Unlock with PatreonThe Problem with CI
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FVR Question
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7 thoughts on “FVR Question”
My colleague picked up a strategy at NTPRS (sorry, I can’t give credit right now- I can ask Michelle which workshop it was though)
The presenter (for level 1, I think but I did it in level two and it worked also)
We gave a template and had the student read for:
1. 3 cognates
2. 2 words they remember from last year
3. 1 word they were able to determine from the picture(s)
I got less grumbling…. We can discuss the efficacy of this but I liked it because the kids did:)
I don’t play music, because I like it to be silent reading, and really enjoy the few minutes of silence. I have never had anyone object to FVR time. Sometimes, if it is hard for a class to stop talking and start reading, I tell them that I will give them 2 minutes after the 10 minutes to share with their partner what they understood from the story and sometimes that helps. In level 1, I tell them just to try to find words they recognize from English.
Some of my students LOVED it, some tolerated it; I was surprised that in last year’s surveys a couple of kids said, “I didn’t like the reading, it didn’t help me at all – don’t know the point of it.” (so, THAT was my fault! – apparently I wasn’t clear enough….need to work on that some more)
Skip – I love your suggestion. Do you have a copy of that template?
I use music too — very calming, soothing instrumental Hispanic music (ie. a 2-CD set called “Latin Cool” or Inca Son’s “Cielo-something” or “something-Cielo” (can’t remember the full title as I have a few of their CDs. They are an Andean wind-instruments band, and play a lot here in the Northeast. I saw them performing outside of Fanueil Hall in Boston a couple of years ago, and bought their CD’s and a video — the kids actually love their music) and, the kids say they enjoy the calming music. I also play it during quizzes and quiet work time. Great for a brain break.
Kevin,
I think that a big majority of kids don’t like to read anymore, because of the instant gratification mentality of this new generation of kids. They lack the practice in it and honestly I think their brains are wired differently now, especially when you are competing with electronic devices and visual stimuli.
I see my 14 year old, being on face book, doing his homework, texting, gaming in one breath and I think he can’t do it all but he does it, it’s the multi tasking generation.
So if you keep this in the back of your head and accept as such, your take on it is is more relaxed. No to say all kids hate or don’t know how to read . There are lots of avid and well read kids out there, but they are a minority , at least in my urban school.
I think that, like Skip said, if you ask them to read with a purpose, and you decide what that purpose may be, it makes the task easier.
Furthermore, I remember from Laurie Clark and Michele this summer at NTPRS in their embedded reading session, that breaking text down in smaller chunks,using bigger font, and things like that help the kids. Now this doesn’t help you if they are reading a novel but if you have them read a story, poem, song or whatever else you can work with the text.
I also like Bryce’s idea to seat in front of the class and model reading.
They need to discover practices that can be widely emulated.
Good luck!
Hey Kevin! I’ve had some of the same ambivalent feelings about FVR/SSR, so I’m constantly working on making it better. I remember Susie Gross saying to give small increments of time so that the kids have to stop reading but they still want more time, and then increase the time throughout the year. So maybe try 5 or 7 minutes. I never go beyond 10 minutes; it seems to be our limit. I’m a French teacher but I’m trying to learn Spanish, and when I try to read in Spanish, I tire of it after about 10 minutes–so I try to follow that in my classroom.
Another option might be to expand your library. My kids love to read Scholastic magazines–they really get into the weird wacky stories. They also love to read books that they and their classmates have written. At the end of the year, I have each kid write a book with illustrations. Ideally they could just choose a story from the many 10-minute writes they’ve done over the year. They write the book without dictionaries, and I just confer with them to make the rough copy a perfect final copy. When we confer I use Susie’s correction questions, especially, what sounds better: les bleus yeux or les yeux bleus? Once I ask them, they always know, and then they correct it. Then I keep the final perfect copies and add them to my library. Kids love to read their own books, their friends’ books, their older sibling’s books, their neighbor’s books…it’s amazing how the personalization affects their reading motivation. You might try it with your kids when they get enough language to write. I know Laurie Clarcq does this as well and has had great results.
Bon courage,
dori
At what point in the year should I start FVR for a Spanish 1 class?
What about a Spanish 2 class?
If they’ve had a ton of CI in the first months AND have been reading their own stories since the first week, I would set them loose on some simple novels in October. Spanish 2 if no CI in the first year would be a bit later than the Spanish 1s.