Read To Self

Over the last couple weeks, we have been practicing what is known as "Read to Self". This is an independent time where we look at, and read, a variety of books and poems! "Read to Self" is part of a literacy program called "Daily 5". Almost all classrooms at our school incorporate "Read to Self" into their literacy blocks! By learning how to "Read to Self" in Kindergarten, we are preparing for older grades too!

When we first started, a lot of us exclaimed that we don't know how to read books! We didn't know how we would read books during "Read to Self" time. However, Ms. Petersen showed us that there are 3 ways to read a book. We can:

1. Read the pictures
2. Read the words
3. Retell the story in our own words

Right now, we are experts at reading the pictures! Sometimes we also like to find letters that we know too. When we start our sight word study, we will begin to recognize words too!

Before we start, we always go over the expectations. These are the expectations that we came up with together:

• Read with a quiet voice
• Stay in your spot
• Eyes on your own book
• Read for the whole time
• Be respectful to the books

We also remind ourselves why we need to practice so much. It's so we can become better readers! We talk about how when we learn something new, it takes a lot of practice until we are great at it! It is just like when we are learning to play a sport, learning how to dance or play an instrument. 
 
There are a variety of spots that we get to sit at while we are practicing "Read to Self". We have to come to the picture chart to see where we will be sitting for that day. Then Ms. Petersen changes our names to a new spot for the next day.

When we get to our spot we keep our book closed. When everyone is settled, Ms. Petersen says "3-2-1-go". We do our best to read for the whole time until Ms. Petersen says "Stop". We know that if we finish reading our book before the time is up, we must go back to the beginning and start again.

We have a chart that keeps track of our progress. When we first started, we could only read our books for 1 minute. Now, we are up to almost 5 minutes! We love watching our "tower" get bigger and bigger. Our final goal is 15 minutes! We also realize that we must work as a team to read for longer. If everyone is following the expectations, our "tower" will get taller!

After we fill in our chart, Ms. Petersen picks 2-3 people who were doing an excellent job during "Read to Self" time to add a pom-pom to the jar. This gives us motivation to keep doing a great job! We hope to reach our goal soon!