By: Elizabeth Rowland
Authentic Reading Experiences
We are constantly reading for skill. We are constantly asking kids to do something with their reading. and then we wonder why they leave us and never pick up another book.
-Pernille Ripp
Changing the way students think while reading.
Creating responsive, responsible, and compassionate readers.
Throughout my course work I learned to teach students to be responsive readers. In creating responsive readers, we must use relevant texts and tasks that require them to do more with the text than just extract information, they need to be aware of the effects the texts has on them. In Disrupting Thinking- Why How We Read Matters, Beers and Probst (2017) discuss readers being alert to the response it evokes and what that response might mean. (page 27). By developing responsive readers, students are more likely to see the purpose and value in reading. This will help prepare students to be readers in our ever-changing society.
Along with students acknowledging their response to a text, teachers need to teach students to be responsible readers, readers that question their responses that come directly from the text. Students need to be responsible to the words in a text and the information presented in a text. When students are not responsible readers, they are missing an opportunity to think or to learn something new. Teachers need to encourage students to critically think about what they have brought to the text and what the text has brought to them. In doing this, we will create responsible readers that question the text they are reading and analyze what they already know, what they learned, and how their thinking has changed.
Teachers also need to teach students to be compassionate readers. It is simply not enough for students to read and recognize their response to the text. Students also need to question why these feelings were evoked. In Disrupting Thinking- Why How We Read Matters, Beers and Probst (2017) stated: “But not only is compassion a desirable characteristic of people, we also think that it is a necessary characteristic of readers. The more capable readers are of compassion, the more likely it is that they will be able to read well.”(page 45). Compassion strengthens readers' ability to see other perspectives and think of the feelings of those who have differing points of view. As students take on another perspective, it enables them to learn more about the world and people around them, and maybe they will begin to act with compassion.
After reading about developing responsive, responsible, and compassionate readers, I knew I had to make huge changes in my reading instruction. This led me to one of my biggest understandings from my course work; disrupting students thinking as they are reading. Students need to realize that reading provides them the opportunity to change their understanding of the world and themselves. When students realize this, they will want to read. To do this, Beers and Probst suggest using the book, head, heart framework. This means thinking about what’s in the book, your thoughts about it, what you feel, and how you might have changed. (Beers and Probst, 2017, page 63). In using the BHH framework I can encourage students to be responsive, responsible, and compassionate readers.
After learning about this framework, I was so excited to present it to students and start having students practice thinking about what is in the book, what is in their head, and what is in their heart. When I taught my students about the BHH framework, I informed students that this would be a new way of thinking about a text, but it would help them become better readers and could even help them see the value of reading. During my reading instruction, I have included questions that prompt students to think about what is in the book, their head, and their heart. These questions have started great discussions about the text and I have seen an increase in students thinking critically about a text. I hope as I continue to model and scaffold students understanding of the BHH framework, students will see the value in reading and be more engaged in what they are reading.
When readers are lost in a book, they stand a good chance of finding themselves.
-Kylene Beers & Robert E. Probst
Student Choice
Another essential understanding I gained from my course work was the power in student choice. Kelly Gallagher (2016) states “Although providing my students with more time to read dramatically increases the amount of reading they do; no single practice inspires my students to read as much as the opportunity to choose their own books.” When you have students who are reluctant to read or struggle in reading, providing them with choice can be very motivating.
By allowing students to choose books of interest we are increasing their chances at successfully comprehending the text. This success can only help encourage students to pick up another book to read. The more students read, the better readers they become. The better readers they become, the more likely they will be to engage deeply with a text.
However simply providing students choice in what to read is not enough. Pernille Ripp (2018) suggest using the following five tenets of choice.
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Choice in engagement: meaning choice in how they they would like to learn. Giving students choice in small group instruction, conferencing, independent work, group work, etc.
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Choice in product: meaning what they would like to do or create to show their learning.
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Choice in setting: meaning choice in where they would like to learn.
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Choice in timeline: meaning allowing flexibility in when students are assessed.
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Choice in assessment: meaning how and what is assessed.
By incorporating these elements of choice students feel more in control of how they want to learn and this can lead to increased student engagement and motivation. “Students want to be more invested, when they feel that the teacher trusts them to make decisions that matter.” (Ripp, 2018)
High Quality Literature
Reading Identity
Classroom Library
ILA Standards for Classroom Teachers
-Standard 1: Foundational Knowledge: Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the major theoretical, conceptual, and evidence-based foundations of elementary/intermediate literacy and language and the ways in which they interrelate.
-Standard 2: Curriculum and instruction:Candidates apply foundational knowledge to critically examine elementary/intermediate literacy curricula; design, adapt, implement, and evaluate instructional approaches and materials to provide a coherent and motivating literacy program that addresses both general and discipline-specific literacy processes.
-Standard 4: Diversity and equity: Candidates examine their own culture and beliefs; set high expectations for their students; learn about and appreciate the cultures of their students, families, and communities to inform instruction.
-Standard 5: Learners and the Literacy Environment: Candidates apply knowledge of learner development and learning differences to create a positive, literacy-rich learning environment anchored in digital and print literacies.