We read and discussed a special article in TFK, called "The Year in Pictures." By looking back at moments of joy, triumph, hope, and tragedy, we were able to characterize the year of 2016.
Students reflected on their thinking in two different texts - one from September and one from December. All noticed an increase in thinking! We also noticed that while students are noticing unfamiliar words when they read, they are not always taking the next step of figuring out what those words mean. So, that's what we have been working on. We've tried strategies such as: read around the words, think about the situation, and plug another word in its place; look for meaningful parts of the word; think about where/when/how you've heard the word before; and think about the word's part of speech.
In addition, we have been working on sharing meaningful thoughts about our books and/or our reading habits. These thoughts are ones that could, through further discussion, lead us all to deeper thinking and understanding about books, authors, characters, ourselves, and the world. We've been practicing listening with intent - with the intention of really understanding what is being said.
