We Are... Readers!
9/21/2017
I'm sure this is no surprise, but one of my favorite things to do is to read. I am always mesmerized by the way authors craft a great story and carefully string words together to make it sound just right. Reading teaches us new things, transports us to new places, opens up new worlds to us, shows us new perspectives, and shares people's stories with us. As an educator (and lover of words), it is always one of my goals to share the wonder and joy of reading with my students. Kindergarten is an especially fun grade in which to do this because kindergartners find such joy in not only the stories we read, but in discovering that they can, in fact, read! They start the year thinking, "We can't read!," and quickly transition to using the pictures to read independently (to approximate reading or retell stories) and then finally to reading the text. In just these first few weeks of school, I have already seen tremendous growth in our kiddos' reading skills, and I'm happy to report that reading time is becoming one of our most coveted and precious times of the day. This week, we focused on retelling old favorites, connecting our reading across the pages to tell one story, and matching the pictures to the story we're telling. Our little ones are starting to notice the action in the story more as they read, something we will focus on next week. Their approximations of reading are sounding more like narratives and less like a factual smattering of what's on the page. And, most importantly, they are ENJOYING reading by themselves and with partners. They have started to become engrossed in the stories they're reading and interact with the text in a way that they didn't before. They whisper the stories to themselves, laugh out loud, make faces at gross or shocking parts, and point out details to their partners. As I sit amongst my little readers, I soak this all up because I know that they are starting to form their identities as readers and feel that, yes, "We are readers!" As a celebration of our reading, we've decided to make Fridays a special reading day. Every Friday, your little one may bring a stuffed animal of his or her choice. Instead of reading with a partner, they will cozy up and read with their stuffed animals. They are super excited about this, and I'm hoping they will start reading to their animals at home as well! (If you do not want your child to bring a stuffed animal to school, please let me know, so I can have one for them to borrow!)
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Saania AliMs. Ali graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelors of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. She specializes in Early Childhood Education, ESL, and Special Education. Her hobbies include traveling, reading, and painting! Archives
April 2021
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