I am 3 weeks into teaching my new class. I have 8 students with varied strengths and abilities which is a change from the 5 older students i had for the last 2 years. I have been spending time building relationships, observing what they can do and where they are at.
One of the biggest learning challenges I face is, "how do I know they are ready to read?."
When speaking to a friend of mine who teaches a mainstream new entrant class I understood that most students start school and start on a Magenta reader straight away. This was certainly what i observed when I was out on practicum many years ago.
When i look at my group of students, only a handful would be able to attend to a story or sit at a table long enough to engage.
I came across a blog that has been helpful when deciding on who i was going to start on individual readers. The blog mentions 5 key signs that a child is ready to read with the first one being "engagement" which i believe is key to a successful reading journey as well as concepts about print. This year i want to become more familiar with the assessment tool "concepts about print" which is used widely across our school.
https://thisreadingmama.com/ready-to-read-reading-readiness/
Exciting year ahead, would love to come in a work with your students.
ReplyDeleteI follow this reading blog too, lots of great ideas.
Yes! You are always welcome :)
DeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. I have the same problem with a few of my students in my Year 1 class and I ask myself the same question too. Would love to find out what strategies you use to support your students in this area.