Section 2 of Routmans book is titled The Essential Reading Day. It encompasses chapters 4-7. In the section, she looks at the implementation of the elements of The Essential Reading Life described in section one,
and reminds us that we need to keep our expectations high. Chapter 4's focus is to "Teach with a sense of urgency" to make "every moment in the classroom count" (40). Routeman encourages teachers to "support students in becoming more self-sustaining, thoughtful, independent readers and writers" (42). I found this sentence moving, as it succinctly conveys the purposes and priorities for dedicated teachers. Routman lists "Top 5 Things I Do To Ensure Students becoming Excellent Readers" (43) include items from the first (Reading Essentials) section on demonstrating and modeling as a reader, providing quality resources and student choices, explicit instruction and evaluation. She describes 4 "phases of learning-demonstration, shared demonstration, guided practice, and Independent practice" (44). These 4 phases are the basis for moving students from dependence to independence, which is what I have claimed as my goal for years. This aligns well with high expectations, as student's scaffolded successes build, and build confidence, which builds increased skills, engagement, and effort.
Routman writes "Students do best when the skills they need are explicitly taught in meaningful contexts" (50). She describes the use and effectiveness of explicit instruction, volume quality resources, and reading routines. She advises teachers to "make assessment and evaluation a daily routine", and use informal conferencing (100-101). The author provides a list of "Child-Friendly Reading Goals" (106). In working with my student with whom I am "kid watching", I want to present some of these goals in the form of mini-lessons, with "personal anchor charts" for the his journal. I want to confer about his reading and guide him to identify his goal and strategies, so that they are both meaningful and purposeful for him. I am enjoying Routman's work, as she seeks to inspire both students and teachers.
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you found Routman's strategies in section 2 helpful for the student you are working with on your kidwatching study. Like you, I really appreciated Routman's Optimal Learning Model where she talks about the gradual release of responsibility structure she uses to introduce a new reading strategy - demonstration - shared demonstration - guided practice - independent practice. This section was so full of valuable points too such as teaching with a sense of urgency to ensure that we are focusing on maximizing our time students are engaged with texts and really targeting our mini-lessons and conferencing conversations around what students most need to grow as readers and writers. This chapter was a powerful motivator!
What a good idea! I am not reading this book but I think I am going to make out a Top 5 list for myself! Thanks for the idea!
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