Format:Paperback, 240 pagesOther Information:IllustrationsPublished In:United Kingdom, 03 April 2009Donalyn Miller says she has yet to meet a child she couldn't turn into a reader. No matter how far behind Miller's students might be when they reach her 6th grade classroom, they end up reading an average of 40 to 50 books a year. Miller's unconventional approach dispenses with drills and worksheets that make reading a chore. Instead, she helps students navigate the world of literature and gives them time to read books they pick out themselves. Her love of books and teaching is both infectious and inspiring. The book includes a dynamite list of recommended "kid lit" that helps parents and teachers find the books that students really like to read.
My notes from the book
Everybody is a reader
Listen to what students needed -start off year with a book frenzy which then sets the tone for the class emphasising the importance of reading for the year.
No pressure for students to read initially -if a book doesnt work for them they can choose another but choosing not to read is not an option, this is a powerful message from the teacher
Giving the students the opportunity to choose their own books empowers and encourages them- strengthening self-confidence and rewards their interests and promotes a more positive attitude towards reading.
In any classroom there are three different readers with preferences and abilities:
1. DEVELOPING: read 75% less than peers. They seldom apply practice of the strategies so they fail to improve and become weaker each year. NEED to spend substantial time actually reading if they are to build reading competence. Need to feel success as a reader.
2. DORMANT: read aso they pass tests but do not really enjoy reading. Reading is work for them. NEED the right conditions to let the reader loose- hours and hours of reading and the freedom to make their own choices and a classroom that values independent reading.
3. UNDERGROUND: gifted readers but see school reading disconnected from reading. Tastes are sophisticated.
AIM: INSTIL LIFE HABITS OF READING
EXPECT 40 books a year.
BRIAN CAMBOURNE identifies the following that contribute to successful learning.
1. IMMERSION: Surrounded by books and the opportunity to read them every day. Conversations about reading.
2. DEMONSTRATIONS: Lessons
3.EXPECTATIONS: from the teacher so that students rise to these
4. RESPONSIBILITY: Students make their choices when pursuing goals.
CAMBOURNE STATES "Learners who lose the ability to make choices become disempowered"
5. EMPLOYMENT: Prac.tice. Each lesson circles back to students own reading.
6 APPROXIMATIONS: Students need encouragement for the skills and knowledge they already have and they can
make mistakes as they work towards mastery.
7.RESPONSE: Need nonthreatening, immediate feedback on their progress.- Frequent conferences.
8. ENGAGEMENT: Most important and exist in successful classrooms.
9. HAS PERSONAL VALUE: Students must see reason to read outside the classroom.
10. STUDENTS SEE THEY ARE ABLE TO DO THIS:
11 FREE FROM ANXIETY:
12 MODELLED BY SOMEONE THEY LIKE AND RESPECT
Need to consider the students right to an engaging, trustworthy, risk free place in which to learn,
STUDENTS MUST BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN READ
STUDENT SURVEYS
Give interest surveys, analyse these to gain information that will help encourage students to read.
Try to match each student with initial observations.
Build a stack of books for each student and put them on each students desk.
Express to students that reading is not an add-on to the class, it is the cornerstone. The books we are reading feeds all of our instruction and learning.
Time spent reading feeds more reading.
Without time to apply what they learn in the context of real reading events, students will never build the capacity as readers, without spending increasingly longer periods of time reading,, they will not build endurance.
STUDENTS NEED TIME TO READ AND TIME TO BE READERS.
STEPHEN KRASHEN - The Power of Reading shows that no single literacy activity has a more positive effect on students comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, spelling, writing ability and overall academic achievement than free voluntary reading.
Listen to what students needed -start off year with a book frenzy which then sets the tone for the class emphasising the importance of reading for the year.
No pressure for students to read initially -if a book doesnt work for them they can choose another but choosing not to read is not an option, this is a powerful message from the teacher
Giving the students the opportunity to choose their own books empowers and encourages them- strengthening self-confidence and rewards their interests and promotes a more positive attitude towards reading.
In any classroom there are three different readers with preferences and abilities:
1. DEVELOPING: read 75% less than peers. They seldom apply practice of the strategies so they fail to improve and become weaker each year. NEED to spend substantial time actually reading if they are to build reading competence. Need to feel success as a reader.
2. DORMANT: read aso they pass tests but do not really enjoy reading. Reading is work for them. NEED the right conditions to let the reader loose- hours and hours of reading and the freedom to make their own choices and a classroom that values independent reading.
3. UNDERGROUND: gifted readers but see school reading disconnected from reading. Tastes are sophisticated.
AIM: INSTIL LIFE HABITS OF READING
EXPECT 40 books a year.
BRIAN CAMBOURNE identifies the following that contribute to successful learning.
1. IMMERSION: Surrounded by books and the opportunity to read them every day. Conversations about reading.
2. DEMONSTRATIONS: Lessons
3.EXPECTATIONS: from the teacher so that students rise to these
4. RESPONSIBILITY: Students make their choices when pursuing goals.
CAMBOURNE STATES "Learners who lose the ability to make choices become disempowered"
5. EMPLOYMENT: Prac.tice. Each lesson circles back to students own reading.
6 APPROXIMATIONS: Students need encouragement for the skills and knowledge they already have and they can
make mistakes as they work towards mastery.
7.RESPONSE: Need nonthreatening, immediate feedback on their progress.- Frequent conferences.
8. ENGAGEMENT: Most important and exist in successful classrooms.
9. HAS PERSONAL VALUE: Students must see reason to read outside the classroom.
10. STUDENTS SEE THEY ARE ABLE TO DO THIS:
11 FREE FROM ANXIETY:
12 MODELLED BY SOMEONE THEY LIKE AND RESPECT
Need to consider the students right to an engaging, trustworthy, risk free place in which to learn,
STUDENTS MUST BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN READ
STUDENT SURVEYS
Give interest surveys, analyse these to gain information that will help encourage students to read.
Try to match each student with initial observations.
Build a stack of books for each student and put them on each students desk.
Express to students that reading is not an add-on to the class, it is the cornerstone. The books we are reading feeds all of our instruction and learning.
Time spent reading feeds more reading.
Without time to apply what they learn in the context of real reading events, students will never build the capacity as readers, without spending increasingly longer periods of time reading,, they will not build endurance.
STUDENTS NEED TIME TO READ AND TIME TO BE READERS.
STEPHEN KRASHEN - The Power of Reading shows that no single literacy activity has a more positive effect on students comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, spelling, writing ability and overall academic achievement than free voluntary reading.