1 K-2 Building a Reading Life

Red Flag Situation / If you See… / Here is a Sequence of things to address…
Engagement and Independence /

Kids going to the bathroom/sharpening pencils/wandering around the room during reading workshop
Kids taking one book, putting it down, taking another, putting it down
Kids holding books upside down

Develop a plan for inspiring the community: (e.g. community activities around books, have guest readers in, show short clips about people who overcame obstacles, have frequent reading celebrations)
Model loving reading—tell stories about your own reading constantly
Dramatically read aloud as much as possible—read something for each child
Do shared reading and then make those books accessible to readers
Do interactive writing with class and make books for your readers to read
Model responding passionately to read aloud and shared reading (“Oh, my goodness…,”“Can you believe…?”)
Get accessible, high interest books into kids’ hands
Do lessons on book handling
Do lessons on what to do when before starting a book, during reading, and after and hang charts with visual reminders of these strategies
Do lessons to strengthen not only comprehension skills but word-solving skills
(Grades 1/ 2:) Make sure readers are matched to books

Volume/Stamina(looking at book baggies-K/1/2- and tallies-1/2) /

Kids only reading at school/only reading at home
Kids’ book baggies have very few books (less than 10 if J or below)
In K, kids not finishing books in baggies or only reading one or two books

Set class goals to read _____ minutes/books today and celebrate when it happens!
Teach readers to have a pile of books they want to read waiting in their baggies
Put a post-it in back of each book so kids can check off when they have read one and see a visual reminder of their accomplishment
Teach students to make a plan for the number of books they will read and organize their books into “read”/“not read” piles. After reading a book, they can put it in the “read” pile and count how many they have finished

Partner Talk /

Partners looking away from each other
Partners’ conversation is not related to book

Teach partners ways to get excited about books together and to support each other: (“Oh you are reading an Eric Carle book? I love his books!,”“I found a tricky word—could you help me?,”“Oh, you are rereading your book in your best storyteller voice? Can you read a part to me?”)
Do lessons on and model partner routines—we read together, retell, find parts that are most important, etc. Hang visual, written reminders of procedures
Put up visual reminders for how partner talk looks (you might take photos of your kids and use them for charts

Ways Post-it notes are used
(grades 1 /2 ) /

Kids have few or no Post-it notes in their books

Teach readers to mark parts that are confusing, important parts they are dying to talk about, and parts they love

Red Flag Situation (This type of situation must be addressed IMMEDIATELY before setting other goals.)**These conditions are usually seen together. That is, if you see evidence of one, probably most or all of the others are present. The good news is that means that working on any one aspect of the situation can help to resolve the other parts.

Orange Flag Situation / If you See… / Here is a Sequence of things to address…
Engagement and Independence
(to discern this you may need to talk to kids and reflect on your own teaching) /

Kids flipping pages without running their eyes over them

(for 1 /2) Kids reading without patterns (e.g. when asked why they chose a book they might say, “I don’t know-- it was in the D basket.”)
Kids reading with bored expressions
When asked what they are working on, kids might say, “Nothing” or “Reading.”

Develop a plan for inspiring the community (e.g. community activities around books, have guest readers, have frequent reading celebrations)
Model loving reading—tell stories about your own reading constantly
Do shared reading and then make those books accessible to readers
Model responding passionately to read aloud and shared reading
Point out whenever a real life situation seems like something that happened in a story (e.g. coming up against an obstacle—“This is just like what happened to Mike Mulligan…remember, he had that HUGE snow to plow and…”)
Do lessons that give readers a repertoire of reading work (e.g. wonder what will happen next, think about how characters feel/think, act out characters, figure out hard words, etc.)
Model finding and choosing a pile of great books you can’t wait to read
Have kids make book recommendations and put up charts
Do lessons on book handling
Make sure readers have PLENTY of books (e.g. 30 books, not one book 30 times)
(Grades 1/ 2:) Make sure readers are matched to books

Volume/Stamina
(looking at book baggies-K/1/2- and tallies-1/2) /

Kids are reading for inconsistent amounts of time—some days getting through all of the books in their book baggies, other days only a few books)
Kids picking up books and putting them down

Use shared reading/read aloud time to model the reading process—what happens before, during and after we read books—to improve rate, volume and stamina
Put a Post-it in back of each book so kids can check off when they have read one OR you can give out bookmarks for each book and have students make a check each time it is read
Teach students to make a plan for the number of books they will read and organize their books into “read”/“not read” piles.
Do lessons about rereading for different purposes to get readers to stay focused on reading for longer stretches of time
Students can reread their logs to reflect on their reading volume and set new goals

Partner Work /

One partner doing all of the talking (the other partner is likely disengaged)
Partners have difficulty getting started and deciding who will share first or which topic to share.

Ramp up passion around books within partnerships: you can model how to act out parts from books and teach partners to act out parts
Coach into partnership—whisper in to teach partners to look at each other, take turns, and other routines. Be sure the students are looking at each other not you.
Provide written and visual reminder charts and model for the students
Teach conversation prompts (“I agree with you because…” “I don’t agree with you because…”, “What do you mean…?,” “Why do you think that?,” “I can add on…”)
Talk to child directly—ask child what is hard about this and how we can work on that together—do some shared problem solving with partners
Model how to be a good listener (e.g. I face you, I nod, I make eye contact, etc.)
In mid-workshops and shares, highlight a proficient partnership—make sure to celebrate each partnership at different times for different reasons
Film partnerships and show them to class—together name out what is strong about the conversations they see and what they can try in their own partnership work

Ways Post-it notes are used to support/
extend reading work
(grades 1/ 2) /

Some books have Post-it notes, others do not
Post-it notes seem to be stuck in books without purpose

For 1-Teach readers to use symbols or nameparts that are confusing,important parts they are dying to talk about, parts they love, etc.
Model drawing/writing deeply passionate Post-its during read aloud (“This part makes me so mad! I’m going to draw a big angry face and stick it right on this page!”)
For 2-model writing deeply passionate Post-its during read aloud (“LOL”, “No Way!”, “AHHHH!”)
Do shared writing of Post-its—create class mentor Post-it notes and exemplar charts
Hang charts with visual/written reminders of strategies to use

Orange Flag situation (These readers are usually disengaged. Address this type of situation as soon as the red flags are addressed.)

Yellow Flag Situation / If you See… / Here is a Sequence of things to address…
Engagement and Independence
(to discern this you may need to talk to kids and reflect on your own teaching) /

Yourself saying, “I don’t want to interrupt their reading to confer” or “As long as they are reading, I’m happy.”
Yourself saying, “I don’t want them to bring their book baggies home because they’ll lose the books.”
Kids reading books at one level without intentions (e.g. when asked why they chose a book they might say, “It was in the H basket.” Or “I liked the cover.”)
When asked what they are working on, kids say, “Reading.”
Kids follow you around waiting for help as you confer
Kids reading the same book repeatedly

Teach kids that all readers make plans and have purposes for reading
Model making a plan for your own reading (“I’m going to preview the book a little before I read and I’m going to ask a question that I can keep in mind as I read…”)
Model setting a goal(“I want to see the story happening like a movie in my mind the whole time I am reading so…”)
Do lessons that give readers a repertoire of reading work (e.g. predict and read to see if prediction was met, think about how characters feel/think, act out characters, figure out hard words, etc.)
Do lessons to heighten fluency and teach kids to react as they read
Use your teaching shares to focus on management issues such as having students brainstorm ideas for how to help themselvesand to remind readers of the repertoire of strategies they have learned
(K)-Teach readers to have different types of plans based on the book (e.g. shared reading books, emergent storybooks, books handmade by teacher—tell story across pages, focus on a character and act out that role, etc.; for unfamiliar books-study pictures closely to understand important things that are happening, look for words you know, etc.)
(Grades 1/ 2:) Make sure readers are matched to books

Volume/Stamina
(looking at logs) /

Kids reading for an inconsistent amount of time. Some days they are finishing all of the books in their baggies, other days they are not
Kids finishing one book and not starting eagerly starting another

Use shared reading/read aloud time to model the reading process—what happens before, during and after we read books—to improve rate, volume and stamina
Readers who read C and above might start simple logs in the form of tallies and you can provide time for readers to look over and reflect on their logs (“What am I noticing about how many books I read at home and how many books I read at school? Why might this be different?) and set goals.
Model keeping a class log of tallies for read aloud and shared reads
Use shares to brainstorm ways we can get more reading time and how to read more during that time

Partner Work /

Partners follow teachers’ assignment for day and then stop talking.
Partners only talk in the way they were taught to one that day rather than using multiple strategies
Partners follow routines but do not come with parts marked
Partners talking without referring to the book or only saying what parts they liked
At times, partners may build on each other’s thoughts but more often, they agree (“Me too”, “I agree.”)

Dolessons about different ways that partners can talk about their reading (e.g. act out parts, reread parts together, ask for help, look for patterns, share ideas, share favorite parts, give each other intros, etc.)
Do lessons about how partners make a plan and model or fishbowl a partnership
Hang charts with written and visual reminders of strategies
Model asking questions to start and continue discussion (“How…?” “Why…”)
Film partnerships and show them to class—together name out what is strong about the conversations they see and what they can try in their own partnership work
Teach partners that they can help support and encourage each other in reaching their goals (“Oh you read more books than yesterday—awesome! How many will you read tonight? How can you make more time for reading?”)
Teach partners to point to parts in the book that show their ideas (“Let’s look at that part together!, Can you show me what part you mean?”)
Teach partners to ask questions when they want clarification (“What do you mean by that?” “Can you say more about that?”)
Teach prompts to help partners build on ideas (“That reminds me of…”, “That makes me think….”, “That is giving me a new idea…” “That makes me wonder…”)

Ways Post-it notes are used to support/
extend reading work (grades 1 /2) /

Post-its only marking funny parts or only marking parts students love, etc. rather than showing a variety of responses to reading
Post-its all follow only the strategy taught that day rather than showing a repertoire of strategies learned previously

Do lessons about different ways you can use Post-its
Model various ways you can use Post-its in your read alouds and shared reading
Hang charts with written and visual reminders of strategies, including mentor Post-its for each strategy
Do shared writing of Post-its and hang these as mentors

Yellow Flag situation (These readers are usually reading but not with purpose or intention. Your teaching must be toward making these readers more reflective and accountable for growing as readers and in charge of their own reading lives!)

Green Flag Situation / If you See… / Here is a Sequence of things to address…
Engagement and Independence
(to discern this you may need to talk to kids and reflect on your own teaching) /

Kids reading with book baggies near them full of multiple books
Kids finishing one book and eagerly reaching for another or beginning the book over again for a purpose
Kids can say why they are reading a book
Kids have plans for their reading

Teach readers that not only should they have plans for what they want to read, they should have plans for how they want to grow as readers
Teach readers to have a repertoire of ways to think about the text while reading and to be flexible and try out different strategies (e.g. figure out what will happen, think like the characters, compare how this book is the same to the last one I read, etc.)
Help readers to set goals for themselves
Do lessons to heighten reading with fluency
Teach readers to predict before they begin reading and to read looking to see if prediction was met
Teach readers that we don’t just close books and forget them—we hold onto them—bring them up in conversations, recommend them to friends, let them change how we think and act

Volume/Stamina
(looking at logs) /

Kids are reading with purpose and for meaning and getting through a lot of books in their book baggies (e.g. 10-12 in a half hour for levels A-E; 2-3 books in a half hour for J—refer to charts in Curricular Calendars)
Kids are reading for an equal amount of time at home
Kids are shopping and gathering lots of books (8-10 books a week for levels A-E, 6-8 books per week for higher levels)

Find powerful ways to celebrate readers’ attempts to go over and beyond (highlight during mid-workshop, shares, use as connections in minilessons)
Talk directly to kids about amounts they should be reading to excel as readers and help them set ambitious goals
Do lessons about using the reading log as a tool to let us know our patterns and what our leaps toward new work should be
Help kids to set goals not just about number of books they will read but how long they will read
Students who read J and above could keep logs like the ones used in upper grades with space to record author, title, level of each book, start and end pages and start and end time.

Partner Work /

Partners have plans for how they will talk
Partners use lots of different strategies to talk about and share their reading
Partners look at each other, listen to each other and nod, and use prompts to say more and build on each other’s ideas (show that they know the routines and are doing them independently)
Partners use their books in conversations and open pages to show different parts

Do lessons about how reading with a partner makes you read differently (“I’m going to mark this part because I know Amanda will think it is so funny,” “Yesterday, Kai said that Poppleton has trouble being a friend and now I’m starting to think that too. I found this part…”
Teach readers to mark parts and see if partners have the same ideas at those parts
Teach partners to ask questions as they read and look for answers together
Teach partners what makes a great question (“How or why questions will usually get a great conversation going because there is not one right answer. There are lots of things we can say and lots of parts we can show…”)
Teach partners to read with an idea in mind and look for evidence that supports or conflicts—teach them to revise ideas
Fishbowl/film conversations and let partners name what is strong about these and/or offer suggestions

Ways Post-it notes are used to support/
extend reading work (grades 1 /2) /

Post-it notes show that reader is drawing on a repertoire of strategies

Let students name what they like about mentor Post-its and what they could try in their own work—they could put labels with their names on the mentor Post-it that is their “goal Post-it”
Let students choose examples of old Post-its and new “best work” Post-its
Teach students to look across their Post-its to see patterns and growth in their thinking across a text (“At first I thought Poppleton was a bad friend but then later I was thinking that maybe he hasn’t had that many friends and isn’t sure how to…”

Green Flag situation (these readers are usually proficient and your teaching needs to ratchet up the level of their reading work and thinking so that they can outgrow what they are already doing)