Reading in the Wild: Chapter 5 and Appendices #cyberPD

Chapter 5 of Donalyn Miller's book, Reading in the Wild, may have been my favorite chapter of the book. It is titled "Wild Readers Show Preferences." Perhaps it is my favorite chapter because it is the one that caused me to do the most reflecting upon my own reading habits and on what I do (or, more accurately, what I haven't been doing) in the classroom.

My own reading preferences are similar to the Wild Reader Survey results. I, too, prefer realism over fantasy. However, that doesn't mean that I only read realistic fiction. I have varied and broad tastes when it comes to my reading preferences, but that's a blog for another day…

I examined my own reading preferences and mentally congratulated myself for the tremendous job I did in sharing my preferences with my students. Then it hit me. It shouldn't be about MY reading preferences. It should be about my STUDENTS' reading preferences. "Valuing their tastes shows our students that we trust them to make their own decisions about what they read. Students' preferences should hold as much sway in the classroom community as ours." (page 167) I began to feel guilty, but further reflection reminded me that I did do a great deal to honor my students and their preferences. Josh loved soccer, so I found both fiction and nonfiction books for him. Elli worshipped her dog and was an aspiring equestrian, so books with dogs and girls entering horse shows were added to my library. But did I dig deeply enough to find out about each students' preferences, or did I barely skim the surface?

Yes, I worked diligently to find books to suit my students' preferences, but where I truly fell short was in not reading widely enough myself. "We must push ourselves to read widely in order to best serve our students--as role models who read for diverse purposes and reading advisors who know a lot about books that appeal to all types of readers. The more widely we read, the more expertise we offer to our students." (page 167) An implication for me would be that I would have to start expanding my horizons, and I challenged myself to start by reading a graphic novel. I had just finished reading Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, so I then read Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography by Jacobson and Colon (2010.) In doing so, I  received valuable background knowledge about Anne and her family that I didn't learn from her diary.

Surprisingly, I also learned about myself as a reader and about my reading process. The graphic format was an unfamiliar genre, and I struggled to make meaning at times. We reading educators should do that more often--immerse ourselves in difficult and unfamiliar text. If we only read "easy" texts, we are not forced to examine our own metacognitive processes. Sometimes we unintentionally leave important details out of our think alouds because we read with automaticity; the reading process has become second nature to us. It is much more authentic, relevant, and worthwhile to our students when we show them how we grapple with our own unfamiliar, difficult text.

Donalyn discusses the power of rereading favorite books on page 175. I admit that from year-to-year, I frequently reread favorite picture books and novels in my classroom, but I rarely reread books for personal pleasure. (I hereby vow to reread To Kill a Mockingbird this summer!) There are definitely benefits of allowing students to reread their favorite books. Perhaps now I won't be so quick to judge when I see a student reading a book for the umpteenth time, but I will ask more questions about why the student chooses to do so.

As an instructional specialist who works mostly with literacy instruction, I frequently challenge the teachers with whom I work to make sure they have a balance in the genres of books they share with their classes: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This past year I shared the nonfiction website Wonderopolis.org as a way to include more nonfiction that is both appealing and of high-interest. I love Donalyn's idea on page 181 of teachers sharing a few amazing, nonfiction facts each day with students during transition times. I've witnessed teachers do this with joke books, too.

In Donalyn's discussion of the reading habits conferences she has with students, she mentions on pages 184-185 that she assesses her students' independent reading levels three times per year. In my district, our teachers do the same thing but with a different assessment. We have been trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to move teachers away from labeling students with the level they reached. ("Oh, Johnny? He's a level 8. He could never read that book on elephants because it's a level 14.") Donalyn says that she records "at, above, or below grade level." I'd much rather my teachers view their students' levels in that manner instead of pigeon-holing them into a numbered level.

Donalyn ends the chapter with her 40-book requirement for her students. This is not new information to her fans and followers, but I like her explanation of why she does that is." The main reason Susie and I expect students to try a little bit of everything is so that they can find what they like to read." (page 192) How else will they know what they like if they haven't tried a variety of different genres? How will we, as teachers, know?

I appreciate the invaluable information in the appendices at the end of the book. I particularly like the easy-to-implement, straightforward, teacher- and student-friendly forms in appendix A and B. I would like to have the faculty at our school answer the Wild Reader Survey in order to start an interesting conversation about the results. I plan to share Appendix E: Students' Favorite Titles and Series with teachers interested in expanding and/or updating (or even starting!) their classroom libraries.

So, now that the summer is coming to a close, it's time for my real thinking to begin. How am I going to implement all of these ideas with my teachers when we are back at school? I cannot wait to see how the ideas presented here impact our school.

READING IN THE WILD, chapters 3 and 4, #cyberPD

Growing up, I was exactly the kind of kid who would fit Donalyn Miller’s definition of a “wild reader.” I read constantly, just about any book I could get my hands on. And my obsession with reading continues to this day! I am Reading In the Wild, for the blog link-up and Twitter initiative #cyberPB. I am excited to have this opportunity to write a reflection on chapters 3 and 4 of Donalyn’s latest book,

Chapter 3 is titled “Wild Readers Share Books and Reading With Other Readers.” On page 91, Donalyn states that “If we want children to read more, we must provide them with classrooms, libraries, and homes where reading is the norm.” Classroom libraries are one of my “hot button,” “soapbox” issues. When I was a classroom teacher, our classroom library was the cornerstone around which all literacy activities revolved. I once cataloged my classroom library during a doctoral course, and I was astonished to see that I had over 3,000 books. These books were donated by students and their families, supplemented by points earned for freebies by Scholastic book club, and mostly bought with my very own money. I put a lot of money into my library because I believed that it was the most important investment I could make in my students’ literacy lives.

I walk into many classrooms now where, unfortunately, there are only a few dozen books for students to use. Public and school libraries are extremely important places, but I would argue that we should spend much more money investing in classroom libraries. Classrooms are where students spend the majority of their time, and students should have easy, ready access to books at any moment. Teachers have no control over the access that children have to books outside of their classrooms, but they have (almost) complete control over the books that are in their rooms. I challenge classroom teachers to stop spending their money on motivational posters or on the latest, cutest bulletin board borders and to start buying more books!

The bottom line is this: our students will not and cannot become wild readers if we do not provide them with lots of interesting reading material IN OUR CLASSROOMS.

Other trends that Donalyn noticed through her Wild Reader Survey included many ideas that were similar to the results that I got in my own dissertation research. In my study, second graders were asked about their reading lives. Like Donalyn’s Wild Readers, my second graders relished the opportunity to hear about books from other readers. In fact, most of the second graders relied on recommendations from others to decide what they would like to read. One of the strategies I introduced in the intervention classroom to motivate the kids to read was the use of book talks. The books that the teacher and I shared through book talks soon became the hottest, most sought-after titles in the room!

Chapter 4 is titled “Wild Readers Have Plans.” I love the quote on page 137 from Penny Kittle about the difference between readers and non-readers: readers have plans. Donalyn points out that there are different types of reading plans. One of those types of plans is a commitment plan. Perhaps this is the easiest plan for a teacher and students to implement. It means simply setting aside time each day to read.  This is simple for many teachers, but in many districts like the one where I teach, how teachers manage their time is mandated by higher-ups. When I was building my classroom schedule each year, I would first plug in the times that I had no control over: lunch, specials, etc. Next, I would plug in time for students to read independently and time for me to read to the students. (I should point out that this time was IN ADDITION to instructional reading time.) How did I find this “extra” time? Mainly I was able to pull minutes from non-instructional, time-wasting activities such as class restroom breaks. I also became a pro at teaching my students routines (for turning in work, for getting ready for lunch, for cutting out words for spelling sorts, etc.) that they could manage quickly and efficiently with little assistance from me.

While I did make sure that my students had time each day to read and that they had interesting reading material, I did not do much to motivate them to set the kinds of challenges Donalyn mentions in chapter 4. I have since set those kinds of challenges for myself. You can read about a couple of those challenges here: my mini-Newbery challenge , book gap challenge .

Chapter 4 ends with Donalyn talking about personal reading canons, “the books that have shaped and defined us” (p 159.) I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on which books I would say were in my own canon. I hope to make that another blog post soon!