I just finished my running records with my students.  We use them to assess accuracy, fluency, and comprehension as students retell the story afterwards.

It’s my experience that the most difficult students to teach are those that score high in accuracy and significantly lower in comprehension.  Since most students and most parents define reading as the ability to read words and not the ability to make meaning, we are often facing an uphill battle.

I try to encourage my students in their strengths, while being honest about their weaknesses.  I have these students put a sticky note at the end of a paragraph that says, “Does that make sense?”  If they can answer affirmatively they are to move the sticky note to the end of the paragraph, if they can’t they’re to use Dr. Goodreader to understand where comprehension is breaking down.

Any other suggestions out there???

Don’t you love new beginnings?  I think that’s one of the things that makes teaching so attractive to me.  New students, new year, new books (or there would be if the order hadn’t been lost…ah well).

First on my agenda is designing my reading program for this particular class as I get to know them.  Usually I have some time as we work through the routines of reading workshop and build up reading stamina again.  But these guys settled right in to workshop routines as if the summer had never happened.  I mean the FIRST day.  I stretched it out a week so I could get running records done, but I’m starting right away with Dr. Goodreader which this year I’m going to meld with the2sisters Daily Cafe.  Dr. Goodreader is aimed at self-monitoring, and the Daily Cafe goes beyond to accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary.  I’ll let you know how it works.

Of course, most of you reading this realize that teachers celebrate New Years at the beginning of the school year.  When we say last year we don’t mean, say, 2009.  We mean 2009-2010.

I want to make a public New Year’s resolution:  more support for parents in my reading program.  My husband is from a huge family and as we traveled around this summer I talked with nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and their parents about  summer reading.

One of my sister-in-laws was frustrated because her children could choose any realistic fiction book to read.  Now, as a teacher I love the idea of student choice, but I understand this mother’s frustration.  “It doesn’t say realistic fiction on the book.  How am I supposed to know?”

Besides genre support, I want to have a workshop for parents about Dr. Goodreader and another about using reading strategies with your children.

OK.  I’ve done it.  I’ve committed myself.  I’ll keep you posted.  What are your New Year’s resolutions??

Photo by graur razvan ionut