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Something like this?

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If you aspire to be a great writer...

There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer.

When asked to define "great" he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!"

He now works for Microsoft, writing error messages.

(Unknown author)

Guided Reading

First developed by Pat Cunningham and Dottie Hall, Guided Reading is one component of the shared reading block during which the teacher provides support for small, flexible groups of beginning readers. The teacher helps students learn to use reading strategies, such as context clues, letter and sound knowledge, and syntax or word structure, as they read a text or book that is unfamiliar to them.

The steps for a guided reading lesson are:

• Before reading: Set the purpose for reading, introduce vocabulary, make predictions, talk about the strategies good readers use.
• During reading: Guide students as they read, provide wait time, give prompts or clues as needed by individual students, such as "Try that again. Does that make sense? Look at how the word begins."
• After reading: Strengthen comprehension skills and provide praise for strategies used by students during the reading.

The steps of a guided reading lesson will vary according to the needs of the students in the flexible group. As teachers become more comfortable planning and leading guided reading lessons, they will also become more skilled in structuring the lesson to best meet those students'needs.

The goal: students will learn to use these strategies independently on their way to becoming fluent, skilled readers.

Guided Reading

Response to Intervention (RTI) and Reading Instruction

What happens when a  student of any age  in a regular classroom falls behind because their reading skills are not on level with their classmates and they are not part of a special education program?

• RTI is a process intended to shift educational resources toward the delivery and evaluation of instruction, and away from classification of disabilities.

What sort of intervention is available?

• RTI is not a particular method or instructional approach. The success of RTI depends on the timely delivery of research-based instruction by highly qualified instructors. Although RTI can be implemented at any grade level, it is likely that the development of language and literacy skills will be addressed most prominently in the early grades, kindergarten though third grade.

How is RTI implemented?

• First, a group is identified. There are different ways of identifying a group: last year's test scores, or some other screening method.
• Next, a teacher who has had the professional development to do so begins to work with that identified group with the use of a research-based, proven successful reading program.
• That group is monitored for achievement and growth.
• If there are students do not respond sufficiently to the "research-validated instruction" then they move to another tier of instruction that is more intensive.
• More intesive means: small group instruction that meets more often and supervised by someone with greater expertise than the regular classroom teacher.
• AT this point is is hoped that they instruction for this identified group has given them a boost, however, there may still be a small percentage of students who need yet another tier of instruction.
• The third tier of intervention, if needed, is delivered and monitored by multidisciplinary team.

RECAP:

Tier 1 - students are identified and research-validated instruction is delivered by a trained teacher.
Tier 2 - students who do not show growth from the first tier are instructed and monitored by an expert, one professionally trained in intensive delivery of intervention.
Tier 3 - students who have not responded sufficiently to tiers 1 and 2 move to a group that is led by a multidisciplinary team for more formal instruction.

Entertainment - Emily Temple - 10 Important Life Lessons From Children's Books - The Atlantic

Entertainment - Emily Temple - 10 Important Life Lessons From Children's Books - The Atlantic:

The Sweetest Fig by Chris Van Allsburg

The Sweetest Fig isn’t Van Allsburg’s most well-known work (that would have to be The Polar Express or, of course, Jumanji), but it was one of this writer’s all-time favorites as a child. Monsieur Bibot, a cold-hearted dentist who is especially mean to his dog Marcel, grudgingly accepts two figs from a strange woman as payment for extracting a tooth. ”These figs are very special,” she whispers. “They can make your dreams come true.” And make his dreams come true they do — whatever his dreams may happen to be on any given night — but Marcel has other ideas.

Life lesson: Above all else, be kind. Also, your dog is never thinking what you think he’s thinking.

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Graphic Map - ReadWriteThink

Graphic Map - ReadWriteThink:
This interactive tool helps plot significant points or events of during a day, month, year, or life and allows the user to add a ranking and images to those points or events.  This could be a useful tool for pre writing, pre reading, during or after reading too.

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