Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Focus: Chapter 4
Very interesting chapter and it hit a little close to home when Schmoker was describing the elementary years as "skills kill" because of the enormous amount of time (and often worksheets) that reinforce the numerous subskills that follow our state standards and are taught in our reading programs. One of the best parts of my day is when our Title teachers (5 of them) flood in for reading groups. I work with a different group each week and for 30 minutes everyday my students are all (yes, all) engaged and receiving reading instruction that is scaffolded to their level. We do some word work and flashcards as a warm-up for the reading, but then it's straight reading with rich conversations that follow each story. Without these conversations, I would not have learned nearly as much about their personal lives or interests. Hearing my students make connections to text makes me understand them better and allows me to better meet their needs. Now I just want to find the balance between incorporating the teaching of the subskills that often need to be explicitly taught (and yes, give them the paper/pencil tasks) while also allowing for time to have independent reading and time to reflect on their reading. If I can instill a love of reading in my first graders, then I know I've done right by my students.
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Just from my little observations of walking in the halls and into classrooms, it sure seems like the flood in reading groups from Title are sure working well at Pioneer this year. Almost every student I walk by from each grade is engaged during these reading groups, getting instruction they need at their level. Glad you think it is working well for your students!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at Cascades, the Title team did flooding. It seemed to be very successful. I noticed that Schmoker seemed to be more of a supporter of the whole group instruction rather than the small group. That really surprises me because wouldn't the small groups be better? Isn't it better to give the kids more one on one attention? I really like the flooding. I'm glad it's working for you. :)
ReplyDeleteI recently had a great conversation with the high school principle about the value of learning the basics really well. Kids cannot get things implicitly without instruction in what to look for. Schmoker works really well, but there is a time and place for rote memorization and simple fact fluency.
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