Chapter+4

__**Getting Ready: Setting the Tone and the Bottom Lines**__ for reading workshop, for that matter, any content area, will reap huge benefits. Kathy described four habits. Comment on these. Share your thoughts or add other ideas for those first few weeks of school.
 * 1) 1. It goes without saying that the time you invest in the beginning of the year teaching your students the management and the procedures
 * Respond Here:**
 * These 4 main habits are for younger readers but they still apply to older children as well. I will be applying the principle about taking care of OUR library over and over again, until we all get it. I also need to do several very explicitly stated mini lessons on how to work with partners but more specifically WHAT to discuss about the books with each other. I think that I am going to give them a reader's response journal/log and what they are responding to and what is important to them about the book. I want them to share their connections, inferences made, questions, predictions, etc............. with their partners and retell or summarize the books and share reading comp work that we are doing not just have them sit and visit or just read the book with each other. i am planning my lessons on this currently this summer and again, practicing them in summer school.**
 * Stephanie Gaunt**

// Oh, how important the building of great reading habits is! There should be a "manual"on how to do this, since it can make or break a new school year. I think that this is what new teachers fail to do, not because of knowing how but of their lack of knowledge. It can't be said enough how important it is to have these procedures and rules in place from the get go. I agree with Margaret when shesays that, "a great year won't happen; it is planned." What a greatway to sum up the question at hand. A few things I do to create a structured environment are as follows: have the rules already in place. I know thatstudies show that rules should be made with the students for reasons of ownership. But I want the students to know that I have ownership and theiralong for the ride on Ms. Taylor's ship. One rule that I really believe in isthat, "It is a problem if it is a problem for someone else." That sums up all rules in one. Another thing I do to get ready is a system of consequences.Our school pretty much uses a similar type of consequence system that myco-worker and I created many years ago. So this helps with the"newbies"; the other students already know the procedures for poor choices. Another way I try to make our classroom gel together is to think of them as a community. This is done with calling them "Room 201" andthinking of them as a group. We do community building activities such as making art projects and learning more about each other. This seems to help fairly well when trying to foster a level of community within the classroom. // // Cara1212﻿ //

Students, new and past come to us with their own ideas of procedures and classroom management. They have had educators who have laws that inconsistent. They are told and not taught. They change with the wind. They also come from environments where they create procedures to survive. Teaching the through Minilessons how to live with 20 or so other people in a respectful way creates a climate of harmony. Understanding that some people like "quiet time when reading". We live in this room for nine months, we take care of all materials. Our time is precious during the day, learning how to transition quickly and quietly is so important. Management and procedures need to be taught. Then give children ample time to practice. Then give feed back. A great year won't happen it is planned. Margaret Fox //﻿﻿// Chapter 4 from Bobbi Friend #1 These four guiding principles are definitely written for the younger readers, but even our middle school children will need to be reminded of this, Because they are in a different place in their reading lives, sixth graders will be reading every day. The point I will need to make is that they must read every day in addition to their required classroom reading. The second habit, talking and thinking about books with other people will be a part of my daily reading workshop, where they will either be talking with partners or small groups. The next point, read everything in sight, should be another thing that students at this age do automatically with environmental print. They need to be encouraged to read other print, including newspapers at home, magazines, and mail that they receive. They are bombarded daily with print such as e-mail, text messages, and facebook messages as well. Finally, the point about taking care of books and protecting their reading time should also be something that they will only be reminded about.

My friend’s husband used to be a superintendent of a school north of Muskegon and he graciously offered to do a practice interview with me for a first grade position when I was fresh out of college. The one thing that sticks with me to this day was about our conversation was when he said that if he stopped into my classroom anytime within the first 6 weeks of school he would expect to see me teaching procedures and routines. Since I had not taught yet that was a shock to me, I did not realize the importance of taking so much time to teach routines. I was very naïve and had no idea! Two short months later I began the first year of my teaching career and about 3 days into it, I knew exactly what he meant! I have kept this mentality about teaching procedures and routines with me and I have to admit I very seldom have management problems in my classroom. I hope that doesn’t sound arrogant-that is not how it is intended! I am just a very firm believer that if you have taken the time to teach all of the procedures and expectation of the classroom you will reap the benefits and have a lot more teaching time! That is always my one piece of advice for any student teacher or new teacher I meet. –Jodee Tuttle That is great advice Jodee and is exactly what I preach to all new teachers. When I look back at those years that did not go so well, I can pinpoint the fact that I was too eager to get to the meat of the lessons and did not spend enough time on the procedures and did not do enough modeling. ........Linda

Teaching procedures and routines is so important and often under emphasized especially with newer teachers as Cara points out. I liked how Kathy Collins put it, “when we slow down and spend time early in the year establishing a solid foundation for our reading work, we don’t have to spend time throughout the year working on management issues.” It is really this simple. Be proactive instead of retroactive. I think the major habit that needs to be firmly established is the expectation of daily and purposeful reading. Once the students are fully committed to the idea that their role as a student is to become invested in their reading lives is when they start taking ownership and control over their reading and learning. This is hard for first graders but possible and then the fun really begins. Garth

//** Kristy Weberg﻿ **//
 * It may seem that these 4 habits would be more necessary to spend time on with younger kids, but many older kids need teaching and practice with these, especially if they have had very little exposure to books at reading by the time they are in the upper grades. Most of the students I work with really need a lot of time spent on the first 3 especially. They have had people talk with them before about taking care of books (parents or teachers) but very few of them read everyday, talk or think about what they read, or read everything they can get their hands on. I think this is because they have never been taught the importance of reading for their lives and their futures, and also have never had a love of reading modeled for them. Until more teachers and more schools are doing Reading Workshop, many kids will have read books and taken care of them properly, but will not have had that encouragement and necessity to read instilled in them. **

Like Cara, I agree that, //“It can't be said enough how important it is to have these procedures and rules in place from the get go”. // I have learned to slow down to teach and re-teach procedures. Collins explained on page 60 that she had experienced problems with management issues still into the spring during one point in her career. I can identify with that! I used to jump right in to try to get to the big work of reading often neglecting the finer details of procedures. In the beginning of my career though I remember not being entirely sure of what I should expect of them. Now that I know what I expect of my students it’s easier to be firm and re-teach these things. One of the bulleted items on page 61 is, “Strong readers read every day.” Of course this habit is crucial. I like to get my kids thinking about their favorite reading memories, places they read and others read, and things they can read even when they aren’t at school. My goal is for them to pay attention to their reading life outside of school and begin to make connections between what we do in class and they do at home. Sara Sabourin A couple of years ago I was teaching first grade and knew most of the children that had attended Kindergarten at our school. I knew from the previous year when they were in Kindergarten that they were known as "the class" especially when it came to discipline issues. It seemed liked things that had happened the year in Kindergarten were things that I could have written a book on because it hadn't happened before in many years of teaching. Knowing this background information I also knew how much the Kindergarten teacher had worked on procedures and rules ALL year long. She was very consistant in her teaching ways. Taking this information, I knew even more so that I needed to set the tone in my classroom from day one. Children need those management skills for all parts of their day, including all subject areas. I know that as a teacher, the children usually thrive on routines and these need to be established on day one. Jill As others have stated, spending the time to teach procedures and making sure students understand and use the procedures is time well spent. Once procedures are understand and second nature to the students, more quality time can be spent on teaching and learning. We have a school-wide set of procedures that everyone teaches and uses consistently which has helped all students be successful no matter where they are. The other habit that I am looking forward to using with my students is the partner work and talking about books. Too many times when students are asked to talk about their book the standard response is “I liked it.” I am looking forward to taking my students to a deeper understanding of books and being able to share their thoughts and feelings about the books that they are reading.

Sue Ronning

It was fantastic to hear from Jodee that a superintendent gave her that invaluable advice. I am sure there are many administrators who would question "spending time on procedures and management in the beginning is, in fact, good teaching and a good time investment." (p.65) Especially with MEAPs happening so early in the school year, principals want us doing practice test on day one. Setting up procedures and management is not only beneficial for the teacher, but also for the students. Particularly, the students who struggle and need the structure and reassurance that this is how it happens 99% of the time - realizing there is may be an unforeseen exception. (I have learned to have a lesson about unforeseen happenings.) I, also, have learned that I must show the students what the behavior looks like. As we all know each student have their opinion what taking care of books means. Fran Olesen

I teach with Sue and totally agree on how nice it is to have a school wide set of procedures that are taught and reinforced at all grade levels. We even have a set of posters for each classroom so it is consistent from year to year. It's wonderful getting students each year who already know what to do and what is expected of them. I am a former emotionally impaired classroom teacher. Believe me, I definitely understand the importance of procedures and being consistent with them. When I begin RW, I need to make sure the students understand procedures. I need to model them, maybe have the students role play some having the class point out what they did that was right and what needs to change. I need to remember that because I went over it once does not mean i will never have to revisit the procedures again. TGaribay

Schwartz modeled her very first minilesson of the year. She emulated exactly this! Get out your best exhilarating voice and prepare to wow them into the world of reading. Try to hook them from day one! How do you hook your students on day one? Share your tips.
 * Chapter Four: Readers Build Good Habits**
 * 1) 1. As we begin the first unit of study, Kathy explains the contagious enthusiasm principle. Two summers ago at Teachers College, Shanna
 * Respond Here:**
 * I try to hook then on that first day by being myself :), sharing what I have done this summer with classes, reading the books that I have read, summer school and of course talking about how reading is my favorite thing to do. We will take a look during the first whole day of school at our year long reading agenda and I will map out the units and themes for them and try to make it as engaging as possible. I haven't gotten that far yet, of course. My trick to hook them is to be my true fun loving self and express this to the children!! I try to be real! Stephanie Gaunt**

// I think the way to hook the students best is to dive right in with reading and making it as important as possible. Due to the assessment our school uses, I'll be able to see the students’ level (Fountas and Pinell) and be able to place them in the correct level book fairly quickly.I will have maybe two to three books in their level already in a book box alongwith some other books, for them when they arrive. Our first day, even though itis half a day, will have some time for silent reading. This will demonstrate tothe students my sense of urgency when it comes to reading. I will also do aninteractive read aloud, which will hopefully capture their interest by my demonstratingmy own love of reading. Their homework assignment will to read some of theirbook or to fill out a reading survey which will let me know how they are as areader. I will also take them on a tour of the classroom, which I will point o9ut the print rich environment we have along with the empty spaces for thier work. The Classroom Library will be the highlight of the tour as I show them all the wonderful books we have to read. I will also have thier reading workshop materials ready; we can begin to plan on creating thier writer's/reader's notebooks, which is always fun for the students to do. Overall, I think it will be important for the students to notice my love for reading which will hopefully "hook" them, line and sinker! // // Cara1212 // //﻿﻿//
 * The word is out, "Do you know who was at my house this summer?" My teacher came and talk to and with me about reading and how much fun it can be. Can you think of a better "hook". As I go around my school community I will be the ambassador of what my game plan will be in September. My SmartCart is my alter ego. It will be setup as my presentation to the "World of Great Readers" that have arrived. I use the idea of the morning meetings, but I now have the structure needed to draw them into a year that will have them excited because their teacher is excited about reading. The presentation will be their tour of what we will be experiencing this year. The tour will have stops along the way where we will savor expectations, book care, reading partners, habits of good readers, home books, and much more. I do enjoy music, I'm sure the song "Reach" will be the song for the first unit.**
 * Margaret Fox**

Chapter 4 from Bobbi Friend #2 I have been seeing my students this summer in various places (at the beach, the grocery store, the base ball park, etc.) and every time I see them I ask them what they have been reading this summer and I tell them about all the great books I have been enjoying. I think that with older students, I have to be careful to model an authentic love of reading and let them know that reading if enjoyable and something to look forward to. I know that I will have some students who hate reading, some who read all the time, and some who are apathetic. My goal on the first day of school with the setup of the reading workshop room is that they will be pulled into the atmosphere of joy and how powerful reading can be in their lives. I will do some interactive read aloud to get started (probably using my favorite book Hatchet), and then we are going to get right in to our first mini-lesson which will be teaching procedures for reader’s workshop. I will let them get into independent reading the first day as well, mostly so they can see the huge library and get excited. I am going to ask them all to bring in their favorite book the next day and we will focus on some favorite books for a couple of weeks as mini-lessons.

I started a strategy last year with my second graders that I am going to try again this year with my first and second graders. I asked their previous teacher for an end of the year reading level. At our open house, which happens before school starts, I have students selects 3-8 books from the range surrounding their level. I am aware that not all of the texts they choose will be at their just right level, but most are close. It also gives parents a chance to help choose books with their child and a glimpse at their child’s reading level. A couple of my parents were a bit taken back last year. I don’t think they realized what level of books their children should be reading and where they should have been at the beginning of second grade. I am excited to have the majority of my non-fiction books leveled this year as well so students can choose from there and I can begin to see what topics interest them. When they arrive on the first day, they have books in their book box that they look forward to reading. Stephanie Cooper

I love to find out about my students as readers as soon as possible so I too have my students bring in a favorite book for many beginning of the year activities. I love how Kathy shared her struggles to connect all of the students’ books to good reader habits because as she stated—some of their favorites are not what I would qualify as high quality literature. Her great, quick thinking will help me to better make this connection with my class and their books. I always start the year off by bringing in some of my favorite reading from over the summer. I bring in magazines, a newspaper, a couple kids books I have read with my kids, a map or pamphlet from a vacation, and a few books I have read. I use them throughout the year for different mini lessons but at this first meeting I like to show them the variety of reading I do. I try to show my excitement about what I read and often hug the book up to myself as I remember out loud how much I loved reading it. I also try to read aloud a huge variety of books from the first day and throughout the year. I try to hit many different genres and topics to try to hook them all in. I have had to broaden my interests in children’s literature realizing that my favorite may not be a whole class favorite. --Jodee Tuttle

Thank you for all the great responses to this question. I can’t wait to try so many of these tips. Without question Margaret has the most impactful approach. Visiting her students with books and reading with them at their homes has to “Wow” them every time. I hope Margaret sees her efforts pay-off and her students continue to build on the strong foundation she is establishing in the most authentic way. I try to create a contagious enthusiasm for reading on the very first day of school and then continue that every day thereafter.Being consistent with how enthusiastic I am about student reading is very important. I try to show enthusiasm by sharing my reading life, getting to know each student’s reading joys, and having lots of time to share about our reading. Sharing is a great way to model deeper thinking about our reading but it also models true enthusiasm. Garth


 * I start with a read aloud that I love, so that the love for reading that book that I have will come across naturally to the kids. I wont have to try to act like I love the book because I really do. Because I teach older students, I also start early with reading aloud a chapter book that I know will get the kids hooked. So far, Hatchet by Gary Paulson and Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson get the kids so interested in just the first few pages. Once we get started, they are begging me to read the book as often as possible. But then I also talk with the kids a lot at the start of the year about how much we will read this year and why its so important. I talk about how they will need it for their lives and their futures. And I tell them that the same way we are hooked into our read aloud book, they will also love and get hooked into the books they read on their own. There are some little tricks you can do at the start of the year, but I really think its mostly the modeling, example, and practice that kids see and do repeatedly throughout the year that really makes it a habit for them. **
 * Kristy Weberg **

I bring out my djembe (an African drum) and ceremoniously gather students on the carpet with a steady beat and hardly a word. The kids instinctually begin to copy me and drum the rhythm on their criss-crossed legs or the carpet in front of them. I change the tempo so it is faster and more frenzied. The kids excitedly follow along. Before chaos erupts, I dramatically slow the beat and end the drumming by quietly tapping my fingers on the head of the drum creating a hush in the community. I continue the ceremony with explaining how reading is like drumming. “First grade is one of the best grades ever! We are surrounded by books and will learn so much about reading. Drumming and reading are alike in some ways. They can make us so excited that we want to get up and dance and cheer. Other times it makes us very calm and relaxed. Like this drum circle, I will often lead the reading and drumming, but many other times I will invite you children to lead and the rest of us will follow and learn.” I go on to explain that readers will learn at different speeds, some faster, some slower than others, and no matter how quickly someone learns how to read our job is to encourage each other. “To make first grade one of the best years ever, we all have important jobs to do. Let’s talk about some of them now…” Sara Sabourin

Wow, Sara, I love the idea of the drum circle! Having been both been a participant and spectator at numerous drum circles, I know how leering they are. I would love to observe your lesson. My typical first day back is also sharing the books I had read read over the summer including my romance novels, along with the professional books and other reads. I finish with a humorous picture book that I either found that summer or one of my favorites - [|The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit]. My collection typically leads into a lively discussion about books. I ask the students to bring in their favorite book or book that has a memory attached the next day. Fran Olesen

The 4 good habits—every contributor sang there praise, but what I like about it was the acknowledgment. The acknowledgement that this time in the beginning of the year is so precious. It can not be retaught later and quality teaching time will be lost. The first 6 weeks make or break the learning environment for the classroom. It was nice to receive permission to slow down to get the procedures down. Thins allow time later real chunks of time to teach content with student that are willing and open. KDN

Last year when I taught the just right lesson from RW, I had my students. I think because they enjoyed it so much, I am going to use the same lesson this year to start. I used different sized t-shirts to demonstrate how reading can be too big, too small, and just right for each person. I also had 3 books out that I had set up ahead of time for students to read for me. They loved reading my personal book that was too big for them. I also took pictures of them wearing the big t-shirt, their own which was just right, or holding up a tiny t-shirt inf ront of them. It was a winner! I am going to start the year off with this lesson. TGaribay

will be particularly useful.
 * 1) 2. The bends in the road are the paths we take to reaching our goals. The minilessons support our path. Comment on what bends you feel
 * Respond Here: I have to agree entirely with Cara. I will put much more emphasis on the classroom library until things get up and running and get into a groove. I have had so much trouble with this in the past and I know that I have to take care to help my kids learn to take care and be responsible with the classroom library. I think that all bends in the road are learning opportunities, but I am going to take a lesson from past years and make this a learning opportunity for myself and my kids. It has caused me much angst when the library and books are all a mess. Kids don't put them back where they are suppose to and put them away carelessly and leave them in their caddies, where they get ripped, etc.............. I have gotten so discouraged over this situation.Every year I say that I am going to be better about this, but then I fail to follow through and other priorities get in the way. I am tired and mad at my self for not following through with this ever important goal and I vow to do this the RIGHT WAY this year. This is a huge bend for me and a lesson that I don't want to have to keep repeating!! Stephanie Gaunt**

//**﻿** Even though all the bends are helpful and necessary, I will probably put more emphasis on readers taking care of books and the classroom library and understanding reading workshop procedures. Understanding the procedures of the workshop is crucial to havingan effective classroom flow during this time of the school day. Since we willhave both a reading workshop and writing workshop, the students need to be amaculated to both right away. The two workshops have basically the same procedure, so it will be easier to teach the students. Also, as earlier mentioned, one of my pet peeves is for the library not being kept up and being misused by the students. This will take a while due to my library not being set up as I would like. I have a lot of the books leveled with letters, However, now I need to group them by fiction and non-fiction. This will take a long time to do; the students will have to help. It will be a long process, but managable. If the kids take part in the creation of the library, they may take more careful use of it in the future. // // Cara1212 //


 * All the Bends in the Road are useful. The ones that will be most useful are, Reading Identities and workshop procedures. Reading Identities is helpful because I will be able to create an environment that is child centered. As a teacher, I know the curriculum but what do I know about my new charges. They will be my guides as I fill in my planning chart. They will help me help the be the "World's Greatests" readers. My assemments will be authenic. The Workshop Procedures will be their foundation. As I put together this workshop my Minilessons will build their home of how and why they will be successful readers. These procedures will work across the curriculum.**
 * Margaret Fox﻿**

//** Kristy Weberg **// I think in first grade at the beginning of the year it is especially hard for the children to stay focused on their reading. So many times the children are not reading the words in their books and how do you teach them to be strong independent readers. The ideas for mini-lessons were helpful to help the children really read the pictures and notice the details and talk about these details with a partner. Also, many times the children seem not interested in looking at books that they have already "read." To help them realize that strong readers notice details or new things when they reread their books is important. Usually the kids take about 30 seconds to "read" their book and they are one to the next. Using the mini-lessons to help the children revisit familiar texts is a great tool to use.Jill Baker
 * I think the Bends in the road I will focus on the most in this Launching unit are the two listed below: **
 * 1. Readers have reading identities and share them to build community **
 * 2. Readers think and talk about books with others **
 * This past year, at the start, most of my students did not know they had an identity as readers. They read when they were told to, and some enjoyed books some of the time, but they didnt view themselves as readers. But over time as they could see how much I loved reading, how much value I placed on it, how much time we put into it each day, and then last how much they could love it with the right books, they began to develop their reading identities. I think a lot of kids who haven't had a lot of exposure to books and reading in the past, and maybe haven't had many people talking to them about the importance of it, have just missed the message for many years of their lives. But when they start to get the message, most really want to be readers. **
 * Once we had established that we were all readers, another thing I noticed is that yes, the kids were reading, but weren't necessarily doing a lot of thinking or talking about their books. They enjoyed them for themselves, but could have been getting much more deep thinking out of understanding what they read. Conferring and reading partners can really help with this one and I really want to put more emphasis this coming year on the the kinds of thinking and talking my kids are doing about what they read. **

Page 67 has a great handout I can give teachers. It is a great summary of the shole picture. Next for teachers who want to drive in I suggest: I can’t say enough about the reading Workshop—workshop that was put on at the MAISD. It was geared to ones grade level. It was taught by people who are teaching. It had a notebook that was so helpful. It gave you time to talk to other teachers at your level currently working their way through the same issues. Very supportive and helpful! KDN

bend. As you look over the chart and read through the minilessons, what bends do you see as very useful and why?
 * 1) 3. The planning chart on page 67 is a great resource as you begin to plan for this first unit. The chapter illustrates the minilessons for each
 * Respond Here: I loved the mini lesson on Reading Identities and the procedures as Margaret did. All bends are useful, but I especially think that it is so important to plug into the kids and see what kind of reader they are and help them plug into themselves really. I loved that mini lesson and plan to emulate that one right from the book on the first full day of school. The procedures are also very helpful as I always need assistance with staying on track with my management. I also agree with Margaret that kids do not get enough time to be part of the process and talk things out. I want to give my kids more opportunities to work and talk to others about themselves and their reading. Stephanie gaunt**

// If I had to choose the most important section of the book, I would definitely pick Chapter 4 and page 67! If one has the basic know-how of Reading & Writing Workshop, this page can be used as a map to use throughout the entire school year. The most important bends and mini-lessons for my current educational setting would be: classroom library, workshop structure, home/school and celebrations. I elaborated on the classroom library in previous questions...Our school has adifficult time getting the physical support of families; that's why I chosehome/school and celebrations. I've read studies (Ruby Payne) that state thatthe urban public that we serve tend to participate more if there is some type of presentation or entertainment factor. Therefore, if we can connect a presentation for our reading workshop celebration, families may tend to participate more. If our celebrations were a performance or display of the students’hard work, we may see more parents and extended families in the school. Thebook suggests that we send letters home describing our book system; this willbe important to have the parents feel as partners with the teacher and school.This may be one of the reasons the parents tend to shy away from being partners; they might be afraid of being asked to do something instead of just watching or enjoying a presentation. This is a huge topic that can't beanswered in a few sentences...It could be a PhD Dissertation research topic! However, we can do our best to remedy the situation at hand; we need more parent participation and should do whatever is needed to do so. // // Cara1212﻿ // //﻿//
 * The Reading Identities and Workshop Procedures will be very useful. Each will be incorporated into the other bends. The Reading Identities will help with assessing and creating a community of learners. Colaboration is important. Children have a voice and it gives them the right to be part of the learning process. We don't give children the opportunity to share what is important to them. I really the idea of "talk to your partner". They also will hear from others and the teacher what was discussed. Also I get some insight into the homelife. Workshop procedures help children feel safe and secure. Expectations that a taught, then practiced on a daily basis in a kind, and interesting mode create a foundation to develop independent learners for a lifetime.**
 * Margaret Fox ﻿**

These charts are indeed helpful. What a great way to see the unit at a glance. I feel that I can a nice handle on ensuring readers take care of books and the library as well as understand reading workshop procedures. I am going to focus my attention this year to making sure all readers stay focused on their books and that they think and talk about books with others. I worry that my first grade students will quickly lose interest in their books since they will be very short and they may or may not be able to read the words. I plan to use several of the mini lessons described in the book to achieve this goal, especially that strong readers read the pictures. As for partner work, I believe I do a nice job with getting them to work well together, but need to ensure that they have this partner time daily. It was not something described in the books I used last year to support my workshop model. I did have ability based partners share their responses to their daily reading task, but we typically only had 5 minutes to share and that was the first thing to go if we were low on time. Stephanie Cooper

While all the bends in the road are important, I am looking forward to working with my students on identifying their identity as reader. My students don’t see themselves as readers; because they struggle, they see reading as a chore and something to dread. As they are given more opportunities to read just-right books and learn how to talk about books with friends, my students can see themselves as successful readers. The reading at home bend is also one I am looking forward to. Being able to see reading as something you can do anywhere and to share things we are learning at school with the family at home will strengthen my students identity as a reader. The planning guide on page 67 is a nice tool to use as I plan out my lessons and make sure I am moving along the path to helping my students become better readers. Sue Ronning

Nanci Atwell and Lucy Calkins have been my heros for years, but I have got to tell you Kathy Collins brought the lessons home to me. Her language,teaching points, connections, and active engagement feel more like me. I also like the fact that she realizes that just like students, teachers need choices. She acknowledges so often throughout the book. (This is the way I do but I have seen teachers do it this way, too. which works just as well...) I am so appreciative for this book. I, too, admire how she can take a negative and find a way to make it a positive. She is so quick on her feet. That is something I am continually working on - give a name to the strategy, skill, activity I student is displaying. As for bends - I too find them all constructive. The one that I haven't really done, and think would be beneficial is the procedure of traffic pattern. I never thought of teaching "how to move with intention." I think of all the time wasted, with the kids and I getting impatient waiting for that one student who needed to stop by and see what is in the trash. Have I showed him the route I would like him to take as he is thinking about what I am about to do. I must remember the quote on p89 "our job is to observe them to see what they can already do and then explicitly teach them the other things they need to do to grow into strong and independent readers." We must know our kids - strengths and weaknesses - then build up their weaknesses using their strengths.

Fran Olesen