Reading Without Limits Book Study, Week 2

Hi, everyone!  Thanks for stopping by to participate in this GREAT book study again today!  

I want to again point out  the schedule we are going to be following.  

                                    Feel Free to Pin This!


If you haven't purchased the book you can find it at Amazon!  Just click on the link below and you can go straight to the book to purchase it.

Just click here to purchase!

Last week, OUR FIRST QUESTION was

WHAT WILL I GAIN FROM TAKING PART IN THIS BOOK STUDY?

Personally, I hope to gain some new techniques to use and possibly refine some of my old techniques so that I can be more effective!

Remember we have this WONDERFUL BLOG that we can  explore.  You can get lost in it and best of all.....it goes with the book!  Also, here is the website for the book and the Facebook page that goes with it, too!

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

Here are some questions to think about and to respond to in the comments section later on:

Now to get started looking at 

Chapter 1--Finding Students Reading Levels

You can see that there are 4 focus points for chapter 1 <they are found on pg 25 of the book>:  Figure out the best levels for students by using running records, do group inventories to save time, match students with their correct reading level, and increase peer support.

Page 27 and 28 refers to Vygostsky, and I have to tell you that all I could remember about him before opening this book was that he was an atheist.  I had never connected him to the Zone of Proximal Development or differentiation in the classroom.  I have to admit to a tiny bit of an increase in admiration for him now!  

1.  How would you define the "Zone of Proximal Development"?

2.  Have you ever given a running record?  What is your experience with them?  

3.  What is the difference between a self-correction and a miscue?

4.  Why are tiered questions and retellings so important?

5.  Using the table on page 34, what correlations do you see?

6.  What is a QRI-5 and how can it be used as a group inventory?

7.  What is the difference in the type of texts that are used for choice reading, guided reading, and shared reading?  Where might we put Independent reading?  <CHALLENGE:  The first person that emails me a graphic of a table explaining this visually so that I can post it next week can go to my Teacher's Pay Teacher's store and choose an item that will be emailed to him or her as a thank you!>

8.  Read page 43.  Here is that Mild, Medium, and Spicy thing again!!!  <Create an example of an Anchor Chart that could be used in the classroom in graphic form or take a picture of it and email it in for us to look at next week.  The first person to email an example in will also get to choose an item from my store!>

Chapter 2--Teaching Students to Understand What They Read

You can see that there are 4 focus points for chapter 1 <they are found on pg 25 of the book>:  the importance of read alouds and think alouds, checking for understanding, avoiding pitfalls, choosing a 'just right' text for a think aloud, strategies like 'figuring it out' and paraphrasing, teaching strategies that cultivate lifelong readers.

9.  Pg. 52:  Who is James Lee and what did he figure out?

10.  What is strategic reading and why is it important?  How does it work?  What does it look like?  <Hint:  Look for a video to leave in the comment section that shows what strategic reading looks like>

11.  What does a dependent reader look like/sound like/work like?  <In the comment section tell us about a dependent reader you had and what you did to help him/her>

12.  What is paraphrasing?  How does it work?

13.  Page 57:  What is the gradual release of responsibility?  What would it look like in your classroom?

14.  What does it mean to 'check for understanding'?

15.  What are some strategies that can be used to move passive learners into becoming direct learners? <Hint:  Choose 2 strategies and describe them in the comment section....you never know if I might choose someone to win something.  =)>

16.  Just for fun--what is a rotten tomato???

17.  What is a good think aloud made of?  How do you choose a think aloud?  

18.  Highlight, tag, dog-ear, paper clip <or sumpin'> pages 68-78.  How can you go wrong with these pages???  These are the BEST PAGES EVER!!!

Resources:

An example of a Five Finger Test Poster by my friend Lyndsey Kuster...she has some of the cutest stuff!!!

Guided Reading Growth Chart

Fry Graph for Estimating Readability

Suggestions on how to set up a leveled library

Here is a button for you to use on your blog if you would like to incorporate your thoughts into a post:

Reading Without Limits Book Study--Week 1

Hi, everyone!  Thanks for stopping by to participate in this GREAT book study!  Today's post is going to start with an introduction and some housekeeping.  First, I want to let you know that I have ADDED a new title to the blog and we are now officially Charts 'N' Chit Chat.  We have a new address on the web:  http://www.chartsnchitchat.com and a new website on Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/chartsnchitchat.

Here is the schedule we are going to be following.  You will see that today that we are just getting started and we are going to become familiar with some outside resources that may assist us with the book study.  But first, here is our schedule:

                                    Feel Free to Pin This!


If you haven't purchased the book you can find it at Amazon!  Just click on the link below and you can go straight to the book to purchase it.

Just click here to purchase!

OUR FIRST QUESTION

WHAT WILL I GAIN FROM TAKING PART IN THIS BOOK STUDY?

First of all, you will gain some resources (those are call freebies in a blogger's world!!!), lots of knowledge, a large base of 'internet friends' that have the same struggles as you, and tools for your reading toolbox!!!

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

Here are some questions to think about and to respond to in the comments section later on:

1.  What are the limits your students face when learning to read.  How did these limits get placed on them?  What do you plan to do about these limits?

2.  Who is Maddie Witter and why did she write this book?

3.  Go to this WONDERFUL BLOG and explore.  Tell us about it!

4.  Did you know that there is a website for the book with resources?  Tell us about it!

5.  Did you know that there is a Facebook page just about the book?  Go like it! What is being said on the FB page?

6.  In the preface of the book, we learn the purpose of the book.  What is the purpose of the book?

7.  What do you think of the terms 'mild, medium, and spicy'?  How are they used?

8.  In the preface, we learn what we need to do to help struggling readers.  Choose one to discuss.  How do you or how do you plan to make this happen in your classroom?

9.  What is the Reading Without Limits mission and how can it apply to you, your children, or your students?  Why is it important?

10.  In the introduction we learn about the components of a strong reading program.  What are they?  Which one are you struggling with?  Do you have a plan to improve it?  Can we help you come up with a plan to improve it?

11.  Take a look at the Reading Checklist for Part I.  Can you check those items off?  Do you have plan ready that will make you and your students stronger?

12.  Why was this book chosen for this summer's book study?

Here is a button for you to use on your blog if you would like to incorporate your thoughts into a post:

Thanks for dropping by...don't forget to pick a question or 2 and discuss them in the comment section!  I can't wait until next week when we really get to delve into the book even more! Also, for next week, read Chapters 1 and 2 and look for some great freebies!!!  Also, thanks to 3AM Teacher for the use of the cool orange shell background.

Best Book Ever: Reading Without Limits

This had been the most enjoyable and useful book that I have seen in quite a while.  It takes information from all of the other reading gurus out there, mixes it with some new ideas (like mild texts, medium texts, and spicy texts for friendly-kid reading) and makes you REALLY want to read it!!!

What surprised me most was that 25% of Americans didn't read a book last year.  And we wonder why our educational system if falling behind that of other countries!  Do you have those kids in your classroom that only read when you make them?  Well, I have tried several of the techniques in this book and now I have kids who CHOOSE to read because they can read about Avatar or Ninjago (I am still not sure what those are, but the parents are buying them, so I am letting them read them and do reading responses with them!).  

The thoughts and strategies behind Maddie Witter's 'program' were used in the #1 school in Manhattan...which happened to be in Harlem.  How can you beat that?  All of the chapters are great, but sense it 'tis the season, Chapter 12 has been my lifeline for the past few weeks.  This chapter centers on standardized test prep and how to do it the right way.  I plan to go page by page and get my kidlins ready for a SCARY test.  Not so much scary for them, but scary for me because I have so much riding on these scores.  So, enough of that before I give myself a migraine over the worry....I have to have faith!  

Go ahead and enter and I will send you two brand new copies!!   You saw that there are two pictures of the book up their right?  You wouldn't want me to share mine...it is written in, highlighted, and dog-eared!  So...I figured it was SO good that you would not want to read this alone....you would want to read it and discuss it with a friend!  Boo Yah!!  Don't you love brand new books?

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