Celebrate and Collaborate Book Discussion: Session 2

Oh my... where did June go?  I think I blinked and it is now OVER!  I have tried to take a break from thinking about school ALL the time, but let's get real... I am a teacher and I have a hard time turning by brain off.  We met again today with another awesome group of "Literacy Divas"... we feel that is a better title than "Literacy Nerds"!  I do not even feel like I should be writing this blog post because I feel like I really know NOTHING compared to the ladies I was with.  Sorry about the light in the background... we eventually closed the blinds but I'm not sure where those pictures went?  We did have a few cute little girls taking our picture for us!

 I am learning SO many things and am excited about implementing the new things we are discussing and learning. Here are some highlights from what we discussed today...

The Next Step In Guided Reading by Jan Richardson Chapter 4
**One thing that many of us picked up on (and are guilty of) was remembering that "The more you talk, the less they listen."
**We love that Richardson's lesson plan structure is explained so well and felt we could all stay on track with our groups as long as we put a timer right beside us.  I know I will have to have a timer to keep me on track so that I can meet with all my groups!
**Incorporating comprehension into our guided reading groups will also be BIG.  Richardson mentions how self-monitoring is the foundation for comprehension.  My goal for this next year is to make sure my students are self-monitoring and that they understand not only what it means, but also what it looks like.
**Sight word discussion always seems to make its way into our conversation and it was present again today.  Once again, we were reminded about how crucial those sight words truly are!  Richardson says that students truly own the sight word if they are able to not only read it, but spell it also.  We loved  her simple charts she uses to make sure her students know their sight words.  She also talked about how we shouldn't move to new words until they have mastered the words on lower levels first.  I know I would love to have differentiated spelling test and list for my students but I am just not sure how to make it work... maybe someone out there has a great plan, I am listening!!

The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller Chapters 3 & 4
**The big idea we got from Miller is to train students to pick up a book and read at any opportunity they have... bathroom breaks, waiting to take pictures on picture day, when someone comes into the room to talk to you or the phone rings... How many times is our instruction interrupted each day?  How many more minutes could they be reading in a day if we taught them to do this?...LOVE!
**It is also important for students to know that there are times when it is ok to abandon a book... this will be one of those things that we may have to talk to the students about in order to see their reasoning for abandoning the book... we felt some students may really buy into that one!!
**We all wanted to create a suggestion board for students to share their favorite books. Hmmm.... I think this may be a post later on, to see what everyone comes up with!
**My favorite thing that Donalyn said was "Are we teaching books or are we teaching readers?"  We thought that may make for a great literacy teacher shirt? "Donalyn, what do you think?"

Oh, I feel like I went on and on and I left out SO many great things!  We would love to hear what you have to say and share. Grab the books and enjoy. You will not be sorry you did!

To end my afternoon I spent some time with my sweet girls at the pool...

Then out to dinner... they picked out their outfits for the evening...

They steal my heart everyday!

Can't wait to share more and hear from you!

Alicia