I have never been completely comfortable with teaching reading—which is weird, because I always enjoyed it more than math. (Ironically, I love teaching math.) At the beginning of last year, small group reading was my arch nemesis. I got the general idea and the purpose for small group time, but I don't think I ever got the timing and pacing down right. It truly is a science to take 12 minutes and chock them full of meaningful content and reading skills. I had all of last year to practice on my kindergartners and we finally found a routine that worked for us. I owe a lot of our routine to all of the small group videos available on the MCPS website. They were extremely helpful.
This year I've been thrown a curveball-- thy name is third grade.
Yes, I know third graders have small group too, and the general idea is the same—but there's far more variety in the reading material. Third graders read novels! I've already been given the advice to plan out the full novel before we begin so that I'll have a framework to work within. It's kind of scary, and my respect for my grade school teachers grows exponentially every time I think about all the planning and executing that went on in my classrooms.
Whole group reading will work a little differently as well. For several of the lessons, we will use Junior Great Books. The JGBs combine literature and shared inquiry to create a rich experience with the reading. It takes about a week to get through one story and all the follow up activities. We're starting our first JGB this Monday and I'm excited to see how it all plays out. We're reading Caporushes, a folktale based on Cinderella. Each student will have his/her own copy of the story, and we'll read it altogether. The follow ups include critical thinking pieces, BCR activities, and shared inquiry discussions.
If you are interested in using Junior Great Books in your school, you can find information here: https://www.greatbooks.org/
