In the Little Chair

I have the good fortune of collaborating with my third grade colleagues during their reading workshop hour each day (though I only have 17 minutes to be in their classrooms before I have to teach second graders). I get the privilege of presenting mini-lessons before the students go off to read independently (or enter the reading zone, as we all like to say). This week I have shared these lessons with the readers:

* asking questions as you read (using Yoshi's Feast by Kimiko Kajikawa)

* looking for details that make a book historical fiction (using Michael O. Tunnel's Mailing May)

* what it means to be a good group member (with the help of my colleague and three students who comically portrayed an interrupter, a daydreamer, and an off-task speaker)

* making connections (using Cari Best's lovely story Goose's Story)

I love this part of my day. I am in a different person's room most days, and I love the things I learn with these readers. I love the feeling of gathering together on the carpet to share and talk about books. In on classroom, though, I especially love sitting in the little chair. My friend keeps it in the corner of her room, and it is the sturdiest, most comfortable little chair. Just another reason these 17 minutes brighten my school days. Tomorrow's mini-lesson is a book talk about ten historical fiction novels.