Fix-Up Strategies

Today we talked about how "good readers" do not always read perfectly.  I told the class that I did not think this when I was a student.  I always thought that good readers just read perfectly and reading came naturally to them.  When I was a student, I was never told that good readers lose track of their thinking or cannot figure out words.  This caused me to try and act like I was never confused by text or act like I knew every word.  It never occurred to me that the "good readers" in my class were fixing their thinking as they read.

We are going to spend the next few days teaching fix-up strategies that "good readers" use when they do not know a word or they lose track of their thinking.  I tried to show the students some of my favorite strategies today as we read the article "The Buzz on Bees" (you can find this article in the reading folder).  As I read we created a T-Chart that on one side showed where the text was causing my thinking to be disrupted and then on the other side I shared how I fixed my thinking.

Students are going to be practicing these strategies on the worksheet, Fantastic Fix-Ups (also in the reading folder).  I will also put a copy of some of the fix-up strategies that we will be using in the reading folder.

Today in the One and Only Ivan we were introduced to the characters Bob and Stella.  Bob is a stray dog, and Stella an elderly elephant.  I hope the students are telling you about this book because I think it is amazing.  If you want, feel free to ask the students about the book.  Here are some questions that you might ask:

Do you think Bob trusts humans?  Why or Why Not?
Do you think the hole in Ivan's domain is important?
Do you think Mack is a good character or a bad character?

Here is hoping the Reds can hold the lead tonight!