Gettin' Fluent

My AE kiddos are working on their reading fluency.  I initially had them participating in repeated partner readings with short, teacher selected texts.  A few of the students began creating beats on their desks as they read and they said it helped them read it faster and smoother.  More kids began to try it and they asked if they could read something different.  I rode with their enthusiasm and gave them a few guidelines they had to follow. 

Students piled through poetry anthologies and other books with poetic rhythm, looking for that magical piece.  Once they found a poem they loved, they read it alone, in pairs and/or with Mrs. Benson so they could get the feedback they needed in order to read the poem fluently and with emphasis in the right places.  Students learned how to read the pauses and listen to the beat or rhythm of the poems.

Once they had it, they went to the website, Incredibox.fr and built their own beat to go with their poem.  Once they were confident they had practiced enough, students performed these "Poetry Raps" in front of the class.  This has been an amazing experience for all of us.  We have really bonded and laughed and grown as readers.  I have one example here and there will be more to come. 

Please leave Mel'Vontae some feedback and/or congratulations (as he volunteered to go first and be videoed) here on the blog. 

New Year, New Way of Learning

With the return of the students comes new goals, new challenges, new celebrations.  Now that we have taken the Tungsten test four times, we have very solid data on our individual strengths and weaknesses.  We will be shifting the ownership and responsibility of our learning from Mrs. Benson to the students now that we have this data.  Beginning with a few days each week, students will be working in learning centers that will allow them to focus on their own weaknesses and build up their skills in those areas.  Think of it like circuit training at the gym.  If you want to build up your arms, you don't use a leg press machine.  It is the same thing in Communication Skills class.  If you want to build up your use and understanding of figurative language, you don't do it by studying non-fiction. 

Students have analyzed their own Tungsten data and identified their three lowest areas.  Next week, we will set goals for improvement in those areas and students will begin working in the stations that are designed to strengthen those areas.  Students will also be getting individualized homework, if necessary, to assist them in these areas as well.  Running and supervising stations is going to be a bit challenging at first as we all get used to it.  If there are any parents who would be interested in hanging out and helping kids in the stations, that would be awesome.

The other days of the week, we will be working on analyzing literary elements in texts.  Students will be looking at the plot, point of view, conflict, theme, mood, and flashbacks of texts and analyzing how these elements influence the characters in the story.  You may hear your students talking a great deal about heroes as we will be using this theme as a common thread in the texts.  This is a large unit of study that will require a lot of reading and analysis work. 

While all of these great things are going on, the kids will continue to study vocabulary.  We still have something like 80 words left to learn.  Wish us luck!  I know that I am excited to be done with school, as I can focus more intently on teaching, but I am not so sure the kids will be.  I will be pushing them rather hard the rest of the year.