Chalk Talk: Tales From Our First Grade Classroom

An Amazing Morning

As I have been blogging about, the students are learning how to lead their own book club discussion groups. We just completed our second week into this process. This week, students continued to work in book partners. They learned about how book partners sit when reading together. Ask them to explain "EEK."

EEK

Elbow to elbow,

knee to knee.

Book in the Middle,

so we both can see!

Elbow to elbow,

knee to knee.

I’ll read to you and

you read to me!

Students also learned how to talk to their partner.

Turn and Talk

Face to Face Eyes on Each Other Take Turns

We then learned about talking stems. These are sentence starters that structure students conversations and keep them on task.

I wonder. . .
I think _______ because. . .
I like the part when _________ because. . .

Today our classroom had the honor of hosting what is called a Learning Lab. A Learning Lab is an opportunity for teachers in our school and other schools in our district to come and see the different learning that is going on. The visiting teachers today came in with a focus question I had for them to keep in mind as they observed the students and me. My focus question for them was, "How am I preparing students to be independent and self-directed in students-led book clubs?" They were looking to see that:

students are practicing modeled skills.
students are practicing independent learning.
students are following explicit instructions.
students redirect under teacher's verbal cues.

This was an amazing experience for both me and my students. The students were so excited to learn our next step in this process and show others what they have learned. The teachers were beyond impressed at what our young students can do. Two of the third grade teachers in our building want to bring their classes to our room, so the first graders can teach their students the right way to partner read. WOW! That was the best compliment ever! I was so incredibly proud of my students hard work!

Students listening to instruction.

Students modeling what they have learned for their peers.

Students practicing skills with their rug partners.

Students implementing what they learned with their book partner.

Students implementing what they have learned with their book partner.

Reflecting on what was learned today.

Mystery Reader
Mrs. Chalmers was our Mystery Reader today. She came and read a classroom and one of my personal favorites, "The Day the Crayons Quit."