On Being a Builder of Castles

I am working on more fully developing my reading program. In the spirit of Yaris and Burkin, authors of “Who’s Doing the Work: How to Say Less So Readers Can Do More“, there are four main components to our program:

Read Aloud

Shared Reading

Guided Reading

Independent Reading

A deep belief of mine is that the foundation of a reading life is enjoyment; students must first enjoy reading. So we’ve worked really hard to create a space where reading permeates every moment of our day. Look around our room and it is quickly evident that we lead readerly lives. People like Donalyn Miller and Pernille Ripp have hugely shaped what I believe about reading and I value their experienced voices.

Although I’m proud of the work we’ve done to lift the enjoyment of reading, there is still much to do. Once students are voracious readers, they must learn how to navigate their way through a myriad of texts…to read deeply. As always, though, I’m interested in discovering new ways of thinking about reading. Enter…who else, Yaris and Burkin…again. They offer new lenses for looking at reading. They call it “next generation reading“, where they have taken traditional frameworks and put a new spin to reflect our changing world.

Some of the other books sitting on my nightstand:

Notice and Note by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst

Reading Nonfiction by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst

No More Independent Reading without Support by Debbie Miller and Barbara Moss

No More Reading for Junk by Barbara A. Marinak and Linda B. Gambrell

Falling in Love with Close Reading by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts

Obviously, the program will be rooted in my beliefs about personalized learning, students owning the learning and authenticity.  I’ll continue to blog about my journey as I build this castle. Please feel free to offer advice, ask questions and dream with me.

 

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