Reading
By now your child has worked their way up to the point where they are most likely reading with confidence. When I say reading, I'm talking about reading comprehension and fluency. What changes is the difficulty of texts that they encounter, as well as a larger variety of genres and forms. My reading program is largely based on the "Balanced Literacy" program. I attended 2 years of intensive professional development from the school district on teaching the research-proven Balanced Literacy program between 2007 and 2008.
The program is all about taking students from full support to independence. I achieve this by Reading Aloud to students ("full support"). Research on child reading development points to reading aloud as the #1 factor in child reading development. Yes I said, #1!!! All those story books you read to your little kiddies at bedtime set them up for success today. Even at the grade 6 level and beyond, reading aloud still remains an invaluable part of a reading program. I choose books that are more challenging, not particularly in words, but in content. I will be reading "The Breadwinner" by Deborah Ellis to start the year off. It is an award winning book that delves into the topics of civil liberties, discrimination, human rights, and freedom. It is an excellent fit for our work in Social Studies on Democracy, and an absolute nail-biter that will keep the students on the edge of their seats.
The next level of support in the Balanced Literacy reading program is Shared Reading. This is when students and the teacher read text aloud together. This happens at many different times, particularly when we read textbook or website information as a whole class. I am the loudest voice, but all students are required to read along and discuss what is being read together. Call this "partially supported reading". If the text is too hard, they are able to fall back on my leading voice to guide them through the reading.
By now your child has worked their way up to the point where they are most likely reading with confidence. When I say reading, I'm talking about reading comprehension and fluency. What changes is the difficulty of texts that they encounter, as well as a larger variety of genres and forms. My reading program is largely based on the "Balanced Literacy" program. I attended 2 years of intensive professional development from the school district on teaching the research-proven Balanced Literacy program between 2007 and 2008.
The program is all about taking students from full support to independence. I achieve this by Reading Aloud to students ("full support"). Research on child reading development points to reading aloud as the #1 factor in child reading development. Yes I said, #1!!! All those story books you read to your little kiddies at bedtime set them up for success today. Even at the grade 6 level and beyond, reading aloud still remains an invaluable part of a reading program. I choose books that are more challenging, not particularly in words, but in content. I will be reading "The Breadwinner" by Deborah Ellis to start the year off. It is an award winning book that delves into the topics of civil liberties, discrimination, human rights, and freedom. It is an excellent fit for our work in Social Studies on Democracy, and an absolute nail-biter that will keep the students on the edge of their seats.
The next level of support in the Balanced Literacy reading program is Shared Reading. This is when students and the teacher read text aloud together. This happens at many different times, particularly when we read textbook or website information as a whole class. I am the loudest voice, but all students are required to read along and discuss what is being read together. Call this "partially supported reading". If the text is too hard, they are able to fall back on my leading voice to guide them through the reading.
The next level closer to independence is called Guided Reading. Guided Reading is when we arrange small groups of students to read books that are at their instructional level. The text is slightly harder than their independent ability, but they have the support of their group and the teacher to understand the text. Lots of talk happens in guided reading because talking to one another about text is vital for increasing comprehension. Guided Reading groups change throughout theyear as students progress at their own rates. Some students have less non-fiction experience, or less fiction reading experience so it really depends on what I observe, and what results come from classroom assessments on their reading abilities. Guided Reading is independent reading with support from the teacher. When we choose books we try to pick books that will expose students to new texts that are engaging and exciting. There is nothing worse than having someone choose a book for you that you absolutely have no interest in reading. This is the chance I have to dictate what students read, so I put a lot of thought into pairing up books so that students enjoy them. This way your child is getting instruction at their level, and are never frustrated by the difficulty, or bored by the lack of challenge.Book Clubs are a step closer to independence. This is when students are grouped with a particular book that is at their independent level. There is no teacher support in Book Clubs other than instruction about daily expectations and reading responses. The groups get a chance to read books that they are completely comfortable with and still have that chance to discuss the text in groups. Again, it is all about enhancing reading comprehension. Remember how fun it was to read the same book as someone else? You can talk about what is happening, and what you think will happen. The level of conversation is deepened when students relate and reflect about their books. Book Clubs are independent reading with support from peers.
Reader's Choice is a reading strategy that students absolutely drool over. In this arrangement students choose what they read; who they read with: independently, with a partner, or small group; where they read: class, in a cozy corner, hallway; and how they read: silently, chorally with a partner, taking turns in a group. The catch is that they have a scheduled time during the week to read to me either a favorite passage, or something new from their book. The students can practice their passage before reading aloud to me. Handing control of reading over to the students is vital to confidence and to the enjoyment of reading. Confident readers have to be let go of to pick and choose what THEY want to read in order to become and independent reader.
Finally, Independent Reading. This is what your child is doing under the covers with a flashlight at bed time. It is those moments, sometime hours, when your child is completely immersed in a book with no difficulty. They read for enjoyment, for getting information (those sports statistics off the Internet), the reading they can do because they were taught well by you and his/her previous teachers. At school these are self-selected books from the library, home, or my class library. Most independent reading time is on the students own time. Independent reading is where we want all students to be. As they move through school the level of difficulty and complexity gets higher and higher.
Writing
Balanced Literacy also applies to writing. Students move from complete support: the teacher writing aloud to the class, to shared writing, guided writing, then finally independent writing. I LOVE writing my own stories, poetry, news articles, etc. and using them as models for the students. Sometimes we write together as a group, and ultimately it is the students writing independently, which there will be plenty of time for this year.
The Grade 6 students will be writing in journals in preparation for School at the Legislature in the fall. I am looking forward to teaching and modeling students how to use R.O.W.S: "Reflect, observe, wonder, and sketch". I am also investigating blogs such as this one, for students to use to write and collaborate with each other.
The "Six traits of Writing" is the foundation of my writing program. I teach and assess writing in manageable chunks so students focus on one trait of writing at a time. Each trait is equally as important as the rest!
Ideas - My paper is clear, focused, detailed, and engaging
Organization - My paper is logical and easy to follow - it's as if I'm holding a flashlight to show readers the way.
Voice - My voice is strong and individual. The reader can tell it's my voice!
Word Choice - Every single word I chose helps make my message clear, memorable, and interesting.
Sentence Fluency - My writing is smooth, natural sounding, and easy to read aloud.
Conventions - The reader would have a hard time finding errors in this paper. It's ready to publish.
We are starting the year off with "Ideas" followed by "Organization". Forms that will be a huge focus are creative stories, news articles, journals, letters, poems, persuasive letters, reports, and opinion writing. The Provincial Achievement Test for Grade 6 students in May requires students to write a personal narrative followed by a news story. My lessons on the 6 Traits of writing apply to all forms of writing. We also spend a HUGE amount of time looking at and rating different examples of writing. I teach and use a simple 4-point rubric to mark writing projects the students complete. The students will be MASTERS of the 6 Traits by June!
Another resource I love to use is called "Empowering Writers" by an author named Barbara Mariconda. I have completed professional development on using her resource for Narrative Writing and it is an exceptional resource. I will be breaking down narrative writing into small chunks for the students starting in September. I love the creative process that students take to craft their own stories. "Empowering Writers" harnasses the best of the 6 Traits of Writing to get students moving to the next level. Creative writing is one area of the curriculum that truly activates higher-order thinking skills.
Spelling and Word Study
Spelling instruction is taught within the context of the writing process. I like to use "teachable moments" to point out commonly misspelled words; affixes: prefixes and suffixes; homophones (words that are spelled differently, but sound the same e.g. there/their/they're); and common abbreviations. We also complete word study activities including "Making Big Words" and "Sort and Transfer". Vocabulary development is a large part of Word Study. I teach the students how to use the trusty thesaurus and dictionary, as well as Internet resources for discovering synonyms to commonly used words on a daily basis. Work in vocabulary development will begin in September.
