Pages

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Did I-PICK the Correct Shoes today?

I love beginning of the year activities!  Last week, I did a lesson about how to choose a "Good-Fit" book.  If you've read any of my summer posts, you've probably noticed that I could not stop reading during June, July, and August!  I read books for pleasure, picture books, young adult chapter books, and a lot of professional development books.  A week did not go by where I wasn't spending a ton at Half Price Books or relaxing at the library with my kids.

One of the books I read was called The Daily 5 Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  I am not 100% implementing this in my classroom yet, but I am taking small steps.

Inside the book, the 2 Sisters give an excellent lesson on how to teach your students to choose "good-fit" books (I-PICK).  The lesson includes two of my favorite things.....shoes (anyone else have a shoe-buying problem?!) and a concrete example.  Almost all my lessons I present to my students have some kind of concrete representation or example.  Below is the anchor chart that I prepared a head of time, but didn't show the students until the end of the lesson.





Class started with a large brown bag on one of my tables.  As soon as class started, I had so many students interested in what was inside.  I told the students that I had such a dilemma this morning, and that I couldn't figure out what to wear to school.  Of course, some of my girly-girls jumped in and had comments about how that happens to them all the time too!  So I told my class that I brought in a bunch of my shoes because I just couldn't decide what was going to look right.  Naturally, everyone wanted to see the shoes inside the bag.  

First, I laid all the shoes out and said out loud what each shoe was called.   I had a pair of brown ballet flats, Old Navy flip flops, Nike gym shoes, Nike soccer cleats (these were actually my 3 year old's cleats), Columbia work boots, and a pair of black high heels.  After laying the shoes out,  I had to ask myself, "What might my purpose be today?  Why might I put on a certain pair of shoes?"  All the students jumped in and said I was going to school today to teach.



Next, I had my students tell me the purpose of each shoe that I brought.  They did a great job.  Here are some of the things they said: The brown ballet flat is for a casual to dressy occasion. They said it can be worn with a skirt or with capris.  The Old Navy flip flops are usually worn at the beach or the pool.  Nike gym shoes are for exercising, walking, running, jogging, wearing to the gym, or for going to Kings Island.  Nike soccer cleats are to be worn when playing soccer.  Plus, my students did mention that I would not be comfortable in the shoes because they were too small.  The Columbia work boots are for shoveling the snow in the winter.  The black high heels are for weddings, fancy dresses, funerals, and special occasions.  


After we talked about the purpose of each shoe, I said that I also have to think about which shoe I am interested in wearing.  I have my students look at the shoes they are wearing at the moment.  I asked them how they decided what shoe to wear this morning.  (Luckily, my students had gym class today, so they all knew to say that they had to wear shoes appropriate for gym class).  

Once we were finished talking about the purpose and interest of our shoes, I had my students elbow talk with their friend about how picking out shoes for the day is similar to picking out a book to read.  Wow....I heard a few weird answers, but I also heard a lot of great thinking.  Some of the students were able to make the connection between the two.  This is when I decided to pull out the "I-PICK Good-Fit Books" anchor chart.  

I discussed each letter with the students.  I also had an anchor chart for the students to glue into their reader's notebooks under the "mini lesson" tab.  Next, I let my students explore my library and practice picking out "Good-Fit" books.  I think the students were able to walk away from the lesson having a good idea of how to pick out a book that is a "good-fit."

How do you teach your students to pick out books to read?

1 comment: