I believe it is very important to read to my class several times a day. I also think it is important that the students hear and see the different types of literature. Everyday I read fictional books based on the theme. This can be done in any part of my lesson plans; the introduction, development, and the conclusion. I also read a non-fictional(content) book each day usually during the development when I am trying to teach the students the content in our theme. We also do a lot with poetry and songs throughout the day, but mostly for assisted reading.
We do a lot of assisted reading in our class. This is one of the ways I teach the students to read. They learn tracking, letter recognition, phonics, and sight words through assisted reading. I start with a poem or song written on a chart. Then we practice reading it. After several times, we then pick out letters or sight words out of the chart that we are working on. I then isolate the words or letters to work on. I do not believe in working on something in isolation, but to pull the skill or words out of something meaningful to the students.
