As a kindergarten teacher, you get to ignite and facilitate a lifelong love of reading! This begins with “reading” books, even before many of our scholars can actually read.
When you read the same beloved books over and over again, scholars internalize and hold on to these texts, allowing them to story-tell these books independently. In Unit 1, you read Emergent Storybooks to scholars, familiarizing them with these books and setting them up to “read” them on their own.
Even though scholars may not be able to read the words on the page, they use the pictures, your repeated readings, and their imaginations to fill in the details.
In this unit, your job is to ensure that scholars fall in love with books by reading them frequently with expression, acting out the stories, and saying repeated phrases and dialogue.
If you do your job well, your scholars will genuinely fall in love with books and reading. They will use words and pictures to read and retell books with expression, culminating in a Readers’ Theatre where they act out their favorite books.
The development of this emergent reading and storytelling should be applied at home and at school. Especially in this second unit of the year, it is imperative that ALL your scholars are getting into the routine of reading at home and at school.
Make sure at-home reading is happening, and meet with families who are falling short to recommit them to this team effort. Help families understand what Emergent Storybook reading is and how they can best support their scholars at home. If you cannot succeed in insisting that the work be done at home, then you need to manage up to leadership.
It is your responsibility to ensure that ALL your scholars are reading six days a week at home!
Spend two days on each lesson to give scholars practice.
Lesson 1: Great readers read the title and look at the cover of the book before they start reading.
Lesson 2: Great readers use pictures to story-tell books.
Lesson 3: Great readers say three things that are happening in each picture and go back to remind themselves of what just happened.
Lesson 4: Great readers retell a story by thinking about what happened first, next, and then afterward.
Lesson 5: Great readers act out the story as if they are the characters.
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers read the title and look at the cover of the book before they start reading.
Success is when scholars pause to read the title and study the cover of their books before they dive into reading.
Lesson 1
Engage — 1 minute
To give your brain an idea of the book you’re about to read, you must always read the title, then study the cover to figure out what your book will probably be about.
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers use pictures to story-tell books.
Success is when scholars stop to study the pictures on each page to tell what’s happening in the story.
Lesson 2
Engage — 1 minute
Because you may not know each word on the page yet, the pictures help you understand the story by reminding you of what’s happening on each page and how the story goes.
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes
Partner Share — 3–5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers say three things that are happening in each picture and go back to remind themselves of what just happened.
Success is when scholars retell the story by knowing what happened on each page and going back to remind themselves if they forget.
Lesson 3
Engage — 1 minute
The picture gives so much valuable information to help the reader know what’s happening, and we want to say as much about it as we can. If we can’t remember, or get confused, we just return to the previous page to remind ourselves.
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes
Partner Share — 3–5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers retell a story by thinking about what happened first, next, and then afterward. Success is when scholars retell stories in order, saying everything that happened in sequence.
Lesson 4
Engage — 1 minute
Retelling is when you summarize a story by telling the important events that happened, in order. We don’t want our listeners to be confused, so we must tell them the flow of the story.
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes
Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes
Partner Share — 3–5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers act out the story as if they are the characters.
Success is when scholars enthusiastically and realistically act out entire stories, integrating all aspects of great storytelling into their portrayals of the characters they’ve been reading about.
Lesson 5
Engage — 1 minute
Readers’ Theatre is where we get to be actors and bring our favorite stories to life—a celebration of all the wonderful books we’ve been reading!
Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes
Partner Share — 3–5 minutes
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
Use the next 5 days to work with scholars and increase their capacity to read.
The most important thing you can do is give kids independent reading time. The best way to improve reading is by having kids read.
Listen to scholars as they read independently. Talk with scholars one-on-one about their reading and coach them through the key obstacles to being great readers.
Depending on their needs, work with scholars whole group, in small groups, or one-on-one to support them with the:
Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of Unit 2: Emergent Storybook!
As a result of teaching this unit, you, as the teacher, have:
Your scholars can:
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, extend Readers’ Theatre by involving all kindergarten classes as an audience, as well as parents. Use fun props such as hollow blocks to make a stage, a microphone for the actors, and a curtain that scholars can prepare behind. Hold multiple performances so each scholar gets a chance to participate.
Reflect on your successes and stretches, as well as those of your scholars. Look at the notes you’ve taken and determine if your goals were successful. Have your scholars grown as readers over the past month?
Parents must be reading to scholars at home, and scholars must be telling stories to their parents. 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. Help them understand what Emergent Storybook reading is and how they can best support their scholars at home.
Are 100% of your kids falling in love with reading? Are they using all the tools at their disposal to figure out the meaning of what they are reading?
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. Whom will you get to consistently read at home? Do they understand what they’re reading? What is their struggle? 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!
resources
Access a wide array of articles, webinars, and more, designed to help you help children reach their potential.
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