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 to a friend, “so you won’t be able to hear”. “Most of the time I read, and if something is funny I show it to my neighbor. When I can’t find a book, I usually talk.”
But as I continue to read their written responses, I am surprised at some of the comments. Many students indicate that they want to read, but can not find a book.
“I look forward to reading, but sometimes it’s hard to find a book.”
“During SSR I like to read; it gives me a little break during the day. It’s a little hard for me to find a book though.”
It seems many of the students struggle with finding a book and that is what leads to the talking
Part of encouraging my students to read independently is to learn how they are choosing a book — does it keep them reading? Or do they just put eyes on the page with no effort…. after all, I worry that someone who can read but doesn’t eventually becomes no better than someone who cannot read.
Asking students to complete this survey helps them to think about what they do when selecting a book …. and by having conversations throughout class about what their peers do, I note that it encourages them to experiment with more book selection methods.
I often conference with students, in addition to asking them to journal about their learning, adding another dimension to their thinking. The conference with “Jill” is typical… (name changed for privacy)
Jill: I never used to read a lot. I just had to, I was made to. Now, I’m getting more interested in books, so I just read for the fun of it. Now I see there are more choices and I know how to choose a book better.
Me: How did you used to choose books?
Jill: By just looking at the cover and seeing if it interested me or not.
Me: What’s different?
Jill: Now I know to read the back of it, to flip through a few pages. I read a little and give it a chance. I try more ways to know if it is interesting.
Me: And how did that change?
Jill: Well, I used to just read because I had to, even though it was boring and it wasn’t very interesting. I just read because I had to. But it changed because now I can choose better and I can get more into books.
Me: Books fall open, you fall in? How did you come to know to do different things to find a book?
Jill: We learned how to read a book better; we practiced and learned how to recognize what we like. We learned to think about which writing style we like better and to think about the author.