Can I be really honest with you? Don’t judge me, but I really hated teaching reading, writing and grammar during my first few years of teaching. I dreaded my ELA block every day. I found it boring to teach! I LOVE to read and write, but I felt like my lessons were causing my kids to hate all things ELA related. It was depressing!
Fast forward a few years and I can honestly say that I am totally motivated to teach amazing ELA lessons. I am no expert! I don’t have all of the answers. But I am super excited to share what I did to make ELA more fun to teach and more engaging and effective for my third graders.
Let’s take a look at my ELA block!
Today, I am sharing about my reading whole group lessons. I will be adding additional parts throughout the month!
Part Two: Reading Centers
Part Three: Vocabulary
Part Four: Language
Part Five: Writing
My ELA Schedule
Here is a look at my entire ELA schedule.
I know that I might have more time than some of you. I worked hard to create that time in my schedule! One thing that really helped was not having full math and ELA blocks on Fridays. I use Friday to do assessments and tons of social studies and science. I don’t teach these subjects Monday-Thursday and so the long blocks on Friday easily make up for that. Plus, there is tons of ELA mixed into science and social studies.
Whole Group Reading
My whole group reading is not very traditional. I am just NOT the kind of teacher who can stand in front of the class and read a PowerPoint presentation to them. I am also not the kind of teacher who loves the basal textbook. My school required us to use it. And I used it. I used it to collect dust bunnies on my book shelf. ? But that is our little secret!
I used my whole group time to read aloud to my third graders. They would eat their snack and take restroom breaks while I read. The fact that they loved the books so much meant that they were nice and quick with their restroom break!
My school had a pacing guide that broke apart the reading standards and I had a skill that I was required to focus on each week. I used my read aloud to start discussions related to the focus skill. Let me give you an example: If my focus was character traits, I would read for a while (because that is the best part) and then stop and ask, “What word would you use to describe the type of person ______ is? I don’t want words to describe what he looks like. I want words that describe his personality.” I let a few students share answers and I close by saying, “Words that describe someone’s personality are called character traits.” BOOM!
The next day, before I start reading, I might say, “Whisper to your partner to tell them what a character trait is.” Then I will repeat my definition from the day before. I will read and then we can take a minute to discuss the character traits of another one of the characters in the book.
This type of intro mini lesson can be done for just about every standard that I had to teach. All of the literature standards can be taught with any fiction book and the majority of the informational standards could be taught with a non fiction book (such as Magic Treehouse research guides).
Using a read aloud chapter book for my whole group time really allowed me to introduce new authors, genres and series to my students. It encouraged their love for reading and, for me, that is what it is all about!
If you want to see some of my favorite books, check out THIS blog post.
I know that my students will need more practice with the skills, but I also know that I will be meeting with them in guided groups. During that time we will have more discussions and time to write.
I hope that this gives you a little glimpse into my whole group reading time!
Are you ready to check out the next post in the ELA series? Click HERE to read about my reading centers.
Have a Not So Wimpy day!
FREE Test Prep Review Week for Grades 2–5!
Love your materials and helpful info! Thank you!
Do you have info/resources for how you include and teach spelling and phonics?
Good question — I am wondering the same!
Hi Jenny,
Since this post was written we’ve added some great resources. We have an awesome spelling curriculum for grades 2 and 3 and have plans to create grades 4 and 5 in the future. This blog post explains the curriculum in more detail: https://notsowimpyteacher.com/2022/05/how-to-teach-spelling.html
You can view the curriculum using this link: https://notsowimpyteacher.com/2022/05/how-to-teach-spelling.html. You can also download a FREE week of activities using this link: https://notsowimpyteacher.ck.page/dd64414f9f We know once you see the curriculum, you’ll love it!
Please email jamie@notsowimpyteacher.com if you have any further questions.
I love you and your resources. Do you do trainings, webinars?
She does a whole training series on her reading, writing, and math blocks on her Facebook page. You can find them in her videos section.
You may also be interested in the Writing Masterclass that is a 10 hour PD on writing workshop. You can learn more about it and get on the waiting list for next year using this link http://www.notsowimpyteacher.com/yes
Good Evening,
I was going to purchase your Reading Bundle but I was also interested in your Book club and Reading REsponses. Are the lst two included in the reading bundle or should I purchase them separately? Thanks, Beth Morgan
I noticed that I had the same question as another teacher, but within the Reading bundle are the Reading Responses and Book Club included? Thank you!
Hi Retta,
The Reading Bundle includes a unit on answering questions. Here are links to other resources specifically on Reading Response and one for Book Clubs.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Response-Essay-Writing-Unit-5272087
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Book-Club-Digital-and-Printable-Fiction-and-Nonfiction-Bundle-1868209
Hi! I am looking to follow your schedule for my reading block! I am also not a fan of our basal text. I saw the list of books that you shared for whole group read alouds, do you have a pacing guide for the read alouds that you used to go along with the target skills?
I’m sorry, I do not have a pacing guide for the read alouds I used with my class.
How would you suggest modifying the block if we are departmentalized and I only have 90 minutes a day with the students for ELA? Thanks for any insights you can offer!
Great question, Lenny! Scheduling is one of the most challenging parts of teaching. You can use this link to sign up for our FREE class schedule resource full of ideas on how to get creative with limited time. https://notsowimpyteacher.ck.page/e004e2fb7e
Hello!
I love that you include your reading mini-lessons with your read-aloud books! How do you ensure that you are getting thoughtful and inciteful responses from your students?
Thank you!
Hi Erin,
During the read aloud time I focus on the skill using discussion and turn and talk to include all students. For more detail on reading response you can view this post: https://notsowimpyteacher.com/2017/08/my-ela-block-reading-centers.html
During your whole group read aloud does each student have their own copy of the chapter read aloud book?
Hi Kristen! If you have whole class sets, then you could have your students follow along. However, I usually did not have whole class sets, so my students listened as I read aloud. I knew my students would need more practice with the weekly skill, but I also knew I would be meeting with them in small groups to continue practicing the skill and meeting students a their reading levels. I hope this helps!
I love your resources! I just purchased your first unit, character traits but am a little confused as to when you teach the skill each day? From this blog post it sounds like you are spending the entire 20 minutes doing a read aloud and fostering discussion around the skill. When do you actually go through the power point teaching slides and when do students do the reading work you have laid out on days 2-10?
Hi Sabrina! Thank you for your message and your purchase! We just recently updated this reading unit to include additional activities that can be used daily during your whole group lesson or incorporated into your groups. There is flexibility with the activities. You can use Day 1 and Day 6 PPT whole group. This unit also includes two interactive notebook activities for Day 2 and 7. You might choose to do one of these each week as a whole group activity, or you might choose to use them in small groups or centers. The activities have very simple cuts so that precious time is not wasted in class. The activities on Day 3, 4, 8 and 9 can also be done whole group or you may choose to do them in small groups or centers as well. I hope this helps!
Hello, is this a daily suggested schedule or you do some components each day, spread out over the course of the week? Looking to use as a supplement as we do novel studies. I also teach another subject as well and have 90 minutes to get it all done. Just seeing how to incorporate. Thank you.
Hello! Thank you for your question! This is a daily suggested schedule. Our curriculum for reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary and spelling all include daily routines. You can always remove one or two of the days’ activities in order to fit everything in. This blog post would also be helpful and includes additional suggested schedules: https://notsowimpyteacher.com/2021/08/simple-tips-to-plan-a-fun-and-engaging-ela-schedule.html