tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3826989222677624700.post8823510931240997110..comments2011-04-01T07:22:34.747-04:00Teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612193022815421409noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3826989222677624700.post-73901677572352033112008-12-15T22:22:00.000-05:002008-12-15T22:22:00.000-05:00Immerse them in reading. Read books to them...books that you can discuss. (Spinelli's "Loser" comes to mind.) Discuss it with them. Let them anticipate what will happen, then reflect on what happens and what they learned. Let them write a short log every day about what happened during the day's reading. They learn that books can be fun when it isn't always a struggle for them to read it on their own. And that is your main goal--to help them realize reading is fun. Always have a book that you can read just a couple of chapters a day. They will be begging you to read to them. That is what my elementary teacher did. And soon, I was longing to find good books to read on my own. Other books: Hatchet by Paulsen, Holes by Sachaar, Pictures of Hollis Woods, On My Honor, Missing May (can't remember the authors)and I am sure you know many others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3826989222677624700.post-12496245340516053092008-12-15T11:44:00.000-05:002008-12-15T11:44:00.000-05:00Hey Kiddo, Your old principal here. <BR/>I don't remember learning to read, but I do know I hated it and the first "book" I read was as a senior in high school. I learned to love reading as an adult. You may not always see the results of your efforts. <BR/>Hey, give us all a call if you come home for Christmas. We have school on the 22nd and would love to see you here. Hang in there. I know how good you are and you do too. Keep making a difference for those kids. <BR/>P.S. Send me an email.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3826989222677624700.post-19758312543701868582008-12-14T14:15:00.000-05:002008-12-14T14:15:00.000-05:00My mother taught me to read years before I started kindergarten. I also recall taking yearly standardized tests - biannually at most - and never once being dogmatically, narrowly, prepared/trained in what specifically would be on it. The tests were basic standardized aptitude tests.Pilosahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15731032013953636471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3826989222677624700.post-85866844520662561692008-12-10T09:11:00.000-05:002008-12-10T09:11:00.000-05:00It's interesting that teaching your students has caused you to reflect on your own development as a reader. I often think about my own experience as well. For me, reading was easy. I just "got" it from the very beginning and I loved reading. As a small child, I used to memorize all of the books I had at home which would drive my older sister crazy because she was actually trying to read the words and she struggled a bit. When I got to first grade, we didn't have a classroom library the way I do now, but we would go to our school library to listen to a story and check out books. I think so much of my reading process had to do with the fact that I had been read aloud to since I was born. The first book I can actually remember reading on my own was Charlotte's Web (which I think is level M). I read it towards the end of first grade. From that book on, I was hooked on reading. I often think about my students who struggle at levels B and C and how they are stuck in these boring books and don't really get the same joy that I got out of reading Charlotte's Web. I also think about their life experiences. I try to do a lot of read aloud because I know it is so necessary. It's like I want to make up for the fact that they are not being read to at home.peace in the classroomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589221180179106346noreply@blogger.com