I'm a little behind now on the questions, just got home from camping in
Colorado, took my book to read, didn't have access to post.
"Readers without power to make their own choices are unmotivated." (pg 23)
I thought this was a very powerful statement and one that probably defines many
of reading problems in children today. Who the heck wants to read just what a
teacher picks out, or what just happens to be in the text for the reading
series. My oldest daughter is not really motivated to read, however, it wasn't
for lack of having choice in school, she just didn't like to read, she didn't
even especially like to be read to either which I found odd. Whenever we would
go to the library or book store I didn't hesitate to let her pick out her own
books. She did come across a series of books about "mean girls" that she
seemed to like, and if she watches a movie that has been made from a book she
will read it after to see what she's missed.
Reflect on your current practice. How does this mesh with what you currently
have in place?
Being a kindergarten teacher it's pretty easy to let my students make their own
choices. I have about 700 books in my room, some I inherited, some I brought
in, and some I acquired through scholastic points. I have them in different
baskets by genre, author, subject etc. I change them out every few weeks
because I don't have the room to keep them all out. And I read a variety to my
class, letting them choose everyday a few books they would like me to read. My
students love when they get done with work and can get their books to look at.
2) Donalyn describes three types of readers. Reflect on your years of teaching
and the students you have worked with using these terms. Do you consider
yourself a "responsive teacher" in the sense Donalyn described in this
chapter? How can you become more responsive to your students needs in this
coming school year?
Again, it's been fairly easy to be a responsive teacher in a kindergarten
classroom. All my students come in as developing readers as I provide the
skills for them and then many varieties of books to read, but have not come
across any underground or dormant readers. Everything is so new to them and
they are so open and although the curriculum is intense we still have time for
play, discovery, etc. So I can respond to all aspects of reading in these
young ones. They all want new books all the time so I oblige by going to the
public library and getting crates of books to bring in. Our students do get
library time to explore but they aren't allowed to check out until first
grade. I think for me personally to become more responsive would be to bring
in more books by certain authors and do more author studies so I can be more
informed for my students.
3) I was highly impressed with Donalyn's knowledge of literature, and her
ability to match students with books. She had the knowledge of a librarian.
If finding the right book is critical, how then can we improve our knowledge
base of books in order to support our students interests?
I think the best way, and the way I do it, is to make friends with the school
librarian and the public library librarian. I let them know that I want to
know when new books come in, new authors are discovered, I work with them on
the best ways of introducing the library and books to my students. I'm always
getting emails from them about ,"You might be interested in this book". The
other thing I do is immerse myself in author websites on the internet, I look
up age level book lists, I go to garage sales and thrift stores and I belong to
lists such as this for ideas, although mostly the level here is upper
elementary and middle I still love to read the suggestions and suggest them to
my own 12 year old.
Carol M
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