Grade 2 students at Children’s Garden School on Eglinton Ave. E. in Leaside are using personal reading Flash Light Lasers to help concentrate and get in touch with their reading material. They choose a good spot (one says under the teacher’s desk is perfect) and use the light to keep their eyes on the page the whole time. If they are interrupted, the lights help them find their place quickly and easily. Overhead lights are off to minimize distraction and keep kids calm. The process helps strengthen their reading stamina. The Grade 2s were given personal lights to enhance one-to-one correspondence and to focus in on the words.
DAILY 5 ACTIVITIES
This reading self exercise is one of the school’s Daily 5 activities. Students choose from five centres: Read-to-Self, Read-to-Someone, Listen-to-Reading, Word Work, and Work on Writing. Students are empowered by having choices and each centre strengthens their literacy skills in different ways. CGS students have been building their reading stamina for Read-to-Self since Grade 1. Independent and Shared Reading is modelled and slowly introduced so students know what it looks like and how to do it effectively to become better readers. Their graduation to personal flash lights has generated enthusiastic feedback on the new reading tool. Here’s some.
“Having the lights off calm me down. The flashlight is bright and it helps me read. The laser part helps me focus on each word!”
“It helps me see better”
“I think Daily 5 is a lot better with these because you can see the words more clearly in dark cozy reading spots.”
“The light helps me focus because whenever I stop I know where my place is. They’re awesome!”
“They’re very useful because they help you read books very well.’
“They’re awesome. I feel more focused on reading the words!”
“My favourite spot in Daily 5 is under the teacher’s desk. Because nobody is around me. I’m blocked with the desk. The flashlight helps me a lot because my sneaky desk spot is dark. I like them a lot and Daily 5!”
“I knew about the laser first! My teacher showed me in the morning and had to keep it a secret. I kept them a good secret. It’s a great tool!”
