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!
