Sheryl Hilton- Blog Post 5 Routman Chapter 6

In Routman’s Chapter 6, I could relate to the teacher that had a multitude of resources and books but they were not organized in a way that students could use them. Over the last several years, I have worked diligently to change how I set up my classroom and how materials are managed. It is still a work in progress but I feel much better about the amount of materials being used and managed by the students in my classroom.

Independent Reading is going well in my classroom. I have noticed that since we have come back from Christmas the students have slipped and we have been going back over the expectations. This chapter discussed seeing students “starring at books” rather than reading. I think we all have those readers but the great thing about independent reading is that you are conferencing with them and able to give them strategies that will help them on their road to success with their reading. Students in my classroom do choose books they are interested in but I need to provide more books on their reading level. My classroom library is lacking in this area. I am working on adding books but it takes time and money. I also want to do a better job of doing what I would consider an interest interview at the beginning of the year to better know my students interests as readers. The DRA test we give goes through many of the interview questions listed in this chapter but I could certainly go a little deeper with the questions to find out a little more. I would definatly wait until after reading stamina has been established to try and conduct an interview like this.

I liked the suggestion to occasionally give them a purpose for their reading such as having the students look at character behavior in their book or making a self to text connection. I actually tried this with my class and it worked well and it gave me something specific to focus on when I was conferencing with the students. My students love to partner read as well. They get excited about reading with their friend which makes me excited as well.

I have noticed with some of my fluent readers they are not comprehending as they read. My plan during guided reading is to take their abilities to a deeper level rather than continuing on with more difficult text. This chapter reinforced what I had planned to do with my students. I am finding that all of the components of Daily 5 work together to make students stronger readers and writers if we as teachers use them the way they are designed. I am still learning but I am seeing great gains in my students reading abilities. It all stems from me knowing my students strengths and weaknesses through conferencing a small guided reading groups. I am excited to see what second semester holds for my students.