Glow:
Classroom community! The particular group of kids that I have this year are AMAZING!!! Not quite sure if it is because I just got lucky or if it is because of different strategies that I've implemented this year. Either way, it's awesome! This past summer I attended a 3 credit course in St. Cloud on Community Building and if you ever get the opportunity to take the course you will be glad you did (the facilitators name is Jerry Sparby-he's SO, SO, SO GOOD!) Anyway, I came away with a great set of community building activities & games that have been added to my tool box! Click HERE and feel free to use them for your class!
Grow:
An area where I feel like I could grow in, is Guided Reading. I currently meet with my GR groups 2-3 times each week. We meet for about 15 minutes and I get to 3-4 groups each day. Lately, I have not been very motivated/excited for this time. Usually we do some type of word work then we read our leveled readers. I'd love for you to share ideas on how to make it more fun for the kids (and the teacher too!)
Tell me about your Guided Reading time?
When do you begin?
How long do your groups meet for?
How often do you meet with your groups?
How do you choose the text for them to read?
I have it made this year, because I only have 15 students. I meet with each group every day for 10 minutes. I do go over time sometimes, it seems short, but the kids stay engaged during this short time for sure. We are currently using Literacy by Design for our curriculum and it lays out the books for you to read, so I just stay with the curriculum guidelines. What curriculum are you using?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the resources. I can't wait to use them during Morning Meeting!
ReplyDeleteAbout Guided Reading...
I too feel very unmotivated during this time. To keep things a bit more exciting, I sometimes incorporate writing and other activites that I was going to do whole group. I meet with my 2 lowest groups 3-4 times a week and my other 3 groups 2-3 times a week. I would like to hear about more ideas too. I feel the same....
I hope you had a wonderful break!
Jennifer