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Re: need help figuring out big blocks
Posted by Steph/4/TX on 7/16/08
I think it's very realistic at this level to do most of your GR using
science/ss texts. That's exactly what I do. I do about 2/3 nonfiction and
about 1/3 fiction. I try to use a fiction piece every 3rd day or so, but I
still try to use fiction that relates to the science/ss topic when I can.
I can't always find what I need, so sometimes our fiction is just for GR
purposes. Plus, you know they are going to get plenty of experience
w/fiction during SSR! Especially with your limited instructional time, I
think that will be the only way to go!
As far as literature circles, they are used in big blocks, but during GR,
not SSR. There are also reading teams and book club groups which are
slight variations of lit circles, also done during GR. So, yes it would be
completely appropriate to do lit circles, but I would do them during GR.
On 7/16/08, SEL (the OP) with a few more questions wrote:
> Oh, thank you for that! That's really helpful! I hadn't really
> thought about breaking the 100-minute literacy block into 2 40-minute
> reading/writing blocks and 20-minute word block. My only concern is
> that I guess i'll probably be losing 10 minutes in the morning to
> entry (coming in, changing shoes, unpacking backpack, etc). I don't
> usually give morning work, because I want to start instruction within
> 10 minutes, but with such a tight 40-40-20 schedule, I'm not sure I
> could swing it. But 180 minutes each for writing, guided reading and
> SSR is definitely doable. I would have 2 50-min blocks and 2 40-min
> blocks of each. I'm thinking that the shorter 30-min sci/ss blocks
> in the afternoon could be revisiting what we learned during GR and
> responding in interactive student notebooks.
>
> Is it realistic to plan on teaching most guided reading using science
> and social studies text? (By text, I mean tradebooks, articles,
> textbooks...a variety of different sources of text) If I focus on
> fiction for the read-aloud component of my SSR block, and model/teach
> reading strategies for fiction at that time, will that be enough?
>
> I'm also wondering if it's appropriate to have children participate
> in literature circles during the SSR block. I'm not talking about
> lit circles with different roles and worksheets, but just groups of
> kids choosing among a variety of different books and then meeting to
> discuss them. They could either read their lit circle books during
> SSR or at home. Would this dilute the SSR block? Or would it be a
> valuable addition to it? I can see arguments either way.
Posts on this thread, including this one
- need help figuring out big blocks , 7/15/08, by fourth grade teacher.
- Re: need help figuring out big blocks , 7/16/08, by brad.
- Re: need help figuring out big blocks , 7/16/08, by Steph/4/TX.
- Re: need help figuring out big blocks , 7/16/08, by SEL (OP).
- Re: need help figuring out big blocks , 7/16/08, by Step/4/TX.
- Re: need help figuring out big blocks , 7/16/08, by SEL (the OP) with a few more questions.
- Re: need help figuring out big blocks , 7/16/08, by Steph/4/TX.
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