Teaching any reading lessons at Stewart Home & School during the summer is no easy task!
Trying to keep everyone on the same page (no pun intended) with all of our summer trips and family vacations is a challenge.
However, I think I have found a way to keep everyone going with lessons and units this summer! I have found a book that teaches the elements of reading in a way that allows everyone to work at their own pace. The lessons focus on Identifying the Sequence, Identifying Details, Understanding the Main Idea, Using the Context, Drawing Conclusions, and Making Inferences, in a way that allows my students some independence, and feeling of importance.
These reading lessons consist of 5 lessons each, and the 6th is the “test”. Each student grades their own papers, and I grade the test. This allows for some independence, and feeling of importance. Each reading lesson also has a vocabulary lesson that the students learn and copy, and then place into their reading folders.
For example, identifying sequences allows the student to concentrate on what happens first, second, third, and so on within a story. The lesson teaches the student to look for key words such as, next, then, before, and after so they may identify the order in which things happen. They read passages and then answer 10 multiple choice questions to test their abilities to use the identifying sequences.
Identifying Details teaches the students that there are parts of the story that are more important than others. Reading carefully, and rereading to make sure you have found the important details is part of the lesson in identifying details.
Each unit, such as Identifying the Sequence, Identifying Details, Understanding the Main Idea, Using the Context, Drawing Conclusions, and Making Inferences, explains what our students are looking for and concentrating on during that particular lesson. Although we are working on a 4-6 grade level, this allows students to refresh their skills and maintain what they know for the summer, and to prepare them for the fall semester!
There will be 28 Lessons completed this summer when we are done, with 6 tests. These lessons will help me determine how they are doing, and what we need to work on this Fall when we rev up the new semester.
These lessons allow the students to work at a pace that is easier for them, and if they go on a trip or vacation they do not fall behind. They can make up the work on their own, and there is less pressure!
I have seen great enthusiasm from the students about this project, and it has worked out wonderfully. One of our students, Thomas, has blossomed, and did not miss any questions on his last test! I see a lot of pride coming from our students, and that makes me happy!
By Margaret Christmas, Stewart Home & School Reading Teacher