Friday, September 14, 2012

Just Right Books


The kindergarteners in Mrs. Leach and Ms. Rowland’s class learned how to choose a "just right" book today.  They are now allowed to choose no more than three "just right" books to read during Daily 5 read to self-time.  We started the lesson by Mrs. Leach trying to put on a baby shoe.  The kindergarteners laughed and told us that the baby shoes were too small.  Then I put on a pair of Mr. Leach's boots and they said that they were too big.  The kindergarteners laughed again and then Ms. Rowland and I went back and forth trying on shoes that were just right for us and what we were doing.  We talked about how it is just like books.  All the books are different and all readers are different.  We talked about how we are all at different levels just like we all have different size shoes and where them for different occasions (we wouldn’t wear rollerblades to kindergarten).  We explained to students that when they read they want to read "just right" books.  If a shoe is too big or to small then it is not "just right" and a book that is too easy or too hard is not going to help us become a better reader.  Kindergarteners need to choose "just right" books for them.  They need to be a PERFECT FIT just like the shoes they wear!  Students decided that if a book had more than 5 words on a page that they could not read then the book was too hard for them and that they should choose another book.

Thanks to Mrs. Zwolenski for coming and helping us teach the students about "just right" books.

Click to see more pictures.