You’re giving your students time to read–great! You’re giving them access to books they can choose from–fantastic!
But there are some students who just can’t seem to settle on a book. They spend the whole 10 minutes of independent reading time digging through their backpack for the book they say they have. Or they randomly grab a different book every day off the class library shelf. Or they have the same book, but they’re not making any progress in it—they’re staring out the window or falling asleep–and they’ve read 2 pages in a week.
They’re not flourishing as readers. And it may be because they don’t know how to choose a book they might be interested in. To a reading adult, this might sound crazy. But think about it for a minute. How do you choose a book?
I use a variety of things to choose a book—and these things make up my book selection system. Here are some of the things I do:
- I follow book bloggers (like Reading Middle Grade, The Brainstorm Plus, Redeemed Reader, and Imagination Soup).
- I get recommendations from my friends. (One recently recommended What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama. I loved it!)
- I have favorite authors (like Gary Schmidt, Alan Gratz, and Louise Penny).
- I know what genres and topics I love (like historical fiction and international settings).
- I pay attention when book awards come out.
- I browse bookstore shelves and library shelves.
- I keep a running want-to-read list on Goodreads.
- I make use of the hold system at my public library.
How did I build my system? I’m not sure. But I was born into a home that was full of books. As a child, I was taken regularly to the public library where I checked out every book on horses I could get my hands on. My mom read books to me, and I learned early that I loved fantasy, like the Narnia series, and that I loved its author, C.S. Lewis. I had friends who shared their books with me–one in elementary school who had the entire Nancy Drew series, and another in middle school who had the entire Anne of Green Gables series.
What if I hadn’t had all that? Is it possible that I might not have any idea how to pick a book? Yes, it’s very possible.
Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash
So, what are some things we can teach students about how to pick a book? Here are some that come to mind for me:
(1) Look for a book that will grab you. Not everyone will like every book. People have very different tastes. If a particular book doesn’t grab you, abandon it and move on.
(2) Think about your preferences: What books have you enjoyed in the past? What authors, genres, topics? Can you find a similar book?
(3) Examine a book: check out the front cover, the back cover. Read the first page.
(4) Talk to your friends about what they like to read. Maybe you’ll like it, too.
(4) Ask an adult for a recommendation—a librarian, your English teacher, or another adult in your life who knows books.
(5) Keep a list of titles you come across that you might like to read. That way when you finish a book, you know exactly what you want to read next.
What can we do in class to give students scaffolded practice choosing books? Here are some things I’ve done:
(1) Start the term with an activity like a book pass or book tasting designed to give students the opportunity to examine a lot of books, chat with classmates about them, and write down titles they find interesting.
(2) Have students keep a want-to-read list.
(3) Orient students to how to find books in the places they have access—a classroom library (mine was organized by genre), an online library (a little class time to figure out how to log in, download the app, and use the search function might just be the push a couple of them need), a school library, or a public library.
(4) Occasionally have students turn to the person next to them and share something about the book they’re reading.
(5) Give your class book talks—just 2-minute ads—about books they might find interesting.
(6) Once a term, a first-line tournament is fun. Just have students pair up, read the first line of their book to their partner, and then decide which is the best. The loser sits down, and the winner finds another partner. The final playoff is decided by the whole class.
(7) End the term with students giving book talks to the class.
(8) Give students time to reflect on their book choosing strategies—what strategies they’ve used, which have been most helpful, which they’d like to use more of next term.
Bottom line: Teach students strategies for picking a book, and give them scaffolded practice using those strategies. (Remember, access to books and time to read isn’t enough to get every student deeply involved in reading.)
How about you? How do you choose books? How do your students choose books? How have you helped them? How can you help them even more?
If you have additional strategies and scaffolded practice ideas, let me know!
Get flourishing!
Kim
P.S. To do a deeper dive into supporting independent reading, check out the following books:
(1) Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers by Penny Kittle
(2) The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
(3) The Joy of Reading by Teri Lesesne and Donalyn Miller
(4) Passionate Readers: The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child by Pernille Ripp
Get Flourishing 