• Book Talk 

    A book talk is an opportunity for the teacher, librarian, or you as a parent to share a multitude of titles and topics. Book talks are an important component of the independent reading experience because often, students just don’t know the kinds of books that are out there so they never gain a love for reading.

    Students sometimes claim, “I don’t read.” But if there were a way to show them the variety of books that are out there, maybe they would begin to see how reading could have more relevance to their interests. That’s where book talks come in. Because students may not know what interesting books are available, a teacher/parent can enthusiastically share various titles and synopses to spark interest in reading on their own.

    Encourage Choice and Love

    Independent reading is the time for teachers to help students to love reading.  This is also an opportunity for you as a parents to bond with your child over reading as well. Talk to your child about what they are reading and why they choose it.

    Accountability

    For a self-motivating and satisfying experience of independent reading, it’s still important to build in an accountability structure. Accountability helps us to ensure students are indeed using independent reading in school and at home for the purpose it is meant for, and it also helps teachers and parents to see where students are at with their reading skills and goals.

    Here are a few ways you can build accountability into their independent reading as a parent.

    • Observe: Watch your child from a far, see if they are engaged. This is quick, informal, effective formative feedback.
    • Conferences: While your child is  reading,engage in conversation about what they’ve been reading. This helps ensure not only that they are reading, but that they understand what they read enough to articulate it to someone else.
    • Reading logs: Students will be completing a log everynight so make your child accountable by awering what was assigned for homeowkr that ngiht.  They keep track of what or how much they read by writing it down. Their reading logs also tied to individual reading goals

     

    Why Homework is important to me and my classroom

    Research has consistently shown that parental involvement in a child's learning is a key factor in that child's achievement in school. With the reality of the test driven world of education, many parents expect what they were given in school for homework, familiar daily or weekly assignments. I do agree with the rationale behind these daily assignments: 

    • Homework reinforces skills, concepts and information learned in class.
    • Homework prepares students for upcoming class topics.
    • Homework teaches students to work independently and develop self-discipline.
    • Homework encourages students to take initiative and responsibility for completing a task.
    • Homework allows parents to have an active role in their child's education and helps them to evaluate their child's progress.
    • Homework activities relate what is learned in school to children's lives outside of school and helps to connect school learning to the real world.

     

    P.S February is all about reading!!!! Log your reading minutes and remember to take part in our Rockland Read in 2/15/19.