tara's chapter 11 reflection

when i read this chapter which is on matching children with books for independent reading, all i could think about was seeing my first grade students read every time i was there. every morning they have a routine where when the bell rings, they get their own reading books and after all the morning duties, they start independent reading for about half an hour. the kids actually have an independent reading folder where they have about three books in their desk that they take out every morning when they do independent reading. the kids choose their own books from the level of reading they are at so my teacher doesnt choose the books for them. i thought it was bad for the teacher to choose the book for the student because it doesnt give the student the freedom to choose whatever book he/she wants? my mentor has two shelves on the side of her working desk and there are plenty of baskets with books in them labeled with different reading levels and the kids go in the morning over there and choose the books they want to take home to read with their parents and to change their independent reading books. the books the students take home comes with a reading log and the parents have to initial to say they were there with their child reading and the student has to say whether the book was hard, just right, or easy. i think thats good too, reading at home with the parents. it helps them get better at reading. my mentor teacher designed her class so the kids take ownership of themselves and learn to be independent. she doesnt have to do anything for them and i think that's great!

i liked how taberski has a section in her class with an assortment of books and a section that contains leveled books. she allows her students at the start of the year to pick two books they think they can read from the assortment of books at the table and then she sees what reading stage the students are at. i thought that was pretty interesting. i always figured to start doing running records and start determining the students' levels from the get go. i guess i could do it that way too. i dont know which way is better or if taking running records is a bad idea to start out with. the only thing is i would probably have to pick a few books and then ask the child to pick one rather than having the student pick one randomly by his/herself.