“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
-Dr. Seuss
-Dr. Seuss
Reader Response Journal Due Dates
Due Tuesday- Student #'s 1-5
Due Wednesday- Student #'s 6-10
Due Thursday- Student #'s 11-15
Due Friday- Student #'s 16-21
Reading Response Journal (RRJ)
|
|
Things to think about:
- Is the book a good fit? Try the five finger rule to see if it is too easy or too difficult.
- Are you interested in it? Does the book sound like something you'd enjoy reading?
Mystery Book Suggestions
Please take the time to look through each of these books carefully with your child to ensure an appropriate reading level for them! Not all the books in each list is a fourth grade book, but the lists provide a variety of new titles and are recommended by other mystery book readers. Happy reading!
Looking for a good read?
Finding a book you enjoy to read is very important. Remember in our 25 book challenge students have to read a variety of genres, so its important that they at least get well into a book before abandoning it. Once we start our book talks we will have more of a selection of books to read. But for now you and your child can browse the websites to the right for a good read.
Enjoy & happy reading :) |
the different genres in reading
The 25 book challenge
The 25 book challenge is an idea that was created by Donalyn Miller who wrote the book The Book Whisperer. Her approach to reading is that we want to create life long readers in our students. We want them to be passionate about reading. In alignment with this notion, we want our students to be practicing the reading strategies we are teaching them in school.The 25 book challenge allows the students to both be selecting text they are interested in while also practicing the comprehension strategies that are being taught within the classroom. For additional information please see the links to the right.
|
|
What is comprehension?
Comprehension is the "essence of reading" (Durkin, 1993). It is a complex thinking process that requires the reader to construct meaning from the text.
The well-known children's author, Katherine Paterson, describes the relationship between reader and writer this way: "Once a book is published, it no longer belongs to me… The work now belongs to the creative mind of my readers… It's a wonderful feeling when readers hear what I thought I was trying to say, but there is no law that they must. Frankly, it is even more thrilling for a reader to find something in my writing that I hadn't until that moment known was there" (Paterson, 1981).
Children need explicit instruction in reading comprehension. The role of the tutor is to help children become aware of the variety of problem solving strategies that enable them to independently understand, discuss, and interpret text. Children who are given this kind of support become more proficient readers (National Reading Panel, 2000).
Let's look at what good readers do.
Good readers have strong listening comprehension skills.
Comprehension develops through reading and listening to texts read aloud (Honig, Diamond, & Gutlohn, 2000). For young children and beginning readers, listening to someone read aloud provides opportunities for them to comprehend text they would not be able to read for themselves (Gillet & Temple, 1994). Developing children's listening comprehension helps them become more skillful at text comprehension (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996).
Good readers recognize that reading is more than decoding words.
Decoding is the ability to sound out a written word and figure out the spoken word it represents. While children cannot understand text they cannot decode, it is also true that decoded words are meaningless unless they are understood (Maria, 1990).
Good readers make connections.
Good readers experience the wonderful sensation of getting lost in text. They relate what they read to other books, to their own experiences, and to universal themes and the world around them. These types of connections are called text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections (Keene & Zimmerman, 1997).
Good readers think about their thinking.
Good readers are aware of their own thought processes (Honig et al., 2000). Irvin (1998) points out that explicit instruction in comprehension skills helps develop children's metacognition—the ability to think about their thinking. Good readers use metacognition to "think about and have control over their reading" (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001).
Good readers read a lot of good books!
To be good readers, children need to read a lot. Allington (2001) points out that reading practice is a powerful contributor to the development of accurate, fluent, high-comprehension reading. Your work as a tutor not only provides additional learning time, but additional reading time for the children you work with. Increasing the volume of children's reading and helping them develop comprehension strategies are characteristics of effective reading support (Donahue, Voelkl, Campbell, & Mazzeo, 1999).
All above information is thanks to David Stubbart, a fifth grade teacher from Neary Elementary School in Southborough, MA. Website: http://www.nearyteam.com
Comprehension is the "essence of reading" (Durkin, 1993). It is a complex thinking process that requires the reader to construct meaning from the text.
The well-known children's author, Katherine Paterson, describes the relationship between reader and writer this way: "Once a book is published, it no longer belongs to me… The work now belongs to the creative mind of my readers… It's a wonderful feeling when readers hear what I thought I was trying to say, but there is no law that they must. Frankly, it is even more thrilling for a reader to find something in my writing that I hadn't until that moment known was there" (Paterson, 1981).
Children need explicit instruction in reading comprehension. The role of the tutor is to help children become aware of the variety of problem solving strategies that enable them to independently understand, discuss, and interpret text. Children who are given this kind of support become more proficient readers (National Reading Panel, 2000).
Let's look at what good readers do.
Good readers have strong listening comprehension skills.
Comprehension develops through reading and listening to texts read aloud (Honig, Diamond, & Gutlohn, 2000). For young children and beginning readers, listening to someone read aloud provides opportunities for them to comprehend text they would not be able to read for themselves (Gillet & Temple, 1994). Developing children's listening comprehension helps them become more skillful at text comprehension (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996).
Good readers recognize that reading is more than decoding words.
Decoding is the ability to sound out a written word and figure out the spoken word it represents. While children cannot understand text they cannot decode, it is also true that decoded words are meaningless unless they are understood (Maria, 1990).
Good readers make connections.
Good readers experience the wonderful sensation of getting lost in text. They relate what they read to other books, to their own experiences, and to universal themes and the world around them. These types of connections are called text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections (Keene & Zimmerman, 1997).
Good readers think about their thinking.
Good readers are aware of their own thought processes (Honig et al., 2000). Irvin (1998) points out that explicit instruction in comprehension skills helps develop children's metacognition—the ability to think about their thinking. Good readers use metacognition to "think about and have control over their reading" (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001).
Good readers read a lot of good books!
To be good readers, children need to read a lot. Allington (2001) points out that reading practice is a powerful contributor to the development of accurate, fluent, high-comprehension reading. Your work as a tutor not only provides additional learning time, but additional reading time for the children you work with. Increasing the volume of children's reading and helping them develop comprehension strategies are characteristics of effective reading support (Donahue, Voelkl, Campbell, & Mazzeo, 1999).
All above information is thanks to David Stubbart, a fifth grade teacher from Neary Elementary School in Southborough, MA. Website: http://www.nearyteam.com
How to help your child become a better reader
Read Aloud
Studies show that there are just as much benefits to a child reading to himself and a child listening to a story being read to them. When you are reading a book to your child it grants them the opportunity to listen to what good expression and fluency sound like. It also provides them with the chance to work on comprehension of a text without having to worry about the actual processing of the reading. For more information you can visit Jim Trelease's web page. He is an author who ha published several books for parents about the importance of reading aloud to children. http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/index.html Asking Questions
Asking questions is another reading strategy we are teaching your child. This strategy forces your child to really stop and think about what he or she is reading: before their reading, during their reading, and after their reading. You work on this at home by reading aloud to your child and coming up with some questions before you even start reading to them. These questions can be generated by the picture on the cover or even the title (I wonder why he is standing alone? I wonder why the title is Matilda? Who is Matilda?) When you begin reading stop and ask questions along the way to generate a deeper understanding of the text. Have a discussion with your child about each question you are asking. Questions can be about author's purpose, main idea, character traits, setting, and so fourth. Finally at the end of the text discuss any questions that may have been answered or possibly any questions that still remain unanswered. Discuss if you think their is a need to do further research on those unanswered questions to really understand the text. Please use the files below for a further understanding of what your child is doing in the class with this reading strategy.
|
Monitoring for Meaning
Monitoring for meaning is one of the most fundamental reading strategies we will be learning this year. This reading strategy is the foundation to the other reading strategies your child will be learning. This strategy is above all engagement with the text. At home you can help your child with this strategy by using your thinking process as a reader out loud. Stop at some point in your reading and think "that was interesting" or "I wonder why they did that." And if you are reading to your child discuss why you might have stopped with him or her. For the exact model we use and practice in class please see the below attachment.
|
Want to explore some interesting facts? visit the national geographic for kids and enjoy a good informational read! |
The more we read the better we will become. Scholastic is a wonderful program to get your child's book from because they work so closely with classrooms all around the world.
Please feel free to order books online with our classroom code: MG674
The more we read the better we will become. Scholastic is a wonderful program to get your child's book from because they work so closely with classrooms all around the world.
Please feel free to order books online with our classroom code: MG674
Have your child read an article from TIME for Kids. Follow up with a discussion about the article. Talk about the various text features of the article, and how do they help you understand more about the text. Discuss with your child where they might see transitional words. Also take the opportunity to read to them, Jim Trelease, an expert to get kids reading, states that this is one of the best ways to establish a passion for reading in kids.
|