study

When I first heard about the Daily 5, I have to admit I scoffed a little. Oh? Your kids just read for 20 minutes? Yeah, okay, but I know I’d have kids who wouldn’t be able to do that.

Then I kept hearing the word stamina. Over and over again.

And I realized, when I read the book, that the Sisters don’t expect kids to just be able to do it automatically. Instead, they teach it- just like we teach other skills and procedures- and then help the kids gradually build their stamina, from a couple of minutes up to many.

They describe a Daily 5 time in the classroom in this way:
”Reading is so important, they can’t and won’t let anything get in the way.”

And this is how I feel about that:

To get there, the Sisters line up 10 steps, which I tried to break down a little. (I highly encourage you to get the book and read about them in detail!)

1. Identify what is to be taught.
We do I Can statements in my school for this same reason.

2. Set a purpose and create a sense of urgency.
If kids don’t see the point, they won’t be invested… just like us.

3. Record desired behaviors on an I-chart.
We’ve all made charts with our kids, but the I-chart is especially powerful because kids see what the teacher will be doing, too.

4. Model most-desirable behaviors.
When the kids go from listening and looking at a chart to actually seeing them, and actually doing them, is powerful.

5. Model least-desirable behaviors, then most-desirable behaviors again.
Let your class clown be a class clown, and make the others laugh- and then praise them for doing such a wonderful job of doing it right. It’s also a great way to avoid the “But I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to ___…”

6. Place students around the room.
”Is this a place where I and others can be successful?” is something that is so helpful not just in Daily 5, but all day. We have to teach our students to take responsibility for their choices and reflect on them.

7. Practice and build stamina.
How do you get better at anything? You practice. And you give it time.

8. Stay out of the way.
This is so hard. The hardest part of the Daily 5, I think. You have to let the kids practice without stepping in. You can’t circulate, you can’t give reminders, because you’re letting them learn to depend on you. Instead, we have to teach them to reflect and self-manage. And isn’t that what we all want?

9. Use a quiet signal to bring students back to the gathering place.
Give them the chance to get up, move, and stretch a little- but don’t jar them out of their reading worlds. I secretly love seeing a kid trying to finish that one sentence or that one page before putting away their book box- because it’s a sign that they are into their book. Quietly, gently transitioning keeps the mood just right for focusing on a mini-lesson!

10. Conduct a group check-in.
Again, we can’t always be the one telling the students whether they did well or poorly. We have to teach them to make that call for themselves and internalize their own power.

That’s really what these steps to independence are- they’re training kids to believe their own power, and to build a growth mindset.

Kids can grow in any way they want if they believe it and work for it- and the Daily 5 helps them see that opportunity for growth in themselves.

I wrote in our chapter two post about how the steps to independence really made a difference for one of my impulsive, unusually active students.

In chapter 3, they gave us a word for those kids- “barometer kids”- the ones who run out of stamina first and give you an idea of when the rest of the class will struggle.

I am a firm believer that these steps to independence will make the difference for your kids- especially your barometer kids- for any behavior you want to teach.

They really are the reason the Daily 5 works:

“[In] the Daily 5, we let the students who are present in front of us guide our teaching, based on their experience, stamina, needs, and behaviors.”

Amen, Sisters. Amen.

This chapter’s book study is being hosted by my good friend Whitney at The CraZy Schoolteacher- pop on over to see others’ takeaways!

Thanks for reading! I am LOVING this book study with Primary Inspired!

Daily 5 Book Study- Chapter 1

My first year in my own classroom, I spent so much time looking for free center activities and then printing, laminating, and cutting.

In the first chapter of the Daily 5 book, the “two sisters” talk about all the “things” done during literacy time. They say,

“We had spent the majority of our time preparing for
and reviewing the children’s busywork.”

And, um… guilty.

When I read the Daily 5 book for the first time, I remember feeling a little underwhelmed because it was all so simple. It’s just a framework- a way to set up your literacy block- and it involves so many less reading “things,” and so much more actual READING.

(Did I also mention that this means you don’t have to spend every waking moment cutting out laminated centers?)

I picked up a copy of the 2nd edition of Daily 5 to join in a book study with Brenda from Primary Inspired and some of my friends. We’d love to have you join us, even if you’ve read the first edition of the book!

The second edition of the book goes into so much more detail about each individual lesson you teach to set up your students for success, and it talks about how to do a similar framework in math. The back of the book has about 30 pages of helpful templates and lesson plans, too!

Compared to the first edition, this one gives you a little less of the “why,”
and a little more of the “how.”

The first chapter does delve into background of the Daily 5, though… and I love the way the authors, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, use research to justify so much of what they do!

Probably my favorite thing about Daily 5 and the two sisters is that it is FLEXIBLE. I’ve never been one to read someone else’s theory and copy it exactly in my classroom- because every class is different, and every teacher is different… and because these two authors are actual teachers, they get that.

“The Daily 5 is not a prescriptive program to be followed blindly, the same way each day, month, and year. Instead, we as educators need to respond and react to the diverse needs of our own students.”

Wait—is that ACTUAL RESPECT FOR EDUCATORS AS PROFESSIONALS? Is that TRUSTING us to make decisions that benefit our kids? Awwww yeah!

As I read the Daily 5 this time, I’m sort of looking at it through a different lens. I’m not a self-contained teacher anymore, and I primarily teach science now.

We do teach a reading RTI block, though! This year, my group was around 20-25 students, so I’m hoping that next year I can use an adaptation of Daily 5 to give my kids a lot of reading time and small group instruction… so this whole flexible, go-with-your-kids’-needs philosophy is perfect!

If you’ve never used the Daily 5 framework before, it’s made up of two main parts:

• Mini-Lessons
  • less than 10 minutes (based on brain research)
  • based on strategies from CAFÉ (the 2 Sisters’ companion book)
• “Rounds”
  • teacher meets with small groups or confers with individuals
  • students choose between five options:
    • Read to Self
    • Read to Someone
    • Listen to Reading
    • Word Work
    • Work on Writing

In my classroom, it worked so well- because my kids were engaged in real, meaningful reading tasks… and probably most importantly, they were systematically taught how to do these tasks independently.

And because they were independently engaged in activities they chose, my kids didn’t interrupt my reading groups or conferences.

The first time my principal observed during Daily 5, she was blown away. She said she kept trying to find kids off-task… and couldn’t.

That’s the power in the Daily 5. It’s huge. And best of all, it’s flexible to you, your students, and the things your admins require of you (usually!).

We are so excited to read this book together and share our thoughts! If you’d like to get a copy of the book, you can get one here.  {affiliate link}

We would love to hear your comments and questions along the way! You can also go to Primary Inspired to read more about chapter one from the other teachers in the book study.

Do you use the Daily 5 in your classroom? If you do, what do YOU love about it?  :  )

10 Ways Teachers Can Foster a Love of Learning

My summers as a kid included Library Day.
It was usually Wednesday. We’d go to the library, I’d proudly take my Summer Reading Program log to the counter, and then I’d pick out a stack of new books. I usually had to stop when I couldn’t carry the stack anymore.
I love reading. Always have. But my brothers, who were raised in the same household as me- with the same parenting, same read-alouds, same library trips- didn’t get that same love… so it’s not JUST home that matters! It takes teachers, too.
Over at Adventures in Literacy Land today, I talked about one of the ways I was unintentionally killing my students’ love of reading. Here, I want to share about some of the things I do in the classroom to build a love of reading in my students.

• Read great books aloud.
  Pick a really wonderful book that your kids will love, and don’t be afraid to leave out the “lesson” once in awhile. The lesson can just be that reading is fun. (This year, I read aloud Holes by Louis Sachar. They’d beg me to read more! Helloooo, isn’t that what we want?)
• Build a big, diverse, and growing classroom library.Your kids should always be able to find something they love to read that they can read. That means you need variety in a lot of ways- and your library can never be “done” because you should always be looking to add books for your current students. Plus, adding new books through the year brings excitement! Remember, too, that it’s not just traditional books that “count”- and letting kids check out books for home can be a powerful way to encourage more reading.
• Create some buzz about books. Talk up good books. Read just the first chapter as a teaser. Find book trailers online. Browse through the month’s Scholastic Book Order and make suggestions. I have a stack of books at home and a long list on Goodreads of books I want to read next- and we want our students thinking ahead, too!
• Let them see you as a reader.Tell them about the current book you’re reading, or how you stayed up late last night to finish. Let them see you reading the book for a few minutes. Be as excited about new books as they are. Tell them about your moments as a reader- when you choose books, when you’ve abandoned a book, when a book was hard, the books you loved, and the books you hated. Some teachers even create a display in their room to show what the teacher is reading, which I love!
• Start reading routines.One time in my classroom, it started storming. We had a wall of windows, and we could see the trees swaying, the rain pounding, and the lightning flashing. A few of my 2nd graders were clearly a little scared, so I told them how much I LOVE storms- especially reading to the sound of rain. (I really do!) We decided to stop our lesson, turn down the lights, and curl up with good books (me included). From then on, whenever the rain started to pour, my kids would ask if we could pause our lesson to read… and one of my students’ moms told me her kid started to do it at home, too!
• Get kids hooked on a series or author.
  We read aloud The Boxcar Children, and the librarian had a hard time keeping the mysteries in stock. We read aloud The BFG, and my kids would almost fight over who got the next Roald Dahl book. Sometimes, reading teachers need to give kids a taste to get them hooked! (Try not to feel too much like a drug dealer, although books are not a bad addiction to have.)
• Build a reading community.I’m just starting Reading in the Wild, but she’s already made this point for me. Lifelong readers suggest books to their friends, go to book clubs, lend books to family, share what they’re reading on Instagram, join Goodreads, etc. I try to give my kids occasional time specifically for sharing what they’re reading with others. Setting up a way for kids to suggest books to each other is great, too!
• Make reading comfortable.
  Set up an environment that is physically comfortable. Some kids will stretch out on the floor, others will curl up on a rug, and a few just like to sit at their desks. As well as being physically comfortable, kids need to be used to the routine of just reading, and they need to feel comfortable choosing and reading whatever they want without judgment from their classmates. One year, the boys in my class got really into Rainbow Magic Fairies books… yes, really!
• Let kids choose books… but get to know their interests and needs so you can help!Sometimes, kids need to read books at their instructional level… but most of the time, getting them to love reading is more important. If I walked into a library and someone picked books for me, they’d probably never even make it out of the bag. As teachers, we can help guide students in the direction of books that fit their interests and their instructional needs, which is really important to them being successful!
• Give them chances to be successful.Nobody likes to feel like they’re bad at something. When I worked with intervention kids last year, some of them had felt “bad at reading” for years- so when I started giving them specific goals and feedback, helping them track their progress through recordings and fluency graphs, and even giving them chances to “teach” other students or read to younger kids, their confidence grew so much. Make sure every kid gets to feel like they’re good and growing.

If kids love to read, they will read more. If they read more, they’ll get better at reading.
Helping kids to learn to love reading needs to be a HUGE part of our literacy time. Our kids need strategic instruction, too, but if we leave out the passion, our kids won’t be as strong at reading and will only read in school… probably for the rest of their lives.

What are some ways you build a love of reading in your classroom?

Reading Skills in Science Class

So, I may teach mostly science now- but I also look for ways to squeeze in a little language arts. I’m excited to be starting a new series about “The Language of Science.”

Now, a disclaimer- I don’t mean just reading in science class. It’s okay to do that sometimes, and I am as big a fan of integration as just about anyone- but I am strongly against “reading about science” as students’ only exposure to science. (And no, making Oobleck once a year doesn’t count.)

Science still needs to involve DOING science- demonstrations, experimentation, modeling, etc. But you can still include language arts skills.

When we learn vocabulary, I rarely just tell students what a word means. I love to let them try to figure out the meaning themselves, often through context clues or known word parts.

For example- as we learned the word biotic, I wrote it on the board and underlined “bio.” I asked the kids what other words they knew with “bio”- and the kids were amazed that Bioshock (a video game) and Bionicles (a show) actually had something to do with our science vocabulary. After we made a list of other words, we talked about what they meant and looked for a common thread in the meanings. It wasn’t long before they were able to point out that “bio” must mean life or living.

From there, they were able to make the jump to what “biotic” meant. And abiotic? Well, now we’re talking prefixes- as well as strategies for figuring out an unknown word.

Root words and prefixes/ suffixes are also great for talking abut different areas of science- geology, biology, thermodynamics, etc.

Whenever we are learning new vocabulary in science class, we talk about the word parts in part to help us remember meaning. I also love to use vocabulary cards, and sometimes I add visuals to them (like in the graphic above) to help the meaning stick.

Once we know the meanings, I love to add motions and do some Whole Brain Teaching-style mirroring and teaching to really cement the words and meanings in our memory.

And that doesn’t even get into all of the speaking and writing we do in science class!  Language is SUCH a big part of what we do- and I can’t wait to share it with you!  : )

Winter Wonders Freebie Blog Hop

Whew! Today was my first day back, and I have to say that I was not ready for an alarm before 7:00… but I got up, got ready, and after enduring some sad faces from my dog and a frozen-shut car door, I got to school.

I was having a hard time getting in the groove, and then the kids came in… and I remembered why I do this!

The winter blahs are tough sometimes, but my friends from the Adventures in Literacy Land blog are here to cheer you up with some Winter Wonders freebies to celebrate our one year blogiversary together!



Today our group of reading specialists, literacy coaches, and Title I teachers are sharing some short posts and free literacy resources for you- so be sure to follow the link at the end of my post to the next one! At the end of our “hop,” you can enter to win a Barnes and Noble gift card!

When a struggling reader is told to go back in the text, you can see their face fall. They JUST pushed themselves, and maybe embarrassed themselves, to make it through the text- and you are asking them to go BACK? Are you kidding?



Telling kids to go back in the text with no extra guidance is a surefire way to make sure that they ONLY do it when you’re watching. Struggling readers need a method to the madness!

Last year as a reading specialist, I worked with so many kids who didn’t want to stop in the middle of the reading, because it slowed them down even more- but without me slowing them down, they were thinking about the next word, and not about how that word fit into a sentence, how that sentence fit into a paragraph, and so on. They couldn’t build meaning as they read.

We practiced stopping after each paragraph to write the topic off to the side. It wasn’t even a summary, really- just a few words to answer, “What was this paragraph about?” By jotting it down, my students had an easy reference- almost like a table of contents for their passage.



Then, when we finished it, we glanced back at the topics. It’s a quick way to recap the text’s main ideas.

By the time we get to the questions, we know what each PART of the text is about- which makes it so much easier for kids to predict where to look for the answers to the questions. Oh, it's talking about where George Washington was born? That's probably in the paragraph about his childhood- and now I know where to look first.

Of course, our predictions aren’t always right- and it’s important to model that for kids- but stopping as students read to really get them thinking about the big ideas of the text helps give them somewhere to start.

When you’re not a strong enough reader to scan and quickly find the answer in a large piece of text, a strategy that gives you somewhere to start drastically increases the likelihood that you’ll even try looking back in the text.

And while this is a great test prep strategy, it’s also fantastic for real-life applications like research that require looking up specific pieces of information and even deciding which Google result to click on in a search.

Want to try it out? I’m sharing a free snow-themed sampler of my Text Detectives series for finding text evidence!



{ download here }



It’s my students’ favorite way to practice finding answers for “right there” questions in text, because they get to color! I aim for about 3rd grade reading level, although it works well in 2nd –4th. You can read more about how I use them in my classroom here.

Next, hop over to Deniece at This Little Piggy Reads for the next Winter Wonder!



Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to hop all the way to Adventures in Literacy Land to enter our giveaway and welcome our new members! Happy Winter!