Fluency

One of the things I am working on this year is doing some baseline fluency testing. Last year I did so informally, having students bring over books of their choice (or my choosing in some cases), and doing a running record (writing errors/notes in margins of notepad on their reading). That was helpful, but didn't really provide any data that I could use.

This year I wanted to be able to identify those that struggled with fluency, retelling and comprehension. I then want to test them again in December or January to see if their fluency/retelling/comprehension has improved as a result of instructional strategies being implemented. The end goal would be that I'd move them along the reading continuum a little quicker, and with more intentionality.

Why this year and not last? Fluency has never been something I've necessarily taught, but is something where I'll move kids into different books that are appropriate in order to get them to be more fluent. This year my professional growth is centered around reading comprehension and analysis of text, particularly student-led discussions in those areas. Where does fluency connect? Well it is definitely more difficult to participate in those discussions, or make meaning of text, when you are reading in 2-3 word chunks or don't use voice. Plus, not liking to read coupled with being a slow reader can be a deadly combination (I was one of them and it made me hate reading- it took forever!)

Struggling to Persevere

My current book choice is Peter and the Starcatchers. While I have chugged along through the Percy Jackson series, and made my way through the first book in the Penderwick series, I've struggled to move through this one. Why is that? As I was reading some of the posts in my Google Reader, I came across one that hit the nail on the head. While she was reading an adult piece of fiction, she was having the same struggle I was having. Desire to finish, but the simultaneous feelings of love and hate.

I'm about 125 pages into the 400+ page book at this point. Who knows when I'll finish, as I've been reading it for about a week and my slow reading rate isn't what is holding me back. Instead I simply can't get into the plot, and don't really have the desire to know more about the characters. That is in stark contrast to my feelings with Percy Jackson or the Penderwick girls. While I thought the Penderwicks dragged, I was curious to see what trouble they might elicit because of the class differences with their hosts. Perhaps it was also the feeling of the latter two stories being written in a way I could relate to them, as they are set in more recent times (full disclosure: I'm also not a huge fan of boats, preferring land to sea any day).

All of that makes me wonder how some of my kids tackle books. I had a few kids this year that read books incredibly quickly, and were able to give fantastic retells with detail. But I also had a few other kids that just struggled to move their way through books, and had some books sitting on their desk for weeks on end. It makes me wonder whether the right thing to do when someone is struggling is to have that friendly conversation about their interest in the book. Why is it that you don't like it? Tell me about the book thus far? What do you think would make this better (and be specific)? I don't want to encourage kids giving up on books easily, but rather having them think critically about why a book doesn't work for them.

Where to begin?

I went by my classroom on Wednesday. My parents were in town, so I wanted to bring them by in order to show them what my room looked like, and what the school looked like. It was also a chance for me to grab some of the curriculum materials that I need to get planning. I brought home my whole Houghton Mifflin reading set (unit guides, assessment guide, etc), my Units of Study box (planning guides for each writing unit), and my Social Studies materials. The latter I really don't need since I relied on it throughout the course of my first year. The other two I used, but to a somewhat lesser degree.

Where to start? Well I need to look at the standards again to re-familiarize myself with the grade level expectations. From there I want to look at my reading and social studies units to see what is standards are taught in each, as well as how manageable the material is. Even though it is in the curriculum guide, it doesn't mean your kids will find it engaging. I'll then look at the different assessments to see how they line up, and start to plan out my year (when I hope to teach particular things, how long that will take, potential deviations).

Where I hope to really focus some time (this month if possible) is on assessment. I want to find effective pre-assessments for our reading materials so that I can really see the growth of kids in particular reading skills. While reading is done holistically (difficult to separate out skills), I want to ensure that I am pinpointing skills like inferencing, main ideas, asking questions, etc. I also want to be better prepared to mix in novel study books at appropriate levels. Some of this past year relied on moving kids as they got into books, largely because what I anticipated didn't work out. Some of that goes back to effective pre-assessing of reading skills/levels. Having better pre-assessing will allow me to better target my instruction, and move into effective small groups.

For now the materials will stay boxed in the downstairs bedroom/office.

Questions Without Answers

Things I am thinking about heading into the Winter Break (starting next Saturday)...

• How do I integrate the leveled reader library into my instruction on a daily or weekly basis?
• In what ways can I leverage the 2:1 (student:computer) ratio more than I currently do?
• Where does our writing instruction go, and how does that impact my reading instruction?
• How can I better leverage peer conferencing throughout my day?

Those are questions I'll tackle over the course of the next 3 weeks. This next week is focused on a short transition "unit" and making it to the break.