Tiger Tribute
Week of: January 21st-25th
Good to Great: Time in Text
There were three things that I heard from them that could make a tremendous impact on developing readers in your classroom, with MINIMAL time and financial investment on the part of the teacher. In fact, part of what they discussed has the potential to dramatically lower your outside prep time for the reader's workshop.
The first one--- Time in Text MATTERS: They don't have to sticky note the text to death, (in fact, they spoke against that to some degree), they don't have to answer a variety of questions, and you don't need to copy passages (Actually, I don't think they ever used the word passage.) You don't need to plan center rotations for readers workshop---Let. Them. Read. Make sure every kiddo has their own personal book collection (if you need bins, let me know!) and let them read. Ya'll we spend SO much time interrupting our kids reading---that is especially true for our struggling readers, that it's no wonder some of them don't love to read.
You do not have to plan center activities and manage rotations if you can keep students in text and build that stamina, they will not only become readers, they will become kids who LOVE to read! So... how do you keep little Johnny from becoming a proficient "pretend reader" during this independent reading (SSR) time? Conferences. One on one conferences. You don't have to conference with every kiddo, every day, just make a goal to meet with 2-3 each day after you complete your small groups. When you meet with them, take brief notes--for real, BRIEF-just enough to keep your thumb on what they're reading, if they are making progress, and a few quick questions to determine comprehension.
I am attaching a brief video link so you can watch a quick reading conference at a lower grades level and an upper grades level. Courtney, Heather, or I would LOVE to demo a reader's workshop lesson that follows this model if you are interested-please reach out!
Weekly Events
MTSS Check-Ins in PLCs this week-Please bring data for and be prepared to discuss your students who are on Tier Plans. You should be able to lead the group in discussion about each student who is on a tier plan: their specific goal and intervention, and data that shows their progress or lack thereof towards the goal. Any students you are concerned about will also be addressed at this check-in. For those students, please bring informal and benchmark data to show strengths and weaknesses of that student so we can have a productive discussion. If you have questions about what you need, Courtney will be happy to help you.
Monday, January 21st
- Holiday: No School
Tuesday, January 22nd
Wednesday, January 23rd
- MTSS coaches meeting @ OGMS, Mason
Thursday, January 24th
- Staff Meeting
Friday, January 25th
- End of 2nd Quarter
- MOY mCLASS closes
- NAEP Meeting, 11:00, Lohr and Barr
Looking Ahead
- PBIS Celebrations-Yoga for Kids
Tuesday, January 29th
- ELA Check-ins-4th and 5th grade
- Skate Night, Thomasville
Wednesday, January 30th
- Math Check-Ins, 3rd, 4th, 5th grade
Thursday, January 31st
- BT Monthly Mentor Log due
- Math Night @ Sheetz
Friday, February 1st
- 5th grade Science Benchmark
Morning Car Duty Schedules-January
January 2nd-5th: 1st Grade Teachers, Vaughan, Gaymon, Varner
January 7th-11th: 2nd Grade Teachers, Condon, Carroll, York
January 14th-18th: 1st Grade Teachers, Vaughan, Gaymon, Varner
January 21st-25th: 4th Teachers, Harrison, Vaughan, Gaymon, Varner
January 28th-February 1st: 3rd Teachers, Joyner, Weaver, Brown, Glasgow