The Reading Roundup

I think we can all agree that it is important to build students' background knowledge to help them comprehend text. If students have some experience with a topic they will naturally be able to comprehend a text about it at a deeper level.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But... HOW do we go about doing that?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It is impossible to expose them to every topic they may potentially encounter while reading. It is also challenging because students come to us with all different levels of background knowledge based on their own experiences.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So how are you overcoming these challenges to build your students' background knowledge? I'd love to know in the comments so we can all learn from one another!

🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! 🎃
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Wishing you all a safe and enjoyable Halloween! But most importantly...lots of luck and coffee for surviving the day AFTER Halloween with a bunch of kiddos! Thankfully we have conferences tomorrow!
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What is your favorite Halloween candy?
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I go for the Milk Duds. Awful for your teeth but so delicious!!

shared this amazing teacher hack from . I love how she uses clear picture frames to display her small group expectations!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I could also see these being used at literacy centers to remind students of expectations and/or tasks to complete!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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How do you remind students about classroom expectations?

Time for a fall check-in! How are YOU doing?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My current status: 😬⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'm a bit better than I was at the beginning of the year when I felt more like: 🤯⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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New standardized assessments, a new reading program, and in the process of hiring a new principal. I admit I was definitely drowning a couple of weeks ago. I can't say I've fully hit my stride yet but am slowly improving day by day.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Drop an emoji below to tell us how you're feeling!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Visit the link in my profile to get this interactive notebook page for your students to use while reading or writing.

Unpopular Opinion Alert!! I keep seeing "The Knowledge Gap" by Natalie Wexler as one of the most highly recommended books for the Science of Reading. But honestly, I didn't love it.
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To me, it felt like she mentions a lot of what we are doing wrong in our educational system, but not enough about how to fix it. The book does spend a lot of time explaining the importance of building students' background knowledge - which I completely agree with! However, I wish it went into more specific details as to HOW we go about doing that.
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She does mention the Core Knowledge curriculum but what if your school does not follow that? As she asks in the book "who decides which topics to include and which to leave out?" And how do we go about building background knowledge in an explicit and systematic way as we do for phonics instruction?
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If you've read this book and had a different opinion, please share in the comments below. I'd love to know what I'm missing and to better understand how to go about supporting the teachers in my school with this type of thinking!
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Visit the link in my profile if you want to read this book to form your own opinion or find out more! (affiliate link)

Have you heard that it can take 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at something?!
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Think of the huge implication that has for our students. We can't briefly introduce a skill and then expect them to master it right away. They need ample opportunities for authentic practice before they can begin independently implementing the skills/strategies - so it becomes permanent.
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What's one thing that you've had enough practice with that you consider yourself an expert now? Either personally or professionally. Share in the comments, I'd love to hear!
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For me personally... it might be watching Grease! I've spent so many hours watching that movie that I can perfectly quote any line and win any trivia competition! Geeky but true!

My students' favorite early reader chapter book by far is "The Infamous Ratsos" by . So I'm excited to introduce another book in the series to them this month!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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In "The Infamous Ratsos Are Not Afraid," Ralphie and Louie set out to transform a cluttered lot into an arcade. Everyone tells them the house next door is haunted, but they're not afraid - are they? Definite a perfect book to use this time of year!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The books in this series are perfect for character analysis and identifying theme. The chapters are short and easy to read; however, it does not feel like an easy reader book. The students feel like they are reading a “real chapter book.” So that is perfect for building up their confidence!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Have you read any books in this series with your students? Which book is your favorite?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Visit the link in my profile to find out more! (affiliate link)

We all know how important it is to build students' background knowledge, but HOW are you doing this?
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In my recent blog post, I shared how I'm using videos to introduce the articles we are going to read. Since Newsela features such high-interest and trending articles, it is easy to find supplemental videos
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This increases students' interest prior to reading and provides them with the background knowledge needed to be successful with the text. Definitely a win-win!
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Please share how you're building background knowledge. I'd love to learn from you!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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And if you're interested in finding out more about how I build background knowledge for Newsela articles, click the link in my profile to view the blog post!

Can we just take a minute to admire this bookshelf by ?! But then again, all of their organization hacks are absolute perfection!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I love this spin on the rainbow bookshelf idea since it displays some of our favorite book covers! I spy a Pigeon and a Bruce!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I would love someone to come organize my shelves like this. Anyone else?! 🙋‍♀️

Making Words is one of my FAVORITE and most engaging activities with students this time of year!
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I set up multiple black lights in my room and play some spooky music to build excitement.
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Students each get highlighters, letter tiles, and a recording sheet to see how many words they can make using the letters in “Trick or Treat.”
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It's a basic activity but by simply adding some extra elements it becomes one activity they always remember!
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If you're not feeling quite as adventurous or prefer a digital option, then I have the perfect solution for you! You can get this FREE digital version of the Making Words activity!
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I'll be sending this FREEBIE to my newsletter subscribers on Sunday! Not already a subscriber? Use this link to sign up:
bit.ly/ReadingRoundupNewsletter

This book by Jan Thomas is guaranteed to make you and your students laugh out loud! Kids will have so much with this interactive book as a bossy little ladybug tells them what to do!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Have you read any of her other books? They're all perfect for young readers!
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https://amzn.to/3j9n9gV (affiliate link)

I am in love with this beautiful display that has in her classroom library! ❤️ 🌈⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The best part is seeing some of our favorite book characters displayed in frames from the Dollar Tree. Thank you for sharing this idea!