“… how will I know they are being honest? That they really read?” It seems my reluctant readers through all my classes and my struggling readers in my co-taught classes will go through the motions as if reading… but struggle
Learning from Anne Frank
“Ms G – did you know Miep Gies was real?” My first thought was, yes, you know we are reading the play based on the Diary of Anne Frank … which is real. My second thought was that I was
Reading Conferences… I found a book I like!
Karen is one of my more able middle school readers, however she is often unengaged in reading a book during the Monitored Reading (independent reading time) in our language arts period. One day in the hall before class, she asks
Modeling independent reading habits – learning from student “co-researchers”
During my grad school-required classroom action research, I posed the question: How to engage middle school students in independent reading? Through reading conferences, journal writing, and classroom discussion, I begin to explore what students do to choose a book for
“Book Bag Browsing” … a classroom library exploration activity
Bookbag Browsing
Getting them to read AND do homework? Wow!
Walking into my language arts classroom on the first day of school, I am greeted by the sight of seven young girls spattered through a sea of twenty-two boys. I realize this is not going to be a year to
Individual survey on strategies to choose a book
choosing a book personal survey I begin by asking my language arts class to journal about, “What do you do during SSR?” (our in-class Self-Selected Reading time) Many of the brief written responses are expected — they read, talk quietly
Survey a class on book choice strategies
choosing a book class survey 1 “I want monitored reading to work, but it feels like I can’t conference with many students… too many of them are not settling during our self-selected reading time; in fact it seems like they
Learning how students choose a book
HOW TO CHOOSE A BOOK Whispering, rustling. My “teacher ears” perk up. While conferencing about a self-selected reading book with one student, my eyes scan the rest of the class for the source. Initially all seems well and I refocus
Creating a reading mindset in the middle school reader
Factors in creating a reading mindset Interest: Middle school students have strong preferences for personal reading choice; interest is a primary factor in engagement. The way to hook kids on reading is to let them read things that interest them.