Slicing every day in March! Today was the first day of our historical fiction book clubs. The kids are reading My Brother Sam is Dead , Out of the Dust , Children of the Fire , and Home of the Brave , in groups of two's and three's. During our daily reading status check-in, several of my students said they were having trouble understanding their books. Although the four books are at a typical level of maturity and understanding for fifth graders, almost all of my students are second language learners. What to do? Fortunately, today, there were three other adults in the room besides me - the ESL specialist, the Learning Support Assistant, and my Instructional Assistant. Each of us took a group of students and tried to help them problem solve whatever issues they were confronting. For example, in my group ( Home of the Brave) , we reviewed strategies for when we get stuck as we are reading. Many of my students have fallen into the ...
This blog is a place to ruminate on the problems of teaching. If I am thinking thoughtfully, my posts will hopefully raise more questions than answers. By problematizing teaching we reflect on those questions that are constantly behind, in front, and at center of everything we do in the classroom. Feel free to comment. I'd love to hear what other teachers are thinking about on these and other issues. Cheers! Elisa