One challenge of the Fountas and Pinell "Readers Notebooks" approach I use as part of my Grade 3 Literacy Block each day is that if I don't keep on top of responding to my students' letters about their reading, I often end up with a stack of 15-20 notebooks to "mark". (Although I do consider the strategies used and insights made by students in their letters about their reading, in generally, this "marking" more typically involves basically reading the student's letter in each notebook, and responding to it in a meaningful way, since a timely letter back from the teacher or other adult is one way of ensuring that students stay motivated to write about their reading on a regular basis!)
Periodically, when I am feeling overwhelmed and am lucky enough to have a spouse, student teacher or other willing adult victim around, I enlist their help in reading and responding to the notebooks. I figure, it's always fun for the students to get a letter from someone other than their boring old teacher, and it also allows adults who might not necessarily have a chance to interact with children's writing in a meaningful way to do so.
This evening we had several people over for dinner, and then Tats and I were hoping to play hockey at the local rink.
Ahhhh... but the imposing stack of Reader's Notebooks that had been accumulating on my desk while I planned out my Point of View unit over the past several days at school was beckoning in a menacing voice.
So, I enlisted the help of all several of our dinner guests to each read and respond to a notebook or two, and then we went to play hockey!
Tomorrow morning, my students will get letters from a flight instructor, an e-bay specialist, a retired violinist from the TSO, a visiting Maritimer and a special ed teacher from another school.
A few of them will also get a letter from their boring, old teacher. Ha!
Periodically, when I am feeling overwhelmed and am lucky enough to have a spouse, student teacher or other willing adult victim around, I enlist their help in reading and responding to the notebooks. I figure, it's always fun for the students to get a letter from someone other than their boring old teacher, and it also allows adults who might not necessarily have a chance to interact with children's writing in a meaningful way to do so.
This evening we had several people over for dinner, and then Tats and I were hoping to play hockey at the local rink.
Ahhhh... but the imposing stack of Reader's Notebooks that had been accumulating on my desk while I planned out my Point of View unit over the past several days at school was beckoning in a menacing voice.
So, I enlisted the help of all several of our dinner guests to each read and respond to a notebook or two, and then we went to play hockey!
Tomorrow morning, my students will get letters from a flight instructor, an e-bay specialist, a retired violinist from the TSO, a visiting Maritimer and a special ed teacher from another school.
A few of them will also get a letter from their boring, old teacher. Ha!
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