Friday, March 4, 2016

March is Reading Month

I can’t believe it’s already March!   The month of March is known as  the “reading month.”  This is a great time for you to grab your favorite book and dive right in!  Defer’s amazing teachers celebrate reading every day.  I’d like to focus this month’s newsletter on reading instruction and how we differentiate that instruction to meet the needs of all learners at Defer.
In Grosse Pointe, we teach reading through a Readers’ Workshop model.  A typical readers’ workshop lesson is composed of three elements.
Whole class mini-lesson focused on a specific reading strategy or skill 10- 15 minutes
Class begins with the teacher presenting a reading concept that the students will be focusing on that day.  The teacher presents the concept to the whole group usually using one book as the “mentor text” to serve as the learning vehicle.   The teacher will model the concept in the mentor text and through questioning techniques involves all students in the thinking process around this concept. 
 Independent Daily Reading:  20 – 40 minutes ( varies by grade level)
Students read independently at their own specific level.  With their own book they work on the strategy or concept taught in the mini-lesson.  During this time the teacher circulates in the room, conferring with individual students as they read. 
 Guided Reading/Strategy Groups:  10 – 15 minutes
These groups are composed of 3 -5 students that are gathered to work on a specific skill or strategy.  These students are grouped by similar reading levels so that they can practice the concept with peers at that same  level.  In this case the teacher will have multiple copies of the same book or article so that they can work with all students together.
Last year the Defer PTO supported this instruction by purchasing books for each grade.  Teachers now have a much greater selection of mentor texts as well as multiple copies of books for group work.  The impact has been huge as this has opened more avenues to differentiate instruction for our students.   Thank you Defer families! 



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