Guiding Readers and Writers

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2001 : November : 15

Guiding Readers and Writers
By Linda

" Guiding Reader's and Writer"s " is just one of the many books our district is using to teach reading and writing. To implement bothe reading and writing as found in this book is difficult. I would like to suggest that you
implment the reading part first and get a good grasp on that before implementing the complete writing component also. The couches etc. look nice and many teachers use them. The rug is mandatory for the students to sit on for read aloud. The main philosophy behind this is to make the student accountable for their own learning and this can best be done in a kid friendly environment. In

my class I have some Animal t.v. pillows and bean bag chairs that the students use while reading. As far as class size and space go you have to get used to the cramped quarters. Last year our principal told us we had to get rid of desks and that the few remaining ones would be shared by all students. I refused as I don't believe this is either physically or emotionally healthy for my students. I think every student should feel ownership of their classroom which includes their own private space(their desk). Most of the other teachers followed suit and kept their desks but some abandoned their desks and bought trays for their students to keep their books and items in. As far as locating books to use for mini lessons a great resource to start with is a book titled " Strategies That Work ". In the back of the book they list titles of books under the different reading strategies. They also have a section for titles to use for guided reading groups. In the front of the book the author uses some of the books listed to walk you through actual mini lessons. Once you are accustomed to teaching reading this way and you have used some of these titles you begin to see mini lessons in almost every book you pick up. I hope this will help you and if you have any other questions please let me know.