As I develop curriculum and look for ways to engage my students in their reading development, I’m constantly seeking out authentic skill opportunities. Many times the reading skills that we teach are in isolation, they’re practiced through a passage or multiple shared readings. However, it’s essential that we are taking these skills one step further so that our students understand the essential values these skills have.
We build a strong reading community in my classroom and my students are constantly reading what they are motivated and interested in reading. Choice is huge and I try to follow in the footsteps of Donalyn Miller and her 40 book reading challenge. (I would highly recommend The Book Whisperer) Since all of my students are not reading the same text, I have to get creative!
The application of skills is essential so I utilized what my students are currently reading. One of the ways I did that this past year was figurative language speed dating–it was quite the hit!
I placed my students in two rows with their “good fit books” and post it notes. I gave them a few minutes to read a page from their current text with their partner and look for examples of figurative language. They wrote down the example on their post it notes. They went back and forth until I said switch.
Not only were these students identifying figurative language and then also explaining how it aided the text, but they were also being exposed to texts their peers were interested in and that’s a match made in heaven!
After two minutes, one of the rows would rotate to the next student and the process would start again. It’s important to do things for a smaller amount of time even if students aren’t finished to keep them on their toes!
Halfway through I made some adjustments and had students sit side by side like they were on a bus instead of across from each other. This helped all students see the shared text and kept them focused. We even sang the wheels on the bus to transition to the next group and I would yell “beep beep!” to let them know it was time to transition. You might think it sounds corny but my 6th graders were SO into it. If you sell it with enthusiasm, amazing things can happen!
Now you might be thinking, “Okay, so where’s the worksheet? Where’s the grading? Accountability?” That’s the thing–it’s an experience. A simple authentic experience where students recognize that what we’re learning in class is happening inside of their books. If I’ve prepared my students enough, they’ll recognize and be able to interpret the figurative language in the text. This also has to do with trust. Trusting my own teaching abilities and trusting the abilities of my students.
Sure, they’ll take a few quizzes and a unit test to make sure they’re on the right path but not every lesson needs to be graded. Sometimes, students just need space to have authentic reading experiences. That’s what it’s all about!