Skip to main content

Read to Self

In my ESL pull-out class my students come in and find a comfortable spot for read to self, which lasts for 20 minutes. For the most part, and this is always interesting to me, they choose the same place day in and day out: sitting on a table, crouched under the sink, sprawled between two tables, sitting at tables or sitting in a chair near the window.

Read to self is a perfect time for one-on-one conferences. But I am often conflicted because I don't want to interrupt my students' reading. After all, I don't like being interrupted when I'm reading a good book. Yet, I understand that time is precious, especially the one hour I have with my students, four days/week. Still, I wonder if I should let my students read without interrupting them? Or should I use this time to touch bases with them about their reading? For some of my students, this may be the only time that anyone talks to them about what they're reading. So, I need to take advantage of this opportunity.

Today, I started conferring again, without any second guessing. I had two conferences during the 20 minutes, which actually became 25 minutes because I lost track of the time. Although that translates to two long conferences, it's OK for now. I need to find my rhythm again. I hadn't touched bases with any of my students for a few weeks, at least not in one-on-one conferences, and I needed to feel comfortable again. Find my groove, so to speak. I will create a format for these conferences that will give me the information I need to better teach my ESL students. I'm working on that now.

One possible format might look like this:

First, the student reads a little bit of his/her book aloud.
Then, we talk about what's happening in the book, who the characters are, and what may happen next. Other topics will come up naturally depending on the book and the student.
Next, I may ask what kind of help s/he needs to read this book.
Finally, we make a plan for finishing the book (my students are non-finishers and reluctant readers, for the most part), and think about what s/he could read next.
What we discuss at the next conference will be determined, in part, by how the previous one went.

 So, there you have it! A tentative plan for one-on-one conferences. I will come back to this topic at a later date to reflect on how it's going.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Partner Reading and Content, Too Routine (PRC2)

I'm a hoarder. There, I've said it. I try to deny that I'm a hoarder but it comes back to haunt me every time I move houses, or pack up my classroom at the end of the school year. I have old articles, lesson plans, handouts, folders brimming with teaching ideas, past issues of profesional journals. I hardly throw anything out though I've learned to be more selective over the years. My one rule of thumb, and I really try to stick to this, is that if I haven't used or referred to something in a year, then it's time to toss it into the recycle bin. One exception to this rule (you knew this was coming, didn't you?) is past issues of journals from professional organizations. However, with the ability to locate articles online through my professional memberships, even this exception is becoming less and less useful, which brings me to the topic of this blog post. I am currently reading a copy of The Reading Teacher from 2010. I've clipped a cou...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Reading Strategies Book - Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension

The strategy lessons highlighted in Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension, in The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo are critical to students’ engagement and comprehension, as well as their ability to write literary essays, or even book reviews, summaries and reflective pieces about books. If students aren’t able to talk about books in a way that is invigorating and joyful, they will be less likely to develop an interest in growing ideas for writing about books. In her introduction to this chapter, Jennifer Serravallo, reminds us that when conversations go well, children are inspired by what they read and are motivated to keep reading. However, when conversations fall flat, then kids get bored and tune out. How do we avoid this situation and teach kids to  have  focused conversations about books?  The answer is easy: teach kids  strategies to help them develop effective conversa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are we listening?

A child sits alone with a ripped worksheet packet on his desk. He appears to be singing or subvocalizing something though no one hears him. Or, perhaps they're ignoring him. The teacher stands at the front of the room teaching on the SmartBoard. The children follow along in their worksheets. Except the child sitting alone. He is in his own world. No one engages him and he engages no one. My heart aches for this child. He is physically and emotionally removed from the class. I ask him why his paper is ripped. (It's not an accidental rip.) He says he did that on a different day. When he had been frustrated about the work. He tells me that he sometimes sits by himself because the work is too hard for him. He later tells me that he sits by himself because the teacher thinks he talks too much during the lesson.  He says he does that because he wants to find out about the "lives of the other children". My first impulse is to rescue him from the wrongheade...
10 comments
Read more