The author believes strongly in using student
surveys and allowing students the free choice to read books to match their
interests?Discuss how this can or
cannot be used within your classroom.
I like the idea of free choice for book selection and offer it in my classroom. Regardless of the book, and some have been pretty explicit (Fifty Shades of Gray), I read and discuss their books with them. With a lot of practice, I’ve gotten so I don’t let my alarm show at the material they select and can discuss it calmly. Now, students redden more easily than I do when they pick racy books. Students are required to read certain books as part of the English curriculum. These books are taught ‘the old fashioned way’ with everyone on the same page at the same time and the teacher leading discussions as to meaning of the text. Thank goodness we have motivated and enthusiastic English teachers! The students I work with get to experience two different approaches to reading.
It is great to experience both ways of learning. I think that as a English teacher you would need to do both ways because preparing them is huge. In college and other educational levels of learning you may be asked to read things that are not of your interest and you have to be able to do this. I know that in college most readings are selected for you and that is what is expected.
Wow, what a question! We have the AR program at our school so our students do have the free choice of books for their own reading. I am not supporting the AR program by saying that but that is when they do get to choose what they read. When it comes to my reading class we read as a whole. My classes are small so it is basically a small group. I have several sets of books and at the beginning of each year I introduce all the books to my class and they get to choose what they read during the year. I like to start with short picture books then move to small chapter books and end with novels. Of course this depends on the class. My 8th graders wanted to read the Hunger Games this school year. They are as a class good readers for being sped students so at the end of the 1st 9 weeks we started on it and it took until the end of the semester. They really liked the book because it was their choice and most of them had watched the movie over the summer. Letting them choose books does increase motivation! I also choose books for them because I know they will like it based on past classes. My 7th graders recently finished "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle". It was not their choice but I knew they would like it and they did!! My class library contains book sets that are of high interest level to middle school students. Also I have certain authors that students like. I do not let my students choose individual books and read silently in my class. Since it is a small group we do read out loud to practice reading and comprehension skills they need in their large classroom settings. Historically over the past my sped students in my reading class have made good progress in reading with me teaching my class using a small group mind set. My students like reading informational/expository texts so I try to choose books that interest them in that category. Currently we are reading a book about mummies. I choose that subject because zombies seem to be a popular topic with middle school students but since they really do not exist I thought mummies would be of an interest, and it is! What drives my book selections are student choices, what I think they will like based on past experience, and what their interest is based on their conversations. So far this method has been successful and every year I end up ordering a set of books that the students want to read, like this year I ordered a class set of "Hunger Games". So my class library expands each year and each following year has more choices than the previous year. I plan on finishing the year with "The Black Stallion", they are excited to start that book! That book is recommended by the common core for their instructional level.
I work with 3 year olds and preschool students, I beleive the survey is a good tool to use when interacting with any of age of students. When I conduct a parent interview this information tells me a lot about the interest of the kids which in turn helps me to know what gets the interest flowing. For instance I knew that the favorite color of one student was red and he liked balls so I browsed and found a book that I was able to use that met those needs. The student was able to sit for a longer period of time rather than bringing a book that he really was not interested in. My book also had fire engines which really caught his attention. I feel that was a very productive home visit as I was able to get on his interest level rather than bringing a book about dinosaurs and he had no background or interest in the subject area. I think when interest in involved then progress becomes higher. I also have brought 2 different books and allowed the child to choose which book they wanted to look at. Even in the little ones there are ways to get the motivation started for books and reading. Working with 3 and 4 year olds is just at a different level then working with older students.
I work with 3-4 year olds as well, and have also used their interests to find books that they would enjoy. One 3 year old really likes tractors, and I focus on that. He is extremely shy, but will smile a lot and say tractors when he plays with tractors or we read books about tractors. There is a library center in one of the preschools I work in, and most of the kids love to look at books, especially if an adult drops by for part of the time and reads to them. The older preschoolers are beginning to look at books and pretend reading on their own. I get so excited when I see them so engaged and using language when looking at books!
Those are great ideas when working with little ones. I find my four year old son choosing books to look at based on his interest. I think it's awesome that you are able to pull that in on your home visits. I'm sure that really helps you get to know your kids a little more.
I would think that interest surveys could be used in any classroom, either completed by the students or done orally for younger ones or nonreaders. All of the preschool classrooms that I am in have a library corner with numerous books for students to choose. Most of the books are a certain theme for the season - fall, winter, Christmas, animals. Others are books that have certain letters they are working on. For the most part, there is a wide variety of books. Having an area for free choice of books is simple with preschoolers and ceter time - it just makes sense.
At the beginning of each school year I give my students interest surveys. I read the surveys as a way to get to know my class but I have not used the surveys to guide my reading selections during the school year. I guess I need a different survey for that either that or I don't know how to interpret their surveys in that way?
At an early age, teachers give the children a choice in what they read with the library center. What happens to that when they get to kindergarten and above? Most of the time I see kids only taking their choices home with them for homework or when they have free time in class.
I also have a library corner that my students gravitate to during their free choice center time. I also tend to put books focused around the season, or the holidays, or a particular thing that we are working on. They are really enjoying the dental health month books that are out right now. :)
I liked the interest surveys that were presented. With my younger students, I will probably adapt them. I can see myself using these surveys in my language sessions to some extent. I will use their interests to pick book selections for my book/language units. I would also like to have them develop some of the activities to support their learning of language skills.
Activities around students interests can increase their motivation and participation. I have a student that doesn't like to write, so to include writing practice I took the vocabulary words we are working with onto a large die with pockets. Then the student rolls the die and has to write a sentence involving the word rolled. He also knows how many sentences he has to write that day. He seems more willing to write with this activity. I'm going to vary this idea by also using a beach ball with words on it. I will also participate to model good writing and thinking strategies along with giving the student a break from doing all the work. I took the student's interest in sports to create an activity.
Yes Deanna I agree. I think this would be great to help with your language sessions. If it is of interest to the kids then the language increases and motivation.
Free choice I feel is the best thing we can offer our students! Even our grade school librarian is wonderful at helping encourage children to read through their interests. She surveys students at the beginning of every year and uses that to help motivate even the struggling student to find pleasure in reading. I myself have had to use it with my own oldest child. I really do not like the Captain Underpants books but this past summer as I watched my oldest detest the idea of reading I knew I had to find something to spark his interests. So we went to the public library and I pointed out different selections that I thought might catch his eye. We brought several of them home and I would read the first book out of the series to him and I could watch and tell what peaked his interest and what he just tolerated me reading to him. When we were done I asked him which ones he like an of course he LOVED Captain Underpants. I decided then and there if that is what it takes to get him reading than that is what we do!
It is hard not to just have books that interest us in our classroom library. I try to order books for my library that are a variety and some books that I may not be interested in reading but that other children may enjoy reading. Surveys would definitely help in this process. I like how you assisted your child and watched for cues that showed interests. Reading with children as important as having children read by themselves. It provides a good model of reading and you can show different strategies for reading such as figuring out unknown words.
Amy you made a great point on just because we don't like something doesn't mean our kids both our own or our students won't like them. My oldest son really enjoys the fantasy books and I enjoy more realistic fiction.
I like the idea of a student survey. I am planning to survey my students to find out what they like to read about. With the help of the librarian, I hope to find books that they will be interested in. The hard part will be to find the time to read in my class. Since our students tend to struggle with the general curriculum homework, I find myself doing a lot of reteaching. Trying to implement an extra activity will be tough; however, I am going to try to do it!!
I think student surveys are a great way to get to know the student and his/her interests. I think this could be difficult to find the time to talk with each student. There are a lot of demands not only in the general education classroom but also in the SPED classroom. I think with older students, a sheet with questions they can answer by self, they can take home to finish and then the teacher can read them. The positive outcome for the teacher who conducts surveys would be being able to provide books that interest every student so then every student is reading as they have some book that interests them. I think it would be worth the time for the teacher and student to conduct the student surveys.
My students love free choice, but that sometimes that will be books that are not school friendly. Direction is needed at times. I enjoy going to the library with students and helping with book choices. At the first of the year I gave my students a book list to help with choices and marked the ones that the school has. I also encourage our local city library as a source. With common core coming I encourage nonfiction, which kids either love to read or hate to read.
I think that student surveys is a wonderful idea. I feel I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what books by students are most interested in, especially when they start to read chapter books. I plan on using surveys in my room with students I work with. The fact that most students don't have free choice I believe is one of the many reason AR doesn't work with students. I have a couple of boys that would rather just read the sports section in a newspaper that a chapter book.
I agree that the limits that AR programs have about the books student can read frustrates students. I've seen many students choosing books based on the number of points they are worth rather than because they are interested in the book. They end up slogging through the book torturously and hating every minute of it just to get those points.
That is reading-the sports section. I often talk to my students not using a formal reading survey. Just what do you like to learn about, what are your interest. I often read books on my students levels so that I can recommend books in there interest.
I think that using student interest surveys is a really good idea, especially for older students. I think with my group of students it might be hard for them to answer the questions, even orally. I have a library corner that the students use during their free choice center time that they love. I put books in there to focus on the holiday, the month, the season, etc. I also often put books in there that we have used with felt pieces so they can continue playing with the pieces even after we are done with the book. I also try to make sure there are "boy" books and "girl" books to spark some interest there too.
I assume from your post that you work with early childhood, your comments got me to thinking about the different ways you could observe your students during free play activities and note their choices. It would take more time, but by making notes about what they choose to play with or their conversations with peers as they play, you might get some really goods clues as to what their interests are.
I was introduced to using reading interest inventories with students in my master's program, so I've used them for several years. I've worked with some of my students for six or seven years, and it has been very interesting to see how they have grown as readers over the years. At the end of the year I get out their surveys from the first of the year, and many of them will disavow having ever wrote them. Even though the survey in their hands is in their own writing, they will swear they never said that because their preferences have evolved so much. For those of you have never used them, there are several available online that can be adapted. I did like the one the author used and will probably incorporate some of the questions into mine.
I believe letting kids choose their reading materials gives them power over what they read. I think that my students sometimes feel they have no control over anything at school. So allowing them free choice of reading materials is a way for them to have control.
I actually did makeshift student surveys after reading this chapter. As my groups came in, I did oral surveys. Because some kids had no idea what their interests were, I got out picture dictionaries and I made interest lists from there. Since most of my kids are essentially non-readers or emerging readers, I think if I find their interests it can help motivate them to read.
Like you, I try to have a variety of free choice. Some of my kids' favorites I actually picked up at garage sales. The top of some girls' list is Barbie 123's and Barbie ABC's...books I rescued at a garage sale for 25cents!
Maybe if you find them the right books they are interested in, they can read after school! Wow, what a thought...I know that sounds weird, but sending home an article about robots (if that's a topic of interest) to read for pleasure at night, may be more likely than tackling a whole book.
We read The Hunger Games during the first semester in my 8th grade reading class. I finished the series on my own and 2 of my students are finishing it on their own time. They enjoy discussing what they read to me since I know what they are talking about. Its like an inpromptu book study!
I like the idea of free choice for book selection and offer it in my classroom. Regardless of the book, and some have been pretty explicit (Fifty Shades of Gray), I read and discuss their books with them. With a lot of practice, I’ve gotten so I don’t let my alarm show at the material they select and can discuss it calmly. Now, students redden more easily than I do when they pick racy books.
ReplyDeleteStudents are required to read certain books as part of the English curriculum. These books are taught ‘the old fashioned way’ with everyone on the same page at the same time and the teacher leading discussions as to meaning of the text. Thank goodness we have motivated and enthusiastic English teachers! The students I work with get to experience two different approaches to reading.
It is great to experience both ways of learning. I think that as a English teacher you would need to do both ways because preparing them is huge. In college and other educational levels of learning you may be asked to read things that are not of your interest and you have to be able to do this. I know that in college most readings are selected for you and that is what is expected.
DeleteWow, what a question! We have the AR program at our school so our students do have the free choice of books for their own reading. I am not supporting the AR program by saying that but that is when they do get to choose what they read. When it comes to my reading class we read as a whole. My classes are small so it is basically a small group. I have several sets of books and at the beginning of each year I introduce all the books to my class and they get to choose what they read during the year. I like to start with short picture books then move to small chapter books and end with novels. Of course this depends on the class. My 8th graders wanted to read the Hunger Games this school year. They are as a class good readers for being sped students so at the end of the 1st 9 weeks we started on it and it took until the end of the semester. They really liked the book because it was their choice and most of them had watched the movie over the summer. Letting them choose books does increase motivation! I also choose books for them because I know they will like it based on past classes. My 7th graders recently finished "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle". It was not their choice but I knew they would like it and they did!! My class library contains book sets that are of high interest level to middle school students. Also I have certain authors that students like. I do not let my students choose individual books and read silently in my class. Since it is a small group we do read out loud to practice reading and comprehension skills they need in their large classroom settings. Historically over the past my sped students in my reading class have made good progress in reading with me teaching my class using a small group mind set. My students like reading informational/expository texts so I try to choose books that interest them in that category. Currently we are reading a book about mummies. I choose that subject because zombies seem to be a popular topic with middle school students but since they really do not exist I thought mummies would be of an interest, and it is! What drives my book selections are student choices, what I think they will like based on past experience, and what their interest is based on their conversations. So far this method has been successful and every year I end up ordering a set of books that the students want to read, like this year I ordered a class set of "Hunger Games". So my class library expands each year and each following year has more choices than the previous year. I plan on finishing the year with "The Black Stallion", they are excited to start that book! That book is recommended by the common core for their instructional level.
ReplyDeleteI work with 3 year olds and preschool students, I beleive the survey is a good tool to use when interacting with any of age of students. When I conduct a parent interview this information tells me a lot about the interest of the kids which in turn helps me to know what gets the interest flowing. For instance I knew that the favorite color of one student was red and he liked balls so I browsed and found a book that I was able to use that met those needs. The student was able to sit for a longer period of time rather than bringing a book that he really was not interested in. My book also had fire engines which really caught his attention. I feel that was a very productive home visit as I was able to get on his interest level rather than bringing a book about dinosaurs and he had no background or interest in the subject area. I think when interest in involved then progress becomes higher. I also have brought 2 different books and allowed the child to choose which book they wanted to look at. Even in the little ones there are ways to get the motivation started for books and reading. Working with 3 and 4 year olds is just at a different level then working with older students.
ReplyDeleteI work with 3-4 year olds as well, and have also used their interests to find books that they would enjoy. One 3 year old really likes tractors, and I focus on that. He is extremely shy, but will smile a lot and say tractors when he plays with tractors or we read books about tractors. There is a library center in one of the preschools I work in, and most of the kids love to look at books, especially if an adult drops by for part of the time and reads to them. The older preschoolers are beginning to look at books and pretend reading on their own. I get so excited when I see them so engaged and using language when looking at books!
DeleteGreat idea! I need to do more of that on home visits with activities to leave with the student.
DeleteThose are great ideas when working with little ones. I find my four year old son choosing books to look at based on his interest. I think it's awesome that you are able to pull that in on your home visits. I'm sure that really helps you get to know your kids a little more.
DeleteI would think that interest surveys could be used in any classroom, either completed by the students or done orally for younger ones or nonreaders. All of the preschool classrooms that I am in have a library corner with numerous books for students to choose. Most of the books are a certain theme for the season - fall, winter, Christmas, animals. Others are books that have certain letters they are working on. For the most part, there is a wide variety of books. Having an area for free choice of books is simple with preschoolers and ceter time - it just makes sense.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of each school year I give my students interest surveys. I read the surveys as a way to get to know my class but I have not used the surveys to guide my reading selections during the school year. I guess I need a different survey for that either that or I don't know how to interpret their surveys in that way?
DeleteAt an early age, teachers give the children a choice in what they read with the library center. What happens to that when they get to kindergarten and above? Most of the time I see kids only taking their choices home with them for homework or when they have free time in class.
DeleteI also have a library corner that my students gravitate to during their free choice center time. I also tend to put books focused around the season, or the holidays, or a particular thing that we are working on. They are really enjoying the dental health month books that are out right now. :)
DeleteI liked the interest surveys that were presented. With my younger students, I will probably adapt them. I can see myself using these surveys in my language sessions to some extent. I will use their interests to pick book selections for my book/language units. I would also like to have them develop some of the activities to support their learning of language skills.
ReplyDeleteActivities around students interests can increase their motivation and participation. I have a student that doesn't like to write, so to include writing practice I took the vocabulary words we are working with onto a large die with pockets. Then the student rolls the die and has to write a sentence involving the word rolled. He also knows how many sentences he has to write that day. He seems more willing to write with this activity. I'm going to vary this idea by also using a beach ball with words on it. I will also participate to model good writing and thinking strategies along with giving the student a break from doing all the work. I took the student's interest in sports to create an activity.
DeleteYes Deanna I agree. I think this would be great to help with your language sessions. If it is of interest to the kids then the language increases and motivation.
DeleteFree choice I feel is the best thing we can offer our students! Even our grade school librarian is wonderful at helping encourage children to read through their interests. She surveys students at the beginning of every year and uses that to help motivate even the struggling student to find pleasure in reading. I myself have had to use it with my own oldest child. I really do not like the Captain Underpants books but this past summer as I watched my oldest detest the idea of reading I knew I had to find something to spark his interests. So we went to the public library and I pointed out different selections that I thought might catch his eye. We brought several of them home and I would read the first book out of the series to him and I could watch and tell what peaked his interest and what he just tolerated me reading to him. When we were done I asked him which ones he like an of course he LOVED Captain Underpants. I decided then and there if that is what it takes to get him reading than that is what we do!
ReplyDeleteIt is hard not to just have books that interest us in our classroom library. I try to order books for my library that are a variety and some books that I may not be interested in reading but that other children may enjoy reading. Surveys would definitely help in this process. I like how you assisted your child and watched for cues that showed interests. Reading with children as important as having children read by themselves. It provides a good model of reading and you can show different strategies for reading such as figuring out unknown words.
DeleteAmy you made a great point on just because we don't like something doesn't mean our kids both our own or our students won't like them. My oldest son really enjoys the fantasy books and I enjoy more realistic fiction.
DeleteI like the idea of a student survey. I am planning to survey my students to find out what they like to read about. With the help of the librarian, I hope to find books that they will be interested in. The hard part will be to find the time to read in my class. Since our students tend to struggle with the general curriculum homework, I find myself doing a lot of reteaching. Trying to implement an extra activity will be tough; however, I am going to try to do it!!
ReplyDeleteI think student surveys are a great way to get to know the student and his/her interests. I think this could be difficult to find the time to talk with each student. There are a lot of demands not only in the general education classroom but also in the SPED classroom. I think with older students, a sheet with questions they can answer by self, they can take home to finish and then the teacher can read them. The positive outcome for the teacher who conducts surveys would be being able to provide books that interest every student so then every student is reading as they have some book that interests them. I think it would be worth the time for the teacher and student to conduct the student surveys.
ReplyDeleteMy students love free choice, but that sometimes that will be books that are not school friendly. Direction is needed at times. I enjoy going to the library with students and helping with book choices. At the first of the year I gave my students a book list to help with choices and marked the ones that the school has. I also encourage our local city library as a source. With common core coming I encourage nonfiction, which kids either love to read or hate to read.
ReplyDeleteI think that student surveys is a wonderful idea. I feel I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what books by students are most interested in, especially when they start to read chapter books. I plan on using surveys in my room with students I work with. The fact that most students don't have free choice I believe is one of the many reason AR doesn't work with students. I have a couple of boys that would rather just read the sports section in a newspaper that a chapter book.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the limits that AR programs have about the books student can read frustrates students. I've seen many students choosing books based on the number of points they are worth rather than because they are interested in the book. They end up slogging through the book torturously and hating every minute of it just to get those points.
DeleteThat is reading-the sports section. I often talk to my students not using a formal reading survey. Just what do you like to learn about, what are your interest. I often read books on my students levels so that I can recommend books in there interest.
DeleteI think that using student interest surveys is a really good idea, especially for older students. I think with my group of students it might be hard for them to answer the questions, even orally. I have a library corner that the students use during their free choice center time that they love. I put books in there to focus on the holiday, the month, the season, etc. I also often put books in there that we have used with felt pieces so they can continue playing with the pieces even after we are done with the book. I also try to make sure there are "boy" books and "girl" books to spark some interest there too.
ReplyDeleteI assume from your post that you work with early childhood, your comments got me to thinking about the different ways you could observe your students during free play activities and note their choices. It would take more time, but by making notes about what they choose to play with or their conversations with peers as they play, you might get some really goods clues as to what their interests are.
DeleteI was introduced to using reading interest inventories with students in my master's program, so I've used them for several years. I've worked with some of my students for six or seven years, and it has been very interesting to see how they have grown as readers over the years. At the end of the year I get out their surveys from the first of the year, and many of them will disavow having ever wrote them. Even though the survey in their hands is in their own writing, they will swear they never said that because their preferences have evolved so much. For those of you have never used them, there are several available online that can be adapted. I did like the one the author used and will probably incorporate some of the questions into mine.
ReplyDeleteI believe letting kids choose their reading materials gives them power over what they read. I think that my students sometimes feel they have no control over anything at school. So allowing them free choice of reading materials is a way for them to have control.
ReplyDeleteI actually did makeshift student surveys after reading this chapter. As my groups came in, I did oral surveys. Because some kids had no idea what their interests were, I got out picture dictionaries and I made interest lists from there. Since most of my kids are essentially non-readers or emerging readers, I think if I find their interests it can help motivate them to read.
ReplyDeleteKrista,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I try to have a variety of free choice. Some of my kids' favorites I actually picked up at garage sales. The top of some girls' list is Barbie 123's and Barbie ABC's...books I rescued at a garage sale for 25cents!
Judy,
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you find them the right books they are interested in, they can read after school! Wow, what a thought...I know that sounds weird, but sending home an article about robots (if that's a topic of interest) to read for pleasure at night, may be more likely than tackling a whole book.
We read The Hunger Games during the first semester in my 8th grade reading class. I finished the series on my own and 2 of my students are finishing it on their own time. They enjoy discussing what they read to me since I know what they are talking about. Its like an inpromptu book study!
Delete