Teaching Reading Strategies

If you know me well, my passion is in reading. As a child I used to HATE it! I would hate it so bad that I would hide the books my teacher gave me under my bed thinking that no one would ever know I didn't read them (ask my mom about that!).  After studying literacy and analyzing my habits as a reader when I was younger, I found that I hated reading so bad because I wasn't good at it. I was never taught how to comprehend. I only thought I had to read fast (which I wasn't good at either)! I find it easy to relate with those children that are our challenged readers and hope to inspire them. Over the years I have found a passion in reading and more specifically teaching reading. My classroom library now houses around 3,000 books!
While teaching the students about the various comprehension strategies and the importance of all of them, we discuss reading in terms of football. (GO STEELERS by the way!) We talk about the team being on the field in a huddle. I ask them what the players talk about in the huddle (how to win). I then explain that just like football players, we need a plan to "win" at reading. (Analogy adapted from Nancy Boyles' book.) Throughout the lessons, we also discuss having a toolkit to help us "win". The students received their very own Reader's Tool Kit. When we learn a new strategy and practice that straegy we add a tool to the kit. A great song to go with the strategy instruction is Reading is Thinking by Rockin' the Standards.