Assessment

I read Chapters  10 and 11 in Classrooms that Work. Assessment is such a terrible sounding word with many negative associations. The statement in Chapter 10 "assessment is not grading" probably sums up how I am beginning to understand reading assessment. After Thursday's class talking about what we will actual do in the classroom it became even more apparent that assessment is a critical prerequisite for just about everything.  An important point I picked up on in the readings is that assessment has to be intentional but it does not have to be formal. Anecdotal data taken constantly will be a primary means that I use in my classroom to make instructional decisions. Student conferences and small group instruction are going to be very important to collect reading assessment information.

Authentic activity: Story time at the library

I went to my local library branch to observe the 5-7 year old story time. They have this scheduled for every Wednesday at 3:30. Just my luck no kids showed up for story time today. So I decided to interview the librarian that leads story time. She was an elementary school teacher for 30 years before coming to work at the library. That definitely classifies her as an expert in my book. (pun intended) She told me that she always did read alouds when she was a teacher. She usually has 6 to 10 children for story time. Her method for picking the books is simple. She picks books she likes, and she knows the kids will like. Usually there is a theme. For example, today she was going to read The Purple Kangaroo. She also had several other books with kangaroos that she would let the kids browse and make available for check out. During the read aloud she says that it comes naturally to stop and interact with the children. This is usually in the form of questions like what do you think is going to happen next. An important part of her story time program is a simple craft activity which the kids do after she reads the book. She says this gives them a chance to talk about the book and many times the craft is something like a puppet which can be used to retell the story. She also gives them some type of related coloring/activity sheet to take home. She wants the children to remember and talk about the book after they leave story time. She also mentioned that she really likes books by Mo Willems for read alouds for this age group.