“You know, Ms. G, it’s a good thing this is my question, because if you had assigned it to me, I would have quit by now.” With those words, I knew I had found a way to make inquiry and
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.
Factors that impact middle school readers
The Inertia of Non-Reading: Exploring factors that impact middle school readers Dramatic changes in attitude By middle school age, the nature of students’ reading performance and their attitude toward leisure reading undergoes dramatic change You may notice that where an
Voice Choice and Opportunity
I often have students write journals about their reading…. through their reflections I learned the importance of the idea of Voice/Choice/Opportunity…. factors I had read over and over in my grad class research. The students words and ideas made it