Most primary classes include word walls. One of the great things about word walls is that they are so diverse. You can make them with sight words/high-frequency words to academic vocabulary or stationary word walls to interactive and portable word walls. This video is going to demonstrate and showcase some unique and interesting word walls to inspire you to create your own or to model one of them in your own home or classroom. Just remember, a good word wall is one that is part of daily instruction and a tool that can be used by students. They can be themed, evolve over time, or there can be multiple word walls in a classroom. To get your mind going, do not limit your word wall to English Language Arts; can you think about how to use one for maths or the sciences?
Anticipation Guides: Guide Your Readers to Greatness!
The reading strategy of “Anticipation Guides” is a comprehensive strategy that provides statements before students reading to get the children thinking about what they may be reading about, activating prior knowledge, and encourages the students to build curiosity about the new subject matter. Teachers prepare a list of statements, the students must than decided if they agree with the statement, or disagree with it. Students then move on to the reading. After the reading, students are given the list of statements again, and they can then decide to stick with their original statement answer or they can choose to agree or disagree with it. It is common that students change their opinions on some of the statements after the reading, and they often realize they have refined their understanding of the subject through this activity. This reading strategy is beneficial because it allows for students to use prior knowledge to relate to the text, and it also can be a lesson taught to encourage discussion based off of more complex issues.
Reading Logs For All!
Reading logs are a great way for students to think about the books that they are reading. Students are able to treat a reading log like a journal, where they write their reactions and opinions about the books they are reading or listening to. Reading logs also act as a great guide for teachers and parents to track their child’s reading and to see what reading level they sit at. The options of reading logs are endless! Teachers can create reading logs in a variety of ways to help their students gain better reading comprehension and understanding of what they are reading. For example, they can illustrate pictures, write favourite quotes, or talk about the plot. Reading logs give students the opportunity to be creative and explore their understanding of text and writing fluency. Reading logs can also come with some great incentives! Pairing reading with rewards in the classroom or at home can encourage longer periods of reading. By practicing reading at home, students can continue their reading practice which will make them more confident readers and writers in the future. Reading logs can be used for all ages of students, as well as being modified depending on the age and reading level of the students. Finally, there are many new reading log materials and strategies out there that can be introduced in the classroom to promote long term reading and having students meet their reading goals! Here is our video link. Enjoy!
SHARED READING!
Shared reading is a great way to introduce and get students engaged in the great big world of reading. Shared reading is just like it says. When we share the reading, this can be a teacher reading a story to students, students reading sections of a book together as a class, or students reading aloud one on one; whatever gets students reading and engaging with the stories around us! Most importantly shared reading should be done FREQUENTLY. Many educators recommend that for early readers, shared reading should be done every day for students in kindergarten, and at least 2-3 times a week for those in high grades up to grade 3. Through shared reading times, students learn dozens of different concepts about how language and stories work. It even promotes the normalcy and love of reading that will benefit students throughout their entire lives.
Watch a lesson here on Shared Reading ft. a special guest!