"Reading is both a cognitive and emotional journey." Can you speak to this idea?
At
one level, reading is a skill that can be taught and learned. How to
locate information, analyze a plot, or decode vocabulary-these reading
skills are necessary and can be learned. Everyone who is literate has
these skills some to some degree. Beyond reading skills, we cannot
overlook or discount reading's emotional, spiritual, and intellectual
value-discovering things about ourselves and the world that we didn't
know, learning from the accomplishments and failures of others,
inspiring action, and expanding our knowledge. If children do not
develop this aesthetic connection to reading, they won't see reading as
anything but a skill. I believe that basic literacy is important, of
course, but I think education should do more than teach workplace
applicable skills. Education should teach students to question and
provide them with the tools they need to find their own answers.
How might a teacher with a heavily scheduled day find time to add in independent reading?
I
know that there is never enough time to teach what we are expected to
teach under the time constraints given. I get it. If I cannot find
evidence-based and research-proven reasons for using a particular
activity or tool, I don't use it. I don't have time to waste on
activities that don't benefit students' growth as readers, writers, and
thinkers. I take the minimum number of grades my district requires.
There is no busy work. We read. We write. We share and talk about
reading and writing. That is it.
It
is very liberating, actually. I suggest that all teachers critically
evaluate every activity they are doing to determine whether or not it
moves students toward independence or just more school. Independent
reading has more influence on students' long term reading achievement
than any other activity. Why would we put it last?
I
recommend that students read every day for a minimum of 15 minutes.
Divide your class into thirds-1/3 for independent reading and
conferences, 1/3 for mini-lesson and guided practice, and 1/3 for more
reading and more writing.
Catching
the reading bug: I loved hearing about all the ways your kids bring
reading into their everyday lives. Tell us about your student who once
read in the shower!
Ah,
that was Molly. She was desperately trying to finish a book, but her
mom kept calling down the hall for her to get in the shower. Realizing
that she couldn't hold off her mom until she finished the book, Molly
held the book out of the shower to keep it dry and kept reading it.
You
have an extensive classroom library largely run by your students. I'm
curious if you find certain titles "have legs" -- seem to wander away
more so than others. In my room my Shel Silverstein and Sara Holbrook
poems had to be replaced often. What about you?
When
I taught middle school, the books that "walked" the most were: SMILE by
Raina Telgemeier, the Skeleton Creek series, Bone graphic novels,
CLIQUE by Lisi Harrison, HATCHET by Gary Paulsen, and innumerable copies
of THE HUNGER GAMES and THE LIGHTNING THEIF. I imagine that many of
these books are sitting on shelves in a former student's home. I hope
they are. Every once in awhile, a younger sibling returns books that
were discovered. I enjoy reading the apology notes attached. I think my
books have more adventurous lives than I do.
When
I taught I hosted an annual Book Auction. Kids would donate books they
no longer wanted. I gave all my students five "dollars," whether they
donated or not, and those who donated got an extra dollar for each title
they brought in. At the end of the day, everyone went home with a pile
of new-to-them books.
What are some other creative ways a teacher might get books in kids' hands?
I
love your book auction idea. We held school-wide book swaps at my
previous school. Students and families donated books and received
coupons for each title. During the swap, kids could take home a book for
every coupon. We gave away extra coupons, so that every child had one.
Extra books were donated to charity book drives.
As I read THE BOOK WHISPERER, I kept wondering if you'd read Daniel Pennac's THE RIGHTS OF THE READER. And you have! Which of these rights do you think are hardest for kids to embrace? For teachers?
For
students, it's hard for them to see these rights as normal reading
behaviors. They have been told by adults that skipping pages, abandoning
books, rereading favorites, and not reading sometimes are negative
behaviors. We spend a lot of time during the early weeks of school
discussing these rights and sharing our experiences with them.
For
teachers, I think that accepting times when students just don't feel
like reading is normal. When a student actively avoids reading all of
the time, this is cause for concern, but some days are OK. I notice that
my students don't want to start another book right away when they have
recently finished a great one. I encourage students to spend their
reading time writing a recommendation or reflection about the book
instead, or researching the author's other work.
"Every
lesson, conference, response, and assignment I taught must lead
students away from me and toward their autonomy as literate people." Can
you talk briefly about the ways you use reader's notebooks and
one-on-one conferences in your room and how they build autonomy?
John
Dewey said, "We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting
on experience." I think that notebooks and conferences provide a formal
way for students to collect information about their reading and reflect
on their experiences. In their notebooks, students record the books they
read, notes from lessons and research, and their reading responses.
When we confer, I usually begin the conversation with what the students
are currently reading and move into looking through notebooks for trends
in reading behavior, as well as strengths and goals. My students and I
develop individual goals for their reading during these conferences.
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3 comments:
Oh, Kim. I'm so, so sorry. I was just about to check in on you today. xoxo Sending so much love.
Hi, Kimberley. So sorry for your loss.
Thank you both so much for your sweet words and thoughts. xo
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