Thursday, September 20, 2012

Best places to Read!!!

For the past 2 weeks we have been learning about 1 of our Daily 5 components, Read to Self. We created an anchor chart (a chart that goes on our wall to remind us of what we talked about) with our 5 expectations which are:
  1. Get started quickly (pretend to take books out of box)
  2. Stay in 1 spot (use super glue)
  3. Read the whole time  (hands pointing to words)
  4. Read quietly (shhhh...)
  5. Build stamina (stack hands alternately) Think push ups
 You'll have to ask your child what push ups are all about. Then ask them what stamina has to do with them and reading. :-)
Ask your child to show you our actions to go with each expectation (see orange above)

We've also talked about finding a just right spot to read. We talked about how just right spots are comfortable and let you be a reader. We then tried out different spots in our room to see where we were most comfortable. We tried out Mrs. Malchow's wheelie chair, laying on the floor, using pillows, reading with lapboards, going under tables, and more. We then talked about how the coolest looking spots aren't always the best spots. 


While we were trying out spots, we also worked to build our stamina for reading. Our first few attempts didn't take us far, we were able to read for about a minute. By the end of the week, we had built our stamina up to be able to read for 3 minutes. This may not seem like much, but for little minds, this is a wonderful jump. Currently, we are reading independently for 10 minutes!! Having a comfie spot usually makes a BIG difference for little learners!

After trying several spots we wrote about our favorite spots as well.  (Click on the slideshow below to see our writing.) The writing mini lesson revolved around using finger spaces between words. Using our spacemen again was a big hit.

Click on the image to advance the slides. Enjoy!!


Please leave us a comment and tell us where YOUR favorite spot to read is!

5 comments:

  1. It looks like there are a ton of comfie places to read in your classroom. My favorite place to read is in the hammock outside! I can't believe you are already at 10 minutes of stamina! Keep up the great work 1st graders!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love to read on my living room floor with Ruger laying next to me

    ReplyDelete
  3. My favorite place to read is on the couch with a hot cup of coffee!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hola amigos! My favorite place to read a "libro" is on a big fluffy couch in my living room.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love to read on my comfy couch in my living room!

    ReplyDelete