Hello All,
I was curious if you all had some creative ways to make inclass reading assignments not only more beneficial but more entertaining for the students as well. For example, assignming each group memeber a job or role etc. I'm always up for mixing it up in my reading assignments. So, feel free to provide me your ideas.
Thanks,
Shawn DeBoer
Shawn,
ReplyDeleteI have some ways you can assign students jobs or roles, etc. I am learning a lot of different ways in grad school right now, I will bring them to vertical teaming or try to email them to you.
Thanks,
Kathy Mareck
Sounds great. I'd love to get some new ideas regarding this. Anything to keep the students on there toes and interested would definitely be beneficial.
DeleteDo you mean in class reading where it is for the lesson, or more indendent reading that they are doing?
ReplyDeleteFor in class reading that students do together, I do alot of group work with various articles, picture books, etc. Alot of the time giving them a simple task to complete and then share with another group or present to the class. I have had kids come up with raps/songs to share the information that they have read. Sometimes if it is something that I want to read with the class, i try and find a clip of it on Youtube or something so that it makes it more exciting and not just me or the students doing all of the reading.
One of my favorite things i did with independent reading assignments last year, was that the kids had to complete a book project. It didnt matter how they presented it, they just had to cover some basics. I told them the more creative, the betteer and it was amazing what they came up with on their own. They were so fun and exciting to watch and i cannot wait to do it again :)
I have done an activity where as students read an article or even from the textbook, they draw a scene or important images that they read right on their desks with white board markers (we have desks that allow us to do that-you could use whiteboards). This allows students to visualize what they are reading in a fun way (they love to write with whiteboard markers). :)
ReplyDeleteAs a fourth grade teacher, I try to mix things up in reading pretty often. I enjoy trying different ways for my students to apply their knowledge of different comprehension strategies without creating tons of extra prep for me. One that I like for building background knowledge is called give one-get one. It is like brainstorming, but involves communicating with others in teh class. Post a topic on the board that you want students to brainstorm about. Have the students fold a piece of paper in half. On the top half students label it 'ideas I will give' and number 1-4. On the bottom half students label it 'ideas I got' and number 5-8. It is an easy way to see what students know idnividually and also works on listening comprehension.
ReplyDeleteRight now in Honors English 7, my students are doing a book club unit. For each meeting, a student has a different role. These roles include the summarizer, questioner, literary luminary (pulling out interesting or confusing passages), and the word wizard/vocabulary enricher. The great thing about roles is that students have to step up and do their "job" to help out the whole group. It can be tough, however, to feel like the roles are even. If you use the same groups regularly, you can make sure to rotate the roles. At the end of the meeting, I collect their role sheets and a group exit ticket with a task I'd like them to complete together.
ReplyDelete