There are 3 days of school left, and they are all early-out days with afternoons set aside for administrative chores. My principal had a Title 1 evaluation meeting downtown today, and he asked the teachers if we had any classroom data (pre/post) he could take with him. I asked if he’d be interested in student reflection pieces, and he said that would be good.
Students were overwhelmingly positive about the reading/writing workshop, and website. These are some clips from the highlight reel.
This year I have learned to like other genres of books. Before I went into sixth grade I only liked manga and mystery. But when we had to read books that the rest of the class had, I began to like humorous books and history books.
-K
This entire year I’ve read like twenty thick books and I found out that writing is fun, and I want to write books when I grow up. I’ve already started on one. It’s called Ten Days. It’s about a murderer that captures people and then ten days later they’re dead on the front porch. I’ve read stuff like that in books and now mine will be part of the collection. So in the future when I am older if you are still living, maybe if it is out you might look for it and see how much I like to write. Well, in the beginning of the year I hated reading but now I love reading and that got me into writing.
-J
When I came to 6th grade I didn’t like to read that much. When I started reading I read mostly informational books. I read informational books until my friend told me about this funny fiction book he read, Curse of the Campfire Weenies. Somehow after I read that book I started to read a lot more fiction books.
-C
Reading and writing this year was a fun experience for me. The subject I disliked the most was reading. It’s not that I’m a bad reader, because I’m not; it’s that sometimes I had trouble choosing what book to read. While with writing I always had something new to talk about, whether it was about school, home, sports, or anything else, I always had something to say.
-G
I remember at the beginning of the year I hated to read but now I am more into it. Right now I’m reading a book called Avalon: Web of Magic. These books got me to the point where I love reading again. I’ve definitely learned from reading. On the other hand, writing is a different story. I have been writing since I was about 5. I want the stories I write to make people laugh, be amazed, be sad, and more. To me, writing is a way of expressing my feelings…. Reading and writing is a way for me to connect to the world.
-A
In the beginning of the year I hated, just hated, just hated reading and writing. But now I love them…. Writing was hard for me at first because I did not spell well. But with help I am doing OK. I think of the writing as work after playing. I also think about a writer, for example Scott Westerfeld, and I am writing to tell him what I thought about the book. Reading was hard too because I did not know how to read. I was reading kid books and not my age books, but now I am reading my age books. Some books are hard for me still, but I try to work through the difficulties and soon I am off to another book. When I am interested in something I look up all I can and write what I know down.
-B
At the beginning of the year I was hard headed about reading and didn’t like it at all! But now Mr. Noon has made me realize all books aren’t so bad. I have come to enjoy reading a bit more than I used to and it has opened a whole new gate for me. Now I like fiction books that are humorous. My writing at the beginning of the year was good. I loved to write and still do, but Mr. Noon, classmates, and others have helped me to improve and learn more about the concepts of writing. I have learned to use descriptions such as colors, words, and letting the reader visualize, not just read the words.
-K
I didn’t really like reading at the beginning of the year, but now I will go to Barnes and Noble, get a 100-650 paged book and read it for hours non-stop. I really like action-adventure, fantasy adventure books, such as Dragon Rider, The Thief Lord, and The Hobbit. I’m glad Mr. Noon had The Hobbit. That book was awesome!… I don’t really feel the same about writing. Our class web site is cool, but I almost always have writer’s block on things we’re assigned, like writing about magazines we read, I always have to look back at it a lot. I think writing is a lot better than it has been in past years, though. -T
Based on what they had to say, I’m thinking about ways to build opportunities for small group book clubs and writing teams into the program next year, making sure they still have options for what they’ll read and write. Many may have done better, or had more fun, with some additional kinds of support. It was interesting to see how frequently they mentioned following up on recommendations from their friends. I want to encourage that.
Several months ago, one of the boys told me that he was starting to like reading. Ah, you’ve fallen for my evil plan, I told him. He smiled. Getting them to enjoy reading was my main goal this year, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
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One of my favourite posts of this year was the one where your book clubs had reading going viral and this post is some nice icing on that cake. I went to a workshop after school last night that was titled “Literature Circles” which was a bit deceptive because they started talking lit circles and then evolved that around to “Book Clubs” which in concept was much closer to what you described happening in your classroom. The only thing is finding enough copies of the sort of books that help to fuel the reading fire … because this book club process is centered around a small group of kids discussing a common book and your process seemed to be more on individual choice. Anyway, the goal is getting kids reading for enjoyment. We can’t afford to dampen enthusiasm for this essential life skill.
You rock!
Doug, great stuff! The best line, by far, was “So in the future when I am older if you are still living…” It’s exciting to see that so many kids have discovered their love of reading. You should be very proud of your accomplishment this year. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Doug,
AWESOME stuff. I just left a comment at Graham’s that discussed this– I am really excited over making independent reading one of the cores of my program next year. What are your thoughts on incorporating book clubs/groups, though? This approach also has its benefits and I wouldn’t want to chuck them absolutely…
I starting reading outloud to my gifted kids (2-6th) several years ago.
About the same time I started building a class library (several 100 volumes now). The impetus for the library was having on hand the latest additions to new and popular series and books appropriate for young kids reading 3-5 years above grade level. The library has been great for encouraging reluctant readers (no all gifted kids don’t LOVE to read). They like being able to get the ‘next’ book and like hearing others rave aout a certain book. I get the books from an annual adopt a book drive–I send the list and parents donate the books–new, used, or from home libraries.
Back to the reading aloud–this has been one of the things kids really love-they are only with me one day a week so excitement to get back to the book is always there. I make them swear they won’t read the book outside of class—and choose brand new books they haven’t gotten their hands on yet. I just finished reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins to the 6th graders and they loved it. Don’t tell anybody but their last day of class I read outloud for TWO hours and they say on the edge of their seats the whole time. (they weren’t in seats–they were lounging in beanbags and on the floor). Every time I tried to quit they whined and complained so much I had to go on!! (Note: it is a very intense book and not good for younger readers)
Ahh, I’ll spend the summer looking for the next best thing, I’ve read some great ones!
BTW, one of the things the kids like is I read really, really fast, lots of expression, lots of pregnant pauses–suck them right in.
Keep up the good work with your kids–you’ve sucked them in.
Dina and Graham, I think I should write more about literature circles / book clubs. I’ve tried them with different grades, and the results have been mixed. I want to incorporate them into the reading program next year, and I’m thinking about how to best do that. Nancy Atwell’s book is on my summer reading list.
Nancy, I do some of my main comprehension strategy instruction when I read aloud to the group. I don’t read real fast, though, and it takes a while to get through a whole book. Maybe I should take your advice and try to speed it up. But I’m not really a fast talker. Something else to work on, I suppose.
@ Doug
Yes, yes, and yes. Wish my kids were in your class.
Doug, you are a serious, serious Evildoer. Thanks for sharing this, as well as your piece in March describing your Plan. Reading these makes me proud to be a teacher again – Mark
Doug,
Go straight home (if you’re not there already) and start reading Atwell now. NOW. I mean it. Given your evil plan’s success, it will make you feel like you can change the world again. “In The Middle” and “The Reading Zone” are indispensable.
I have spent several happy hours this past week knowing I have the full support of my new E/LA director in putting Atwell’s workshop approach into place next year, scribbling on steno pads, thinking about how many desks I can replace with cheap bean bags. Let’s pilot some stuff together. I can see the article for NCTE now: “Co-Teaching in New York and Alaska: PLNs At Work”…
Dina, I’ve had a fairly free rein in the instructional decision-making dept. for a long time, as a matter of fact, but I didn’t realize how powerful the choice feature in a reading program for 6th-graders could be – until just this year. I have a copy of In The Middle on my shelf, and read it some while ago. I’ll take a look at it again, and find a copy of the Reading Zone. A collaborative teacher-research project with the reading workshop sounds good to me.
As a long-time literacy educator myself, I have never been able to dismiss this “rhetorical” question as being rhetorical – how do kids come to hate reading and writing? I mean, how do we do this to them? Literacy is profound and powerful. Or just plain fun. How do we convince kids it’s a pain? We’ve missed the boat badly with our over-emphasis on cognitive strategies and skills. Of course those things do matter. But just as obviously, sociolinguistic factors like choice, purpose, and audience matter, too. Keep doing your evil sinister thing, Doug.
Just goes to show that a little enthusiasm and good book choices can change the most reluctant reader. Good for you! I always have an evil plan. It’s a great phrase.
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