##### Straight Off the Tracks #####

      Yesterday was another exciting whirlwind of learning in the second grade classroom!  I learned a lot about the reading program put into place. On a typical day, the second graders spend their entire morning on literacy! That's right, an entire morning. 9:00-12:00. 3 hours. 180 minutes. 10,800 seconds of 100% reading and writing! I don't know about you, but I never saw anything remotely close to this when I was in second grade. I remember my mornings being about math, science, maybe we would get to read something when we were done with our math and science work....and then there was the occasional story or spelling worksheet. I guess I do remember some writing prompts and such, ones of which we never got to share with one another... My how things have changed!
      In my practicum classroom, each week has an overall theme or concept that is being taught. This week the students are learning about story charts. They are identifying problems and important events that lead to the solution of that initial problem. They were introduced to the story Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin...

      On Monday, the students had a read aloud by their teacher. She modeled how to read the new vocabulary and pointed out new concepts and ideas that were found in the context of the story. They then split up into pairs and reread the story with a partner
      Yesterday, the students were to read the story again, this time on their own. One by one, the teacher called the different reading groups back to read with her. The students are divided into groups based on their reading levels. The lower level readers practiced reading the same story with the teacher, whereas the more advanced students were reading chapter books within their groups.

The class is divided into 5 reading groups:

PURPLE: DRA 14-16 (Grades 1-2) 

GREEN: DRA 16'ish (Grade 2)

RED: DRA 18-20 (Grade 2)

BLUE: DRA 24-30 (Grades 2-3)

ORANGE: 30-34 (Grade 3)

      When the teacher meets with each group, the students take turns reading their text out loud. This provides students with the opportunity to verbally read text out loud and hear themselves pronounce words. It is also important for the teacher to hear each student read and comprehend text. It is a great way to assess the reading development of her students.
      I was eager to see what the rest of the students would do while their teacher was meeting with a group in the back of the room. I expected some might hang from the ceiling, thought others would meticulously run around their desks in perfect, complete circles, and...nahhhh, they all sat in their seats diligently reading and writing. Every morning, students are given "literacy tasks" to complete. Once they finish these tasks, they can choose to finish their incomplete literacy work, or pick something exciting to write about from their "Literacy Menu." The Literacy Menu is a great writing prompt guide students can sit down and work on when they have extra time. My practicum teacher switches out the menus when some time has gone by. There are times when the students have literacy centers they can rotate in an out of throughout the whole morning. They are starting some fun and exciting literacy writing centers next week....more to come on that!
      Overall, today taught me about differentiated instruction. The leveled reading groups do not push the lower level readers too hard, or keep the advanced readers from moving forward. All the students need to read the story of the week, and learn the new literacy concept. The reading groups allow the students to branch off and read at their specific levels, furthering their understanding and development of reading. The entire morning was so clean and organized! The students were on task and always knew what to do. I could tell that my practicum teacher enforced routines and rules very well at the beginning of the year. Talk about classroom management. I will definitely consider implementing reading groups into my future classroom. I think it is a great way for students to collaborate with each other in small groups, as well as find time to meet one-on-one (even though they are in small groups) with their teacher. It allows student to practice reading out loud, and it provides the teacher assessment opportunities, as well as helping students develop their reading at their own specific level.  :)