Today I worked with another reading group, but it was a little different. The kids are grouped according to their reading fluency and the lowest group contains mostly lower proficiency English speakers who receive pullout ESL services during the reading time. There was only one boy left in the group for me to work with. His nickname is going to be Rockstar. I have really taken a liking to Rockstar-with his bright blonde spiky hair and skinny jeans (yes...in third grade). He is one of those boys that is always playing with something, whether it is an eraser, a ruler, a pencil, a piece of paper, or a piece of dirt on his desk, he is easily distracted by "stuff." I have been working a lot to help him stay focused as his difficulties with attention co-mingle with his difficulties in reading. His reading fluency resembles that of a younger student who exerts so much effort to sound out/figure out the words that comprehension suffers as a result.
I was excited to get the chance to work with him 1:1. I basically did the same lesson I did yesterday in the other classroom preparing him to read with some pre-reading activities. Given his skill set, and his love of drawing, I decided to take the vocabulary preparation in a different direction. As soon as I told him he would have the chance to draw, he was much more eager to join me at the back table. I asked him if he knew the different between sketching and drawing and he really got the idea that sketching was supposed to be quick rather than detailed and time consuming. For each of the vocabulary words, we discussed the meaning and I asked Rockstar to use the words in sentences. Once he was confident that he understood the meaning, he got to do a quick sketch in his reading journal to remind him what the word means. He did an awesome job! His sketches were creative and he did a good job creating a quick picture rather than getting caught up in his love for drawing. He labeled each picture with the vocabulary word.
We then did a picture walk and made some predictions about the story. Rockstar was really observant of what was happening in the pictures and made some great predictions. He struggles a lot with spelling and writing, so I helped him by starting sentences and letting him fill in the rest and then repeating the sentence several times so he could write down his predictions as his teacher asked.
Later in the day, I helped him again with fact families. I showed him how to write the 3 numbers in a triangle with the biggest number at the top and then how it is easier to write the 4 number sentences from there. He caught on in a snap and did SO well. The best part was when the lunch bell rang and Rockstar said, "Aw, I want to do more!"
Once again, don't you love it???
P.S. We start German lessons tonight and I still haven't heard anything else about the job...
