Room 204 - Reading

The Reading Curriculum


In Room 204 we use a variety of real fiction and non-fiction books to teach literacy. The days of the basal reader are, thankfully, over. Mr. Carroll also team teaches literacy with Ms Kamila and Ms Richman, using flexible grouping of students to focus instruction more precisely for all kids. All three second grade classes are participating in flexible literacy groups this year. The program will begin in early October.
PHONICS
Deliberate phonics and phonemic awareness instruction is given to each child based on the skills they have. Those who have already aquired basic phonetic decoding skills will be instructed at an advanced level. Spelling test and homwork are incorporated into phonics instruction.
 
LITERATURE:
 
Students then use their phonetic skills in real literature. We use three basic programs:

The first program is one of the official reading programs adopted by the Seattle School District. It is called Pegasus II and is published by Kendall/Hunt. The titles included in the series are:

  • Kids 
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • Amelia Bedilia
  • Sleeping Ugly 
  • Legend of the Bluebonnet
  • ….and many more

The Pegasus program includes a wide variety of reading and writing activities, which build fluency, and increase comprehension skills.

The second program is Literature Circles based on the work of many educators and professors including Regie Routman, Bonnie Campbell, Ph.D. and Katherine Schlick Noe, Ph. D. - among others. I use a variety of biographies, non-fiction, and popular series books in this program including:

  • Nate the Great series
  • Henry and Mudge series
  • Magic School Bus series
  • Magic Tree House series
  • Junie B Johnes series
  • Arthur series
  • Triplet Trouble series
  • Bailey School Kids series
  • ....and many more
The third program is Jr. Great Books. This program focuses on classic stories from a variety of cultures. It has an emphasis on comprehension skills and higher ordered thinking. Students delve into discussion groups to debate character motivations, infer meaning behind plot elements, and rationalize their beliefs by citing sections of the text.
Supplemental resources are used to tailor instruction to all children and add variety to the combined literacy program.

No matter what reading or writing program we use, most often, students are grouped homogeneously. Students needing work on specific skills will take mini-lessons together. All three first grade teachers work as a team to target instruction on specific skills each student group needs to acquire.

 

 

 


Vocabulary, sight words, fluency, and comprehension are emphasized in both first and second grades. Fluency is the ability to read and understand text accurately and at a rate within a range of 80-100+ words per minutes. Additionally, I teach and monitor reading with expression and appropriate phrasing.


Each child should read at least twenty minutes at home on five days a week (or more). That can include the times when a parent reads to the child as well as silent reading alone. Books should be diverse. Some should be challenging, some easy and strictly for enjoyment.

 

 


In class, we also read silently for 20-30 minutes 2 times each week. During that time the teacher reads individually with students in order to assess academic progress. Sometimes we write in a journal, responding to the books we have read.

 


Mr. Carroll's goal is to have at least 90% of his students reading at or above grade level by the end of each academic year. This goal corresponds with Seattle School District guidelines.

I believe the primary indicators of a well structured literacy program are:

  • Lessons that correspond to reading standards
  • A diverse class library containing 500+ fiction and non-fiction books
  • Instruction groups focused on specific skills and levels
  • Flexible grouping
  • A strong phonics program
  • An average of ninety minutes of literacy instruction each day, covering multiple subject areas
  • Regular assessment that is used to guide instruction
  • Comprehension skills taught to support higher order thinking
  • Reading and writing taught together and explicitly modeled by the teacher
  • High performance expectations for all students