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Goal

Improve comprehension, build vocabulary, and foster a love of science and reading among Kindergarten students by engaging in nonfiction “close reading activities”. 

What will be done with my students

Using close reading techniques, Kindergarten students will learn scientific vocabulary, as well as develop comprehension strategies to prepare them to become strategic thinkers. As an additional engagement strategy, the teachers will employ cooperative learning groups with interactive partner participation. When the teacher asks an evidence-based question, the students will collaborate with their peers to form an answer. Cooperative learning is more interactive and engaging than if the teacher asked a question where the students simply raised their hands to answer. With cooperative learning, all students are sharing and engaged rather than only ONE student sharing out. When students collaborate...ALL students are sharing out and actively learning. This will help promote increased interest in science, reading, and writing.
The students will be able to share their work with their parents as each week they will be taking home a project, and a leveled reader. The nonfiction CLOSE reading packet includes 20 weeks of explicit close reading lesson plans.
Teaching Process:
Each Kindergarten teacher will teach targeted vocabulary and comprehension strategies by using books that are engaging and motivating to Kindergarteners (see list of book topics). The teacher will read each book to the class several times, each time focusing on a different comprehension strategy. When the book is available on Epic, a free online library, it will be projected on the white board.
The first read will be for enjoyment as we get our students hooked on the topic. The students will have time to interact with the text and each other, sharing their favorite parts of the story. The second time the text is read, the teachers will highlight vocabulary words and help the students use these vocabulary words as they retell the story to each other. The targeted vocabulary words will be projected through the computer as well as printed and laminated so the students can have access to the words and pictures throughout the lesson. After the teachers have introduced new vocabulary words, they will review them before each reading and add actions which are effective for deepening student understanding.
The third and fourth time the story is read, the students will use thinking maps to deepen their understanding of the story. Throughout the different readings, the teachers will ask specific questions about the text to deepen student comprehension. Correctly answering these questions will require that the students think back over the text. The students will formulate their answers in a partnership with each other as the teacher monitors and assists as necessary. During small group lessons, the teacher will use the nonfiction leveled readers to continue to work on targeted comprehension strategies. The individual readers will be sent home with the students for further reading practice. The students also will participate in a project which they will take home and share with their parents.
Curriculum:
Book topics: Frogs, Dinosaurs, Dolphins, Snakes, Moon, Sharks, Storms/Weather, Seed to Plant, Elephants, Butterflies, Apples, Seasons, Veteran's Day, Polar Bears, Planets, Cats vs Dogs, Bats, A Tiger Grows Up, Reindeer, & Ponies.
There are five days of lesson plans for each week. The weeks follow the same format for ease of teaching. Included in the lesson plans are suggestions for comprehension questions at differentiated levels of complexity, targeted vocabulary words with pictures which can be printed and posted, vocabulary words which can be enlarged and projected onto the white board, and vocabulary activities such as charting and recording new vocabulary words.
The Kindergarten nonfiction readers will help the students work on targeted reading concepts. The students will get their own copy of the book to practice and then take home and continue to practice reading with their parents. Many parts of the close reading program and the leveled readers will need to be printed.
 

Benefits to my students

Close reading is a thoughtful, critical analysis of a text that focuses on significant details or patterns in order to develop a deep, precise understanding of the text's form, craft, meanings, etc. According to Nancy Boyles, Educational Leadership, December January 2013, “close reading means reading to uncover layers of meaning that lead to deep comprehension.” It is the most effective way to achieve deep comprehension and is a key requirement of the Language Arts Florida Standards yet often is not the way reading is taught in Elementary School. Students learn best when they are actively engaged and interested in their learning, and Kindergarten students are highly interested and intrigued by the natural world in which they live. Using nonfiction books on topics that are highly interesting to Kindergarten students will help foster this engagement.
 

Budget Narrative

The reading program, and leveled readers need to be printed, which is why we are requesting the Ecotank Printer. After researching cost effective ways to get the materials printed, the Ecotank Printer was the least expensive option, as the cost of the printer and included ink is the equivalent to 20 individual ink cartridges which will print over 4000 pages of black and white copies, and 6500 color copies. The ink can also be refilled inexpensively when it runs out. Below is the list of the readers we are requesting for each of the 5 kindergarten classes.
Books Number of Classes Paperback
National Geographic Readers: Sharks!
Science Reader Level 2 5 $2.19 per
$10.95 total
National Geographic Readers: Great Migrations Elephants Science Reader Level 3 5 $4.99 per
$24.95 total
National Geographic Readers: Frogs
Science Reader Level 1 5 $1.53 per
$7.65 total
National Geographic Readers: Snakes!
Science Reader Level 2 5 $2.19 per
$10.95 total
National Geographic Readers: Bears
Science Reader Level 2 5 $2.19 per
$10.95 total
National Geographic Readers: Seed to Plant
Science Reader Level 2 5 $2.19 per
$10.95 total
Moon (First Step Nonfiction paperback) 5 $6.99 per
$34.95 total
National Geographic Readers: Dolphins
Science Reader Level 2 5 $3.99 per
$19.95 total
A Tree for All Seasons (Rise and Shine) 5 $3.46 per
$17.30 total
Apples for Everyone (Picture the Seasons) 5 $4.25 per
$21.25 total
What Is Veterans Day? (I Like Holidays!) 5 $9.35 per
$49.75 total
National Geographic Readers: Polar Bears
Science Reader Level 1 5 $3.55 per
$17.75 total
National Geographic Readers: Bats l
Science Reader Level 2 5 $3.14 per
$15.70 total
National Geographic Readers: Ponies
Science Reader Level 1 5 $3.74 per
$18.70 total
National Geographic Readers: Planets
Science Reader Level 2 5 $3.19 per
$15.95 total
National Geographic Readers: Storms!
Science Reader Level 1 5 $3.25 per
$16.25 total
 

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