Reading Enrichment

     We have been busy in the media center! Our information center is teeming with activity recently.

     Our new CIA group (CIA4) is starting a second week of reading enrichment. I am experimenting with free choice reading in groups. It's a concept used by Ariel Sacks, a Brooklyn, N.Y. 7th grade English teacher. CIA is a 30-minute, daily, school-wide enrichment/remediation period. My group was selected by their reading Lexile range and by passing the Reading EOG last year.

     My goal is to provide deeper reading experiences through daily silent, sustained reading time. With our standard large classroom sizes and multiple ability groups, classroom teachers struggle to meet the needs of everyone at once. In CIA, our group has an opportunity to get some peaceful reading time with books connected to their own reading interests. Students filled out an interest survey on the first day. I grouped them by similar interests and Lexile numbers, then paired them in small groups with books of similar subjects. The last 10 minutes of class consists of an activity and journal entry.

     On the first week, half the class did not turn in any work. Some groups could not agree on books they wanted to read. Many rejected the selections matched to their interests. Some spent their reading time off-task. It was time to regroup!

     It took an entire day, but I called each parent of those who did not turn in work. We worked together to support their child in finding reading success. The result was worth the hard work! After splitting the large group of 29 into two smaller groups, I gave them separate assignments.

     Our "Printz" group (named after the Michael L. Printz Excellence in Young Adult Literature Award) was able to shift out of groups and switch into novels of interest. Some chose to continue in their groups, others selected new materials and shifted to different groups.

     Our "Newbery" group (named after the Newbery Medal, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children) was a smaller group who chose an article of interest from a variety of non-fiction Scholastic magazines.
You can view the lesson details here.

     We continue our journey toward instilling a love of reading. Sharing reading experiences is a wonderful way to connect with text. Let's see what adventures lie ahead!