Leap Into Literacy
Grades 2 and 3 - May/June 2015
Spotlight on Reading Instruction
One way to focus reading instruction and target the skills with which students need further support is to restructure reading groups into strategy groups. Group students together not because they are reading at the same level, but because they need support with the same strategy. Instruct the group about how to apply the chosen strategy to their independent reading. The chart below defines how strategy groups differ from guided reading groups.
Professional Literature
Jennifer Serravallo's newest book, The Reading Strategies Book is a collection of 300 strategies to share with readers in support of thirteen reading goals from fluency to literary analysis.
Click for a preview of The Reading Strategies Book.
Book Corner
What Do You Do With An Idea, written by Kobi Yamada and illustrated by Mae Besom, is the story of one brilliant idea and the child who helps to bring it into the world. As the child’s confidence grows, so does the idea itself. And then, one day, something amazing happens. Listen to What To Do With An Idea as it is read aloud.
Technology for Teachers
Click to read Jennifer Serravallo's blog posts and learn more about all her publications.
The below link contains discussion prompts pertaining to What To Do With An Idea as well as ideas for how to use it as a mentor text.
http://libraryschool.libguidescms.com/content.php?pid=649234&sid=5376806
The Writing Lab
Publishing is the exciting culmination of the writing process! Encourage students to publish their works in a variety of ways, such as a class book, bulletin board, letters to the editor, school newsletter, or website. Other ideas include creating newspapers, brochures, flyers and booklets. Having an authentic audience beyond the classroom gives student writing more importance and helps students to see a direct connection between their lives and their literacy development. So consider hosting a Writing Celebration!
Intervention Strategies
Do your students struggle with making precise predictions? Try dividing a text into segments. Ask the student to read the first segment and jot some ideas about what has been read up to that point and what is already known from background knowledge. Guide the student to combine his ideas into a prediction about the next segment of the text. After reading the next segment, encourage the student to check and revise his prediction. Repeat the process for all segments of the text.