Our Language Arts Block runs from 9:00 - 11:00 daily. During this time students work on reading independently, reading in a guided reading group, participating in a teacher led mini-lesson, word work  and writing.

Guided Reading Group:
During guided reading, students read as I guide them through the story.  It is also time for me to observe whether or not students are using the reading strategies taught during shared reading and teacher read alouds.  I pause to ask questions and prompt readers to use multiple reading strategies to decode words and comprehend the text.  Great discussions arise from our guided reading sessions as students learn to make connections to the text, predict what will happen, ask questions as they read, visualize events happening in the story, make inferences, and respond to stories in their reading response journals.

Independent Reading:
Students have the opportunity to practice the reading strategy taught in the mini-lesson during independent reading.  
Writing in the Response Journal gives the students a chance to respond to literature in a more concrete way through daily questions that can be referenced for further understanding.  This is a place to document deeper understanding and allows me to identify strengths and needs.

            "We become better readers by ...
                       READING!"