I’ve been on vacation this week, so it’s kind of a bummer to start thinking about school again, but I’ve had this post in mind since I wrote about my AIS writing charts. We’ll be getting ready for the New York State ELA exams upon return to school (fun fun) so I’ve developed a new strategy in AIS reading to help students practice non- fiction reading skills.
On the chart along the bottom are the numbers 1-8, which correspond to 8 non fiction reading skills of the common core.
I gave students a cheat sheet with matching sentence starters for each common core reading skill.
Students have all picked out a self chosen non-fiction book. As they read, they comment on the book using the sentence starters. They write the comments (we call them sticky note comments) in their notebook in a ‘double entry diary’ format. Every time a student performs that skill, they mark off on the numbered chart. My goal is for them to have check marks across the board before moving to fiction.
I also keep a running record (a la Nancy Atwell) of each student and what book he or she is reading, as well as the progress made in the book to make sure they’re actually doing something during silent reading time.
Some days, I’ll work with a small group of students from my class on a particular skill, doing guided reading. AIS can be a pain in the butt, but I believe the system I’ve developed has been working well, and I plan on doing it next year too.
Pencils and Pancakes 
What a good idea!!