Read Across America - Favorite Reading Strategies and Tips

I am linking again up with my girls over at Primary Chalkboard for Read Across America week!

Today's topic is reading strategies and tips!  This topic is right up my alley.  Here are some of the tips that have made a difference with my students.

1) Reading Workshop:  I love it. The basic idea is a) Teach, Demonstrate, Model, and/or Think Aloud often using a mentor text, b) Practice Together, and c) Send them off to try it on their own, and d) Debrief.

I often give them post-its, so that they can show me where they are practicing the strategy for the day, and make their thinking visible.  

While they read, I listen in, pull a small group or two, and make notes to myself about future instruction.  

My students feel really successful with this model of instruction, and that makes me feel great!  

Here is a link to some videos that you might find helpful, if you would like to learn more.

2) The other thing I have really dove into the last couple of years is having kids talk about books and their thinking….A LOT!  Surprisingly they do not get tired of turning and talking to their partners.  In fact, they are still bursting at the seams to share their thoughts.  

I've posted before about all of the thinking stems I use in my room, and the level of "book talk" has definitely risen.  Below is a link to my post with anchor charts, thinking stems, and partner talk expectations.

3)  Let them read!  One of the big changes I am still trying to incorporate into my teaching, is making sure my students do the majority of the reading, talking, and thinking in every lesson.  This sounds obvious right?  Well, what I know about myself is that I am a talker.  So, I have been working really hard to do less of that.  I am doing less reading FOR the students, and providing less background information than I used to.  My students are definitely benefitting from tackling difficult text on their own.  They are using more strategies, and more often.  Check out my Literacy board on Pinterest for some excellent resources related to Close Reading.

Don't forget to check out the other posts by stopping at the Primary Chalkboard!

Thanks for stopping by!