Setting the Foundation: Read - To - Self

One of our foundational pieces this year is the Daily 4. It is based off of the books by The 2 Sisters and it is a defined structure that helps me provide meaningful and authentic learning time during our reading block. 

The first of the Daily 4 is Read-to-Self. It is exactly what it sounds like. The students are reading to themselves.

Here is the anchor chart that the students came up with to guide us through our first few days of practice:

We discussed that Read-to-Self was practicing our reading.

I could talk to them for hours about the rules of basketball. I could show them what a basketball is. We could even watch videos on basketball. However, if we never get to hold a basketball and practice with it, will we ever be a great basketball player? No way!

Same goes for reading. I am going to give them all they need to become a great reader. We will practices our phonics skills. We will learn new comprehension strategies and all about fluency. 

But most importantly, we will always have time to practice these new skills.

Here is what Read-to-Self looks and feels like:

I hope you enjoyed your trip through Read-to-Self. It is the most important part of our academic day.