The Montessori Message

The Montessori Message

Tag Archives: reading

What are you reading?

21 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

books, reading, reading comprehension, reading skills

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Reading is one of the most important things that schools are charged with. When children enter school, one of the first skills they are expected to gain is the ability to read. As educators, we continue to learn more about the science of reading and how to analyze reading skills that children must acquire. Once children gain basic reading skills, the emphasis shifts to comprehension – and boy, does it shift. Text is analyzed. Discussions are held. Highlighting happens. We ask children to look for details, answer questions and notice text features. And sometimes, just sometimes, we suck the joy right out of reading.

I read constantly. Every day, no matter how busy I am, I read. I read for information and I read for pleasure. In the past two days, I have read to plan visits to travel sites, to figure out “whodunnit,” to synthesize information about a student needing support, and to learn what is going on in the world, locally and internationally. I’m sure that you, like me, can remember some of the reading activities of your school years that were boring, painful, and redundant. As we learn more about fostering reading skills, one of the things we know is that the more children read or are read to, the better a reader they become. Entering the world of books, no matter their length, their format, or their subject, is one of the great joys we can share with children. What books have you shared lately?

Writing – Beyond Rules & Grammar Drills

13 Thursday Oct 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird, reading, writer, writing

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This quote comes from one of my favorite books, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Though it is a book about writing, it is compelling. Lamott is a great storyteller who has written both fiction and non-fiction. She is a writer who speaks freely about just how challenging writing can be.

Learning to write is one of the most difficult things we do. We first have to learn the physical act of writing and then move on to the craft of writing. As readers, we learn what we like to read and, as children, often do not connect the fact that the books we enjoy are indeed products of writing. Connecting the two disciplines can be challenging.

Continue reading →

Reading Aloud

06 Thursday Oct 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Extended Day Programs, Learning, Wilmington Montessori School

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Tags

learning commons, library, read aloud, reading

screen-shot-2016-10-05-at-8-14-17-pmAs September has come to a close, so have our daily read alouds in the WMS Learning Commons. As you may know, the past month featured many WMS friends reading to the children each day. Our special guests included Board members, grandparents, parents, staff members and, yes, even dogs. The children enjoyed the great pleasure of singing a song to get started and hearing about favorite characters in literature. Each day was a little different – though the routine remained the same.

heather-siple-read-aloud-019Reading aloud is one of the most important things we can do for children. Read alouds offer the opportunity for children to experience books they may not be quite ready to take on by themselves. The characters come alive through the different voices, expressions and mannerisms that the reader brings to them. Children learn how a book “sounds.” Most of us can’t recall how we learned to read. What we know through research is that reading is multi-faceted. Children move from learning letter sounds to forming words by grouping letters together to eventually reading fluently rather than plodding along word by word.

Know that as you read that favorite book to your children one more time, they are gaining more than simply a familiar story. They are experiencing the joy of the written word, the beauty of illustrations that support the story, and the wonder of reading.

Word Play

25 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Wilmington Montessori School

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

amelia bedelia, books, learning commons, library, reading, word play

BLOG - raining-cats-and-dogs1This week has been spent culling the collection of books in our school’s library. It is a challenging job, especially for people who love books. Each book has its merits – one harder to part with than the next. You can tell so much about our library by the books in the collection. Some draw us in more than others. One of the sections I loved looking at was the books that have word play as the theme. Among the dictionaries, thesauruses and other reference materials, one can also find idioms and books about alternate uses of language or words.

From children’s books about the character Amelia Bedelia who makes a sponge cake with a kitchen sponge or pitches a tent by throwing (or pitching) it in the woods, to the book for older children Eats, Shoots and Leaves about misplaced punctuation changing the meaning of a phrase, these books are a delight for those who love words. 

As children grow, they learn to speak, to read and to make meaning of language; as it become increasingly complex, mistakes are made. They repeat what they think they heard and what makes sense to them, only to have adults chuckle at their misunderstanding. Language takes a lifetime to develop. At WMS, we focus on language development from the earliest ages when toddlers are mimicking sounds, to rhyming words with primary and elementary students and laughing along with children as they begin to “get” words’ double meanings and play with words and their usage.

They’re all ears!

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What is a library?

18 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning

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Tags

bookmobile, learning, libraries, reading

BookmobileWhen I was a child, Tuesday was my favorite day of the week. The Bookmobile came to our local shopping center.

For those of you who grew up in towns with libraries, you may not be familiar with a Bookmobile. It is essentially a library on wheels. Each week, we would visit the Bookmobile to return the books we had read and check out new ones. Adventures awaited on those shelves…from the mysteries of Nancy Drew to the books needed to do research for a school project, we counted on the Bookmobile and all it had to offer. When I was a child, libraries meant books. I loved books; therefore I loved libraries. Continue reading →

Picture Books: Not Just for Young Children

24 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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Pernille Ripp, picture books, reading, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

ReadingWhat is your favorite picture book?

Is it one you read or had read to you as a child or possibly one you have read to your own child, maybe over and over again? There are so many wonderful picture books – many that are funny and heartwarming, others nothing short of inspiring. You might think of picture books as only appropriate for young children. I encourage you to read this post on Pernille Ripp’s blog. It is one of two posts where she shares several new picture books that will inspire and delight readers of all ages.

At WMS, we read picture books to toddlers as well as the our 9-12 students. We use them to delight, enchant and inspire. Take a few minutes to relish a book in your collection or in ours. You won’t regret it.

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Inspiration from Nancie Atwell

14 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in making a difference, Montessori Education, Teachers

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9-12 program, center for teaching and learning, Global Teaching Prize, inspiration, nanci atwell, reading, teachers, upper elementary, writing

nancie-atwell-7Last month, Nancie Atwell of the Center for Teaching and Learning won the first Global Teaching Prize. Atwell is a teacher in the small town of Edgecomb, Maine, and is known to so many other teachers throughout the world for her work in literacy, teaching the skills of reading and writing. At WMS, we have used her work as a guiding force in establishing the curriculum for the 9-12 Program.

Although Nancie Atwell’s books are used by many teachers, it is who she is as a person that inspires teachers to refine their practice and do their best for the children they teach. Searching the website for the Center for Teaching and Learning leads one to understand the mission and values of the school, which align with WMS and its mission. Children are accepted for who they are, taught what they need to learn as individuals and given multiple opportunities to understand the concepts being taught. They are approached as individuals first. I have followed Nancie Atwell for years, attended her workshops and worked to incorporate her ideas and lessons into the lessons I taught. She is genuine – a person who listens and learns, inspires, and delights in the children in her classroom and school. It is fitting that she has received this prize and recognition for all that she has done for teachers everywhere.

Note: If you click on no other link, check this link that suggests books for your children to read. It is a great resource.

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