Yeah, Katie is providing a post once again! She is one of my teaching superstar. I am amazed by anyone who manages to teacher middle school year after year. I am even more impressed that she reads to her kids, keeps a blog from time to time, survived cancer, reads like a maniac, she connects with kids, and still can find time to write me a guest blog post. You should browse for her other posts on the contributors page.
Getting Books in the Hands of Readers by Katie Sluiter
It has long been established that choice is the key to helping students find joy in reading. Access to a diverse group of authors, genres, and text complexities along with dedicated time to read during class time has proven to improve student reading more than any other strategy. As someone who has deeply invested in the research and strategies of Penny Kittle, Donalyn Miller, Kelly Gallagher, among others, I have spent years growing my classroom library to include books that can provide what Rudine Sims Bishop calls windows, sliding doors, and mirrors for all of my students. I also give my 8th graders time every single day to read.
But there is a step between the access and the time to read that tends to get glossed over. A well-curated classroom library is not a field of dreams--just by providing books does not mean students will read them. Teachers also need to become adept at pairing readers with books.
Too many times, students are brought to a library (if they are lucky) and/or told, “go ahead--pick whatever you want to read!” without any guidance. Those who are already reluctant readers will, at best, wander aimlessly choosing a random book. At worst, students will just not choose anything. When I was a newish high school teacher, I tried having the students pick what they wanted to read. It failed.
But there is a step between the access and the time to read that tends to get glossed over. A well-curated classroom library is not a field of dreams--just by providing books does not mean students will read them. Teachers also need to become adept at pairing readers with books.
Too many times, students are brought to a library (if they are lucky) and/or told, “go ahead--pick whatever you want to read!” without any guidance. Those who are already reluctant readers will, at best, wander aimlessly choosing a random book. At worst, students will just not choose anything. When I was a newish high school teacher, I tried having the students pick what they wanted to read. It failed.
It failed for a number of reasons, but the big two culprits were that I didn’t read what my students read and I didn’t show them how to choose books that would meet them as readers.
The past five years that I have been at the middle school level, I have worked on some real strategies to get books in the hands of all my students. I think of books as potential new friends, and encourage my students to “meet” them in a variety of ways.
The past five years that I have been at the middle school level, I have worked on some real strategies to get books in the hands of all my students. I think of books as potential new friends, and encourage my students to “meet” them in a variety of ways.
Book Talks
| Promoted by reading gurus everywhere, frequent book talks are the most regular way I get titles in front of my students. In fact, the first thing I do on the first day of school is book talk one of the books I read over the summer that I loved (this year I will be book talking Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson). Because we have 60-minute class periods, I don’t have the time to book talk each day, however I devote 10 minutes every Tuesday to Book Talk Tuesday. I usually feature at least three books. As the school year goes on, I start to hand over Book Talk Tuesday to students. I also take students to our school media center once a marking period as a whole class (they can visit the media center individually when they want) so our fantastically awesome media center specialist can do book talks with them. She is a voracious reader of Young Adult Literature, and has a wider selection than I do in my room. It also gives me time to wander and chat with kids about what they are reading--or not reading. |  |
Book Speed-Dating
 | During the first week of school, I set my room up like a speed-dating cafe. Students are put in groups of 4 at tables. Each table has 4 books from my classroom library. Each student has 16 speed date forms that ask them to rate the book in front of them on First Impressions (the cover art, etc), Flirting (summary and blurbs from other authors, etc.), and Getting to Know You (opening it and reading a selection). From there they circle “yes”, “no”, or “maybe” for if they would like to take the book out. They get two minutes per book. At the end, they sort their forms into three piles. Then I have the write all the titles that received a “yes” into their Reading Notebooks on the page for “What I Want To Read,” and tell them they can also put in the maybe’s if they choose. My 8th graders LOVE doing this so much, I am considering starting second semester this way too since kids can get in a reading rut halfway through the school year. |
Book Tasting
This is similar to speed-dating, but with a different motif: that of a reading cafe. My fellow 8th grade ELA teachers and I set this up when we do literature circles.
We transform our Media Center into a Cafe: we dim the lights, project a fireplace on the big screen, play some quiet jazz, and set each table with a tablecloth, place mats, tea lights (the electric kind because middle schoolers will burn it all down otherwise), a table tent with instructions, copies of the book that will be “tasted” at that table, and of course, bakery treats.
Because we combine classes for this event, each teacher has an apron on. As students come in, one teacher will group the students for each table, and one will guide each group to their first table. Each table has a different menu that features the book for that table. Similar to my book speed-dating, Students get Taste Test Forms for each of the books that include First Impressions (title, cover, appearance), Menu Description (summary of the book, number of pages, etc.), and Taste Test (looking through the actual book). Students give the book “stars” for each category.
Also like speed-dating, students then use their forms to give their first, second, and third choice for which books they would like to read for literature circles.
We transform our Media Center into a Cafe: we dim the lights, project a fireplace on the big screen, play some quiet jazz, and set each table with a tablecloth, place mats, tea lights (the electric kind because middle schoolers will burn it all down otherwise), a table tent with instructions, copies of the book that will be “tasted” at that table, and of course, bakery treats.
Because we combine classes for this event, each teacher has an apron on. As students come in, one teacher will group the students for each table, and one will guide each group to their first table. Each table has a different menu that features the book for that table. Similar to my book speed-dating, Students get Taste Test Forms for each of the books that include First Impressions (title, cover, appearance), Menu Description (summary of the book, number of pages, etc.), and Taste Test (looking through the actual book). Students give the book “stars” for each category.
Also like speed-dating, students then use their forms to give their first, second, and third choice for which books they would like to read for literature circles.
While all of these events are fun, the main thing I try to do is make books and talking about books a daily part of my classroom from Day 1 to Day 180. Talk TO your students about what they are reading or not reading. Find out what they like and what they struggle with. Constant talk and recommendations should be happening.
Every year I have students who will finish a book and say, “what should I read next” despite my best efforts to turn them into planners. For those kids, I either hand them a personally made recommendation list, or I pull books from my library and set a stack in front of them and say, “look at these for your next adventure.”
Books are part of each and every day in my classroom. Even on the last day of school, I make student curated “Summer Rec” lists available as they walk out the door reminding them that their public library is free and close by.
If you want students to read they need choice, access, and time, but they also need a teacher who loves reading enough to talk about it constantly. Now let’s get books into the hands of students!
Every year I have students who will finish a book and say, “what should I read next” despite my best efforts to turn them into planners. For those kids, I either hand them a personally made recommendation list, or I pull books from my library and set a stack in front of them and say, “look at these for your next adventure.”
Books are part of each and every day in my classroom. Even on the last day of school, I make student curated “Summer Rec” lists available as they walk out the door reminding them that their public library is free and close by.
If you want students to read they need choice, access, and time, but they also need a teacher who loves reading enough to talk about it constantly. Now let’s get books into the hands of students!
Katie Sluiter currently teaches at Wyoming Junior High School in Wyoming, Michigan. She has taught middle school, high school, and community college English and Composition classes and has her Masters Degree in Teaching English from Western Michigan University. She advocates for best practices in the ELA classroom as a contributing writer to The Educator's Room. She has presented at multiple MCTE conferences and will be on two panels at the upcoming NCTE conference in Atlanta. Her blog, Sluiter Nation, chronicles her life as a mother and teacher. She lives in Zeeland, Michigan with her family. You can contact her at [email protected]
To donate to Mrs. Sluiter’s classroom library, check out her Classroom Library Wish List created by student requests.
Until next week.
To donate to Mrs. Sluiter’s classroom library, check out her Classroom Library Wish List created by student requests.
Until next week.
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