Talking About Books

20 Day Blogging Challenge, Day #4:  What's one thing you did with your students that you will or will not do again?

We started back to school on Thursday and Friday, but we are home again today.  It is freezing out there!  It is -12F this morning with a feels like temperature of -37F.  Brrrr!  We are all safer and better off at home.  During the two days we did have back at school, we did some "Book Shopping" in our classroom library, and I held reading conferences with students during small group reading time.  I wanted to find out what reading, students were doing over vacation.  I had students give impromptu book talks to tell others about the books they were reading.  It's a good way for me to assess what kids are doing, and as an added benefit, it lets kids hear about new books they may wish to read in the future.

During the month of December I had students present a more formal book talk to the whole class.  I have been trying to offer my students more choices when possible, so they could choose between three options for presenting their book talk.  They could write a blog post on their Kidblog, and present that to the class.  They could use Keynote on the iPads to create a presentation, or they could make a poster and present that to the class.  I just started using Keynote myself recently, so I modeled it's use by creating slides for math as well as reading activities.  I did that as part of the instruction, and talked about how it worked as I went.

I was very curious to see how many students would choose technology over pencil and paper, or in this case, crayons, markers, and poster board.  As it turned out, the largest group chose the poster, but the second largest group were those who chose Keynote.

Whichever presentation method they chose, they all were required to talk about the basic story elements of characters, plot, conflict, resolution, and theme.  Our first step was to use this form, to organize our thinking. Over the course of the month, 2-3 students presented their book talks each day.  Let me just say, they were awesome!  I was particularly impressed with their use of Keynote.  Students used the iPad camera to add photos of the book cover, photos from the book, and in some cases, drawings they had created from the book.  I had a couple kids, who are often reluctant to share during class discussions, that really took off with this.  It was a great way to hear more about the books the kids are reading.  Since that time I have seen other students reading some of the books that were shared through those book talks. This is a project I will definitely try again.

How do you get kids to talk about the books they are reading?

Book Talks and Reading Conferences

We have been in school for three weeks now, and I feel like we are making progress with our reading.  I am working to implement ideas from The Book Whisperer into my instruction, so this week I started meeting with students for reading conferences.   I am required by my school district to teach the little readers that go with the Houghton Mifflin Journeys, so it is difficult to get these in.  I am trying to find a balance between district curriculum and keeping our focus on reading good books that will really engage my students as readers. Since I have thirty students divided into four reading groups, this is not an easy task.

Each day, I had one reading group use their small group time to give an impromptu book talk about one of the books they were reading.  I had also planned to meet with two students at the end of each day for book conferences, but most days I ran out of time.  Instead, I used all of my small group time on Friday to catch up on conferences.

For the reading conferences, I had students bring their reading notebooks and the books they were currently reading.  Instead of sitting in my usual spot at the end of the table, I sat with the students along the side.  I called two students at a time.

Each time I met with a group, I observed the same thing.  The kids started out cautiously, expecting me to quiz or grill them about the books they were reading.  When they realized that our goal was to just talk about the books.  I saw them begin to visibly relax and participate in a discussion about the books they are reading and have read.  This was true during the book talk time and during the conferences.

It made me aware of how much of the time, I am not listening to what kids think and have to say.  It is an eye opener as to how we block kids from being fully engaged in the learning and how rarely they are actually invited into a conversation about the things they are learning.  I know that I am a good teacher, but much of the time I am so intent on helping my students achieve learning goals, that I don't permit them to help shape the path that we are traveling to get there.

I am so thankful that I read The Book Whisperer this summer, and I am enjoying the way it is transforming my teaching.  It's important to stop and smell the roses along the way.  Not only do my students benefit, but I am benefiting as well.