Practice Makes Perfect

Today during our reading block I shared the story of a past student who had to work really hard at becoming a good reader.  I shared the secret of this student... practice!  Every time this student was doing "Read to Self" he was doing his very best reading and always tried his hardest when sounding out new words.  We discussed how no matter where a student is at in his or her reading, our valuable reading time must be well spent.  I compared it to playing your favorite sport.  You would never take the football to the backyard, set it down, and just look at it.  In order to become better you have to practice throwing it, kicking it, and running with it.  The same goes for first and second graders as they grow in their reading.  Moving from reading pictures to reading words to reading longer books requires dedication and practice!