Chapters 10 and 11 of Catching Readers Before They Fall by Johnson and Keier fit together very well. Chapter 10 discusses how to interact with students in order to make observations about their reading skills and what to do with that information to make it usable. Chapter 11 addresses communicating with parents about student reader progress. I think these two areas of teacher go hand in hand.
For most elementary school teachers helping students develop reading skills is paramount. It's no wonder then that so much time and effort is spent getting to know our students as readers. Catching Readers outlined great ways to interact with students such as individual conferences and small guided reading groups. The most valuable part for me was the information about how observations in this groups and conferences is organized. Seeing the charts and forms that teachers actually use gave me a much better idea what my student records need to look like. How valuable to have well organized information about the entire class as well as individual students at your fingertips. As is explained in Chapter 10, this information is necessary to best plan for whole class instruction as well as small groups. As I continued to Chapter 11, I discovered another important reason to develop a successful organization system for student observations. Communicating with parents will be much easier and much more effective for me if I've made organizing and maintaining my reading observations a priority. These observations about students as readers influence their success in every other subject area (reading word problems in math, doing research for social studies, etc.) so being able to confidently discuss this information with parents is a vital skill I had not anticipated.
Chapter 11 is structured as question from parent/answer from teacher. Johnson and Keier explain that they selected sixteen of the most commonly asked questions about reading in the classroom. The questions range from 'I know my student is struggling. How do I help?' to 'The books my student is bring home are way too easy! What gives?' to 'What level is my student at? High, middle or low?' Reading the provided responses to these questions made me realize how important those records in Chapter 10 will be. If I received an email from a parent asking about how to help their struggling child. I would want to know exactly where I could reach to find up-to-date information about their student's reading progress and notes about my plans to help them. While I'm sure a certain amount of information about students is always rolling around in a teacher's head, I think parents would find recorded observations more professional and reassuring.
There was one answer to a question in Chapter 11 that I found confusing though. The question reads "It seems like my child just memorizes the books he brings home. Last night he even told me he could read it with his eyes closed. Is this okay?" The answer that Johnson and Keier provide includes explaining that "Oh, but that's not really reading though...readers do not memorize books." I understand that what they're getting at is a student who has figured out the structure and story of the book without working through the words to make meaningful connections, but readers do memorize books. At least, this reader does. I don't think I'm alone in falling in love with a story and reading it dozens of times, especially as a child. I memorized some of Aesop's fables, poems my mother shared with me that she loved as a little girl, and entire passages of A Wrinkle in Time. As an adult I continue to memorize sections of books I love. I think to tell a young student that readers don't memorize books may send the message that books are impersonal. Certainly, students should be encouraged to use reading strategies to process the words and make meaning first, but what about the student who loves a story so much they commit it to memory?
Overall, I found these chapters incredibly helpful. I realized a connection I hadn't before that I believe will make me a stronger teacher. I enjoyed the real world examples of organizational tools and the insight regarding parents' concerns about their students reading progress.
For most elementary school teachers helping students develop reading skills is paramount. It's no wonder then that so much time and effort is spent getting to know our students as readers. Catching Readers outlined great ways to interact with students such as individual conferences and small guided reading groups. The most valuable part for me was the information about how observations in this groups and conferences is organized. Seeing the charts and forms that teachers actually use gave me a much better idea what my student records need to look like. How valuable to have well organized information about the entire class as well as individual students at your fingertips. As is explained in Chapter 10, this information is necessary to best plan for whole class instruction as well as small groups. As I continued to Chapter 11, I discovered another important reason to develop a successful organization system for student observations. Communicating with parents will be much easier and much more effective for me if I've made organizing and maintaining my reading observations a priority. These observations about students as readers influence their success in every other subject area (reading word problems in math, doing research for social studies, etc.) so being able to confidently discuss this information with parents is a vital skill I had not anticipated.
Chapter 11 is structured as question from parent/answer from teacher. Johnson and Keier explain that they selected sixteen of the most commonly asked questions about reading in the classroom. The questions range from 'I know my student is struggling. How do I help?' to 'The books my student is bring home are way too easy! What gives?' to 'What level is my student at? High, middle or low?' Reading the provided responses to these questions made me realize how important those records in Chapter 10 will be. If I received an email from a parent asking about how to help their struggling child. I would want to know exactly where I could reach to find up-to-date information about their student's reading progress and notes about my plans to help them. While I'm sure a certain amount of information about students is always rolling around in a teacher's head, I think parents would find recorded observations more professional and reassuring.
There was one answer to a question in Chapter 11 that I found confusing though. The question reads "It seems like my child just memorizes the books he brings home. Last night he even told me he could read it with his eyes closed. Is this okay?" The answer that Johnson and Keier provide includes explaining that "Oh, but that's not really reading though...readers do not memorize books." I understand that what they're getting at is a student who has figured out the structure and story of the book without working through the words to make meaningful connections, but readers do memorize books. At least, this reader does. I don't think I'm alone in falling in love with a story and reading it dozens of times, especially as a child. I memorized some of Aesop's fables, poems my mother shared with me that she loved as a little girl, and entire passages of A Wrinkle in Time. As an adult I continue to memorize sections of books I love. I think to tell a young student that readers don't memorize books may send the message that books are impersonal. Certainly, students should be encouraged to use reading strategies to process the words and make meaning first, but what about the student who loves a story so much they commit it to memory?
Overall, I found these chapters incredibly helpful. I realized a connection I hadn't before that I believe will make me a stronger teacher. I enjoyed the real world examples of organizational tools and the insight regarding parents' concerns about their students reading progress.
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