ES Literacy Reading Grade 3: Falling in Love with Reading

At SA, we believe that if a child loves reading and reads exceptionally well, she can teach herself anything! There’s nothing more important to our scholars’ lifelong success and happiness than inspiring their passion for reading.

In this unit, you will fuel scholars’ passion for reading. You will inspire their love of words, characters, and knowledge.

You will help them achieve that lost-in-a-book, engaged sort of reading that makes reading fun. You will give them the most priceless gift of all—time to read!

Model your passion for reading and books throughout the day. Enthusiastically recommend books to your scholars and show your passion every time you read aloud!

If you do your job well, scholars will love to read, and families will be committed to reading with their scholars!

Building a strong reading culture and partnership with parents is critical to scholars’ lifelong personal and academic success. It is imperative that ALL your scholars are reading at home and at school. Meet with the parents of any students who are not reading at home. If you cannot succeed in convincing the parents to ensure that their children are doing their homework, you need to manage up to leadership.

It is your responsibility to ensure that ALL of your scholars are reading 6 days a week at home!

Independent Reading: Every day scholars must read voraciously, because kids get better at reading by reading.

Your goal during the first three weeks of school is to establish sacred, phenomenal Independent Reading time. Get scholars excited about getting lost in their books and having the luxury of reading time!

Scholars will only become better readers if you fuel their passion AND you are fully invested in creating and maintaining excellence during this time.

Set clear expectations for how scholars keep their minds and bodies engaged during Independent Reading.

• 2 eyes reading
• 2 hands on the book
• 2 feet on the floor

Independent Reading is one of the times kids will practice the 5 tactics of great readers— not because kids have never used these tactics before, but because these tactics must become a habit as kids read.

During Independent Reading, talk with kids about the books they are reading. Build relationships with your scholars through reading and create a community of book lovers!

Book Shopping in the Classroom Library: SA’s classroom libraries are unparalleled, full of world class literature hand-picked for scholars.

Kids won’t sustain reading in school or at home unless they have access to great books. Leverage your classroom library to help kids fall in love with books. Make sure each scholar has books in a book baggie that he or she can’t wait to read.

Scholars must book shop at least once a week. Invite them to the library in small groups to explore the library and shop for books. Your job is to support scholars in selecting books that are just right for them and recommending books based on their interests.

Summer Soar: Get to know your kids as readers. Look at the end-of-year Grade 2 F&P results. Which kids came in at or above their end-of-year Grade 2 reading level—level M? This likely signifies a strong at-home reading culture and a scholar who loves reading. Did any kids come back at a lower level than they were at the end of the year? You MUST address parents now and get them back on track.

Partner Share: Get kids talking about their books! Make it clear that scholars are expected to listen to their partners well enough to not only say back what they heard, but also to respond thoughtfully with a related comment or question. Listen in to partnerships to hold scholars accountable.

Give clear directions for scholars to position themselves next to their partners so they can see and hear one another and the text they’re referencing.

Closely monitor partnerships as they talk, and once the whole group is back together, call on a scholar to share what his or her partner said. Scholars must know they are accountable for listening and responding to their partners!

Spend the first week on Lesson 1 so that all scholars get to book shop with you.

Lesson 1: Great readers pick books they can’t wait to read!

Spend two days each on Lessons 2-4 to give scholars practice.

Lesson 2: Great readers get lost in their books.

Lesson 3: Great readers make mind movies when reading.

Lesson 4: Great readers think about the big ideas in their books.

Lesson 1

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers pick books they can’t wait to read!

Success is when scholars are so excited to read their books that they can’t wait for reading time or the subway ride home.

Lesson 1

Engage — 1 minute

• Scholars are on the carpet, tracking you.
• Spend 1 minute building excitement around book shopping— wrap your book bins and library and have scholars open their new presents!

Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5-7 minutes

• This MUST be short and to the point. Unless new to SA, your kids have done this before!
• Model and set your behavioral and intellectual expectations for Independent Reading and Book Shopping.
  • During Independent Reading scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, two feet on the floor.
  • When book shopping, scholars come to the classroom library in small groups to explore the library and make book selections with help from you.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 20-25 minutes

• Scholars transition from the rug to their seats.
• Scholars choose a book from a tabletop book bin to read. Scholars sit with two hands on the book, two feet on the ground, and two eyes focused on the book.
  • Scholars shop from tabletop book bins on Day 1, until each scholar has a book baggie with books she’s selected from the classroom library.
  • Invite small groups to book shop with you over the course of the first few days until all scholars have shopped for books.
• Scholars sustain focused reading for 20 minutes.
• Whether you are flying solo or teaching as part of a duo, start by making sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music, but the volume should be low.
• Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations, such as staying focused on their book, or who are demonstrating strong reading habits, such as always making a mind movie.
• Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 3-5 scholars.
• Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Are they matched to the right book? Do they read most or all words correctly? What is their struggle with decoding? Do they understand what they’re reading? Do they need to envision more?

Partner Share — 3-5 minutes

• When the timer is up, set expectations for partner talk at their seats.
• Scholars tell their partners about one of the books they read. Partners listen to one another, asking questions for clarification. Both partners must be able to share what their partner said.
• Listen in to choose a scholar or partnership to share during the Whole-Class Share.

Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes

• Scholars transition from their seats to the rug.
• Choose one scholar to share how she selected her books from the library.

Lesson 2

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers get lost in their books.

Success is when scholars are able to sustain reading time because they have books they love and want to read.

Lesson 2

Engage — 1 minute

Spend 1 minute building excitement around the luxury of reading time.

Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 1-3 minutes

• Scholars are on the carpet, tracking you.
• Model and set your behavioral and intellectual expectations for Independent Reading.
  • During Independent Reading, scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, two feet on the floor.
  • Scholars are reading the entire time and are thinking about what they are reading.
• This MUST be short and to the point. Learning happens when scholars actually do it themselves. Unless new to SA, your kids have done this before!

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 20-25 minutes

• Scholars transition from the rug to their seats.
• Each scholar chooses a book from his or her book baggie to read. Scholars sit with two hands on the book, two feet on the ground, and two eyes focused on the book.
• Scholars sustain focused reading for 20 minutes.
• Whether you are flying solo or teaching as part of a duo, start by making sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music, but the volume should be low.
• Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations, such as staying focused on their books, or who are demonstrating strong reading habits, such as always making a mind movie.
• Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 3-5 scholars.
• Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Are they matched to the right book? Do they read most or all words correctly? What is their struggle with decoding? Do they understand what they’re reading? Do they need to envision more?

Partner Share — 3-5 minutes

• When the timer is up, set expectations for partner talk at their seats.
• Scholars tell their partners about one of the books they read. Partners listen to one another, asking questions for clarification. Both partners must be able to share what their partner said.
• Listen in to choose a scholar or partnership to share during the Whole-Class Share.

Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes

• Scholars transition from their seats to the rug.
• Choose two scholars to share something humorous, interesting, or exciting that they read today.
• Choose one scholar to recommend his or her book.

Lesson 3

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers make mind movies when reading.

Success is when scholars are able to create pictures in their minds of what is happening in the story as they read.

Lesson 3

Engage — 1 minute

Spend 1 minute building excitement around creating images in our minds that bring our stories to life.

Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5-7 minutes

• Read an excerpt from Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo.
• Think aloud, describing what you are imagining in your mind as you read. Explain that great readers always do this! They create a mind movie as they read.
• Read on, highlighting an excerpt that sets scholars up to create a vivid image in their minds.
• Scholars turn and talk about what they saw in their mind movies. Listen in to understand how well scholars envisioned the scene you read. Ensure that they are not simply repeating the words you read, and that they make logical inferences.
• Briefly share two scholar responses.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 20-25 minutes

• Each scholar chooses a book from his or her book baggie to read. Scholars sit with two hands on the book, two feet on the ground, and two eyes focused on the book.
• Scholars sustain focused reading for 20 minutes.
• Whether you are flying solo or teaching as part of a duo, start by making sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music, but the volume should be low.
• Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations, such as staying focused on their books, or who are demonstrating strong reading habits, such as always making a mind movie.
• Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 3-5 scholars.
• Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Are they matched to the right book? Do they read most or all words correctly? What is their struggle with decoding? Do they understand what they’re reading? Do they need to envision more?

Partner Share — 3-5 minutes

• When the timer is up, set expectations for partner talk at their seats.
• Scholars tell their partners about what they envisioned as they read. Partners listen to one another, asking questions for clarification. Both partners must be able to share what their partner said.
• Listen in to choose a scholar or partnership to share during the Whole-Class Share.

Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes

• Choose two scholars to share something humorous, interesting, or exciting that they pictured in their minds as they read today.
• Choose one scholar to recommend his or her book.

Lesson 4

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers think about the big ideas in their books.

Success is when scholars are able to figure out a book’s big idea by thinking about the character’s problem and how he or she solved it.

Lesson 4

Engage — 1 minute

Spend 1 minute building excitement around having the luxury of reading time and creating images in our minds that help us understand the book’s big idea.

Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5-7 minutes

• Flip through the pages of Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo, thinking aloud about the key events and some ideas you had as a result.
• Ask scholars to think about: What did we learn about life from the character’s problem and how she solved it?
• Scholars turn and talk to share with their partners 1-2 sentences on what the big idea of the book is. Listen in to understand how well scholars use the character’s problem and solution to understand the book’s big idea.
• Briefly share two scholar responses.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 20-25 minutes

• Each scholar chooses a book from his or her book baggie to read. Scholars sit with two hands on the book, two feet on the ground, and two eyes focused on the book.
• Scholars sustain focused reading for 20 minutes.
• Whether you are flying solo or teaching as part of a duo, start by making sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music, but the volume should be low.
• Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations, such as staying focused on their books, or who are demonstrating strong reading habits, like always making a mind movie.
• Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 3-5 scholars.
• Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Are they matched to the right book? Do they read most or all words correctly? What is their struggle with decoding? Do they understand what they’re reading? Do they need to envision more?

Partner Share — 3-5 minutes

• When the timer is up, set expectations for partner talk at their seats.
• Scholars tell their partners about what their books’ big ideas. Partners listen to one another, asking questions for clarification. Both partners must be able to share what their partner said.
• Listen in to choose a scholar or partnership to share during the Whole-Class Share.

Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes

• Choose one scholar to retell his story, or most important parts of his book, and what it made him think—the big idea.
• Choose one scholar to recommend her book.

Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of Unit 1: Falling Love With Reading! As a result of teaching this unit, you, as the teacher, have:

• Created a classroom reading culture of passionate readers.
• Motivated scholars to read by giving them access to great books through book shopping.
• Engaged scholars’ minds by getting them to envision and talk about their books— reading is thinking!

Your scholars can:

• Read for enjoyment and to find meaning.
• Choose books from the classroom library that are just right and interesting.
• Enthusiastically read and talk about books that pique their interest both at home and at school.

Celebrate your scholars’ successes by acknowledging what they can now do as readers as a result of their work over the last several weeks. For example, scholars can inspire a passion for reading by engaging others in discussions about books they love.

Invite scholars to share how much fun they had reading and talking about books.

Reflect on your successes and stretches, as well as those of your scholars. Have your scholars’ engagement and passion for reading grown exponentially? Did you uncover kids who experienced summer slide? Did you address this with parents and get the scholars back on track? Have your scholars grown as readers over the last month?

Scholars must read at home, as well as in school. Are 100% of your kids reading 6 days a week at home? Make sure at-home reading is happening, and meet with families who are falling short to recommit them to this team effort.

Are 100% of your kids reading fluently? Do they put words together into meaningful groups within a sentence? Does their reading match the feeling of the piece? Do they pay attention to punctuation when reading? Do they read at a pace that mirrors how we talk— not racing through words or reading at a labored rate? Do they use tools to figure out the meaning of what they are reading?

Are 100% of your kids comprehending what they read? Do they make logical text-based inferences? Do they stop and think as they read or are they just reading the words on the page? Do they reread parts of their books they don’t understand?

Are 100% doing their literacy homework?

Going into the next unit, make specific reading goals for yourself. Set a percentage goal for how many children you will move ahead in the next 15 days. Set a goal for children who are not reading at home. Who will you get to consistently read at home? Set a goal for moving scholars who slid over the summer. Why did they regress? Do they read most or all words correctly? What is their struggle with decoding? Do they understand what they’re reading? Do they understand the big idea? How will you partner with parents to support their growth?

If you are having trouble meeting your goals, do not wait until you have NOT succeeded. Consult your colleagues. Consult your leaders. ASK FOR HELP so you can meet your goals!