Standard One: Foundational Knowledge

• Analyze classroom environment quality for fostering individual motivation to read and write (e.g., access to print, choice, challenge, and interests).

During my normal classroom routine, we start out the morning with a story. The story will go along with the weekly story from our reading series. We'll discuss different parts of the story; it could be things we know, things we've just learned, or things we found interesting. Also, during some free time, my students have a chance to pick out books from our classroom library to read. About once a week I have a "Reader's Choice" day where I will read one book that a student picks that morning. I've found that this motivates the children to read. They love seeing their books be picked that morning, and it makes them feel valued. 

I think it is very important to allow students pick their own books to read or be read to because from what I've learned with previous experience and prior knowledge from reading articles is that students are more interested in reading if they have an interest in whats being read. Not only will they be more interested in it, but they will comprehend it better as well. 

From this past semester's experience, I've also found that stories they can relate to help with their comprehension as well. My students' favorite story that I read while using the answer frames was "The Case of the Bad Stripes". They had asked me to read that book a few times during the week we were discussing it. I believe they enjoyed the colorful artwork, and they could relate to liking/disliking food, being sick, and being nervous to start school. We had several conversations on these different topics that helped them understand what was going on in the story.

From my experience of allowing the students to pick a book once a week, I believe I will continue this during the next school year. I may even allow the students to bring their favorite book from home that way they can explain to us what makes it their favorite book and it may give the students another reading series to consider.