Reading Habits Survey

"Teacher as Learner" is definitely an accurate description of my teaching style. I am constantly reading professional practice books, taking courses, searching online for strategies, resources, programs, projects, etc. to improve my teaching and, ultimately, the learning that takes place in my classroom. This year as a "new teacher" to Fargo, I'm living that to the fullest!

Currently, one of the book study classes that I'm taking is on the text Notice and Note, by Kylene Beers & Robert E. Probst. The book discusses "close reading," which is clearly what we want our students to do. Read closely to fully understand characters, plot development, figurative or non-literal language, etc. The book outlines 6 "Signposts" that all literature has in common. Fabulous, right? What better strategy is there than one that can be applied to every fiction text we pick up!

Earlier in the week I asked students to answer questions about their reading habits, and I thought you might also want to ponder the survey. If you feel so inclined I'd love to have you email me your answers (even just a few questions would be fine), but please don't feel obligated to do so...I know life is busy! As I started this book I also considered these questions, and they are great food for thought...the questions here are the version of the survey that I took (the student survey will be below).

Reading Habits Survey - Adult Version

1. How often do you read each day?
2. Do you usually read printed texts or digital texts? If digital texts, do you use an e-reader?
3. How is reading with an e-reader different from reading printed books?
4. What sort of material do you read online or on an e-reader or mobile device? Is this different from what you choose to read in print?
5. Do you read any blogs or Websites on a regular basis? If your answer is yes, how large a part of your reading life are they?
6. Do you use any social bookmarking sites to communicate with others about what you are reading? How have these sites changed how you think about what you are reading?
7. Have you read anything that includes other types of media (video) as a part of the story?
8. Do you listen to audio books? Do you consider this reading?
9. What do you think are the major challenges of online reading?
10. What are you curious about when it comes to reading today?

Reading Habits Survey - Student (some of these obviously apply more to older students, but it's still interesting to read our kiddos' perspectives)

1. How often do you read each day at school? At home?
2. Do you mostly read books (novels and textbooks)? Do you mostly read on an e-reader such as a Nook, Kindle, or iPad? Mostly on a computer or a smart phone?
3. How is reading with an e-reader different from reading printed books?
4. What sort of material do you read online or on an e-reader or mobile device? Is this different from what you choose to read in print?
5. Do you read any blogs or websites on a regular basis? If your answer is yes, how large a part of your reading life are they?
6. How do you share with others what you are reading about? Through conversations? Comments on Facebook? By texting? By using a site such as Goodreads? Through a blog?
7. When do graphics (pictures, charts, video clips that might be a part of digital texts) help you understand what you are reading? And when are they a distraction?
8. Do you listen to audio books? Do you consider this reading?
9. Do you think that when you are reading something online or on an e-reader you are reading the same way as when you read something in a book?
10. Sometimes you choose what you want to read. Other times you are told what to read. How does choice or the lack of choice make a difference in how you read?

European Americans

You may wonder who is in my group they are: Jacob,Chase,me,and Alexis. We studied European Americans they brought: pianos, raidos ,the theory of relativity,skis,and denim.

Asian Americans

From September 26th to October 1st in Social Studies, my class was split into 5 different groups to work on different contributions. In my group was Cayden and I. We had Asian Americans. We learned a lot of cool things about Asian Americans. We learned that in 1848 a worker discovered gold in California and that attracted the first Chinese immigrants to the United States. We learned that the Asians brought the US the words jungle, shampoo, bamboo, and tattoo. We also learned that Asians made many contributions to American life, and one of them is preparing food.

By Carly

The African Americans

On September through October 1 my class was split into groups.I got Rylee, Jacob C, Brett, and me, Nikita. We are working on African Americans for our social studies collage.What we learned was that the African Americans were the reason for the Civil War which ended in 1865 to fight for no more slavery any more. They brought  jazz, corn, black eyed peas, collard greens, yams, voodoo, tote, banjos, drums, proverbs, ragtime music, spirituals, folktales, and dance styles. The African Americans are famous for gospel. Martin Luther King Jr. is famous because he led the movement for equal rights in the 1960s.The African Americans were most likely to be a slave in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and a little part of Maryland.
                                                                                                by Nikita

Visualizing - by Maya!

Today we learned about visualization. Visualizing is one of the most important skills we will learn. By using the author's descriptive words you can make a movie in your head of what is happening in the text. The movie in your head helps you see, smell, feel, hear, touch, and taste what is in the story. When you visualize you can understand the story better. The more you focus on the details the easier it will be to visualize. Give it a try and see what you think!!!!