Students learn and apply strategies before, during and after reading to help build comprehension. Early primary students meet in small, flexible groups and use leveled books while teachers observe them closely to determine their individual progress. Students are involved in modeled, shared and independent writing. Peer editing and teacher conferencing are used. Kentucky Marker Papers guide teachers in assessing genres of writing to plan instruction.
Students choose and read materials on their individual levels.
The teacher acts as a coach and conferences with different students each day to assess and address individual reading processes and comprehension. The goal is for students to understand what the author is saying, generate original ideas about the text, be able to relate the content to their own lives, observe writing techniques, and practice critical and creative thinking. This five-block literacy model truly meets the learning needs of all of my students. At Cochran, we use flexible grouping. Students are grouped according to personal interest, prior knowledge of a subject, skill or strategy needs and reading ability.