Category: Reading

being a teacher, Literacy, Reading

On Reading Gaps and Book Recommendations

Pernille Ripp

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I have been racing through the pages of Carl Deuker’s Gym Candy this weekend.  Finding every moment I can to read it.  Not because I love football books, anyone who knows me would probably laugh at that considering I don’t watch any football, ever.  Not because I  am under a special deadline to get it done.  The book is mine, I can read it as slowly as I would like to.  No, because the book was recommended to me by an 8th grader and I know just the right 7th grader to pass it to.  But first I want to read it, to add it to my repertoire of books my resistant readers may embrace.  And so this weekend, Gym Candy and I have been spending a lot of time together and it has led me to contemplate my own reading identity.

I  speak and write (and even think) a lot about how our classroom needs to be filled with books and children eager to read them. How one of my biggest missions in teaching is to help students fall in love with reading or remain there.  How we must create interest for many genres of books and then expose students to them through informal book talks or reading displays.  But what about our own reading identities?  Do we give as much thought to what we read, what we share, what we embrace, as we do that of the students?  Are we branching out and putting ourselves through the very motions that we try to put our students through?

I know I am not.  If you were to look at my reading display you would notice a pattern; science fiction, fantasy (but not too fantasy-y) and a great realistic fiction story now and then.  Mostly new books, geared at 12 plus in ages.  Even though I should be reading for the Global Read Aloud.  It seems as if I have found myself as a reader a long time ago and firmly stayed there, happy with the destination. Yet, within my own reading preferences I am creating limitations in how I teach.  I am missing out on entire genres of books that some of my students might fall in love with.  I am becoming less of a book lover and more of a genre lover.  And that is a problem.

When we only read for ourselves, even with a mission to find great books to share with students, we forget to study our own habits.  We forget to see the book gaps, which many have blogged about before, and how these gaps affect us as book recommenders.  If you had asked me to recommend a great sports book, my list would have had  2 on them, now it has 3, and that is still not enough.

So when my former student told me to read Gym Candy he only had to mention it twice.  Not because I owed it to him and our continuing book conversations.  Not because this would probably be the only way he would ever recommend another book to me.  While both important, these were not the biggest reasons, but instead because it allowed me to make an investment in the students I have yet to reach.  In the students who need my experience with books to guide them.  For the students who don’t know what to read and hate the very genres I love.

So I pledge to read more widely.  I pledge to ask more questions.  I pledge to not judge and I pledge to recognize my own deficiencies in order to inspire my students to do the same.  There are entire genres I would never read on my own where  I would be just fine as a reader, but I would not be fine as a teacher.  So as I finish the pages of this book, I look forward to the next challenge and not to the comfort of the books I would naturally read.  Who knows; there may be an entire genre for me to fall in love with.  I just need to find it first.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

 

 

being a teacher, books, Literacy, picture books, Reading, Student Engagement

12 Word Book Summaries – A Great Way to End our Book Clubs

Pernille Ripp

Once in a while I get a surprise package of books at my house.  It honestly feels like Christmas.  And while I love my chapter books as I try to figure out who the Global Read Aloud contenders should be, when picture books show up it is an even bigger celebration.  So imagine my delight when Chronicle Books sent me 4 of their Cozy Classics.

While they are meant to be baby board books, I immediately saw great potential for them as a tool in the classroom.  Having just finished their self-selected book clubs, I wanted my students to somehow wrap up their projects while also doing some deeper analysis of the stories they had read and discussed.  Summarizing and analyzing are both skills we work on throughout the year, as is our public speaking skills.  Yet I did not want them to write a paper about their books, since I had had them do other writing throughout.  So this is exactly why the Cozy Classics were perfect; would my students be able to succinctly summarize their entire book in just 12 words?

This week I read War and Peace to my students and once their excitement died down I set them on their task; create a 12 word book summary that summarizes the entire book and then perform it for the class.  Throughout the week they would get a few blocks of 5 to  10 minute times and today they performed them.  The results were fantastic; students clearly had not only given a lot of thought to which words would best describe their stories, but also in how they should perform them for the class.

Here is one group performing their summary for Jennifer A. Nielsen’s A Night Divided, which by the way is a wonderful book to have in your classroom library.

Sometimes it is the smallest ideas that can have the greatest impact.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

being a teacher, books, Literacy, picture books, Reading

More Picture Books to Teach Theme

Pernille Ripp

I was going to simply update my original post on teaching theme through picture books, but then realized that I had so many new picture books to add to it that it deserved its own post.  It is a great time to be a lover of picture books.  So behold, even more amazing picture books to teach theme and please feel free to add your own suggestions as well.

If you would like just a list without images and theme suggestion,please go here. 

I cried the first time I read Ida, Always by Caron Lewis and Charles Santoso.  I cried the second time I read it as well.  With its story of love surpassing death, it is a must add to any classroom.

Yard Sale written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Lauren Castillo is a fantastic book to discuss what it means to have a home and a family.  This is another book that made me cry.

We discuss needing diverse books in our classrooms and Jacob’s New Dress is most definitely a book we need.  Written by Sarah and Ian Hoffman for their own son, my students had wonderful discussions about what it means to fit the mold that society gives us.

The Night Gardener by the Fan Brothers is beautiful not only in its illustrations, but also in its message about what one person can do for a community.

 

Be A Friend by Salina Yoon is a wonderful addition to any classroom collection.  Its simple story allows for a rich discussion about friendship and finding our place in the world.

The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers (Global Read Aloud contender) is a masterful book for students in discovering theme.  Love, loss, death, acceptance and rediscovery were all themes my students fund in the book.

The Wildest Race Ever:  The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon by Megan McCarthy is a great addition to our theme collection.  I love when non-fiction picture books can be used to discuss theme.

I have several of Pat Zietlow Miller’s picture books in our classroom and find them all to be incredible additions.  Sophie’s Squash always makes me laugh.  Pat’s latest picture book The Quickest Kid in Clarksville illustrated by Frank Morrison was an instant hit with my students and the theme only brought further conversation.

Another non-fiction picture book, Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea by Robert Burleigh and illustrated by Raul Colon has made its way into our classroom, not only teaching us about the incredible life of Marie Tharp but also about perseverance, having dreams, and the power of curiosity.

Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be In This Book) written by Julie Falatko and illustrated by Tim Miller is a sure hit with kids and adults alike.  Funny and with a great message of friendship, my students have read this one multiple times.

I am an unabashedly major fan of Bob Shea and his books show up on many of my lists.  The second installment of his Ballet Cat series is already a favorite in our classroom as well as with my own children.  In Dance! Dance! Underpants! we can find the themes of friendships, judgment, and also how to succeed while getting another great laugh.

I love wordless picture books for discussing theme because it lets readers look at just the illustrations without wondering about the words.  Skunk on a String by Thao Lam is a great conversation starter for perseverance and creativity.

Using picture books to teach theme to my middle schoolers has been one of the best decisions I ever made.  The illustrations pull them in but the stories are what keeps us coming back.

If you would like to see more of our favorite books, please go here.

being a teacher, Literacy, Reading

Will You Help Me With Research on Student Book Abandonment Habits

Pernille Ripp

Book abandonment and its effect on love of reading has been on my mind for a long time it seems.  Chalk it up to the fact that I am writing a book that falls into the literacy realm, to the fact that I am abandoning books like crazy myself, or that my students reading habits seem to vary seemingly from day to day.  Whatever the cause, I cannot help but wonder; what leads a child to abandon a book?  And how does book abandonment shape their future reading identity?

So as I try to gain more insight from my own students, I also would love if other students would help out.  Would you be willing to have your students (or own children) take my short survey?  It should take less than 10 minutes if even and should be fairly easy for students to take.  I imagine they may need to be n 3rd grade or up due to the questions but you may be the judge of that. The answers will probably be used in some way in my future writing since I have a feeling it will offer us insight into the minds of students and how we can use the act of book abandonment as a way to fuel change in our reading instruction and student reading identity.

Thank you so much.  Please share with as many colleagues as possible, if you would, I am looking for answers from as many kids as possible. If you would prefer the link to the service, it is right here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15h2VKhC1t2SJc0V1_6IY4-9oBLDx4dkN1d2361vKMDs/viewform

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, books, Literacy, Reading

When Reading Becomes a To-Do

Pernille Ripp

I have been in the longest reading slump of my adult life this winter.  Books have been picked up and tossed aside.  My iPad and I have entered a new relationship level as I have committed to beat all levels of Candy Crush Jelly Saga.  I spent an entire plane ride to California thinking about how I should read and then not actually doing any reading.  Both ways.  And I have abandoned book upon book, only to feverishly cram the shortest book down in a half an hour so that I could my students that I was still reading.

What caused this reading disenchantment?  Pressure.  Pressure to find the perfect book for the Global Read Aloud.  Pressure to find an engaging story to beat the last engaging story I finished.  Pressure to read more than I read the week before.  Pressure to meet my goal.  Pressure to like a book that everyone else liked.  And yes, even pressure to read some of the mountain of books that sits next to my bed waiting to spill out of the bookshelves at the slightest movement.  Good thing, earthquakes are rare in Wisconsin.

On Monday, I realized that I loathed reading.  That I would have no problem not really reading for the next year or so.  That reading and I could certainly break up and I could fake it for a while, after all I did not really have to read all those books, I could just read their reviews and pass them off to students.  Yet, in that stark realization I found my key to salvation; reading had become a chore rather than something I do for pleasure.  Reading had been added to my to-do list right beside folding the laundry and answering email.  So I knew it it was time to reclaim my reading life.  To not let this one completely self-indulgent pleasure fade out of my life.  And since last night, I have gratefully sunk into the pages of a self-selected perfect for me book and rekindled  my love slowly, page by page, minute by minute.  There is still hope for me, I am not a lost cause, because deep down, I love reading.

Yet, I wonder about our students who loathe reading.

Whose fragile relationship with reading is one marred by well-meaning intentions from their teachers that tried to change their mind.  Who will gladly accept whatever book you hand them because then at least you will stop bugging them.  Who stare at a book not as a welcome friend but as a chore, a to-do, rather than a to-love.  Who are told what to read because they do not know how to find a book by themselves.  Who are limited in their choice because they certainly cannot read that book, whatever that book may be.

I worry about the kids who do not know that reading can be something incredible and therefore go through life eagerly awaiting the day that no adult will tell them to read.  Who cannot wait to fake read their way through the next book they are forced to read.  What a skill they can perfect right under our noses.

What will ever snap them out of their loathing when the things we do to help only cause them to hate it more?  When we tell them to stick with a book rather than abandon it, when we tell them to always write about their reading or log their minutes and don’t forget the parent signature.  When we tell them to find books at their level even if their heart calls out for another.  What will break them out of their pattern of reading not for enjoyment, not for fun, not for exploration, or self-preservation, but instead for the-teacher-said-I-had-to.  Will they know that reading is meant to be an act of love?  Of dreaming?  Or will they simply count the days when reading disappears from their to-do list never to return.

I fell in love with reading because I was given the space to grow as one.  I was given the trust to pick my books and to abandon them as well.  To not produce after I read but instead be given more time to read.  I fell in love with reading not because a teacher told me I had to but because my heart longed for the pages of a book.  Can our students hear their hearts in our classrooms or does our teaching get in the way?  I think it is time we stopped and listened.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

being a teacher, books, Literacy, picture books, Reading

Some Picture Books to Discuss Courage

Pernille Ripp

Have I convinced you yet that there is a picture book for every occasion?  Whether it is to build empathy, spark creativity, or in this case build courage, picture books are my go to text for almost anything.  These picture books are the ones I pull out when we need a little bit of boost, when we need to remember that we can change the world, when we need just a boost of courage as we try to navigate what it means to be a middle schooler.

Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan: Two Stories of Bravery by Jeanette Winter.  I have used this book on many different occasions but having courage in the face of danger is major topic for social advocacy.  I love this book so much. 

Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman, illustrated by Chris Case.  being yourself can be hard when you society will judge you but this book is a must add for any classroom.  When we speak about needing diverse books we need books that not only a provide a mirror for our students but also a window to quote Jacqueline Woodson.  While we may have no students that we think need this book, all of our students really need it.

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg and illustrated by Judy Love.  Sometimes kids think that adults have no fears but this book reminds them that we get scared too.  A lighthearted read that is sure to be a great conversation starter.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown.  Staying true to yourself takes courage and Mr. Tiger is a good teacher of that.

Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle and Rafael Lopez  A beautiful book from this prolific author that is all about following your own dreams and not letting others box you in.

Nightsong by Ari Berk and illustrated by Loren Long.  Venturing out on your own is never easy especially when the night is dark.

I’m Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton.  How many of us have tried to break our own fears?  This is a laugh out-loud book that will make us think about the fears we need to work through.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein.  This has been my chosen read aloud for many years on 9/11 because ti allows us to open up a hard conversation by remembering something beautiful.  Now with the movie The Walk out, students know this story even better.

The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers.  This book is beautiful and the message that it carries of not being afraid to love is one that will resonate with may readers.

I am Rosa Parks by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos  I could have picked any of the books in this series, they all have wonderful message sof staying true to yourself and finding your own courage.

To the Stars!  The First American Woman to Walk in Space by Carmella Van Vleet and Dr. Kathy Sullivan, illustrated by Nicole Wong.  What is your dream adn how will you achieve it?  Sometimes you have to dream bigger than the rest of the world wants you to.

Walk On!  A Guide for Babies of All Ages by Marla Frazee.  Even babies need courage.  We all take so many things for granted that took a lot of work to do, this book is a great reminder of how far we have all come.

The Yellow Star by Carmen Agra Deedy and illustrated by Henri Soerensen.  While the story is not completely true it does speak to how one person can inspire courage for many.

 

I know there are many others out there, which picture books do you gravitate toward when you need students to find some courage?

To see the list of more of our favorite picture books, go here.