How to Pick a Book Part 6

Before selecting books, students should think about the genre. By making connections between the genre of the book they are selecting and other books they have read or heard in the same genre, they can better understand what to expect in this book. If the book is a fantasy, they will expect things to happen which they have not experienced happening in their own lives. If the book is a biography, they will expect to read facts and interesting details of the person's life.

How to Pick a Book Part 5

Open up the book and read a page. Ask yourself if you understood what you read. Could you explain what you read to someone else? How many words couldn't you read? Were there meanings of words you didn't understand? If the student is reading this book independently, five words on a page that they don't understand or can't read should be the limit. In other words, the student must judge the book before choosing it by deciding if this is a book that he/she can read with understanding.

How to Pick a Book Part 4

When readers select books, they should think about what they already know about the subject of the book, the author, or illustrator. Read the title and the summary of the book. When readers think about what they already know about a book they can build on that knowledge to create greater understanding of the topic. If they know very little about a topic, they know that it will probably be harder reading than if they know quite a bit about the topic.

How to Pick a Book Part 3

The third item to note when picking a book is its organization. When readers understand the way books are organized, they can better understand the book. When readers understand how they learn best - they can choose books which help them most. So encourage students to look at the layout of the book. Are there long or short chapters? Are there a variety of pictures, illustrations and diagrams? Are there headings and subheadings? Even the size of print can have an influence on how easily a students understands the book.

Small Group Time

It was wonderful to see how all of the teachers and staff worked together to make Small Group Time work. As small groups meet from various classrooms to work on individual needs it takes a lot of coordination. Students have to be at different locations at different times. It takes a lot of scheduling and teacher preparedness for that to happen seamlessly. I was very thankful that teachers and students remained flexible and ready to work on doing this right. We are off to a great start and we will continue to improve as we work at making it even better.