When Reading Less Is More
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Keeping our lessons brief and engaging can be a challenge. A group of teachers discovered a way to do just that when watching Jill DeGoede model a strategy lesson for Infer and Support with Evidence; she read only four pages of a picture book.
Debriefing after a reading lesson, Jill said, “If I read too much, I teach too much. Keeping the reading short helps me focus my lesson. If I read more than a few pages, I see many more teaching points that the book offers. This is one way to help me keep my lessons brief and not overwhelm the students with too many teaching points.”
What about the rest of the book? If students have previously enjoyed the entire story as a read-aloud, they can easily revisit it to focus on writer’s craft or a CAFE strategy. You may also opt to begin a story, teach with it, and finish it later during read-aloud time.
Jill’s idea is one way to help keep lessons brief and brain compatible. Here are a few other resources that may also help.
