Settling Down

Well, after the BIG birthday weekend, I am finally settling down and getting into the routine at work. I have spent all the grant money. Some of the new materials have come. I am pleased with the leveled science readers. I'm going to use them with first and second graders. Most of the groups have settled into a routine. Today the second grade group read for about twenty minutes. We have been working on stamina and reading for longer periods of time. I complimented them for their progress. I think I have found a combination of materials to use with the two kindergarten groups that will accelerate their understanding and get their interest.

Too Much , Too Many

Once again I have too much to do. All testing has to be done by Friday. The first 30 days of school will be over. Schedules are still in conflict-tutoring, OD, ESL, Dyslexia, Specials. Two schools' paperwork to worry about and one sick friend who would be helping with the paperwork. I need to have a conference with teachers and explain what their ELLs Can Do but I have to go to a meeting tomorrow. That leaves Thursday to get paperwork done and meet with four grade levels. I should just cancel classes like some other folks do. But I won't. I'll just worry and lose sleep about it.

In the meantime there are too many things I would rather be doing. Like reading a new magazine from IRA and a new ebook. I am reading the second 'secret' book. It is a newish kids' series. The Name of This Book is Secret is the first book. At school the older two groups are listening to a couple of great books-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Because of Winn-Dixie.

IRA has changed Reading Today from a newspaper to a magazine. I like the change so far. Newspaper pages were hard to copy and they tore easily. Back to the kid books-I got the sequel to Lawn Boy. It seemed like it ended so I wonder what happens next to the main character.

Continuing the Daily 5

Even though I last posted some weeks ago, I wanted to continue writing about The Daily 5. I have been working with students for 2-3 weeks now. I have a large bulletin board dedicated to CAFE: Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanded Vocabulary.
I only have 45 minutes per group, so I have modified the lessons from the book. Each day I have introduced a strategy with a read aloud picture book. The groups are first grade ESL, second grade ESL, third grade ESL, and fourth/fifth grade ESL. Some days I read the same book with all four groups and some days I pick a different book according to the group's interest and grade level.
After I model the strategy with the group, they take their zip bags of five or six books and practice independently. The older groups are doing better at this than the younger groups.
The strategies have included how to choose a good fit book, three ways to read a book, check comprehension, tune in to interesting words, and back up and reread. The goal is for the students to continue reading while I have conferences with individuals and small groups.
The Daily 5 has five components as the title suggests. I don't think I am going to be able to do all 5 in the short time I have each day. One way I may use other parts is to have a writing day and a working with words day each week. I may do partner reading but haven't decided.
Anyway, this is how far I have gotten with The Daily 5 and The CAFE Book.