The 2014 25 Book Challenge! Compiled by Paula Bourque www.litcoachlady.com
Research Supports This! Children get better at reading BY reading. The research shows that children who read more have higher vocabularies, score better on standardized tests, show greater verbal intelligence, demonstrate greater declarative knowledge, have expanded world knowledge, improved memories, have reduced stress and increased empathy So HOW do we get our students to be HIGH VOLUME readers? 1. It becomes the expectation. 2. We create the conditions to make it happen.
The Expectation If we really want our students to develop lifelong love of reading they need to develop reading habits. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell examined what factors led to high levels of success. From his research he hypothesized the 10,000 Hour Rule. His claim was that the key to success was practicing a task for at least 10,000 hours. (That s 600,000 minutes) If our students only read 20 minutes a day it would take them 30,000 days to meet his criteria (82 years!). If they read for 2 hours a day it would only take 5,000 days! That s about 13 ½ years. Just about the amount of time we have children in public school. 2 hours a day is not unreasonable for most of our kids, IF we have time in our school days devoted to immersion in reading. I m not talking the old model of the book flood where you just have books available and reading takes place through osmosis. But, time with REAL reading tasks could replace some of the isolated skill work students are sometimes asked to do. Reading aloud to our students EVERY day would be part of this time. Time can be difficult to track however. Unless you have a stopwatch with start and stop and recording features it becomes cumbersome to log the minutes spent reading each day. What IS easy is tracking the number of books you read. Setting a high expectation for volume reading IS a reasonable goal for teachers to have for their students. WHY 25 or 40? The number is arbitrary, but the reasoning is consistent. We have about 20 weeks of school left starting in January. That is asking students to read about 1 book a week and then 5 more. If a student reads a particularly long book one week, he or she could read a few shorter books the next. Some students may say, ha that s easy, I m going to read 40 picture books. I d say, GREAT! That s 40 books he or she probably never would have given the time of day. I also believe that when they see the books their peers are reading, that they will diversify their selections. WHAT ABOUT TYPE OF BOOKS? To help students branch out and nudge away from their preferred genre comfort zone you could set some expectations for that as well. I have included some examples that might help you in the appendix, but YOU as their teacher, are best able to set requirements/expectations that reflect your students needs.
The Conditions For this to be successful, YOU must create conditions for success. Here are some structures you could put into place to help you and your students become HIGH VOLUME readers this year. 1. Have LOTS, and LOTS, and LOTS of books available for your students. Principals have been very supportive in building classroom libraries. Other resources might include: Library books- check-out books that must remain in the classroom if they are signed out in your name. Donationso at holidays have students gift a book to the classroom, wrap it up and sign a Donated By inside the front cover. o For birthdays encourage students to give a book to their class and mark In honor of s th birthday on the inside cover instead of bringing in cupcakes. o Donor s Choose lets you set up a project for your classroom. Many teachers have filled their classroom libraries with this approach. www.donorschoose.org o Ask students to bring in gently used books that they are no longer reading. Discount books o Scholastic book orders and book fairs offer low cost or sometimes free books. o Goodwill stores often have books for as little as 25 cents! o Yard sales!!! nuff said. Book Swaps- School-wide or classroom based, children bring in books they are done reading and swap it for a book that another student has brought in. Bring in 2 books, take 2 books! Don t forget online resources like We Give Books Time for Kids Giggle Poetry Magic Keys Book Adventure Oxford Owl or many others. 2. Have LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of time for reading. We can t add more time to our school day, but we can look for opportunities to maximize the time we have. Beginning and end of the day. Many teachers have entry tasks for students when they come into class in the morning or routines for end of the day when waiting for the bus. Replace some of those routines with TIME for reading. Make it the expectation and reinforce it. DAILY 5- many teachers have Read to Self built into their independent
work during Daily 5 or Daily 3. This is perfect, because getting started right away, reading the whole time, and having a just right book are exactly what we want students to be doing to maximize their reading time. Transitions-many teachers optimize their transition time by inviting students to read the books at their seat while waiting to line up, get drinks, use the bathroom, change activities, etc. Every little bit here or there adds up. Replace some seatwork with reading. The research looked at by The Book Whisperer, Donalyn Miller shows students achievement is higher with authentic reading rather than seat work with D.O.L., grammar or comprehension activities. You know your kids best so I won t ever say, no seat work, but I encourage you to weigh the benefits of sustained reading versus the assigned task and choose the one YOU think best helps your students become strong readers. Assign reading- sometime teachers feel guilty that their lesson plans say SSR or SQUIRT because they feel like they aren t offering direct instruction. You don t stop being a teacher when your kids are reading so don t feel guilty. This is a great time to conference with students about how it s going with their reading, take a running record, find out their reading interests, suggest new titles, etc. 3. Have a manageable accountability system. The adage, students respect what you inspect is certainly true. They need to know you are serious and that you are there to support them reaching their goals. How can we keep track and ensure accountability without creating loads more work for ourselves? Here are few of the many ways to do this. Reader s notebooks. Simple spiral bound, cheap books are best. I will include some examples of pages you might want to copy and tape/glue on the first few pages, but don t invest in expensive books unless you won the lottery! Charts and Boards. Have charts that track student books read (or even entire class totals) that students complete rather than the teacher. Create bulletin boards that promote HIGH VOLUME reading. I ve enclosed some ideas in the appendix. Status of the Class. On a simple clipboard have the students names and dates (see appendix). Students report the book they are reading and the page they are on at some point during the day. (teacher decides) This helps you to know how quickly or slowly students are moving through books, if books are abandoned, when new books are started, etc.
Parent Slips. Send home a congratulations note when a student finishes a book. These can be premade, or students are allowed to create one (don t let this take away too much time from real reading) This keeps the parents involved and informed. This is different from making parents sign slips. This is often a frustrating endeavor for teachers because some students don t return slips, parents don t sign slips, etc. Think about what your goal is. If it is just to make sure students are reading and parents are aware, a simple celebration note will do the trick. Parents may begin to ask their children about their reading and anticipate the next note without feeling a burden of responsibility. 4. Promote an environment that is PASSIONATE about reading If YOU are passionate about reading and share that passion with your students it will be infectious! For those reading Teach Like a Pirate, you know just how powerful an influence passion is on a learning environment. How can we generate passion for reading! Share our reading lives. Show are students that reading is not just an academic assignment, it is a way of life!! Talk about the books you are reading, or that your husband or children are reading. Bring them in and read with them occasionally. Share your excitement for new books you have heard about or want to read! Show them your list of To Read books. Create a virtual reading world. Sites like Shelfari, KidBlog Goodreads or LibraryThing let kids connect with other readers, follow others recommendations and post their own thoughts about reading. Create a class blog (Kidblog) so that students can post about their books at home as well as school. Virtual book clubs could spring up or kids could simply ask questions, make recommendations and share reviews about books. CELEBRATE BOOKS! o Mock Caldecotts-Have your students read all the Caldecott nominees and have a party as they announce the winners on January 27. Watch your students cheer for their favorite books! o Maine Student Book Awards- many of you are participating in this activity. Talk it up, participate, celebrate! These are books that Maine children are encourage to o Chickadee Awards Encourage even our older readers to weigh in on the books that they think would be the best of the year! CELEBRATE AUTHORS! o Author Birthdays (click for calendar of birthdays)- Celebrate your favorite authors birthdays by wrapping up a book by them and unveiling
it to the class. Write birthday cards to the authors telling them what we like about their books. o Invite authors into your classroom. Can t get one to come in person? Try Skype! There are dozens and dozens of authors who will Skype for free or for minimal fee with classes who have read their books. o Write to authors, but instead of snail mail, try Twitter! Most authors have Twitter accounts and will tweet back! Take a screen shot of their tweet and display them in your classroom! CELEBRATE READERS! o Postcards to Home-each time a child finishes a book they can create or use a premade postcard to inform their parents that they are on their way to meeting their goal. o Add a book title to their book history collection (see appendix for ideas) o Book Links-Create a paper chain for each student add a chain to their book links. o Create a class cheer for students who finish a book. (for primary you may want to make it for every 5 picture books read) Blessing of the Books-periodically choose a book from your collection that seems underappreciated by the class and give a 1 minute promo. Try to hook the kids with a hint, a challenge, or a teaser. Tell them the book will be available on your desk for anyone who is interested. Watch who might be interested! Book Trailers- if you haven t discovered book trailers yet, you are in for a TREAT! I love watching movie trailers-they get me excited about upcoming films (or help me decide I do NOT want to invest my time and money on some films) You Tube is LOADED with book trailers that are student made AND professionally produced. Show one a day to create buzz around books. Keep them wanting more! They may discover some on their own that they would like you to share with the class. They might even choose to create their own!! Bulletin Boards-create a space where students can share ideas/questions about books, write recommendations for books or document books they have read. o Graffiti board-put up some paper where students can go and write book talk graffiti. o Recommendations-create a space where students can write book recommendations. Good sites to see mentor texts of recommendations are Amazon and Spaghetti Book Club Buzz About Books-Set aside some time to have students give book talks, book commercials, book raps, or share a book trailer they have
have created. They can share with the whole class but to create greater engagement, break them into small groups so kids get more turns! Create a culture of book talk (book love). Create an award most passionate book talkers (who was the most enthusiastic about their books?) Build excitement around books AND meet listening and speaking standards. (See appendix for Book Buzz focus questions and book chat rubric ideas) CCSS.ELA- Literacy.CCRA.SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. CCSS.ELA- Literacy.CCRA.SL.5 Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations. o GUEST READERS-invite people in to the school to read to your students. Local celebrities, previous years teachers Does this sound like too much to do alone? o You are not alone!! I would LOVE to help any teacher implement the 25 Book Challenge. I am an email away! o Partner up with colleagues. Two heads ARE better than one usually! o Find ways to incorporate parent volunteers- they can help with the bulletin boards or book spine charts.
Appendix A Book Genre Requirements You know your students best. You do not need to require a variety of genres but it will help your students to try out books they may not otherwise and expose them to them to the structure, vocabulary and themes of a broader range of texts. Consider recommending a few required genres and the rest should be self- selected. Here are some genre/formats to consider. If you DO choose required genre make sure free choice remains the predominant category!! - Poetry anthologies - Realistic Fiction - Historical Fiction - Fantasy - Science Fiction - Mystery - Informational - Traditional Tales (folks, fable, myths, etc) - Biography, Autobiography, Memoir - Chapter Books - Picture Books You could create any type of record keeping for this. Here are some ideas you could use: Realistic Fiction: Realistic Fiction: Realistic Fiction: Realistic Fiction: Realistic Fiction Historical Fiction: Historical Fiction: Fantasy: Fantasy: Mystery: Mystery: Poetry Anthology: Poetry Anthology: Traditional Tales: Traditional Tales: Biography: Autobiography: Memoir: Science Fiction: Science Fiction: Free Choice: Free Choice: Free Choice: Free Choice: Free Choice:
25 Book Challenge for: Genre Requirements: Realistic Fiction = Historical Fiction= Science Fiction= Fantasy= Mystery= Informational= Biography, Autobiography, Memoir= Picture Books= Chapter Books= Poetry Anthology= 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Genre Title Date completed
My 25 Book Challenge Library
Book spines templates for tracking # books read. Use text or create your own! Wider books can be used for longer books Title Genre
Appendix B READER S NOTEBOOKS Take a simple spiral bound notebook. Photocopy and paste/tape in some of these pages near the beginning and the rest can be used for reader s responses or whatever else you might be teaching in your classroom. 1. Tally list of genre (this could include one of the templates from Appendix A) 2. Reading List- this is where students record ALL books they have started. They either write in the date abandoned or finished and rate the book on difficulty. NC=No Challenge JR=Just Right VC=Very Challenging (EASY and HARD seems to be a words with too many negative connotations.) 3. On- Deck Booklist- this is a planning list, shopping list, wish list of books the reader has recommended to them, wants to find or is waiting to read. 4. Response Entries- the rest of the notebook should be devoted to this. You can choose the types of responses you want your students to enter to ensure they are comprehending books deeply and adequately. Title Genre Finish/ Abandoned Book Title Author Location
Appendix C Status of the Class To help check in with readers, see who you d like to conference with and monitor reading pace of students I would encourage teachers to keep a status of the class sheet. Here are some samples. You would need one sheet for each week. STATUS OF THE CLASS Student Book(s) Page # Day 1 Page # Day 2 Page # Day 3 Page # Day 4 Page # Day 5
Appendix D Parent Notices Parent Postcards or notices to help announce/celebrate the completion of a book on the 25 Book Challenge Journey are a nice way to involve parents without asking them to be responsible for the students work. Here are some sample templates. Be as creative as you d like to make your own. Dear I just finished my book of my 25 Book Challenge! The title of this book was. I would recommend because: not recommend this book Love, Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Let it be known that has just completed the Book of The 25 Book Challenge! A lesson learned from this book was
Appendix E Book Buzz Book Talks and Book Chat Rubrics Book Chat Evaluation Rubric Student Effective Hook Attention Getter Title and Author Identified Genre Identified Book Clearly Shown to Audience: Yes No Main Characters Introduced Yes No Plot Discussed Concisely Setting Problem Theme Teaser Passage Read Passage demonstrates point being made Passage is read dramatically/interestingly Volume is appropriate for audience Conclusion Ends with an evaluation/recommendation Ends with a teaser or a hook Comments:
References Miller, Donalyn, and Jeff Anderson. The book whisperer: awakening the inner reader in every child. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey- Bass, 2009. Print. Layne, Steven L.. Igniting a passion for reading: successful strategies for building lifetime readers. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse Publishers, 2009. Print. Fountas, Irene C., and Gay Su. Pinnell. Guiding readers and writers, grades 3-6: teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 2001. Print. http://www.timigustafson.com/2012/the-many-health-benefits-of-reading/ http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3adoi%2f10.1371%2fjournal.pone.00 55341 http://www.spreeder.com/blog/we-cant-stress-it-enough-reading-has-manybenefits-and-here-are-5-more/ http://scholar.google.com/scholar?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en- US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF- 8&lr=&cites=16537649173695823725