Donalyn Miller's Blog, page 7

Holiday Plans

This week, my students and I participated in what has become a classroom ritual: planning for reading over an upcoming school break. We will be out for two weeks, and my students know that I expect them to continue reading. We discussed and made reading plans over Thanksgiving, so the children dove into the task early this time--swapping books, carrying out piles, and recording titles in their readers' notebooks. At this stage of the year, my expectations aren't necessary--students eagerly look forward to the extra reading time and plan for it.

Ashley begged me to lift my three-book checkout limit because she "needs at least 10 books." She didn't have to beg much. Blake promised Kamron he would finish The Scorch Trials, the sequel to The Maze Runner, so that Kamron could take it over the break. During our library visit, my students headed for the book carts, eager to grab the hot titles before our librarian reshelved them.

Dashing from child to child--making recommendations, loaning book bags, and digging into closets for extra copies of NERDS, Smile, Ghost in the Machine and Chains-- I overheard conversations between my students that made me smile,

"Ben, you should take all three books in the Boy at War series. You would hate to finish one and not have the next."

"Can I borrow your copy of The Knife of Never Letting Go?"

"I asked my mom for books for Christmas. She looked surprised."

"How many books do you think I'll need? We are driving to Colorado to see my grandmother and we will be in the car forever."

Working to encourage children to read both in and outside of school, I notice that many children haven't picked up this lifelong reading habit--making reading plans. Adult readers download books to Kindles, reserve books at the library, and pre-order books before their release dates. We pack books for trips and always keep a book in the car or in our bags. We anticipate book emergencies-- times when we are stuck somewhere and might need a book.

During reading conferences, my students and I discuss their current books, but I often guide students to consider what they might read next. How can their reading experiences and preferences lead them to the next book and the next?

When thinking about readers, I see two types of reading plans and I guide students to consider their own reading plans with my questions:

Finding Time to Read: When do you see some downtime to read? Are you traveling during the break? How much time will you spend sitting in the car or at an airport? How can you keep up your daily reading habit over the holiday?

Considering their holiday schedules gives students an opportunity to set realistic reading goals for the break.

Choosing Titles: What books have you been reading? What books have caught your attention that you might like to read next? What are you looking for in your next book? Are you in a reading rut? How can you challenge yourself with your next book?

Setting aside titles they want to read, looking back over their reading experiences, and planning to move forward, my students continue to develop their reading lives.

After looking at our holiday schedules and choosing books, my students and I record our reading plans into our notebooks--setting goals and sharing them with each other. Writing down these plans and verbalizing them to each other makes these plans concrete and real for my students. Reading isn't something we might do during the holidays, we have reading plans!

This is what readers do; we need to read, so we plan for it. I have a staggering tower of books waiting for me to read over the break. Looking forward to long hours at home, curled up in my chair reading, I cannot wait. Do you have books backed up on your e-reader? Stacked around the house? Has that latest best-seller been calling to you? How much time will you spend waiting in an airport this holiday? My Twitter friends and I have revived our summer Book-a-Day challenge for the break, listing books we plan to read and sharing titles. You can join us by posting titles under the #bookaday hashtag and sharing your holiday reads on blogs and lists. Happy Reading!

Best Books of 2010

Tonight was the regular Twitter chat, #titletalk, which I cohost with Paul W. Hankins, the founder of RAWInk Online and leader in the Speak Loudly campaign. This month's #titletalk topic was the Best Children's and Young Adult Books of 2010. While the year is not over, many participants celebrated their favorite titles of the year (so far) and shared numerous recommendations. Visit the complete archives for the chat, as well as the Slideshare links for both Paul's and my lists.

ARC's Float On Campaign

I have been on a break from the Book Whisperer blog this past month in order to participate in the Texas State Teacher of the Year competition. This summer, I was selected as for Elementary Teacher of the Year and I have enjoyed meeting teachers from all over the state and participating in interviews and award celebrations. What a thrilling experience! Congratulations, to Daniel Leija, from Northside ISD, who was selected the 2011 Texas Teacher of the Year. Daniel is an amazing science teacher and leader in his community.

While I haven't been blogging much, I have been reading, of course. As a member of the NCTE/ CLA Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts committee, I have been reading and reviewing scores of books in consideration for this year's award lists. Publishers submit their latest titles for consideration by many award committees each year in the hopes that their books will garner awards. I also receive review copies for this blog from time-to-time since I provide regular book lists. In addition to sending books to award committees, publishers share advanced reader copies, or ARC's, with book reviewers and book bloggers, as well as passing out early release copies at conferences. Publishers value the increased interest and marketing that sending out these new books and review copies brings, and reviewers enjoy previewing books in advance of their release and sharing sneak peeks at new titles.

After the reviews are written, the blog tours take place, and the books are no longer needed by the reviewer, I often wonder what happens to these ARC's and review copies. I often see ARC's wind up on e-bay, which seems a bit unethical to me because these books are not meant for sale and neither the author nor the publisher earns any money. As members of the media, book reviewers are not allowed to sell ARC's and review copies. What happens to these books?

As a classroom teacher, many of the books I receive wind up in my classroom for my students to read. When I receive books written for younger or older readers than my sixth graders, I share these free books with colleagues at other campuses in my district or send them to my Twitter network of colleagues. Mentioning and sharing these books promotes awareness of new titles and guides people who purchase books for children toward the hot titles.

Teachers and librarians spend an outrageous amount of our personal money on books for students each year. I spend hundreds of dollars a year on new books for my classroom. With budget cuts and reduced funding for schools and libraries, it is difficult to purchase new titles for our students. Students enjoy reading books before the rest of the world sees them, and the buzz these new books create encourages my students to read. Keeping abreast of new titles helps me suggest books to our librarian and other teachers, too. Reading advance copies of books helps teachers and librarians decide how to spend our limited funding by discovering new, high-quality books that our students might like to read. One free book can turn into several book purchases for a school.

The topic of review and ARC books came up during the monthly Twitter chat, #titletalk, that I co-host with Paul Hankins. Many teachers discussed that finding low cost books and keeping on top of new releases for our students continually challenges us. Sarah Mulhern, from The Reading Zone blog, suggested that we start a campaign to encourage book reviewers and bloggers to donate their review books and advanced reader copies to classrooms and charities in their communities. Many of the reviewers I know already donate their books to local schools, libraries, and literacy charities.

If you receive free books from publishers, please consider donating your review books. By donating the books that you receive for free, you are promoting awareness of great books and authors, helping teachers and librarians, and encouraging more reading. Learn more about this initiative or connect to a classroom through the Twitter hashtag, #ARCsFloatOn.

RIF Study: Access to Books Vital to Children's Success

This week, Reading is Fundamental (RIF) released the results of an extensive research meta-analysis performed by Learning Point Associates, an affiliate of the American Institutes of Research, proving that access to print materials has positive behavioral, academic, and psychological outcomes. This study supports RIF's long-standing mission to provide books to children. According to RIF's summary report, access to print materials:

Improves children's reading performance. Findings from the...

Literature Is Our Network: Speak Loudly for Speak

This morning, I sat down with my cup of coffee, opened Twitter, and discovered a firestorm of outrage. Wesley Scroggins, a professor in Missouri, proclaiming that Laurie Halse Anderson's provocative book, Speak, contains "soft core pornography" is leading a charge to get the book banned in his community. Hundreds of readers, teachers, librarians, and authors are showing their support for Laurie and her work--as well as speaking out against banning books in general--by posting their thoughts o...

How to Accelerate a Reader

On Twitter today, a heated debate about the effectiveness of reading management and incentive programs like Accelerated Reader and Scholastic Reading Counts drove me to investigate what compels schools and school districts to implement such programs. Reading management programs work like this: Students take a computerized placement test to determine their reading level. Students select books to read that match this level. When students complete books, they take computerized tests on these...

Classroom Library Lost in Flooding

This weekend, a water pipe broke in the ceiling of Wedgeworth Elementary School in Waxahachie, Texas. Flooding was not discovered until Sunday night. Leaking water flowed through the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade hallways causing extensive damage. Raechelle Ivy, a 5th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher, whose classroom was directly under the leak, lost 15 years of teaching materials-- including her classroom library. Ms. Ivy works to engage students with reading, but this goal faces a n...

Book-a-Day Challenge Wrap-up Post

What an amazing month August has been! I presented seven staff developments speeches and workshops-- working and speaking with dedicated, hard-working teachers in Lousiana, Texas, and Iowa. We shared our goals for improving students' reading motivation and engagement and looked ahead to the new school year.

I co-hosted a Twitter chat, #titletalk, with outstanding high school teacher and book guru, Paul W. Hankins. Our beginning question, "How do we promote independent reading in our...

Book-a-Day Challenge Wrap-up Post

What an amazing month August has been! I presented seven staff developments speeches and workshops-- working and speaking with dedicated, hard-working teachers in Lousiana, Texas, and Iowa. We shared our goals for improving students' reading motivation and engagement and looked ahead to the new school year.

I co-hosted a Twitter chat, #titletalk, with outstanding high school teacher and book guru, Paul W. Hankins. Our beginning question, "How do we promote independent reading in our...

48 Hour Read-a-Thon

Wallace at the Unputdownable's blog is hosting a 48 hour Read-a-Thon this weekend. Complete details are located on her site. Join us for an indulgent weekend of reading. Summer vacation is winding down and those books are calling! I plan to read Prophecy of the Sisters, Falling In, and A Mango-Shaped Space.