Reading and Literacy Skills

Shared Reading

Guided Reading

Guided Reading

Begins to track print.

Recognizes and names all uppercase and lowercase letters.

Understands that words consist of a sequence of sounds.

Learns one to one letter/sound correspondence.

Recognizes some words by sight.

Connects information and events in text to real life.

Listen to/Retells stories or parts of stories.

Listens attentively to books read

Identifies words that are similar or different.

Identifies words that share the same sound.

Merges sound segments into words.

Rhymes.

Uses sounds and letters to spell.

Writes to express own meaning.

Builds a vocabulary of words.

Writes own names.

Writes most letters and some words.

Knows that words joint together to make sentences.

Follows directions.

www.ed.gov/pubs/CompactforReading/tablek.html

Repeated Readings

Throughout the shared reading, children are actively involved in the reading. The teacher may pause in the reading and ask for predictions. Through repeated readings and the predictable text, children become familiar with word forms and begin to recognize words and phrases. Groups of children or individual children might volunteer or be invited to read parts of the story.

Purposes for Rereading

1. Reading is for enjoyment.

2. Focus on building and extending comprehension of the selection.

3. Focus attention on the interesting language and vocabulary.

4. Focus on decoding, using the words in the selection as a starting point for teaching word identification skills.

Benefits of Shared Reading:

1. Rich, authentic, interesting literature can be used with children to develop their word-identification skills.

2. Each reading of a selection provides opportunities for the teacher to model reading for the children.

3. Opportunities for concept and language expansion.

4. Awareness of the functions of print, familiarity with language patterns, and word-recognition skills are developed.

5. Individual needs of students can be  met.

6. Accelerated readers are challenged by the interesting language of selections.

7. Teachers can help effectively to those students, who are more slowly acquiring reading skills experience success.

www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/literacy/em_lit4.html

SHARED READING IN  OUR CLASSROOM

Shared Reading   

Songs: Our shared reading time begins with a song. The song is introduced weekly according to the letter of the week. The class sing a song that is written on illustrated chart. There are also actions and movements to go with the song. The teacher points to the words along we are signing together. After signing, the teacher ask to the students about the words in the song, that start with the letter of the week. We discuss the vocabulary on the song. The song is singing every day. Then, on Friday the children keep the song of the week on the "Poetry and Song" Folder. 

Poems: Our shared reading time continues with poems. The class learn two poems weekly: The first poem is introduced according to the letter of the week and the second poem is introduced according to our thematic unit. The class read and learn the poems that are written on illustrated chart. As poems are introduced, new vocabulary is explained. Depending on the poems we discuss a variety of concepts of print, rhyme and/or letters and sounds. The poems are read every day. Then, on Friday the children keep their poems on the "Poetry and Song" Folder.

Songs and Poems are also available for the children  to enjoy in the listening center.

Big Books: The big book reading is highly important to the students. Reading is modeled  for them by the teacher. During the big book reading, the children begin to see that words tell the story, left to right, top to bottom progression, spacing between words, use of capitalization, use of punctuation, recognize letters, understand letter/sound correspondence, and develop vocabulary and comprehension. The shared reading process is highly individualized. Some children are listening and building comprehension; some are following the pictures; some are noticing that a certain sound is repeated in the story or picking up on the concept of rhyme; some are picking up a new sight word while others are actually reading fluently.

The Big Book are read every day; however, I focus on different Reading Strategies to check their reading comprehension. The following are the Reading Strategies taken from "Michel Eaton":

1.Prefix or suffix   2.Context clues.   3.Special words.   4. Three details.   5. Three events in order.   6. How to follow instructions.   7. Where and when.   8. Main idea.   9. Summarize whole piece.   10.Summarize one part.   11. Cause and effect.   12.Why something happened.   13.Predict what will happen.   14.Predict what won't happen.   15.Chart or graph.   16.Draw a conclusion.   17.How the characters feel.   18.Fact or fantasy.   19.Fact and opinion.

The big books are powerful tool of reading and the children enjoy them.  I keep them on the Library for them to read and act it out. The children can also draw their favorite character in the story and use it when they are rereading.

There is also an activity I created: "The Story Wheel". After reading a big book or any other kind of book, I use the Story Wheel to ask questions to my students about the story: the characters, the setting, the beginning and ending of the story, the problem,... and check their comprehension. They Love it!!!

I used the Print Master Deluxe to designed my own "Story Sequence" activity. There are three parts on the Story Sequence activity: the Beginning, the Middle and the End of the Story. The children are encourage to write about the story. If some students are not ready to write they can draw picture retelling the story.

    "Sound Patterning" Activity

The teacher writes on the chalkboard or on a sentence strip a pattern of letters. Then, the teacher point to each letter and the children make the corresponding sound. At the beginning of this "sound patterning" activity, the sounds and patterns are easy. When the children understand and familiarize with this activity, the teacher will change to more complex patterns.

This idea was taken from the Teachers.Net Chatboard.

Titles for Shared Reading:

* Five Little Ducks. * Hands, Hands, Hands * I Like the Rain * Just Me * Animal Talk * The Farm * The Big Red Apple * Good Night Owl * The Bus Ride 

The guided reading lesson lasts fifteen to thirty minutes. The teacher selects books (basal readers, trade books, and big books) that are supportive, predictable, and closely matched to the children's needs, abilities, and interest. The teacher acts as a facilitator: setting the scene, arousing interest, and engaging children in discussion that will enable them to unfold the storyline and feel confident and capable of reading the text themselves.

Goals For Guided Reading:

1. Teach comprehensions skills and strategies.
2. Teach children how to read different types of literature.
3. Develop background knowledge and oral language.
4. Provide as much instruction-level reading as possible.
5. Maintain the self-confidence and motivation of struggling

Benefits of Guided Reading

1. Children learn to read at their own pace.

2. The process allows the teacher to assess the students' strengths and weaknesses.

3. It provides an opportunity for the teacher to reinforce skills with individual students, as needed.

4. Guided reading provides structured opportunities for successful reading.

5. Children are not singled out to read individually.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

OBJECTIVES

1. to promote active listening skills
2. to encourage reflective responses
3. to encourage problem-solving strategies and critical thinking skills
4. to develop an understanding of homelessness
5. to analyze characters
6. to identify the setting and compare it to where they live
7. to predict what might happen next
8. to discuss ideas and thoughts
9. to relate what they already know to what they are learning
10. to discuss values--compassion, unselfishness, helping others and experiences they've had when they have helped someone.

11. to develop and improve literacy skills.

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READING ALOUD TO YOUNG CHILDREN

Tips for reading aloud to children include:

--Discuss read-alouds with the class to enhance and expand students' understanding.

--Use the illustrations to encourage prediction and interpretation.

--Learn more about the authors and illustrators. 

--Help students relate books to their own experiences.

 From www.Education-World.com

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Positive Benefits of Reading Aloud to the Children:

*Listening to literature, both fiction and non-fiction, helps readers develop an awareness of language and an appreciation of literature.

*Expands a child’s imagination and knowledge.

*Increases students’ language acquisition.

*Influences the child to become a better reader.

*Reading aloud allows children to become so involved in a story that they become a part of it.

*Read aloud improves a child’s ability to listen for periods of time and increase attention spans.

*Allow children to interact with the reading and make connections with their personal experiences.

*Read Aloud experiences become a part of the children’s own speaking, reading and writing which help them predict text of more complex books.

Choosing books to Read Aloud:
Teachers should select good literature to read aloud and also to help the children to make a good choose. The type of literature read aloud to students should include: picture books, stories, poetry, chants, songs, and information texts.  Books selected for reading aloud feature characters, settings, and events that children can clearly identify with and visualize. Appropriate non-fiction selections should stimulate curiosity and lead to inquiry. Colorful pictures will help hold the children’s attention.

Reading aloud several times each day will provide multiple opportunities for children to extend content learning and to have a wealth of books to choose for "rereading" by themselves.

Procedure to Read Aloud:

Teachers should read aloud daily sharing good literature. Stopping occasionally to reread an interesting passage, to think aloud and express delight over a humorous part, to emphasize drama and suspense, and to ask for predictions are all effective strategies to use in engaging readers in the selection.

1. Select an appropriate book based on a specific reading purpose. Plan the questions that will be asked and the points that will be emphasized before, during and after the reading.

2.Provide an enjoyable reading experience for the students, gathered together as a community of learners.

3.Invite the students to listen to the story and tell them the reason the book was selected. Engage them in the lesson.

4.Introduce the text to students, discuss the title, content, the author, and illustrator. Emphasize needed points or ask planned questions.

5. Read the story with expression, interrupting the reading at selected points to emphasize a point by doing a think-aloud, asking a question, or allowing children to make personal connections.

6. Discuss what the students have learned, providing an opportunity for students to extend understanding, link their prior knowledge to new concepts and information presented in the text, and make connections to other literature.

Preparation is key to a good Read Aloud: Children's Literacy Initiative:

1. Children sit on a carpet in a large meeting space
2. Introduction activates prior knowledge, author, illustrator,    title, dedication

3. Predictions are made before reading

4. Teacher is familiar with the text

5. Teacher reads with expression and changes voice

6. Props are prepared and used

7. Open-ended questions are asked

8. New and interesting vocabulary is taught

9. Children's interest in maintained

10.Story is compared with other stories

11.Children re-cap the story using new vocabulary learned from    the read aloud

12.Story is extended into literacy activities and center activities
 

BOOKS TO READ ALOUD:

Leo, The Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus

Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott

Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Silly Sally  by Robert McCloskey

Strega Nona  by Tomie de Paola

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

Tough Boris  by Mem Fox

Pete's A Pizza by William Steig

Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

William's Doll by Charlotte Zolotow

 From Children's Literacy Initiative