It is the LITLLE things

Hooking kids into Reading...  A secret plan...
As a reading specialist working with only kids who have challenges when it comes to reading, I have to find the smallest things to REEL them in. Having a revolving door of groups one quick way I reel them in is by dismissing my students at the door and allowing the groups passing in the hall to PEEK into my room. "I wanna come into your room!", "Oooohhh that room is cute!",  and "Wow, Look at all those books!!" Are just a few comments I have heard over the past weeks. I usually tell the students that maybe when they get older they can come to my room. By the time they get to grades 3, 4, or 5 they are dying to get in "THAT" room! Well... my room! Then, I can really hit the ground running! Have no fear, pictures will be coming! And I hope you to will want to come on in!

Today we became "Word Detectives". The lesson was on using "Cross Checking" to monitor meaning as we read. Stopping when you come to an unknown word, either you can not read or you do not know what it means, and asking yourself three questions. "Does it look right?  "Does it sound right?" "Does it make sense?" If you can not say yes to all the questions then as a reader you need to go back and fix that unknown word with all the strategies in your bag of tricks.

Through the modeled lesson the kids were great at tell what does not "Look Right, Sound Right or Make Sense" Then they were set to practice being word detectives in their own leveled text. Many students asked, what if I know EVERY word? Well, of course the answer was then the text is TOO EASY (which we have worked on in previous lessons)! When set on their way they became serious investigators! We generated a board full of words. Each new group saw the challenging words that other students found, adding more to the frenzy!

The best word found was PANDEMONIUM! Which is what this lesson created! Now my readers are set up for shear pandemonium for making sure the words they read are truly the words the author intended. 

Check out my Click-Clunk cards that go with this lesson as students begin to learn how to be WORD DETECTIVES!

Welcome

Welcome to all things reading with children!     Take a peek into the job as a Reading Specialist the tools needed to have success and the stories in between. Enjoy!!