reading

Welcome to reading in room 7! In Cranston, students are required to read 25 books per year, this includes any books they read the summer before 4th grade, books read in school, and books read at home. They will be responsible to write a response for each book in their reading journal (about 6-7 books per quarter). We use these journals to monitor their reading and writing skills. At the beginning of the year, students will be given a guided response paper that will help them to construct thoughtful writing pieces to go along with their reading. But sometimes students will be given the opportunity to construct their own response to a book. As a 4th grade class, we (Mrs. Weber and myself) read approximately 8-10 books together per year. These books tend to be above grade level because we read them to the class aloud and discuss the stories, as the students follow along with a class copy of the book. Their reading journal will be collected and checked. There is no formal grade for each response, however the writing response will be corrected, edited and will be informally assessed for writing mechanics and structure that will factor into their writing grade.

We encourage students to read books on their level to ensure fluency and comprehension. Sometimes children enjoy reading with their family, so we encourage them to choose books that are above their level. This can help demonstrate model reading, as well as help you to understand what your child reads and comprehends. Books that are harder or longer in length sometimes count for reading more than 1 book, which will be determined by the teacher. It is important that students keep on track with reading and writing responses because it is easy to fall behind. We will be assigning due dates for responses in order for students to keep up with their reading.