November 13: Reading Groups

One of the goals that El Puente had when we arrived here this summer was implementing a guided reading program (in Spanish).  To help in that process, I tested each student in July to find out their reading level and then organized small reading groups based on their results.  We are slowly building a leveled library for the program through an online site where I can search for which books are available in Spanish at each level, print them out, put them together and organize them in levels.

Every Tuesday and Thursday two thirds of my day is dedicated to reading with students in the guided reading program.  In the morning I have three groups of first and second graders that I meet with for 30 minutes each and then after lunch I meet with three groups of the third and fourth graders (plus Nathan and Angelina) for 30 minutes each.  It has been a really rewarding experience to watch students' interest and reading abilities grow.  It's a joy to see the excitement on their face when they realize they've moved on to the next level.  Kendall, a second grader, is quick to ask me on Tuesday and Thursday mornings,  "We read today, right teacher?  What book are we going to read?"  Valerie, a 3rd grader, recently made a great connection to something we had talked about in reading groups.  We had read a book about 'Shoes around the world' which included wooden shoes. As part of the introduction to the book,  I had fun showing pictures of Dutch Dancers at Tulip Time and a YouTube video of Dutch Dancers. Valerie and her classmate Nazareth found the wooden shoes to be pretty interesting!  Then, a week or so later Valerie was showing me a Cinderella book that she had brought from home.  As she paged through it, she all of a sudden stopped, pointed to Cinderella and exclaimed, "Hey, she's wearing wooden shoes!"  So exciting....she was making her own connections to prior knowledge!

Part of implementing the guided reading program is making sure it's sustainable after we leave.  Karina, the Costa Rican Spanish and Social Studies teacher will likely lead the reading groups in the future.  In order to learn more about the guided reading program, Karina has observed me doing the second grade groups last week and this week.  Next week, I'll observe and assist her as she leads the 2nd grade groups.

Emily puts a smile on my face when she comes down for reading group - she always descends with a big smile and a princess wave.

I call Emily and Alisson my 'giggly' group - definitely a fun way to end the day reading with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays.