Reading Revealed: A Look into Your Students' Reading Potential

Over the summer, I spend my days reading, reading, reading! I read everywhere I can, and I read everything I can. This summer will be no different. In less than 3 weeks, I will begin my summer with nothing other than a book. And my Reading Crew friends plan to do the same! We are bringing you a summer reading link up like no other!
Knowing your students is the best way to help them become lifelong readers. See how you can help them become readers forever!

{Affiliate links my be present in this post. This means that when you click on a link and make a purchase, I receive a small amount of money at no cost to you.}

Most of my summer reading revolves around fun beach reads, mindless stories that make me laugh, cry, and feel better about my own life. But I always include a little professional development in my summer reading. This is probably the least expensive and easiest way to get in a little PD and still enjoy my summertime.

To kick off my summer reading a little early, Scholastic sent me a copy of the book Reading Revealed  edited by Diane Stephens, Jerome C. Harste, and Jean Ann Clyde to read and review.

The book includes more than 35 classroom engagements, organized by type of engagement. These engagements are simple "lesson plans" to help teacher get to know their readers and help them along as they grow as readers.

The four parts are highlighted throughout this post with some of my favorite activities for each.

Knowing Reading

Yes! We know what reading is, but how do we ensure our students are the best readers they can be. We have to understand how reading works. Now, this book focuses mainly on students who have the ability to read, especially in the older grades. So, we have to understand that reading is a meaning-making process. Their "What Matters List" will help teachers have a firm grasp on what our students must have before moving into an independent reading situation.  If they don't have it, we have to help them get there. The tools are right in front of us every single day! 

And the teachers in this section of the book remind us exactly what we need to do to help them be the readers they are meant to be.

Knowing Readers

This part is one of the meatier parts. Don't we have to know our own readers? 

Yes! If we know our own readers, we can help them grow with the potential they deserve to be lifelong readers. There are a ton of great ideas for getting to know our readers without giving an "inventory" to find out what they love. Watching our kids is an easy way to figure them out, but these ideas go a step further and make them to do the work. 

My favorite idea is a "Shoebox Autobiography". This idea given to us by Jean Anne Clyde is an easy way to get to know our students on their terms. Kids fill their shoeboxes with items that describe them. Then they showcase them for the class (and you) to see. What an easy way to find out more about our students as children and as readers.

I have seen these done at the beginning of the year so many times, but most teachers don't always think about their students' reading interests. Don't you love to read about the things you love? I do! I love my children, so I gravitate to books about families with children.

When we take our own activities let them help us better understand our students, we can change reading behaviors forever.
Knowing your students is the best way to help them become lifelong readers. See how you can help them become readers forever!

Engaging Readers

Now that we know our readers, we have to engage them! This section goes hand in hand with "Knowing Readers". Without this part of the book, we will lose those students who need that extra push to fall in love with reading.

Look, Think, Pass

One idea I have seen used in my school is "Look, Think, Pass". In this activity, students gain a better understanding of what they love to read with books from your classroom library. After getting a bunch of different books from your classroom library, get the kids in a circle and pass those around one at a time. Students look at the books  and decide if they like them or not. 

I had a friend do this in her classroom. She put the books on students' desks, and they moved around the room to look at books. They wrote down books they liked. She then used that list to find more books like those to order for her classroom. They loved it!

Strategy Sharing

I do this every single day when I am teaching my large reading group. After reading, students share their reading strategies with their classmates. This helps them see better what strategic readers do and more about their own thinking. Students can share how they clarified difficult words or figured out what was going on in their reading. It also helps you, as the teacher, see where more work is needed during direct instruction.

All of the activities in this section will help us better understand our students and help them be engaged with what they are reading and learning.

Knowing the Language to Use

This last section is short and sweet. The authors simply tell us how we can use what we learned about our students in parts 2 and 3 in our classrooms. The lessons we teach are based on our knowledge about our students and what they need to be lifelong readers.

My freebie for you is my summer READO boards. Our school uses these to engage students over the summer to read, read, read. When they return in fall, they bring their boards back for a rousing game of BINGO, where they win books. Enjoy your freebie! Click on the image below to grab your freebie!
Knowing your students is the best way to help them become lifelong readers. See how you can help them become readers forever!



Knowing your students is the best way to help them become lifelong readers. See how you can help them become readers forever!


And don't forget to check out all of the other posts to prepare us all for summer
time!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter
I received a free copy of the book Reading Revealed in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given for this review.





2 comments

  1. This is FABULOUS, Andrea! I love your statement: " If we know our own readers, we can help them grow with the potential they deserve to be lifelong readers." Thanks for a great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is so true! Finding the right means for helping them learn to read and continue makes all the difference!

      Delete

Leave a comment, tell me your thoughts!