In any case, hopefully you're excited by what you see. Our reading and literature instruction is changing for these grades as well as for 3rd and 4th grades! It will look a little different in each class and with each teacher, but what you'll notice is that CHOICE is a key word here. In some classes, they will have increased choice, balanced by some teacher selection, and in others, they will be choosing all of their reading throughout the year, with just some guidance on genre or the amount of time spent reading. This is all by design, and it is backed by research that is hard to refute! 

Some of you may be on board with this right away, and some of you may be skeptical. Over the next few days leading up to the start of school, I'll be sharing some of our vision and strategy for what this might look like at CHESS so that we're all on the same page. I would also encourage all of our CHESS parents to read The Book Whisperer to catch the excitement! 

 

Our students will be reading a lot of books, and we will be working with them to help make sure that those books are ones that they enjoy as well as ones that lead them to being strong and confident readers and thinkers. Our goal is to help all of our students, whether they currently think of themselves as "readers" or not, to fall in love with reading. We think it's attainable, and we're looking foward to partnering with you in this adventure!