[MOSAIC] appreciating reading

[Kukonis at aol.com]

As far as responding to text.... one thing that I love to do is have a  
parent tea with about 5-6 volunteers. I set the classroom as my dining room ...  
round table, coffee cups, treats, and books. The parents come in have a book  
club about a story that my children have also read or discussed in reading  
workshop. The kids fishbowl the group and just notice how the talk is  
spontaneous, fun, and centered around good friends sharing ideas. Later we talk  about 
the club's body language, how they kept the conversation going, how they  agreed 
or disagreed with each other, how they used strategies of  comprehension to 
support their comments. The club always ends by selecting  the next read and 
the next host. Parents usually then extend the  conversation to the kids as 
well. This is the start of literature circles and  lunch bunches in my first grade 
class. Really fun to watch,,, really exciting to  be a part of. Also takes 
the structure out of the response and i think puts  it in a more authentic 
setting.