The first ten days of school

-  People say that first impressions are the ones you remember most and this really holds true for the first 2 weeks of school!  When my kids arrive in their new classroom and meet me for the first time, I am determined to leave them with one lasting impression... this lady really loves to read, books are important in this room and we are going to read a lot this year! 

The activities that I plan for these first 10 days have two goals:
1. Get kids excited about reading
2. Emphasize that reading is thinking

I fight the urge to jump straight into skill lessons  and instead plan for big idea concepts that set the tone for the year.  If you're still interested... please read on for some of the highlights of The First 10 Days of School!

​Day 1- Big Concept is that reading is NOT just something we do in school!
OBJECTIVE:
The student will be able to:
1 Name places that people like to read.
2. Review the Reading Center set up and procedures.
 MATERIALS:
Where to Read Anchor Chart
Book Nook Chart
The Best Place to Read by Debbie Bertram and Susan Bloom
Classroom Library FAQs Poster- Free download see TPT, Hobbs' School of Thought
PROCEDURE
1.  Gather students to Reading Center. Brainstorm all of the places that students can read at home and in the world.
2. Teacher will record students' suggestions on Where to Read anchor chart. Accept all responses!
3. Read aloud – The Best Place to Read.  Add additional places that were mentioned in the book to the anchor chart.
4. Review book organization system for library classroom. See pic below. 
5. Review Book Nook Chart. Book nooks are fun seating choices that are around my room. I rotate students' numbers on clothespins each day around the book nooks. Each year, I add and delete nooks from the list. 
6. Have kids choose 2 books from our library and go to their nook.
7. I spend a little time talking about the importance of reading silently and not moving from their nook for 10 minutes. 
8. Then, I ring my Reader's Bell and the first day of real reading has begun!

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Day 2- Big concept is that readers read all kinds of text at different levels at different times.
OBJECTIVE:
The student will be able to:
1. Brainstorm things to read, i.e. books, recipes, directions, signs, etc.
2. Identify how to choose books at the correct level of difficulty.
MATERIALS:
Reading Wellness by Jan Miller Burkins & Kim Yaris
What To Read anchor chart
Weights/Types of Books anchor chart
4 texts at different  difficulty/weight levels
                                                                    Weights at varying pounds- (3, 5, 8, 10 lbs)
PROCEDURE 
1. Brainstorm with students all of the things that people can read. Write ideas on an anchor chart.
2. Conduct discussion on how students choose books and how they know that it is a good fit for them.
3. Create an anchor chart with students’ suggestions.
3. Using the Reading Wellness book, see Chapter 5, The Lifting Weights lesson.
4. Teacher will show 4 different types of print material that he/she reads at different times. Discuss the difficulty level of each one, which showing students the print, pics, etc. Refer to the anchor chart while showing texts and demonstrate lifting the different weights for each text. 
Here are the texts that I use:
Light Effort 3 lbs- Magazine, I read this for fun and pleasure. It doesn't take much effort. It is like lifting a 3 pound
                                weight.
Medium Effort 5 lbs- Paperback novel, I read this for pleasure too, but it requires a little more effort. This is like lifting a
                                    5 pound weight. Both the 3 and 5 pound books are good for my brain. They build my fluency and 
                                    comprehension. I could read these for hours at a time.
Big Effort 8 lbs- Textbook, I show a Teaching of Reading textbook from college. This takes a lot more effort- like lifting
                                    an 8 pound weight. I must read this book slowly and I might have to reread parts for clarity. 
                                    Reading this textbook will build my vocabulary and comprehension skills. 
Maximum Effort 10 lbs- A Heating and Cooling manual of my husband's, This is like lifting a 10 pound weight for me.
                                     I read this very slowly, often line by line to achieve comprehension. I cannot read this for long
                                     periods of time, but I should read rigorous text to build my reading brain. I purposely choose a 
                                     thin book to emphasize that the thickness of a book does not indicate the difficulty level.
With each demonstration, I have the kids think about the books that they would read at each level. We pass around the weights in a sitting circle. I hang this anchor chart in the reading center all year. I will often refer to it when we are about to read rigorous nonfiction. I will say- "Get ready, this is going to be a 10 lb text today!" They understand that all levels of difficulty are important for us to grow as readers. 

                   
 

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DAY 3 - The big concept today is that there are many kinds of reading genres with different distinguishable traits. 
OBJECTIVE:
The student will be able to:
1. Identify the 8 genres of PIE and the traits of each genre.
 MATERIALS:
Genre Shaker bottles (original idea from my dear friend, Myra)
Genre Detective sheets from Personalized Reading: It's a Piece of PIE by Nancy Hobbs, Kristen Sacco and Myra Oleynik
Genre labels/book bins
Variety of books
PROCEDURE 
1. Review the following 8 genres: realistic fiction, fantasy, biography, historical fiction, science fiction, nonfiction, poetry, adventure/mystery. Have students sort through and visit the different bins in our classroom library. List the traits of each genre on back whiteboard. 
2. Play Living Bookshelves:
Choose 8 students to be bookshelves. They will sit in chairs with a book bin labeled with a genre on their lap. Give all other students a book, choosing a variety of the 8 genres. Each student will choose which book bin to put his/her book in. The living bookshelf will accept or reject the book and tell why.
3. Play Genre Shaker Bottles:
Divide students into 8 groups.
​Distribute 1 genre shaker bottle to each group.
Students will take turns shaking the bottle
and then will record the information that they see 
inside each bottle onto Genre Detective sheets.
Then, they will guess the genre of that bottle.
​Pass bottles around to each group. 
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DAY 4- The BIG concept today is reading makes sense. This is also known as reading is thinking!
OBJECTIVE:
The student will be able to:
1. Use evidence from the text to support claims about what the text means.
2. Identify miscues in reading.
MATERIALS:
Alignment- Working to Make Sense of Words, a lesson from Reading Wellness by Jan Miller Burkis and Kim Yaris
Thank you Mr. Falker text by Patricia Pollaco
Real Reading and Fake Reading anchor chart
Student encrypted text sheet from Reading Wellness by Jan Miller Burkis and Kim Yaris
PROCEDURE (1B, 1D, 1E):
1. Read aloud Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco.
2. Conduct discussion on the difference between real and fake reading. Make an anchor chart that lists the characteristics of both real and fake reading.
3. Explain that readers use both the letters of a word and the context of the text to figure out what the word is.
4. Use the Does it Match anchor chart to explain this idea.
5. Distribute Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One and Animal Noise sheets to students. Both sheets are taken from Reading Wellness by Jan Miller Burkis and Kim Yaris. 
Allow students to work in pairs to break the codes. Gather class together to share answers.
6. Provide cloze sheets as extra practice for this concept.

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DAY 5 - The BIG concept today is that good readers can identify and answer different kinds of questions about a text. 
OBJECTIVE:
The student will be able to:
1. identify 4 kinds of text dependent questions:
Find it, Look Closer ,Prove it , Take it Apart
2. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring to the text as the basis for the answers.
MATERIALS:
Text Dependent Question (TDQ)  student anchor charts
TDQ posters - see Free Download at Teachers Pay Teachers for Text Dependent Question Poster Packet by Hobbs' School of
                                                                                         Thought 
Mean Jean, Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill and Laura Huliska Beith
Mean Jean, Recess Queen TDQ Question Packet by Max Learner Book Detective on Teachers Pay Teachers
PROCEDURE:
1. Identify the 4 kinds of TDQs: Find It, Look Closer, Prove It and Take it Apart
2. Use TDQ posters to teach different types:
Find it-Facts and details are found right in the text. Go back in the text to find the answer.
Look Closer-The answer is found in more than one place in the text. Reread the story and highlight the places that provide evidence for the answer.
Prove it-Search for clues and evidence to support the answer. The answer may not be written in the text. Reread the story and highlight the places that give clues to the answer. 
Take it Apart-These questions make the reader think about how the story was written and organized. Reread the part of the text that addresses the question. Then, highlight the words in the text that give you a clue how to answer it. 
3. Distribute student TDQ note sheet for students to keep in their Reading Notebooks. 
4. Teacher will read aloud – Mean Jean- Recess Queen to students.
5. Using Max Learner Book Detective packet, students will complete the TDQ sheets with a partner.
6.  Emphasize how to find and highlight answers in text, when evidence is found.
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Days 6-10 The BIG concept today is that students become better readers by choosing their own books to read and by reading everyday!
These lessons are taken from - Personalized Reading -It's a Piece of PIE by Nancy Hobbs, Kristen Sacco and Myra Oleynik. Check back soon for my next blog specifically about the PIE program!
Happy new school year, teacher friends- hope your first 10 days are great!
Nancy 

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