How to Launch Reading at the Beginning of the School Year

How many times have you heard it, "The great thing about teaching is the chance to start every year new." Well, it's true. Every September we get a refresh button, a pass go and collect $200, a do-over. But, with that comes the pressure to do it right. Don't leave this new school year to chance by pulling random, fun activities to launch your core reading. Be strategic. Here's how.

Make a List

Decide what routines and skills you need your students to know right away. Make a list in no particular order, but add bullet points to clarify your ideas while you're thinking of them. Leave some space between ideas to add to later when you complete your thoughts.

• Should they know how to come to the carpet quickly and quietly? - yep. Great, how will you teach that?
• Are you going to be using any kind of response journal during independent time? How will you introduce it? What will your expectations be?
• What are you going to do to familiarize your students with your classroom library?
• Is there a skill that you need to teach ASAP so you can build it into every lesson - for me it's visualizing.
• How will you make sure your students know what to do when they pick up a book? Teach the reading process.

My rough notes while designing My First 2 Week Plans

Order Your Lessons

After you have your list of 10 or so top routines and skills, start prioritizing them in order. Be ready to shuffle. Think about what items need to be taught before others. Coming to the carpet and whole group expectations should no doubt be covered on day 1. Should visualizing be day 2 so you can refer to the strategy during the rest of your launch? Start numbering your lesson ideas, but be ready to make changes as you go along.

Assign Mentor Texts

The thing I love about back to school is all of the great mentor texts I get to read. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy many mentor texts throughout the year, but my back to school picks are some of my favorites. Assign mentor texts to your lessons. If there isn't a book screaming out to you for a specific lesson, do a quick search on Pinterest (i.e. "mentor texts for making connections"). Some of my favorites are:

 

Mr. George Baker - Amy Hest (Day 1)

Molly Lou Melon - Patty Lovell (I use this the day I introduce reader's workshop, but the message is to be yourself)

The Tin Forest - Helen Ward (Visualizing)

Plan Out Anchor Charts and Any Activities

Finally, plan out your anchor charts and activities. I know many teachers start here, but in my opinion this should be last. If you start with your objectives in mind, you'll hit them every time. If you find a cute craft you want to do and try to jam it in somewhere, it may be fun but have little to do with what you're trying to accomplish. The first 2 weeks of school are so critical, make sure every lesson is wholly designed for setting your students up for success.

The First 2 Weeks of Reading Lesson Plans and Resources

This is the exact process I followed when I planned out my First 2 Weeks of Reading. If you would rather just snatch up my plans, you can find them here. Remember, the most important thing is to learn and grow each year and develop a little bit more into that teacher you've always wanted to be.

Happy back to school!

-Interventionista