Over winter break I read Differentiated Literacy Instruction in Grades 4 and 5: Strategies and Resources by Sharon Walpole, Michael C. McKenna, Zoi A. Philippakos, and John Z. Strong. I had seen it be recommended several times on various Science of Reading Facebook groups, so I knew it would be good, but I had no idea what to expect.
For whole group, I was following what Benchmark Advance told me to do. I was in a new district, in a grade I haven’t taught since 2017, and learning a whole new system. So, following the curriculum verbatim was just easiest for me. The structure isn’t terrible: introduce the skill, model the skill, students practice with a partner, and then practice independently. It’s the epitome of the I Do, We Do, You Do structure that is very beneficial for students. However, I noticed that my students were checking out because they would use the same 1-2 texts all week. Even I was getting bored, but I didn’t know how to change it up without completely deviating from the curriculum, which I didn’t want to do. I was feeling stuck.
This book gave me a structure that allows me to still use the main aspects of the curriculum, but using a format that would allow students to practice their fluency and comprehension in a different way. I wasn’t sure how my students would respond, but I knew that this would allow them to build the skills they need for higher level reading.
New Routine
Our current unit is teaching students about the Industrial Revolution, and there are some poems and nonfiction texts sharing different perspectives and inventions. I knew that I could not make my students read the same poem for multiple days – it would kill their love of reading. So, armed with my new knowledge, I started our first day back excited to try something new. I started the first reading lesson building background knowledge about what the Industrial Revolution was and how it impacted people. Then, for our second reading lesson I had them read the poem from the curriculum about a woman who works in the Lowell Mill. Students had enough background to understand what was going on and felt successful. Here’s how I ran the second lesson based on Differentiated Literacy Instruction in Grades 4 and 5: Strategies and Resources:
- Defined 2 vocabulary words that they needed to know in order for the reading to make sense.
- Introduced the poem and gave them background information to help them understand the context of the poem.
- Shared the reading strategy we would be focusing on first, which was inferring how the narrator feels.
- Read the poem together chorally.
- Discussed how the narrator was feeling and how they knew, using evidence from the text.
- Give students a second reading strategy to focus on – paying attention to rhyming words (structure of the poem).
- Students reread the same poem chorally with a partner and found rhyming words.
- Discussed the rhyming words and student answered other comprehension questions.
- Added this information to an anchor chart to store our thinking.
- Students answered a writing prompt about the text.
The choral reading not only holds them accountable for participation, but it also helps them practice their fluency.
Better Outcomes
The choral reading aspect was truly what changed my reading lessons for the better. Before, I would read the text out loud to students as they (hopefully) listened. I knew this wasn’t working though – I mean how easy is it to tune out when someone is talking at you? The choral reading not only holds them accountable for participation, but it also helps them practice their fluency. They get to read along with a fluent reader, and then they get to practice that same passage with a partner.
Even my most struggling readers have been successful using this model because they have a chance to read the words in a low cost environment first. If they mess up during the whole class choral reading, no one will notice and they get a chance to hear how the word is pronounced before having to practice with a partner. Not only that, but I was doing less talking and as the saying goes, the person who is doing the talking is the person who is doing the learning. I wanted to put more of the learning on my students, and this allows me to do just that. My students have expressed how much they enjoy this new style, and I am so excited to see them grow as readers!
The person who is doing the talking is the person who is doing the learning.
The Blissful Teacher 