Happy New Year! I’m looking forward to the experience of ‘2019. I am especially looking forward to my personal journey and development as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, auntie, friend and teacher. On the teaching front, I am especially grateful to have an opportunity to implement time for independent reading with my students. With such a hectic teaching schedule, I have found myself veering away from teaching and learning opportunities that are not necessarily a part of the “official” curriculum. To include aspects like independent reading and a field trip, for example, requires time and preparation that is difficult to find in my already time-consuming schedule. In this New Year, I have made a point to not let time deter me from doing what I am most passionate about as an English teacher/ reading specialist, allowing my students time to select their own reading texts.
In The Power and Promise of Read-Alouds and Independent Reading (2018), the International Literacy Association (ILA) confirms that independent reading is imperative for secondary students as it provides students with choice and ownership in the English classroom. Additionally, classroom libraries (or in my case, the school library) must contain digital and multimodal texts and be diverse in text category (nonfiction and fiction), genre (e.g., fantasy, historical fiction, realistic fiction, myths, autobiographies and biographies, memoir, narrative nonfiction, expository nonfiction), and text level. Students who are exposed to a plethora of these genres begin to understand what features and characteristics are comprised in each. The ILA has found that 91% of children ages 6-17 report that their favorite texts in school are the ones that they selected themselves. Without the opportunity to select their own texts, reading proficiency lags (Allington, R.L., & Gabriel, R.E., 2012).
With this research in mind, I have partnered with my school librarians to create a literary circle or book chat with my students. All of my students will have an extended class devoted to selecting a text of any genre. For the remainder of Term 2, time will be devoted to discuss components of each students’ chosen text. In order to create an environment that encourages empowerment and opportunity for students explore their self-selected texts, I’ve created the following schedule-with room for modification-to be completed within a three-week time period:
Introduction and Novel Selection (Including librarians):
-Students will officially meet the librarians. The librarians and instructor will share the overall plan for the book chat. Students will have at least thirty minutes to select a book of their choice for this project.
Book Chat (Including librarians):
-Students are encouraged to keep a reading schedule and remain within the pages of the schedule (i.e. if the idea is to read about 5 pages a day or a chapter a week, students will remain on task in order to reflect, predict and share their reading journey and experience with their peers). While in the book chat circle, students will share plot details, interesting aspects of text, disappointments, predictions etc…
Book Club Presentation and Social Media (Including librarians):
-Students will have the opportunity to practice writing a book review and summary by sharing their feedback on social media forum (in house). Models for what a “respectful” review should consist of will be shared before students are provided with the opportunity to write their own. The feedback will be graded based on grammar, vocabulary and thoroughness.
As with all things new, I am nervous about what kinks I might find as we delve into this project. However, as with all things new, I feel enthused and eager about the possibilities of implementing this book chat. If you are interested in learning more details regarding the schedule and the book chat, I am happy to share. I am also happy to share reflections at the end of our book chat journey. Until then, I wish you a ‘2019 filled with “new things” and book chats. Enjoy one of my favorite reading tunes from a show that helped nurture my love of reading (way back in the day), Reading Rainbow.