Book Whisperer Part 5

Chapter 7 Letting Go  - The Book Whisperer

The Three main ideas I pulled from this chapter:

• There is a pull to conform to what other people are doing and have done for a long time. 
• I can manage my classroom without dictating everything.
• Teaching your children to love reading is a commitment.

Wow! After devouring this book there are so many ideas running through my head. I wish it were possible to put only the best ones down, but I fear you will have to suffer through them all.

I need to assemble a library. A good one. This will be something of a challenge because before this summer I taught younger grades and now I am moving up to Fourth. The oldest I have ever taught is third and that was more of a student teaching experience. I'm going to need a whole new set of books. Yard sales just became my new best friend.

I need to develop a way of organization too! Bins and bookcases. Stickers and contact paper. Stamps and book cards. Sounds like I will need to start saving.

I am a reader. Well I was, until life got too busy and demanding. I do better in the summer time. Anyways, after reading Miller's book I realize all it takes is a little time and commitment. I think I can deal with that. I will read! I will devour books like I used to. I can't wait.

I need to read more literature to be able to connect with my future students. How can I recommend a book if I have not read it? The library is going to be my new best friend. I will have to start using a book log as well. Stories often tend to get mixed together in my head. I am great with the general details. But names... a little iffy.

I need to develop the strength to defend my teaching strategies. I know reading helps kids. I know choice makes reading fun. I know this works. I am so grateful to be at a charter school next year where research based teaching and creative thinking is encouraged. I can't wait.

Book Whisperer Part 4

More insights from Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer

Chapter 6 - Cutting the Teacher Strings
Unexamined Wallpaper - classroom practices and institutional policies that are so entrenched in school culture and a teacher's paradigm that their ability to affect student learning is never probed. (p. 122)
Think instead. What are the goals? How can I make the practice more motivating to my students and more in line with what I know about reading?


Whole Class Novels Disadvantages
No piece of text can meet the needs of all the readers, it takes forever, decreases comprehension, ignores student interest, wastes time on activities, and punishes readers who have read it before.
As someone who hated reading books as a class I know this is true. Teachers would never believe me when I said I had finished. They just gave me more busy work. Drove me crazy.

Options 
Reading the book aloud to your class or share reading where you read and they follow along. Look at extension activities. Do they involve reading, writing, and discussion?
Book groups based on a theme or concept. Start with questions you want answered. Gather books. Let the student preview them, rate them, and pick their top three groups. Look at reading levels, potential management problems, and number of books.
Use short stories, excerpts or poems to teach literary elements or reading skills

Teaching Tests as a Genre
Teach them how they are designed, terms used, the skills and knowledge they are trying to test, and how to find the answer.
An interesting idea. I agree that the terms used should be taught. Angelia from Extra Special Teaching posted a great game with some of these words. Reading Vocabulary (I heart how google reader made that so easy to find. Love it!)

Book Commercials 
Short testimonials about books they have read and enjoyed. Model. Teach what to say. Teach what not to say. Teach how to use the book. Students can then write the book down on their Books to read if they are interested. Use a simple checklist to make sure each child participates and one child does not dominate the class.

Book Reviews 
Read reviews, book jacket blurbs and teasers. What information is included? What words do they use?

• Quotes from the book
• Quotes from famous people
• Cliffhanger Questions
• Personal reactions and opinions
• Awards the book or author has won
• Recommended reading age
• Other books by the same author
• Comparisons with other books

Audio Books 
I need to get more for my classroom. Maybe it is time to break out audacity and record my own.


End of Year Evaluation
I recreated her survey and loaded it to TPT. It's FREE! So if you can use it please feel free to download it. Just click on the picture below! Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you!

Book Whisperer Part 3

More insights from Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer


Chapter 5  Walk the Walk - Read every day to be the model your children need.

Two Types of Readers

Efferent - looking for information. Usually an outside to inside way of reading.

Aesthetic - looking for an experience. Usually an inside to outside approach.

Self-reflecting questions to ponder

What were your reading experiences as a child?

Were these positive or negative experiences for you?

Do you see yourself as a reader now?

How do you share your reading experiences - both current experiences and those from the past - with your students?

With which group of readers do identify with best? Underground readers, developing readers, or dormant readers?

Who have been your role models for reading?

List the last five books you have read.

How long did it take for you to read these books?

Which books were read for a job or for a school related purpose?

Which were read for pleasure?

My Reading Plan

1. Commit to a certain amount of time per day. 20 minutes

2. Choose books that are interesting to you.

3. Read more books for children.

4. Take recommendations from your students.

5. Investigate recommendations from industry sources - book lists

6.Create your own readers notebook.

7. Reflect on what you are reading.

8. Share your struggles.

Websites Miller recommended

Newberry

Caldecott

Other Awards - ALA

Goodreads

Jen Robinson

TeenReads

Book Whisperer Part 2

Here are my thoughts on chapters 3 and 4 from Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer.  I know that not all my thoughts are well explained. But I think this is more for me than for you. Sorry :) I need to remember the great things I read, how I felt, and what I desired to change.

Time/Place
Increase the amount of time spent reading slowly. Children need to develop endurance and capacity.
Every interruption is a time to read. Capitalize on every minute.
Take them to the Library as often as you can. Be excited about it! Help them find new books to read. Children return, renew, read, or plan to get a book.
It does not matter where they read, or how they sit, or if their shoes are on. Just let them read.

Book selection techniques - all readers cheat!
They pick small books, they re-read, they read the ending, they read the first paragraph, and they abandon boring books. Discuss with your class how they pick books. Then share Pennac's The Rights of the Reader.

Plan ahead!
Encourage them to keep a list of books they would like to read. Introduce them to great authors through your read aloud books.

40 Books Minimum 
Set number of books for each genre with some wiggle room for the children to choose their favorites. (Any book over 350 pages counts as two books) But be aware it is about reading and not about accomplishments. It does not matter if they only read 25 books. That is still 25 books. Meet your readers where they are.

Genres 
Explore them as a class. Let them use any story they know. Even if it is a movie. Discuss and add.  A great assessment tool of learning is mystery tubs. Give them tubs full of one genre. Have them use what they know to properly identify the tub.

Reader's Notebook
I really want to make one of these. I guess I will have to put my computer skills to the test!

1. Tally List for genres
2. Reading List  - Title, Author, Date Finished, How difficult it was
3. Books-to-read-list
4. Response Entries

Some good books to look into. Guts by Gary Paulsen, Knots In My Yo-Yo String by Jerry Spinelli, and The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George.

The Book Whisperer Part 1

I recently began reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. I know I am supposed to wait to read it with everyone else. But I just could not help myself. So I succumbed and read the first two chapters. Here are some of my favorite ideas and some of the things I want to remember.

In 2000, the National Reading Panel left independent reading off of their recommendations for improving reading instruction, stating, "The Panel was unable to find a positive relationship between programs and instruction that encourage large amounts of independent reading and improvements in reading achievement." - Found in the foreword of The Book Whisperer   Ick!


Lessons should lead to more child autonomy.
Don't teach books, teach strategies and elements.
You must teach children that reading changes your life.


Types of Readers
Developing Readers - those who struggle reading on level just need more time independently reading and instruction on reading strategies.
Dormant Readers - those who read to jump through the hoops we set just need to learn that reading is enjoyable.
Underground Readers - those who prefer to read without teacher interference.

Brian Cambourne's Reading Environment
   Immersion - surrounded by books and discussion of books
   Demonstrations - structure and features of texts, skills necessary to find information
   Expectations - set them high
   Responsibility - choice (Pick a genre, but let them pick the book.)
   Employment - let them practice in real situations
   Approximation - let them make mistakes. Let them read at their current level and then celebrate their          successes.
   Response - conferences, letters on book, encourage, guide, and validate.
   Engagement - personal value, capable, anxiety free, modeled

Surveys
What is an Interest-a-lyzer? I am intrigued. When I find an example I will let you know. (p. 202) Until then, here is a typed of version of the survey Miller has in the book. I modified it a little to suit my needs, but I think it should be good for anyone. It is FREE. If you download it, I would love that you rate it. Thank you!

Add caption

After reading Thinking of Teaching's Prompts I thought I would add to this post a little. Her questions:

Have you used surveys in the past? What information did you hope to get from them?
What is your plan for student surveys after reading this "whisper?"

I have used surveys in the past, but I have never used them to generate book suggestions before. I love the idea and can't wait to use them with my new class.