Reading is Thinking in Third Grade

Continuing along the literacy travels, I journeyed to third grade this week.  Third grade is often considered a turning point in the reading journey.  Within this year, students become more independent readers, their reading skills and ability to comprehend move to a deeper level and reading to learn on their own becomes a very important part of the curriculum.  This is not to say that reading is not important in any other grade, nor that what each grade does is not critical to building a life long reader, but it is this grade where students often learn to become independent readers and using thinking strategies on their own as they read.  The State of Minnesota has recognized this as they required districts and schools to create and post Literacy Plans that address having students read at grade level by the end of third grade.  You can read about Aspen's Local Literacy Plan here.

This means, that the beginning of the year requires very important teaching so that students gain the skills they need to work towards that independence.  Modeling, practicing and coaching students are all a part of this kind of instruction.  I was excited to watch all of third grade instruct students in a skill critical to thinking as you read - group discussion.  The best way to investigate your own thinking about a text is to talk to others about it.  How many of you read a book and then want to find someone who has also read it to share your enthusiasm and discuss the plot, etc.?  It's the best part of reading!  But how to share and what to share need to be taught.

Below you can see how Ms. Johnson is listening to one group and aiding their discussion, while the rest of the students work in their own small groups - talking about specific questions about a story and recording the conclusions they reach.

While Ms. Johnson might be listening to one group, all of the other students are busy working on their questions for their group, sharing with enthusiasm and fun.

This group raised thumbs when they wanted to share an answer and the recorder wrote down what was said, as well as asking clarifying questions about the answer that was given.  Students have learned to look at the speaker and how to answer in complete sentences.  They will continue to practice these key skills all year with texts that are at their level of instruction - adding in new kinds of questions as they learn additional skills.  Each of them learned something new as they talked and discussions will get even more lively as the texts become more complex and intricate and require more thinking as they read.

Keep working hard third grade!  And I hope you take some time this weekend to read a book and share it with someone else.  You never know what you might learn!