A Great Start to growing readers and writers!

   I am so pleased with the way our literacy block is working!  These kids are doing a GREAT job!  I have my own little version of the Daily 5, and I continue to tweak it each year to make it stronger.  Students get two 20-25 minutes block per day where they can choose to read to self, write, or work with words.  The rest of our literacy time is used for student sharing, minilesson, Superspeed 100 (a word fluency program), partner reading,  and a group choral reading.  I have students listen to me read at another time of the day, and I do my writing mini-lesson at another time as well.

   In their Daily 5 binders, they mark down their choices for their independent work time.  They are all picking up on the routine of it all very well.  This is the second week that we have really been doing it, and it amazes me each day how well they are doing!  It is so exciting.

   I am also using some ideas I got from The Book Whisperer and Igniting a Passion for Reading, books that I read this summer.  When someone comes in my room to ask a question or some other interruption occurs, my students pick up their books and read.  I am also finding students filling in book recommendation slips to hang on our bulletin board. 

   I am excited about our little reading community, and I am looking forward to its growing stronger.  I am done Fountas and Pinnelling for the 1st Benchmark (We only have to level those who are below level on our screener, but I had 10 who were low or concerned me in other ways.), so now I really get to conference with my students and begin my small groups in earnest.  It is great.  It makes me wish I had even more than my 90 minute block. 

  The little things like this are what remind me of why I became a teacher.  I hope the rest of the year keeps going so smoothly!