Starting this week, I will work more one on one with my readers. I will also think about starting book clubs with mixed ability groups.

After reviewing my pensieve I discovered that the students make significantly more progress when I meet with them one on one during reading. I will now meet with my struggling readers one on one before having them join together for discussions. My advanced readers seem to do better when they have an open discussion format. Always revamping!

I finished my running records for January. Most students are reading better than they think they are. My lowest readers are now independent on level H. Next week, we will focus on how much fun reading is. We will read a bigger variety of books together. Also, we will look at books that were made into movies. Somehow, the students have to be convinced that reading is more fun than playing with a DS or a Wii. On our visit to the library we will search for books on unusual topics.

Now that we are half way through the school year, it's time to reflect on what has worked and how to make the classroom work better. The kids have been asking if they can write as soon as they come in the morning. And maybe that's a good idea. Here is a summary of what we want to do. During the morning, the kids have to make their own schedule to accomplish: word work, reading, writing, snack time. I will try to do 3 mini lessons during the morning. I will meet with individuals and groups organized around needs and what happen the day before. I will continue to use "Mon Pensieve" notebook to keep track of what I am doing. I'll start this on Tuesday, introducing changes a little at a time. More later!

I started doing my midyear running records today. It's always interesting to see how close my "guessed" level is to the formal running record. So far, both agree. My not-so-advanced readers have been working on putting sounds together faster and using context to determine whether or not new words make sense. It is hard to meet with eight different groups so I have been using peer coaches to help with rereading and fluency. It helps both the coach and the reader.

I rearranged reading groups again. I have to spend more time with my struggling readers. To do that, I am meeting with them for about 20 minutes first thing in the morning and then again right before lunch. I listen to each of them read an old story before they go home. I will keep track of the difference this makes.