What GOOD readers do when they read

Oftentimes, my CT has me work with a specific student in order to help her develop her comprehension strategies, and fluency; however, this past Monday, my CT was at a conference and the substitute asked me to take over a literacy group in the back corner. Relatively speaking, the students I was working with were about average in their reading abilities. Since I was unsure of where the group was, in relation to reading their stories and completing assignments, I decided to go with the flow, and just talk to the students about their book, how they were doing, how they liked the story, etc.

Once the group, five students, were seated and attentive, I posed the following question…”What makes a student a ‘good reader’? First of all, fourth graders have strong opinions about their reading and the reading of their peers. They are well aware of who is struggling and who is over achieving. Second of all, their opinions are very worthwhile to hear and understand, and I felt strongly that having them voice their thoughts and opinions, in relation to this topic, could shed a lot of light on their thinking, and why they think a certain way. I also wanted to convey an implicit message; that is, “How you think, and feel, is important to me, and I want you to take ownership in your learning.”

The insights they provided me with, were VERY enlightening, and I want to share them with you. I think you’ll be surprised at how intuitive, thoughtful, and right on, their thinking is!

• “Good readers know why they are reading something and they don’t just read to read, they have reasons behind it.”

• “A lot of good readers will look through the book first, before they read the whole thing, and then they’ll read all of it…they look for pictures.”

• “Good readers talk to their teacher and to their friends about the book they are reading. Sometimes, they will guess what the book is about before they even read it.”

• “Sometimes, if a reader is really good, they stop and write notes about what they are reading…like, if they don’t know a word they will stop and look it up, or if they don’t get something they’ll ask questions.”

• “Good readers can read really fast, they can a whole book in, like, a day!”

• “Well, if you’re a good reader, then you can read like you talk.”

As you can see…my students had a lot to share! I wasn’t sure where this question would lead us, but it turns out, we were able to continue this discussion for a good fifteen minutes. If you look closely at their comments, you’ll see that they’re right! Everything they mentioned is one aspect of what it takes to be a good reader. I was very impressed and proud of the thoughtfulness and metacognitive thinking my students displayed. Hopefully, their ability to understand what it takes to be a successful reader will help them in their own journey towards higher reading levels.

Writing: Past, Present, and Future

“Practice, practice, practice writing. Writing is a craft that requires acquired skills. You learn by doing, by making mistakes and then seeing where you went wrong.” - Jeffrey A. Carver

I thought this Jeffrey Carver quote was a fitting way to begin this post. Some may find this a surprising concept, and some may disagree entirely, but writing is a complex process. It is difficult, time-consuming, and requires an abundant amount of practice. I am 23…almost 24, and no matter how many papers I’ve been assigned, I still dread the moment when I have to sit down, and write a paper; whether its 1 page or 15! If adults feel this way…imagine how intimidating it must feel for children?

When I look back at my writing experiences while growing up, the fact that I’m an English major continues to surprise me! Writing never came naturally to me. I was continuously reprimanded for my prose; “You write how you speak, it’s too informal!” or, “Your spelling and grammar are horrible! You need to re-write this!” and so on. It wasn’t until the end of my freshman semester, that I developed the ability to adapt my writing style to fit the required writing “mode”. What boggles my mind is this: “Why did it take so long? How come I didn’t develop this ability in ELEMENTARY school?”

I think children need to be introduced to the variances in writing at an early age. Had I been privileged enough to learn and understand the different categories that comprise WRITING while in elementary school, I believe I would have been better prepared, in later grades, to meet my teachers’ lofty expectations. Personally, I’m going to make sure my future students are, at the very least, aware of the different writing categories; such as:

• Narrative: Describing an experience, event (or sequence of events) in the form of a story.

• Expository: Providing information (for instance: giving directions.)

• Persuasive: Giving an opinion and trying to influence the reader's way of thinking.

Hopefully, I can create a nurturing environment that supports children during the writing process; through explicit instruction, one-on-one guidance, modeling, scaffolding, and finally…practice, practice, practice!