Last year
with my reading group I gave them book options.
I never liked being told I had to read a specific book as a
student. I didn’t want to do that with
my reading group. I gave them three
choices and they were actually all interested in all three books. Since they were all interested in all of the
books I let them vote on the order we would read the books in. With this
reading group, as long as the books were level appropriate I gave them a lot of
freedom in picking the books. They were
all reading the same book at the same time but they picked them together. One of the students found a book in the
classroom library and got the other students interested in reading it. I went to other teachers and found enough
copies for us to use in reading group.
Because of the control they felt in the book choice reading group always
went very well and they were always invested in the book we were reading.
I have the
same reading group as last year because of looping. They saw the book I was
reading for this class and asked about it.
I told them what it was about and they all begged if it could be our
next reading group book. I hope to use
it a little later in the year if I can get enough copies.
I love the idea of giving my students book options. I couldn't agree with you more. It helps them feel like they have some control and encourages them to be more engaged! I like the idea of giving them a "sneak peek" of a book that may read in the future. I have a classroom library that has many books that my students can't read yet. I keep them visible so they can set goals to read certain books by the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteThe enthusiasm that your students show for reading is excellent! Your post made me think a great deal about the power of choice in the classroom. The fact that all three of your options were considered great is a fantastic representation of how powerful this can be.
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