Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Chapter 3...and some words from Lori Jamison Rog!

I am so happy with how the book study is progressing and have been loving the book. I feel like I have learned so much already and we are only on to Chapter 3!


I will (hopefully) be posting my thoughts about Chapter 3 tomorrow because...I am still teaching (big gasp, I know) and need to move my room, collect my thoughts and try not to fall asleep before 6:30pm (as I am writing this on Wednesday night and currently baking 4 dozen sugar cookies to decorate with my class and our kinder reading buddies tomorrow and a double batch of butter tart squares for our staff potluck)!!


I do, however, have some fun for you all....




After we completed the guided reading survey, I sent off a few of the posted questions to the author of Guiding Readers, Lori Jamison Rog, and she has emailed me back a few answers. 
This will be ongoing as she is answering the largish number of questions I sent a few at a time!

1. Why did you think it was important to write a book about guided reading and specifically the 18 minute lesson time frame? 

ROG: In 2003, I wrote a book called Guided Reading Basics, which was really an introduction to guided reading.  Back then, most of us were really struggling with the organizational pieces of small group reading instruction.  In fact, I used to say, "Anybody can work with a group of four kids.  The challenge is what to do with the other 20."  We were often working so hard on organizing for "the other 20" that we didn't have much time or energy left for planning the actual small group lesson.  And yet, those eighteen minutes of targeted, just-in-time support with that small group of students may very well be the finest teaching we do.

I wanted this book to focus on the teaching piece of small group reading - making the most of those precious minutes with each group of students. More than anything else, this book is a colllection of learning routines that are purposeful and goal-oriented, a smorgasbord of practical ideas from which professionals may choose to meet the needs of their students and their curriculum, whether they are working with homogeneous "needs-based" groups or heterogeneous groupings that focus on strategies or skills.  

As for "eighteen minutes," it's essentially a catch-phrase.  It works for me because I allow twenty minutes per group in my timetable; I set a timer for 18 minutes to allow a 2-minute "transition time."  The point isn't so much about the exact time frame as it is about keeping the lessons brief and focused and not allowing time to get away from us. 


 
2. Who are your guided reading "mentors"? 

ROG: Marie Clay, Helen Depree, Irene Fountas, Gay-Su Pinnell, and hundreds of teachers across North America with whom I've worked and from whom I've learned.

I am excited to learn more from Lori, both through reading her book and her answers to our questions. And, I hope you all are enjoying the book study as much as I am. Please don't hesitate to comment, ask questions, email, or suggest a discussion topic that you want to know more about. I am hoping we can start a discussion together so please comment away and I will compile everything into a post. 

The more we talk together the more we will all learn!

Plus....blog about the book study and post up below!

6 Brilliant Teaching Thoughts:

Michelle Barrier said...

Beth - did you create a graphic organizer for note taking for chapter 3?

Beth said...

@Michelle- I have posted them up just now!

Heather Mathews said...

Beth, I just acknowledged you with the One Clever Education Blog award! Stop by my blog to grab it!

Heather
Peacocks and Penguins - 4th Grade

Stacy said...

That's awesome that she is taking time to respond. I can definitely see touches of those she identified as mentors in her work. We use an intensive guided reading framework for our below level K-2 students and that is based on the work of Marie Clay's Reading Recovery. The idea is that the students have 3 exposures to a text (picture walk, initial read and comprehension discussion, and re-read of the text the next day) before applying the text in a mini-lessons. She emphasized the importance of teaching a mini-lesson through familiar text. This is very similar to the 3 read idea in the book.

Nikki Sabiston said...

My school uses the Jan Richardson guided reading model, but I attended one of Lori's writing workshops last summer and loved it. I'm looking forward to hearing what she has to say about guided reading!

~Nikki
Teaching in Progress

Lori Jamison said...

Hey, Beth, I'm flattered by your syntheses and responses to my book! Why is it that we teachers can ALWAYS find something to feel guilty about? I think you will find it really easy to tell what cueing system kids are using when you analyze their miscues. (For example, If the word is horse and they read house, they're obviously using only visual cues. If the word is horse and they read pony, they're using only meaning cues.)

I look forward to reading more of your comments!

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Beth

 
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