Literacy Platform
My classroom will be a place that fosters a love of reading. I want my students to pick up a book and become engrossed in it, not putting it down until they have to. I believe I can foster this love of reading by displaying my love of reading to my students. Read-alouds are a way that I can accomplish this. By reading aloud, I can entice my students with thrilling books, motivating them to read and enjoy books. I can also expose my students to a variety of genres, allowing them to find a genre that sparks their interest.
I believe that every child should be read to, at least once a day. Read-alouds are a perfect opportunity for students to be read to, to be able to listen to a book and enjoy the experience, even of it is only for five minutes. Reading-aloud also offer students a chance to be exposed to new words, expanding their vocabulary. I can also read books that are slightly above their level, allowing them to experience content that they will be exposed to in later grades. To further foster the love of reading in my students they will have access to a classroom library, filled with books from every genre and books that are appropriate for their reading levels. The books that I have read will be available to them to read, as well as books that are relevant to what we are learning. I would also like my library to include comfy places for my students to read, like bean bag chairs, pillows, and a carpet. Another essential part of literacy, to me, is guided reading. Guided reading is a time when students are grouped with classmates that are on similar reading levels or who are working on improving a skill, like comprehension, or fluency. I believe that guided reading groups should be fluid, changed as often as students readings levels and skills are changing. I will base my guided reading groups off of data (DRA's, running records, and FAIR), with the goal of meeting the needs of my students. Independent reading is something that will be essential in my classroom. This will be a time for students to just read, to enjoy a book. Students will be able to read any book, magazine, article, or any other reading material of their choice. My students will be ale to move around the classroom to find a comfy, quiet place to read. I believe that independent reading should take place every day for 20-3- minutes. I believe in gradually working up to reading for 20-30 minutes. Initially, I will start off with a short span of time for reading, maybe 4 minutes. Then throughout the first couple of weeks of school, increasing the amount of time spent reading. This will increase my students stamina for reading. Eventually they will be able to read for 20-30 minutes. |