Choice: It's Not Just For Reading

Besides talking about books at my #yalit seminars, I also share real-world examples of student success stories, classroom activities, and how I incorporate and promote reading during the school day.

I can talk about the importance of CHOICE reading ad nauseum, and could probably write a dissertation on the topic at this point. So instead, I thought I would focus this post on student responses to reading. One of the questions I get asked frequently is "how do you know if they've read the book?" I'm going to be honest, READING is the point of the class for me and what I consider the most important. But you're right, schools require us to grade something, and since I hate reading logs, here are some ideas that I do throughout the year.

1) Free Read Friday: Barring assemblies, field days, or standardized testing, our Fridays are spent READING! As long as students are on task, we spend the 45-ish minutes of class "silent" reading. (All of us...teacher included). First of all, I will fight any administrator that says this is a waste of time. Luckily I don't have to at my school. Now, before you think that I've cracked the code to keep a class full of teenagers silent, on task, and reading for 45 minutes, I haven't. Fridays are days where I have reading conversations with students, do formal and informal booktalks as needed, give students the opportunity to write book reviews and tell other students about what they're reading, and more. Of course, the majority of the time is spent reading, and I'll be honest, most of my students honor this time and their classmates by finding a place to relax and read. I think most of them appreciated the "break" from the stresses of other classes. Do students get off task? Sure. Are there students who don't read? Sometimes. But as with any classroom, you deal with that as necessary.

2) Reading Response Projects: Besides informal conversations, book reviews, and the occasional in-class on-demand writing prompt, students are required to complete a "project" after their reading. (Middle school and high school had different guidelines for number of books read vs projects completed but every one had to complete at least a few each semester). At the start of the year I offered students a list of choices for these projects as well as guidelines/rubrics. They included anything from one-pagers, book commercials, and poetry journals... to comic strips, quote posters, and Snapchat stories. Here are a few samples of my high school class' projects this spring:

Digital art representing Moxie by Jen Mathieu

One pager for Samurai Rising by Pamela S. Turner

One pager for The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die by April Henry

Comic strip for a poem in The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Quote poster for Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Playlist for The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Part of the script of a book commercial for The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang.

Comic Strip for Treasure Island

Persuasive presentation on why I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson is the "best book ever."

3) Student Created Projects: Besides giving them a list of acceptable project ideas, I invite students to come up with their own (teacher-approved) ideas for projects that demonstrate reading. This is how, for the last project of the year, I was convinced by my seniors to let them bring in food that represented their book (because yes, they wanted a class party and we weren't technically allowed to have one). Let me tell you, the level of thought that went into these food choices was TERRIFIC and definitely showed their comprehension of the books.

4) Volunteering at Literacy Events: True, it's voluntary and not graded, but I encourage my students to volunteer at our monthly Feed n Read events. This is a great opportunity for younger students in our community to interact with teens and tweens and to have positive, shared reading experiences. It has the added benefit of being an enjoyable experience for my students as well. I always offer the option to trade out one "assignment" per semester in exchange for volunteering at one event. Let's be real, life gets busy, and there are a myriad of reasons why students may not be able to complete an assignment. But our Feed n Reads always need volunteers and the younger kids LOVE reading with the teens so it's actually a win for more than just me. And most of my students that volunteer come each month, not just the one time...proof that they secretly enjoy reading with the kids.

5) Book Character TED Talk: We did TED Talk Tuesday in our classroom each week. You can read more about that here. As a final project, I had my Contemporary Lit students choose a book character (from a book they read this year) that they would want to give a TED Talk, and then outline the key points or message that would be included. Again, WOW! I received some amazing responses. Definitely an assignment I'm keeping in the rotation.

What are some of your favorite reading-related classroom activities?

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#classroom #contemporarylit #studentchoice #choicereading #TEDTalk #FeednRead #studentwork #highschool #middleschool #reading #freereadfriday

Dear April Henry,

I have long been a fan of your books.

When I worked in a junior high/middle school library, I purchased multiple copies of all of your books. I’d say that they took up at least two shelves, except the books were never on those shelves. (Well, maybe during summer break). All I had to do was booktalk one of the titles the first month of school, and presto! Word of mouth kept them checked out all year long.

When I present #bestbooks seminars around the country, I encourage teachers and librarians from 6th-12th grades to make sure to always have your books on hand for all types of readers.

I have had multiple students over the years tell me that reading one of your books turned them into readers.

Well, you’re at it again...turning students into readers!

This semester I’m teaching a high school (seniors) Contemporary Literature class. It started out 1/3 book nerd, and 2/3 ”why do I have to take an elective that says LITERATURE?!?!” While they can choose what they want to read, I’m asking them to read 6 books this semester. We discussed my desires as a teacher versus their desires as students during spring semester and decided this was a doable number of books for everyone in class.

Our first book project was due on Monday. One of the students (the only ESL student in class) read The Girl I Used to Be (and did this “movie poster” as her project). On Tuesday, when I asked students how they felt about their first book, she spoke about how much she LOVES your books (and she rarely speaks up in class). Since it was then time to pick their next book, three other students raised their hand and said, “can we read an April Henry book?” Luckily I happened to have just that many in my classroom library. (Moves across an ocean have vastly depleted my supply...thank goodness for Scholastic book orders!).

Today, one of those three students came into class and said, “Mrs. Yusko, I’ve already finished this book! I couldn’t stop reading! I’ve never done that before. These books make me want to read the next chapter, and the next chapter, and the next chapter. Is there a sequel?” (Luckily she was reading Girl, Stolen and there is! We have to order it ASAP).

So, THANK YOU, April Henry for making this literature teacher's Thursday a good one! And giving us your stories that spark a love of books (and reading) for so many students.

With gratitude,

Shauna Yusko

PS: Friday update: your latest book arrived last night and I just made someone’s day by bringing it to class so she could be the first to read it! The girl who did the movie poster and sparked the class interest in your books was SOOOOOO happy she will get to read this book over the weekend.

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#yalit #author #letter #highschool #newbooks #favorites #studentchoice #whyiteach #bestbooks

It’s Wednesday: Here’s what We’re Reading!

This week we wrap up the first #choiceread unit of the semester in my senior Contemporary Lit class. I thought I would highlight some of the books that have made an impact so far.

1) Stephanie Kate Strohm’s Prince In Disguise was such a hit during #booktasting that two of my students played rock, paper, scissors for who would get to read it first!

Both teens self-identified as “non-readers” at the beginning of the semester. The student currently reading this book has enjoyed it so much and is so proud of her progress that she even mentioned it to the principal who was passing by the classroom. “Look, Mrs. Butler, I’m READING a book!”

2) Here’s what one student had to say about April Henry’s The Girl I Used to Be:

“I picked this book because you suggested it last year and because April Henry writes very interesting books about teenagers, which makes the story even better. I like how mysterious and detailed it is. I chose to keep reading because every time I read a new chapter, something unpredictable happens, which makes you want to keep reading it.”

3) There’s one student in class who claims “not to like reading.” Yeah, so that’s an actual lie because he’s VERY well-read and has strong opinions about what he likes. (Which is unfortunately a genre that isn’t my personal favorite). So I’ve recommended books right and left, inside and outside of that genre, that I did like. Three of my suggestions he stopped reading (admittedly he did make a dent in all of them before deciding no) and one I’m pretty sure he finished solely out of spite so he could tell me it was “cliche.” (I love seniors).

But I adore this teen and the conversations we have and I’ve kept at it... and finally my brain clicked: “SCYTHE!!!!” Yesterday as class is starting he says, “so, you’re going to bring in your copy of Thunderhead, right?!”

#myteacherheartisfull

#myworkhereisdone

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#studentchoice #choicereading #iteachhighschool #teachers #librarians #yalit #reading #whatiread #amreading #whatireadwednesday #contemporarylit