We are Readers!

We are readers. We read to our buddies and to our teachers and parents. Sometimes we take turns - you read a page, then I read a page - and sometimes we just want to snuggle and let the words wash over us and imagine the scenes in our minds. In the classroom, we listen to books on CD, and we listen to our classmates read to us (with our ears, our eyes, and our hearts). We read the poem of the week, the daily schedule, the sentences we must correct. We practice, practice, practice. 

Here are some scenes from a typical day. There are lots of types of books and materials in a literacy rich classroom. Big books (wonderful to share with a friend or two), CDs, beginner books and chapter books, comic books and poems. Each week, on Monday, Samantha's mom comes in a reads with a group of children. Lately she has been working with 3 children who are able to read advanced chapter books, and they take turns reading and discussing, in a type of "book club". Other children read one-on -one with me or with a U of M student. Each child is progressing, and loving books more and more. It is wonderful to see.

Please enjoy these pictures and then read the poem at the bottom of the page for some hints about reading strategies.

Independent Strategies 
by Jill Marie Warner 

When I get stuck on a word in a book,
There are lots of things I can do.
I can do them all, please, by myself;
I don't need help from you. 
I can look at the picture to get a hint.
Or think what the story's about.
I can "get my mouth ready" to say the first letter. 
A kind of "sounding out".
I can chop up the words into smaller parts,
Like on or ing or ly,
Or find smaller words in compound words
Like raincoat and bumblebee.
I can think of a word that makes sense in that place,
Guess or say "blank" and read on
Until the sentence has reached its end,
Then go back and try these on:
"Does it make sense?"
"Can we say it that way?"
"Does it look right to me?"
Chances are the right word will pop out like the sun
In my own mind, can't you see? 
If I've thought of and tried out most of these things
And I still do not know what to do,
Then I may turn around and ask
For some help to get me through.