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.

I have never really thought of including this in a read aloud, but I think it could be very important and useful.

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.

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?

This is so true. I have direct experience with this. Because I liked reading as a child, I did it often, and still do it. Because my brother did not like it, he did not do it often, and to this day does not do it unless he is required to.

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 will always think this is one of the most important parts of a lesson. If students don't know why they are doing something, what the point of it is, why would they ever be interested in it? Purpose needs to be explicit.

This is a crucial point. I think that too often, we get caught up in conversation as always being a bad thing. Conversation needs to happen, starting when students are young, or by the time they are asked to have conversation, it will not be an easy task.

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.

This is another good way, too, to ensure that students are not constantly grouped only with students who read at the same level/ability as them.

This is something that I need to keep in mind when I am designing mini-lessons. I find myself getting into really elaborate ideas, which are not bad, but in practice, might be confusing to a child.

I like that students are able to make choices using this model. I think this is a great way to make students feel responsible for what they are doing, and get them interested in the task.

This is really interesting to me. It also kind of worries me. As a child, I would have been able to accomplish quite a bit of reading in 10 minutes. For my brother, who struggled with reading, 10 minutes may have amounted to only 2 pages. To see peers accomplishing way more than you in reading may be frustrating, and may lead to thinking they are not as good at reading (the case with my brother).

This is really interesting. Even in classrooms with many students, teachers will be able to keep up with each student, and conference with them when necessary. This is a great way to ensure that reading and progress is actually taking place.

This is so important. If students do not know what is expected, how can they achieve it? How can they be clear that they are achieving it? Nothing is more frustrating than not being sure what you're supposed to be doing, or doing something, and finding out it wasn't actually what you were supposed to be doing. Being clear with students will, also, I think, create a positive environment.

This is essential for students to keep in mind. I also want to note it because it is the experience I had throughout my entire time in elementary school.

This is such an important point. I think one of the biggest ways we can get students interested in a subject is to show them that it is interesting. There's nothing more motivating than seeing that your teacher is doing something and liking it, too.

While this is a practical suggestion, in that students can't be talking and reading at the same time, I think this is how teachers get so caught up in managing their class, rather than facilitating a reading space. If they respond to every whisper they hear they 1) have to talk themselves to redirect the students (what message does that send to students about not talking?) and 2) they have to interrupt the reading of all students (even those who were not talking). "Silence" can't be the solution to an effective reading environment, though quiet is important in a reading space.

This is a shocking statistic that I am sure is true. It seems common sense that "reading" does not mean completing worksheets, yet teachers are more concerned with "managing" their students than finding them books that interest them, and facilitating reading.

I think this is the best way that we can view each student as having many talents and strengths.

I think this is an essential perspective. No child, and especially not their families, should be judged. They do not need to be "fixed."

I think this is a good example of where the unnecessary/seemingly pointless moved to relevant/engaging and still aligned with standards.

I think that this is a good definition of what literacy really is. It does not have to be a favorite chapter book, or even a picture book--or a book at all. Literacy comes in all sorts within all student's lives. Being culturally responsive is essential in teaching literacy skills.

This is something that, as teachers, we cannot let happen. Valuing every student and knowing that every student is capable and skilled and talented (even if they are not meeting grade-level with ease) is essential--especially in reading, literacy, communication skills, etc.

This goes along directly with what we discussed when we discussed what literature really is in the first module. While his teacher viewed him as struggling, Aaron was actually quite capable of reading. We, as teachers, need to keep an expanded view of what literacy really is (it's not just reading grade-level books, it goes way beyond that into manuals, magazines, signs--as we see here).

As future teachers, I think this is something we need to always keep in mind and hold as a priority. The things we teach in school, especially reading, are supposed to be relevant and useful to students in their real lives. Reading is not something we can let slip through the cracks, and it is something that we should really aim to get students interested in, because they are always going to need, and use, this skill.

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.