This is such a great point. While I like that in the past students were allowed a great deal of choice, in conducting the kind of poetry until that they have here, there is so much room for student choice. This is so important for actually getting students to be interested in the poetry.

I think this is also really great because for students, it is important to hear the poems in different forms. I think seldom do students get to hear selections read by people who sound like them (but more often, parents, teachers, etc.)

This is such a great way to not only motivate students to form interests in poetry, but to actually get involved with the poetry

Different modes are so important not only for differentiation, but as we see here, for all students and exposing them to all the kinds of poetry that exist.

I really like the fact that the teachers built time into the lessons for students to share what their reactions to poems--this is a crucial part of reading poetry. I think it also gives meaning to the poems for students (and seeing that meaning can be different for all students)

This is crucial

This is good practice for all subjects not just poetry, but especially poetry. In finding out what students need to know and want to know, teachers can design the lesson.

this is a really important factor.. accounting for individual student preferences is crucial

This is really important. Even when I think of reading aloud to students, I think of myself as doing most of the talking. This doesn't, and really shouldn't, be the case. Students have brilliant minds and making the story their own is so important for understanding.

This and the paragraphs that follow sort of answer my question..

This is so important, and something that I think did not exist very often when I was in elementary school. Of course, we were asked to make predictions and write alternative endings, but our expressions were not accepted as "making the story our own."

What I wonder is how teachers are supposed to address this kind of reaction. I think that it probably shouldn't be discouraged, because it is a student's response to what they are seeing, but at the same time, may upset other students and start a sort of chaos. How do we create a boundary where students can express themselves, and then deal with it when other students disagree?

This is a perspective I had not considered, but this is exactly what teachers aim for when they read aloud to students.

This is so important

Ideally...

This is crucial. I know so many of my peers, and even my brother, did not enjoy reading growing up. This was probably because it was such a high stakes task. If they had been told that it is okay to read for pleasure, to just read and enjoy a book, they may have come to appreciate and enjoy reading more.

This is a method I have not heard of before, but I think could be extremely useful.

This is also really important for students and teachers. Teachers need to know why they are doing something, but so do students. I think it is much easier to get students interested if they know why they are doing something. I also like that this occurred before the reading took place, so that students weren't surprised when they were asked to use the skill.

This is incredibly useful. This is a skill I learned in one of my past literacy classes, and is something I do when I am doing a read aloud. This is a great method for teachers.

I think pauses are so important for two reasons. First, not all students read at the same level. Some students need more time to understand than others. Pausing allows all students a "fair" chance at reading and understanding a story. Secondly, as the article states here, we cannot expect fluency from students if we are not also going to demonstrate fluency.

While I understand why this was not included as part of the essential component list, I think it is essential. This is something that I always experienced in elementary school, still see today, and would like to use in my own classroom in the future.

I will always emphasize how student choice is so important, especially in reading.

After recently visiting my own third grade teacher, she told me that she was being moved to sixth grade, but that she would not stop reading aloud to them, because she really values read alouds and sees the value in them. I think this article supports her attitudes, and also reminds me how sometimes teachers take adolescents so "seriously" but forget how useful the things we do in elementary school can be to students of all ages.

By teachers using mini lessons the students learning strategies can be much broader than doing a standardized lesson or test. Teachers can incorporate outside things to engage the students more, they can also change the level depending on their students. This will provide a comfortable working and learning space for all students.

All of these things are the actual point of literature circles.

This is really important. I think that too often, as teachers, we want to just jump in as the teacher, when it really isn't even what students need. Sometimes, students could just use a guide, or a "gatekeeper" to keep them going, not someone barging in to redirect.

This is crucial. Students need books which are relatable. How can students be expected to talk about a book that is not even relatable or interesting to them?

I think this is really important. When students are expected to do something, teachers cannot just expect that they have had previous experience with it before, no matter how simple it seems. Like in this case: giving a complement does not seem entirely difficult, but in this case, it was something that actually needed to be taught.

I had never considered this perspective before. I think this is a really good way of putting what reading, at it's core, is supposed to be.

I noted this standard with the mind set of building on concepts. Since standards are supposed to be building every year, to reach the anchor standards, I looked at the first grade standard compared to the second. In first grade, students are expected to "describe" characters. In second grade, they are expected to "demonstrate an understanding" of the characters, which are two completely different tasks. Recognizing and being cognizant of these differences between standards will be important in creating our slide deck/ mini-lessons for teaching literary elements (and ensuring that we are teaching/expecting the right things by grade level).

One of the elements of literature included on our list is "character." This standard would align well with an activity in which students have to identify characters (especially using illustrations and/or details).

I think this standard goes particularly well with one of the "literary elements" included in our list: moral. The moral of a story is the lesson the story aims to teach. This standard requires students to demonstrate that they understand the lesson, or moral, in a work of literature.

Students must realize that the person telling the story is not the same person the events happened to. The author trying their best to emulate the emotion the person was feeling during what was happening.

Great point that these stories are not to meant to make up things about someones life, but rather to say what happened in a more interesting way.

I think that this is especially more important for kids at younger ages. It will keep them more engaged and wanting to read pieces like fictionalized biographies.

This is a very good point. I would have ever thought about it this way, that the villagers just jump to the conclusion that boy was lying.

I think this is true because of how great not only the stories are, but the lessons that they teach are. The lessons themselves are timeless.

Fables are great ways of teaching life lessons to kids! The stories always result in learning a new lesson

This is a great point that shows how great reading to young children is. It expands their vocabulary and also their reading and listening comprehension.

This is very important that the books have a controlled vocabulary because it will make the book a lot easier for the kids to understand, thus letting them read it independently.

This is a very good point made, that picture books are made to interest the kids not to really measure their reading ability. Picture books will get kids interested in reading, and then from there they can move to more advanced books to measure their reading ability.

This explanation pulled on my heart strings! I have always been so fond of poetry and I could not have elaborated on the amazing personal benefits more perfects than Perfect.

This would be great for teachers and students because it will be something that they both become familiar with. As students progress through school they can challenge themselves through the tool because they will be comfortable with all of its possibilities.

I think this is a great idea. Although it may have more of an effect at an earlier age, it doesn't mean it cannot be used throughout all levels of education. In higher grades it can be used for creative writing or design classes as well as reading.

This is a goop point that you should not use this all the time. Only use this strategy if you think it will work well with your students.

I like this whole-part-whole approach because it allows for the children to get a phonics lesson with real text, rather than just random words or letters on a worksheet.

It is proven that phonics instruction will help our students with their word decoding, recognition and comprehension. I think that phonics instruction is very important at a young age and would be very beneficial to our students.

Reading for 7 to 8 minutes a day is not beneficial. This is not enough time for students to even become engaged in what they are reading, let alone learn anything. Students should be given the opportunity to read for At LEAST 30 minutes per day.

As long as students are engaged in their reading, and they are able to have meaningful discussions about what they read, than they are using their reading time wisely. There should not be such an emphasis on structured learning during reading instruction because it will make students dread it. Let them have fun. Let them be engaged. And let them learn to love reading,

This is so important. Students learn by example. If teachers are not implementing what they teach in their own lives students won't take them seriously. Reading is a way of life-long learning, and students should be able to see their teachers taking advantage of that.

I like this approach to reader's workshop because it allows students to take responsibility for their own learning. I have learned through experience that students love being given independence (don't give too much) because they feel trusted and mature. However, I think this would only work well in upper elementary and higher grades because younger students need more instruction and guidance.

I was really upset when I read this because that means that the majority of reading instruction is not actually spent reading. Students should learn to love reading, not hate it because they are forced to complete boat loads of worksheets every time they read something. Teachers should instead, allow students to do hands on projects or work in small groups to discuss books.

When Mr. Sheets is forced to be concise it can be very beneficial for the students. Since he has to be short and to the point the children are given the information right away and not given too much all at once to take in.

I like the idea of the teacher as the "recorder" for the group. This allows for the kids to all stay engaged in what everyone is talking, while you get to write down what everyone is saying so you can reflect on it later.

I like that kids are able to read books of their choice so that they are more engaged. It will help keep them more interested in reading and help with their reading skills.

I love this approach to learning because it is the way that I learn best. I do not think that it is beneficial for teachers to simply lecture students all day. Students need to learn to work with one another through problem solving and hands on activities.

Literature circles are a great way to get students engaged in their reading, but this is only beneficial if students are able to work appropriately and efficiently with one another.

It seems to me that this class is not ready to work in groups. Direct instruction would be the most beneficial for this class because it would not give them the opportunity to work with one another. This privilege needs to be taken away until the students know how to appropriately behave with one another.

This is an important lesson to learn as a teacher. The directions and guidance that we give students does not always prepare them as much as we think it will. If this is the case, teachers must redirect their lesson to teach students the skills that have not yet been mastered. This is not a failed lesson, just a modified one.

This example shows just how easily a well planned lesson can go off track because of a student's behavior. As future teachers it is important to be prepared to go into school with one plan, but be able to redirect that plan in a minutes notice to accommodate what is currently going on in the classroom.

These are two very important skills that kids should learn at a young age. I think it is great that the kids learn these things so they can better develop their writing from an early age. Complete sentences will also help them in oral language as well.

decoding skills for children are so important especially at a young age. If they can "learn to read" earlier then later on they will be "reading to learn" a lot more.

Personally I learn better from direct instructions rather than a big long lesson where some information may be lost. This is a good idea to have these mini lessons, as they are very beneficial to the kids.

This is so important for people to realize. Children are born with the ability to understand anything that is taught to them whether it is sophisticated or not because they have open minds. Educators need to keep this in mind so that they stop sheltering children from abstract concepts and ideas that will actually help them in the future.

This was very interesting to read because it puts the way we act about certain things in front of children into perspective. My mother is an educator and the entire time I was growing up she never assumed that I was heterosexual (though I am). She would always say things like "when you grow up and have a husband or a wife..." She would also never make me wear a dress if I didn't want to. If we were going somewhere formal she would let me wear pants and a nice shirt if that's what I wanted to do. After reading this it made wonder if my mom did this because she knew how quickly children learn to internalize dominant gender beliefs. I think this is important for all people to know, not just educators, because it will help children to feel more comfortable about being true to themselves.

This is something that definitely needs to be addressed in schools. Most schools require that girls wear dresses to dances and boys wear suits, or that at graduation girls wear one color gown while the boys wear another. Schools need to stop dividing students based on gender so that no student is singled out. Instead, guidelines for sports teams, dress codes, and dances should be generalized to apply to all students no matter their gender.

This is something that I feel very strongly about. I don't think society should continue to normalize heterosexual relationships. Instead, homosexual and heterosexual relationships should be treated equally. Children should not only read books with heterosexual relationships, and they should not learn only about heterosexual people that have changed the world. There should be an equal amount of same-sex relationships and homosexuals taught in the classroom so that students will realize that one is not superior to the other. It sickens me that society has looked down upon the LGBTQIA community for so long. Everyone should be loved without being judged and it is so important to teach this to children starting at a young age.

A student's education experience should be a safe and welcoming one. No child should feel like he/she cannot be themselves when they are in school because it will greatly hinder his/her learning. Giving children the opportunity to fully be themselves, and showing children that their sexuality is accepted, will allow them to focus on their learning instead of getting distracted trying to hide who they really are.

I find it horrible that some students do not receive a quality education because of their sexuality. Teachers need to be fully prepared and qualified to teach all students regardless of their race or sexual orientation.

Knowledge really is power. Students need to be educated about gender and gender differences early on in a non-accusatory or judgmental way in a way that is suitable for their age/place in life.

I think that today some people still are unaware of the distinction. As a future teacher knowing this distinction is key being a socially competent teacher.

Wow! I find this to be very interesting. I think that racism in the home definitely can leave children more sensitive to seeing differences early on.

Children are very brilliant. I think at times teachers can underestimate what their students can understand and think. It is our job as teachers to see the full abilities of both academic and emotional sects, and provide accordingly.

I think that teachers have a crucial role in future society. By not allowing these "cultural dysfunctions" in the classroom, students learn early on that bullying for any reason is not accepted or tolerated.

I really like this view. People come to a text with a suitcase full of memories and experience so a text could mean many different things to many different people. With this view the reader is an active participant in what is being learned.

This is a huge problem. If teachers are unable to know what literature to pick and how to teach it, children are going to suffer greatly. Courses in literature are crucial to expose teachers to what is available to teach and learn.

I think that this "child-centered" approach is really crucial for the children to be exposed to. It is when they can interpret a book for themselves using their own lives and experience that a book can become a real, valuable experience.

I really like this point! As a future teacher I think that students coming up with ideas is necessary for not only learning to read a text but learning to respond to a text (without someone telling you what it means right away).

This way of talking about reading instruction is very scientific. It seems that with this view there is a step by step procedure for success. I find this very interesting in comparison to looser views.

I agree with this! In order to discover meaning in a text teachers must show students how to look into a text and find what it is really meaning (especially if there is more than just what is written implied.)

Not all students are exposed to different cultures and ethnicities at home. As teachers, it is our job to educate students about diversity so that they are not misinformed about people who may look differently than they do. A great way to teach students about different cultures is through literature.

It is so important for students to feel like they have the ability to accomplish their dreams. What better way to do this than to provide books for students to read that portray characters of their own race or background that overcame struggles and successfully accomplished their own dreams. Students should not feel like they cannot be successful because of the color of their skin. Allow students to learn that the color of one's skin does not determine their success. The drive and dedication that one possesses does.

This part of the article helped me to realize just how important it is for students to have the opportunity to read books that they can relate to. One of the reading techniques that I was asked to use all throughout school was making connections to the texts that I read. In order to do this, I had to think about how my life was similar to that of the character's in a particular story. I never seemed to have a hard time doing this because I grew up as a middle class white child reading stories about other middle class white children. How are minority students supposed to make connections to stories that are not at all similar to their own lives? If we want all children to be proficient readers than it is imperative that we give them all an equal opportunity to become such. All classrooms should have libraries that contain books with diverse characters.

Reading this was very unsettling. The Common Core State Standards were created so that all children are required to learn the same material in each grade level. Therefore, one can assume that the goal of the standards is to provide the best possible education for all students. If this is the case, then why has the Common Core not updated their website to include multicultural titles? These books would help many students to connect to literature in a more personal way because the characters are similar to them, but they would also help all students to better understand different ethnicities and backgrounds. Adding these titles to the Common Core website would only be benefit students.So why is the Council of Chief State School Officers so hesitant to do so?

Unfortunately, this statistic did not surprise me. My four year old little brother is half white and half black, growing up in a biracial household. I am constantly looking for books with characters that he can relate to, but never seem to have any luck. Diversity is all around us, yet children's literature doesn't seem to portray this. I don't think that students should only read books that have characters that are similar to them, but I do believe that children should be given an opportunity to read a variety of books with characters of many different backgrounds.

I really like this point that all children need "mirror" or "window" books. I have never heard this reference before reading this article but I could not agree more with it. It is so important for students to be able to read books that reflect things that may happen in their own life or see characters who may act or look very similar to them.

An adequate story to use to convey this reading standard for Literature K-5 would be The Snitches by Dr. Seuss, for the central message is about getting along and respecting one another, despite physical differences. This should be easy for students to understand based on character emotions and major events in the story.

At this point in reading, first graders should be able to make predictions and inferences, prior to, during, ad after the reading of a text. First graders will be able to do this by using key information as well as context clues from the text, such as descriptive details, punctuations denoting voice inflections, pictures, etc.

Fourth grade students must have knowledge about what a theme is. They must be able to use this knowledge to identify the themes of multiple pieces of literature.

They must also have the skill to pull out key details of texts in order to summarize story-lines.

Fifth grade students must know the definition of third-person point of view omniscient, third-person point of view limited, first person point of view, and second person point of view.

Students must also have the skill set that allows them to understand how these different points of view effect the way a particular text is told.

A third grade students must have the skill to understand that some words have multiple meanings. They must also have the skill to use a dictionary so that they can look up the definitions of words.

These students also need the knowledge that allows them to understand that things are not always meant literally.

A second grade student must know the definition of characters, challenges, and major events.

They must have knowledge about reactions and how events play a role in how characters develop throughout a story.

They must have the skill to identify the actions of characters and what events or challenges occurred in a story.

A good lesson to go along with this standard would be to read a book and then make a cause and effect chart as a class. This can help students identify the reactions of a character and what caused them to react this way.

This would require that students have the knowledge of different points of view in a text and how to identify when the point of view changes.

A good story to help practice this skill is Me First by Helen Lester. Most of this story is told by the narrator, but there are parts of the story that switch and are told from Pinkerton's and the Sandwitch's point of view. The classroom teacher can have students identify when the story changes point of view and how they knew that this was happening.

In younger grades it is very important for teachers to pause periodically while reading a story so that students have an opportunity to ask questions that they may have or make predictions about what they think may happen and what details in the story make them think this. Teachers can help students to come up with predictions by asking them questions about things that have already happened in the story. This helps students to stay engaged in and will also help them to answer questions that the teacher asks after the story is over.

In order to do this skill students must have knowledge about what key details are. Without this knowledge, students may try to retell the story using details that are not important to the plot.

A good story to exercise this skill is Goldilocks and the Three Bears because there are three key details that lead to the bears discovering Goldilocks in their bedroom. As the story is being read, the teacher can pause after Goldilocks tries all of their oatmeal and have students predict what might happen next. The teacher can also have students talk about how they would feel if they were the bears and discovered that someone had been in their home.

After the story is over, the teacher can ask the class to describe the three things that Goldilocks did in the bears' home.

Kindergartners must be able to retell a story that has been read to them in the past that includes key details.

To help students exercise this skill, teachers can read two books from the same series. For example, "Mrs. Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten" and "Mrs. Bindergarten and the 100th Day of School." These books would be read at separate times, but after the second book is read, the teacher can ask students what Mrs. Bindergarten did in the first book, and then have them explain what she did in the second book. I believe these books would be useful for this skill because they share the same character which will help to spark the students' memories.

In order for students to master this skill they must have knowledge of different stories so that they can retell them. They also must have the knowledge of what it means to retell a story.

1st Grade students must have the knowledge of what makes a character different than a setting. Knowledge of these definitions and parts of a text is crucial to being able to describe what is going on.

Looking at a Strega Nona book that has many elaborate characters and scenes could be very helpful. Ask students who is the character on this page? What is the setting on this page?

Like in life, characters In texts have different perspectives and teaching this is crucial! 2nd grade student must be able to look at individual characters and where they are coming from. A good example to use would be the text My Mouth is A Volcano because the teachers view of the boy is different that the classes view of the boy, and the boys perceptions of what he is feeling.

Kindergarten students must be able to identify that they do not know certain words, and then know to ask for help or ways to get to know words. Having everyone in the class underline 3 words they do not know in a text and then going around and talking about them could be helpful

Teachers of 1st graders must provide appropriate instruction on how to read different pieces of literature. Exposure to different types of literature such as poetry is important. 1st graders must be able to read texts and know how to approach reading them even if they struggle. And teachers need to know how to prompt them without doing the work for the students. Having a weekly "poem in my pocket" could be helpful if teachers go over it and refer back to it/do activities with it throughout the week.

5th grade students must be able to look at books of the same genre and compare the texts within that genre to each other. It is here they can make connections between how plots of different stories have similar makings within that genre. An activity a fifth grade teacher could do would be to look at the magic tree house series (pick one of the books) and the A to Z Mysteries series (pick one of the books. Although they are different series how they develop the stories (exposition/settings/characters) are very similar. Making a T-chart with the order in which events happen could be very helpful!

3rd grade students must be able to read and understand different types of literature appropriate to 3rd graders independently. Having SSR sessions and then journaling about what was read, and then sharing could help greatly in understanding/getting better at reading.

5th grade students must be able to look at a text and what the words imply, especially in figurative language. An awesome example show students figurative language would be any of the books in the Amelia Bedelia series, because she is constantly misreading figurative language and would be a great start/talking point for looking at figurative language, plus they are all great reads!

5th grade students need to know how to look at texts as a whole and how they interconnect. An example could be looking at The Orange Tree Poem (John Shaw Neilson) and look at how it would be hard for the stanzas to make sense without all of them there.

4th grade students must be able to compare and contrast different themes in texts because it is what makes them different. Example Question: A good question in all texts would be "what do you think the author wanted to teach us". Here the themes of the texts could be talked about and contrasted by students.

5th grade students must be able to look at a text as a whole in order to fully understand the meaning of it. By looking at the smaller parts that make up a story (such as characters and what makes them different from each other/why they are included) is crucial in reading, not just staring, at literature. Making a venn diagram with two characters and seeing how they are different and how they are connected could greatly help 5th graders see how characters interact and contrast.

A 2nd grade student must be able to describe how a story is laid out.

Knowledge

I think a good example of this is Charlotte's Web

A kindergarten student must be able to know the author of a story or book.

A third grade student must describe different aspects of the characters in a story and explain their actions in the story.

Describe traits and explain character's actions.

A good story for this standard would be Being Frank because the story focuses on the character Frank and his different traits, feelings and actions through a sequence of events.