My next few posts are going to focus on some great ways that you can create more reading opportunites in your classroom. We all have been in the position where students are struggling with reading and we don’t want any students to slip through the cracks or to squeak by. In this series I will share with you a variety of ways that I have infused reading into my teaching in ways that help my students get excited about reading and make targeted growth along the way.
My Classroom This Year
In my classroom this past year I was faced with a lot of struggling students who saw themselves as non-readers. I’m not sure if it was because we were out of school so long due to the pandemic, or if it was part of something bigger. Whatever the reason, it really doesn’t matter.
I was looking at 18 little faces who needed all the reading they could get!
By third grade, many students have struggled with reading all the way back to kindergarten. These struggles become more obvious and leach into the other areas of school.
Adjust Your Schedule
I know that each district is different, but look closely at your schedule. Look for 5, 10, and 15 minute pockets of time to squeeze in more reading opportunities. This might be 5-10 minutes during bus calls with the kids who are last to be called. It might be 10-15 minutes in the morning as students are coming into school. It might be 10 minutes during snack time where you pull a group to the table with you while they are eating their snack. Teachers are creative! Get creative with your time.
Over the next few posts, I am going to share with you how I have restructured my day in order to meet the needs of the kids I had.
This Week’s Freebie
For this week’s freebie, I am going to share the printable planning sheets that I have been using for years. You can edit them in excel and then print them out, copy front to back, and put them in a 3 ring binder. I love being about the edit all of the subject headings before I print. I have also added rows in my own planner to squeeze in extra reading support during morning announcements, dismissal, snack, etc, You can grab this FREEBIE here. So go to the Free Resource library by clicking below and download these editable templates.
Stay tuned for helpful information
~Heather Johnson