Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Wild About Literacy
“Wild
About Books” by Judy Sierra is the perfect book to share with students at the
beginning of the year. The rhyming text is loads of fun and students at the
Grade 4/5 level can appreciate Sierra’s clever writing style. One of her lines
reads, “She even found waterproof books for the otter, who never went swimming
without Harry Potter.” I love the overall message of the book – everyone can be
readers and writers. It also shows students that reading and writing go hand in
hand. In the book, as soon as the animals start reading, they also begin
writing their own stories.
Students use two special books in
my classroom that revolve around reading and writing. One is a BLB – a “Book
Lover’s Book”. This holds onto all of the thinking students have about all
sorts of books. Below is a guided entry we created as a class following a
discussion of real reading. There is so much thinking that occurs when we read.
This visual is the perfect reminder for students.
Students
also keep a Writer’s Notebook to collect and document all of their writing. One
of the first entries that I get students to complete independently is a
collection of thoughts around the theme – “What’s True for Me About Writing”. I
found it particularly interesting that one of my Grade Five students (who I had
in Grade 4 last year) mentioned Regie Routman as a source for his ideas for
writing!
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