I love Deb Bova's description of her "Million Words" readers--that is indeed the way to read a book with a class, i think--read it with a passion for reading, not stretch it out over 6 or 9 weeks with worksheets, etc. I try to work with my students similarly--each whole class novel serves a literary purpose, I like to think--maybe i'll emphasize theme for one, or characterization, or plot development. Sometimes vocabulary development lessons will ensue, but mostly we read and discuss and write a little. I do love using recorded books with groups, even whole class. But I give kids an option to go to another room or the library to read if they read faster than the reader on tape. I usually have 4 or 5 who opt to do that, but they are fluent readers. They rejoin us for discussion.
I spend more time building background now, too. That seems to result in greater engagement and enjoyment of the stories. I used My Side of the Mountain this year instead of Hoot for our mandated nature unit, and familiarizing the kids with the settings and talking about family relationships, NYC, the Catskills, adolescent development, really paid off. The kids found empathized with Sam and enjoyed the story, despite warnings from my colleagues that my students wouldn't be able to "get into" the book because Sam and his family are so different from them. Ha! were they wrong--and we didn't drag the book out, either--two weeks to read it! I reserve a few books that I really enjoy reading aloud and don't use tapes for that--i.e. Matilda, Harris and Me, A Year Down Yonder, the Mock Revolt...They are such fun to read aloud. -- "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worthwhile." --Herm Alvright, writer. _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
