Teaching a diverse group of 2nd/3rd grade students has taught me the importance of helping students progress at their levels and further. In my class, I have reading levels that range from pre-K all the way through Jr. High levels. A lot of these students do not have books available to them to take home/return and enjoy. I have a small leveled library that contains leveled readers from K-Z. However, I have a lot of students that are way below these levels and cannot access the text within the books.
As we know, there is no one size that fits all when it comes to our students' reading levels. Our students are unique individuals from all backgrounds with different strengths and weaknesses. Picking out books that are appropriate in length, vocabulary, layout, content, structure, and theme is extremely important in encouraging our students to read. However, it must also be noted that students love a variety of books that they can choose from that they are actually interested in. By having more leveled readers, students will be able to choose a book at their reading level and their interest level. We live in a world surrounded by technology, video games, and high-intensity movies. It would be wonderful if our students were excited to invest some of their time playing video games into enjoying a good book instead. One of my students' favorite times of the day is when we do our read aloud. When I start a new book, my students hound our school librarian about the book that I am reading because they are so excited about it. It's important to get our students excited about reading because reading is the foundation of all learning. If they can read, they can do anything.
About my class
Teaching a diverse group of 2nd/3rd grade students has taught me the importance of helping students progress at their levels and further. In my class, I have reading levels that range from pre-K all the way through Jr. High levels. A lot of these students do not have books available to them to take home/return and enjoy. I have a small leveled library that contains leveled readers from K-Z. However, I have a lot of students that are way below these levels and cannot access the text within the books.
As we know, there is no one size that fits all when it comes to our students' reading levels. Our students are unique individuals from all backgrounds with different strengths and weaknesses. Picking out books that are appropriate in length, vocabulary, layout, content, structure, and theme is extremely important in encouraging our students to read. However, it must also be noted that students love a variety of books that they can choose from that they are actually interested in. By having more leveled readers, students will be able to choose a book at their reading level and their interest level. We live in a world surrounded by technology, video games, and high-intensity movies. It would be wonderful if our students were excited to invest some of their time playing video games into enjoying a good book instead. One of my students' favorite times of the day is when we do our read aloud. When I start a new book, my students hound our school librarian about the book that I am reading because they are so excited about it. It's important to get our students excited about reading because reading is the foundation of all learning. If they can read, they can do anything.
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