We got 99 followers, are you one? (belated Daily5)

We got 99 followers, are you one? (a JayZ reference, or a Hugo reference, if you are into alternative music.)
We will be posting the freebie any day now!

We hope you had a chance to check out the PowerPoint summary of chapter 3.  

We have been reading along with

We have gotten a little behind, so we are planning to get caught up

Chapter 4: The Daily Five in Action

In this chapter, the Daily Five structure takes life through the component of Read to Self.  As the Sisters stated, "Having children read to themselves is the first step in Daily Five and is the foundation for creating independent readers and writers."

Antoinette here-  According to my Kindle we are officially halfway through this book.  I have really enjoyed all of the knowledge I have gained from my reading so far.  I am still attempting to condense my ramblings, so here's my best shot:

The chapter begins with more focus towards the gradual release of responsibility and the importance of repetition.  I completely agree with this model and attempt to practice it in my teaching.  When introducing a reading strategy, I begin by modeling my expectations for the students.  I show them how to do it verbally as well as possible ways to record these learnings in their journals.  One of my closing lines before I send the students off to practice independently is, "Today and throughout the year...".  By saying throughout the year, I am letting the students know this behavior will happen consistently.   I love the quote where the Sisters said, "We have found that this repetition is the key to success in helping students develop good literacy habits and independence."

I like that in the launching of Read to Self, the students are not only learning good reading behaviors but the ways to read a book.  I also like that when they are teaching the ways to read a book, they are also modeling the metacognitive process of thinking aloud about their reading and comprehension prior to even teaching it.  So often we think we can't talk about something until it's officially taught.  Why not expose them to it from the beginning?  Another part I really liked is that all of the charts include not just what the students will be doing, but what the teacher is doing as well.  I think this is great because like the Sisters said, "It lets the students know that both parties have jobs to do during this time.

So the part that I really like and am planning to encourage the teachers I am working with to do is the check-in piece where the students reflect on their own behaviors.  I also liked how they share successes as well as things that might have to change to do better in the next session.

So I think I'm on the path to being less long-winded.  This reflection seems shorter, or maybe it's wishful thinking. lol  I'm going to pass things on to Emily now.

Emily here!
I love Read to Self. 
My class this past year was AMAZING at Read to Self. 
I think the I charts are an essential piece to continuing the process through the school year. 
It is important that they know their job and mine, during that time.
I practice a little differently than the Sisters.
With older kids I say we will practice up to 5 minutes.
I use a timer to track our progress.  I know on the initial practices sometimes my students can't do 3 minutes.  Since the Sisters teach younger kids they just tell their students it was 3 minutes.  That doesn't work with older kids.  I think it's ok to inform them that we only made it 2 minutes.  I think it leads to better reflection.  Then I have the example/ non example demonstrations. 
My final thought is this quote from pg 57:
As Cris Tovani notes," Whenever an activity fails, it is because I haven't done enough modeling.  Modeling gives students words and ecamples to frame their thinking."

We hope you found our reflections beneficial.  We would love to hear from you all.  What are your thoughts on Read to Self?  Do you use this in your classroom?  If so, what does Read to Self look like in your classroom and what are some helpful tips you have for other readers?  Last, What does your room look like during Read to Self?  Do you let them choose where they want to sit?

Did we mention we are 1 follower away from a freebie?

Antoinette and EmilyK