FAQ - Do kids have to practice the focus lesson right away?
Q: If you give a reading mini-lesson and the children choose another activity other than reading alone, do they make the connection with the mini lesson, does it "stick" without the immediate application? I am concerned that if I do a mini-lesson and the children go to Working with Words, they won't internalize the lesson?
A: We select focus lessons that fit the needs of the majority of our students. Since our goal is to teach the strategies most needed, we endeavor to teach them often and in great depth. We know students will need repeated exposure and modeling of the strategies before they will apply them in their own work and internalize them so they can access them whenever needed. Depending on the child, they may be exposed to the strategy in whole group instruction as well as small group and individualized instruction.
Since they will get repeated exposure to the strategies, we don't worry or panic if they don't all try it the day we teach it. We provide extensive practice time and opportunities during sharing to articulate how the strategies we've put on our Café Menu board are helping them become proficient readers. The combination of repeated instruction and the sharing of peers insures that what we are focusing on slowly becomes part of the vocabulary and repertoire of each child.
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