Looking Through the Faraway End: Creating a Literature-Based Reading Curriculum With Second Graders

"...I was looking through my binoculars at a bird in a tree. When I looked through the close-up end, I saw the bird... when I looked through the faraway end, I saw the whole tree." (Amarachi, Grade 2) This remark, made by a student whose newly found understanding of how we view the world affects what we see, is the perfect metaphor for the authors' "close-up" look at how a group of second graders grew as readers, became literate thinkers & participated in conversations about books. Looking Through the Faraway End: Creating a Literature-Based Reading Curriculum With Second Graders is the result of a collaboration of a teacher-researcher, author Lisa Cross Stanzi & two university researchers, authors Lee Galda & Shane Rayburn. Together they discovered the importance of balancing their close-up classroom observations with the "faraway" literacy patterns that allowed students to make meaning. This is the story of how discussion became the foundation of Lisa's classroom practice as she transformed her basal-reading curriculum into a program that made use of literature-study groups. Listen as Lisa & her students discuss stories & questioning themselves & one another. Watch as group members become more sophisticated readers & conversationalists. Observe as they learn from one another & as the authors learn from them.Interspersed throughout this book & others in the Kids InSight series are Reflection Points-time-outs for teachers-which offer a variety of ideas & insights to help teachers renew or strengthen their self-perceptions & practices. Use the experiences of the authors & students described in this book to reflect on your teaching & help you become a more responsive teacher who understands your students' learning needs.Lee Galda is the author of 'Looking Through the Faraway End: Creating a Literature-Based Reading Curriculum With Second Graders' with ISBN 9780872072633 and ISBN 0872072630.