It's been a long time between posts... Did I mention I now teach year 2?
Reading groups. I can hear the groans now (most especially from the beginning teachers like myself). It's all well and good to find books that are appropriate for the child, at their level, prepare comprehension activities etc etc. Each day the teacher reads with one group of children. That's about 6 kids, which is currently one quarter of my class. Soooo... what do you do with the other three quarters of the class??? If they are not occupied and engaged, forget having any opportunity to listen to one kid read let alone 6. Yes, they will be approaching you asking about flute lesson, and telling you that Billy's rubber was on their side of the table and Billy won't move it. Or can they turn the fans off because they're cold. Or "how do you spell because?" (By the way, an acronym we use to remember how to spell because - baby eats custard and uncle sells eggs. Very useful). I digress.
The biggest problem is making sure the 18 members of the class who are not reading with the teacher are not going to be interrupting you whilst you are reading with your group. This is why I am writing this.
PLEASE someone out there,
share your ideas!!! This is what I have discovered so far.
Firstly. I got a crown. You see queens have very important jobs, and when a teacher is listening to children read, that is a very important job. So, I become a queen for a little part of the day :D
The crown is a signal to the children that they cannot approach me and ask any questions, that my entire attention is focused on that small group for that part of the day. Sometimes... just sometimes... I forget to take it off and head outside the classroom for recess (NOT a good idea!).
Secondly... now this is where I want as many ideas as I can get my hands on. A plethora!!! The more the better. Independent and engaging activities to keep those little cherubs busy.
My mini collection so far:
- Yes / No card sorting - I got this resource from K-3 teaching resources. Pretty good because 2 of the sets can be used for any book.
- Rhyming words puzzles - another K-3 teaching resource. After the kids solve it they write all the words in their English book.
- Word walk - give the kids a clip board and a piece of paper. They walk around the room and write as many words as they can.
- Story mapping - the character, the setting, the problem, the solution. Lots of scaffolds of this one.
- Blackboard - I have some mini blackboards, using them can be varied. Example, have the kids write some words around the room backwards and then swap with another group member and write them the right way, or with rainbow chalk.
- Magnetic letters - make words using mini white boards and coloured magnetic letters. Practice addition and substitution strategies. Write down the words you make.
- Create a find a word - using words from their reader for the week.
- Beginning / middle / end - self explanatory. I have a few scaffolds for this one varying between drawing a picture about each part, picture with text or text only.
- Book review - Explain what the book was about. Where was it set? Who were the characters? Did you like it? Why or why not? Draw a picture of a character you would add to the book.
- Word detective - another K-3 resource. Good for developing phonemic awareness.
- Alphabetise word cards - put some word cards in some gift bags. The kids take them and put them in alphabetical order. Write them in their english book after they have worked it out.
- Colourful characters - draw a picture of their favourite character. What is their name? Write a sentence about why they are their favourite character.
That will do for now...
Our stage meeting this week is about this very topic. Should be interesting. I will share, I promise :)
