READING AT EAGLE VIEW: IT’S A LOT OF THINKING!
I have had the pleasure of visiting several 3rd-6th grade classes in the past couple days where the focus has been on 
reading. In every lesson during these particular visits, the class started out sitting on the rug for a “focus lesson.” During the focus lesson, the teacher would highlight a particular reading strategy or strategies and model thinking while all students could see the text on the SMART board. Then, students would independently read at their desks while the teacher met with individual and groups of students on their reading goals. While students were independently reading, they were recording their thoughts in their reading logs and/or using post-it notes to identify vocabulary words that they were monitoring. They use metacognitive (“thinking about their thinking”) strategies to assist them in this interactive process. Students at Eagle View are truly immersed in reading….and reading is THINKING!
As a parent myself, I enjoy reading with my third grader and kindergartner. Sometimes it is hard to spend quality, leisurely reading time with them, but we usually can fit in some read-aloud/think-aloud time each week. A book can often be the window through which I learn about my children’s thinking! And I usually find that there is more learning to be done–theirs as well as mine.
