A Close-Up Look at Teaching Reading

  I can't imagine a more worthwhile professional development tool than videos of Sharon Taberski's teaching. I'm always awed by the rigor, brilliance, and clarity that mark her classroom work. - Shelley Harwayne   Sharon Taberski's classic video series A Close-Up Look at Teaching Reading is now available on a single DVD. The series takes you inside Sharon's classroom and shows how to help students become fluent, independent readers by assessing their reading in authentic ways, demonstrating effective reading strategies, creating opportunities for children to practice strategies, and providing genuine responses.   1. Independent Reading and Reading Share Sharon begins by explaining the importance of materials and room organization. Then she starts her day sitting alongside readers, learning as much as she can about their progress. During independent reading her students get many opportunities to practice their reading strategies before reconvening to discuss what they have learned about themselves as readers. 2. Read-Aloud and Shared Reading During the meeting portion of the reading workshop, Sharon demonstrates reading strategies for the children as she reads aloud. Later, she guides them in shared reading. During both, she provides opportunities to respond to literature, demonstrates effective reading strategies, and teaches skills in a supportive, meaningful context. 3. Reading Conferences Sharon focuses on ways to both confer with children to assess their reading needs and use that information to inform subsequent teaching. She highlights several assessment methods, including retellings, reading discussions, and running records, then demonstrates how she records her observations and plans follow-up lessons. < Guided Reading Expanding guided reading to situations where small groups work on specific reading strategies, Sharon shows how to group children for varied lengths of time in response to specific reading needs. Following up on her assessments, Sharon focuses on one strategy at a time, provides opportunities for practice, and offers support as she nudges readers toward independence. A User's Guide accompanies the DVD, explaining how it can be used in a variety of contexts.     System Requirements This DVD-ROM will play in standard DVD players and computers equipped with a DVD drive and playback softward.