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My Literacy Block: (Guided Reading is done every day. Other areas of the block are done 3 to 4 times a week.)
Word Study
I usually follow Month by Month Phonics for Third Grade for word study activities. I also use the Month by Month for my high frequency words for the word wall. During the Word Study block, we look at spelling patterns, onset and rimes, suffixes and prefixes and plurals, using the word wall words.Direct Strategy Instruction
Direct Strategy Instruction focuses on comprehension strategies, like making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, synthesizing, etc. and/or writing strategies and text forms. The reading-writing connection is emphasized. We generally focus on one strategy or text form at a time. Each week I model using a teacher read-aloud and then we practice it using a shared reading piece. The strategy is also reinforced during guided reading.Guided Reading
I usually have four groups. I see my lowest group every day and my next lowest every two days. The two top groups are seen two to three times a week. During guided reading we work on strategies that the group needs and also the comprehension strategy we are focusing on in Direct Strategy Instruction. While groups are at Guided Reading, other students are at Literacy Centres.
Fluency Practice
To become a fluent reader, students need to have automaticity of high frequency words and skills to decode unfamiliar words (tier 2 and tier 3 words) quickly. Students also need to become prosodic readers: to have phrasing, intonation, expression. The high frequency words I use during this time are from Fry's Readability list. The first 300 words on this list make up 60% of any text we read. During Fluency Practice we generally do shared reading of chants and poems, readers theatre scripts, and narrative text with repetitive lines. Any text we use during Fluency Practice is photocopied and students put it in their Fluency duotang to reread at home or at the Fluency Centre during literacy centre time.
Writers WorkshopThis is our writing time. It generally begins with a minilesson during Direct Strategy Instruction which might involve a read-aloud to show what good writers do, or some modelled or shared writing. Sometimes we look at a piece of writing and assess the traits. After the minilesson (usually 5 - 10 minutes), students write for 15 - 20 minutes and then share their writing ( 5 minutes).
As much as possible, we integrate our Drama expectations. Drama always incorporates reading aloud, shared reading, fluency practice and writing, since we do a lot of writing and speaking in role.
I also integrate most of our writing into Social Studies.. For instance, in Social Studies, one of the culminating activities for our unit on Early Settlers in Ontario was to write a persuasive letter to a relative in your old country, to persuade them to either come or not come to Ontario. In the Urban and Rural unit, students are asked to compare and contrast rural and urban environments and then write about the one they prefer.
This is our writing time. It generally begins with a minilesson during Direct Strategy Instruction which might involve a read-aloud to show what good writers do, or some modelled or shared writing. Sometimes we look at a piece of writing and assess the traits. After the minilesson (usually 5 - 10 minutes), students write for 15 - 20 minutes and then share their writing ( 5 minutes).
As much as possible, we integrate our Drama expectations. Drama always incorporates reading aloud, shared reading, fluency practice and writing, since we do a lot of writing and speaking in role.
I also integrate most of our writing into Social Studies.. For instance, in Social Studies, one of the culminating activities for our unit on Early Settlers in Ontario was to write a persuasive letter to a relative in your old country, to persuade them to either come or not come to Ontario. In the Urban and Rural unit, students are asked to compare and contrast rural and urban environments and then write about the one they prefer.