Category: Reading

Be the change, Reading

Dear Scholastic, What’s Up With the Leveled Catalogues?

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

Disclaimer first: I love Scholastic and have for many years. The ease of getting books in the hands of my students, the shiny catalogues that stop our day because we have to circle all of the books we want to read, and also the prices. Scholastic has indeed been good for this teacher. And yet, Scholastic I may have to break it off with you….

Dear Scholastic,

In my other post, I first noticed the standardized testing focus that seems to jump form your new pressed pages. As you may know, it broke my heart and many others’. But now I find myself shaking my head even more, not quite sure if I should even send home your lovely catalogue or just keep it to myself. See you went ahead and created leveled catalogues. Probably with great intentions to make book selection easier for kids or to help teachers by grade level appropriate books. But you forgot a couple of things…

My students aren’t levels. They are readers. And they don’t want someone to tell them what a 5th grader should read, they want to trust their own voice as a reader as a pursuer of fantastic stories and knowledge. I teach them to trust themselves. I teach them how to find their perfect book. I know their level but they don’t, they don’t need to to know what they need to do become even stronger readers,

Their grade does not define them. My students read all sorts of books and not because they are “just right” based on an assessment, but because they are just right in interest, in action, in creativity, in mood, in readability. They don’t pick a book because it is perfect for 5th grade. They pick a book because it is perfect for them.

And yet they know their grade. Some of my 5th graders wouldn’t be caught dead reading something someone had labeled a 4th grade book. Even if it was a great book. Even if I thrust it into their hands and told them to trust me. By splashing 4th grade or 3rd grade all over your many colored pages, you have guaranteed that some of my kids will never consider reading those books simply because they are too proud to read something that is labeled for younger kids. And what about when they become 6th graders? Do you think they then want to read 5th grade books? No, that would be for elementary students, not the big middle school students. I am saddened by the books they will miss out on.

And me? I had to pretend I was a 4th, 5th ,and 6th grade teacher to get the catalogues that I want for my students. See some need 4th grade reading levels, while others are ready for middle school action and stories. And I need to be able to supply them that. Yet, I don’t know if I can give them the catalogues anymore, I don’t know quite what will happen if they see the push for standardized testing and the need to level. Will they think that reading is only for tests? Will they think that they can only read certain books because that’s what someone told them?

I don’t think I am ready to take them down that path. I hope you change your mind, Scholastic, perhaps put the levels on the teacher part but not on the flyers. Perhaps, go back to your old ways that were not broken. You don’t have to follow all of the crazy fads happening around us, it is okay to just love reading and let kids love reading too. I haven’t lost the faith in you yet.

Best,

Pernille

Edit: It is not every day you receive a phone call from Scholastic headquarters, but today I did. After a very pleasant conversation with them regarding my latest blog posts, I hung up the phone understanding that they are trying to please many people at the same time. I was also told that many teachers and parents had asked for the recent changes, which had led them go through with it. Their intentions were to help. Yet, I stand by what I have posted and told them that many agree with me; this is not what we had hoped for from this bastion of reading. While I doubt my posts will change their minds, I urge you to start your own conversation with them. They are there to discuss and listen and perhaps if enough of us do engage, something will change. Either way, I continue to respect Scholastic and what they strive to do: provide teachers with great books, even if I am disappointed in their choice.

 

 

 

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Reading

Destroying the Love of Reading

Pernille Ripp

Yesterday as I eagerly browsed through the new Scholastic catalogue, my eyes caught this

photo (4)

And my heart sank

And then I got angry

And then I knew I had to blog about it

Whatever happened to the notion that reading expands your mind?  That reading helps you see the world through a new set of eyes?  That reading, whether fiction or nonfiction, makes you a well-rounded human being?  It seems to have disappeared, swallowed by Common Core, test prep, and scores that determine the fate of every child.  Now reading is to cram as much as knowledge into your head only so you can regurgitate it onto a test.  Shove it all in there by memorization, who cares about deeper connections or questions to ponder?  Just read, read, read, read and please make it nonfiction so that it is all facts, more knowledge, more things to know so that we can test you on it.  After all, facts is what makes a great problem solver, right?

I hate the bastardization of reading that is happening here.  I hate how reading becomes quantified through logs, broken down into data pieces, smothered through a heavy-handed focus on nonfiction rather than just reading.  Reading for the love of it.  Reading for the sake of it.  Reading for the joy of it.

I hope Scholastic comes out with a catalogue that says, “Parents: Reading leads to new adventures!” or “Parents: Reading can be an escape for your child!”  Or “Parents: Reading will deepen your child’s creativity!”  Somehow I am not sure that will happen anytime soon, but we must hope, and we must fight.  Our love of reading depends on it.

PS:  As it was mentioned in the comments, look at what they highlight as great nonfiction reading: An encyclopedia, a math dictionary, a spelling handbook, and a world atlas.  Couldn’t they at least have highlighted some great nonfiction books like “Bomb” or “Lincoln’s Killers” which I know they sell?

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collaboration, global read aloud, Reading

The Global Read Aloud – How Edmodo Helped Connect 30,000 Students

Pernille Ripp

On August 7th I was lucky enough to present at this year’s Edmodocon.  While I was not able to fly out there due to pregnancy complications, I was able to  be a part of this incredible event that reached more than 27,000 educators around the world.

My presentation is now live on Edmodo and I will say it turned out alright.  So if you would like to hear more about the Global Read Aloud and how to do global collaboration in general view it here

I am a passionate 5th grade teacher in Middleton, Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day.  First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress.   Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

Reading

Small Reading Ideas for the New Year

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I keep stumbling across amazing reading ideas that I cannot wait to implement.  The only problem is that since I am pregnant I keep also forgetting these amazing reading ideas and no matter how many times I bookmark them, I still cannot keep them all straight.  SO why not make a list to help me and perhaps help others as a new school year gets ready to start?

  • Create a “Hot Books” bin in my library.  This idea came from Choice literacy  and I love it.  Last year The Maze Runner, The Lions of Little Rock and anything by Adam Gidwitz were the must reads of the room.  So why not acknowledge with its very own book bin?  I think I may have to get a red colored one just for this purpose.
  • Create a “New Books” bin.  I book talk all of the books we received and when you are addicted to books like I am, that means we get a lot of new books.  But once they have been booktalked they seem to disappear in the many bins of books.  SO this year I will have a bin specifically for the latest books to our library.  I just need to figure out where I then want to put it.  Thanks Choice literacy for this one too.
  • Doing a book meeting time.  I love this idea from Ann of having students grab a whole bin of books and a sheet of paper and then sit on the floor looking through all of those books writing down comments and starting their to read list.  I can see this being great at the beginning of the year especially, but also when reading slumps hit.  I think it is a must for students to have several books to choose from next so that there never is a book lag.
  • Continue book speed dating.  I love this idea from Colby Sharp of grabbing huge piles of some of my favorite books and then letting students browse through them.  I set a time limit of a few minutes so that we stay purposeful.  Messy and loud, sure, but totally worth it.
  • Sharing reviews on Mrs. Ripp Reads.  I started a book review blog for my old students and have kept it going over the summer, now I think it is only natural if the kids who want to also get to add their reviews to the site.  I cannot wait to see which books they want to review.
  • Figure out the “Just Right” book.  I despise the way the term “just right” has been manipulated into being all about levels.  Instead I want to lead discussions on what it means to find the just right books for ourselves.  Just right can mean perfect interest, length, subject, theme, or anything else that makes a child gravitate toward that book.  I want my students to be aware of their own book picking patterns so they can find more books to love.
  • Invite in Book Buddies.  This year I will be opening my doors to parents who want to come in and read with the kids and for the first time it will not just be those kids who needs someone to read with them but open to any child.  And where before we would book talk books, this year it will be all about sharing a great picture book or chapter book and developing a love of reading a book together.
  • Hype the picture books.  I have been spending a lot of money on getting great picture books into the classroom, the only problem has been wrestling them out of Thea’s hands to actually bring them in.  I think my students tend to forget how wonderful picture books truly are and so we will be carving out specific time every few days just to love a picture book and then share that love with each other.  This will also be great for our 1st grade buddies who will have a lot more books read to them.
  • Create space for students to share the book love.  My students last year loved showing off the covers of their books on a bulletin board but this year brings a new group of kids so I will be asking them how they would like to display their books read.  Perhaps in their lockers?  Perhaps on the wall?  Perhaps Biblionasium or our blog?  Wherever it ends up we need to find a place to show off how much we read.
  • Ask for donations.  I have never done a DonorsChoose project before but when I added up all of the money I spent on books last year I realized now was the time.  With our 4th child on the way and having my salary frozen, I need to stop spending so much out of my own pocket.  So I am asking for books for our library to replace the ones we have lost, to get kids hooked on the right book, and to just make sure that every 5th grader that flips through it finds something to love.  I am hoping someone will help us get more books.

Those are just some ideas bouncing in my sleepy head, I am sure there will be more to share soon.

books, Literacy, picture books, Reading

10 Picture Books I Cannot Wait to Share With My New Students

Pernille Ripp
This Is Why I Teach
The drawing of me as the giving tree

I am excited to take part in the August Picture Book 10 for 10 event taking place all over the blogosphere today thanks to Mandy Robek and Cathy Mere.  So as this list needs little explanation, here are the 10 picture books I cannot wait to share with my new students.  (And, of course, there are about 100 more…)

Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman – a more simple yet deep story is hard to find.  I love this book for how simple its message is, ilove this book for how funny it is, and I love this book because before I read it aloud I get to tell my new students about how Thea giggles every time Chu almost sneezes.  

Pete & Pickles by Berkeley Breathed – I fell in love with this book this summer after Carrie Gelson recommended it.  A deep story of love and friendship with simply beautiful illustrations.  I cannot wait to see how my students react to it.

Bluebird by Bob Staake– I never got wordless picture books until last year.  Now I love this book for how the students will be able to go beyond the pictures and tell the story in their own words.  And the message?  Oh my, what a message.

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen – we love all of his books but this has been a favorite for a while now.  I think my students will find it just as funny as Thea does.

Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier – we were lucky enough to see Jesse in person this summer and the way she pointed out all of the details in the illustrations and made the story come alive made me want to share this early with my new students.  I cannot wait to see which discussions this will lead to.

The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman – I love Neil Gaiman but there is a reason for that.  He writes such a variety of books, he is brilliant, and this book is scary and funny at the same time.  I use this as an all school secret read aloud every year and there is a reason it continues to be a favorite.

Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman – I have been slightly obsessed with this book for about a year now, I don’t know what it is but it just makes me smile.  And it makes my students smile.  So one day very early on we will all settle in for the story of a beautiful friendship between a boy and a robot.

It’s a Book by Lane Smith – This book crack sme up every time I read it and I think my blog savvy students will as well.  I love the message of this book as it shows the power of a book and cannot wait to share it.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein – This book takes on a deeper meaning every time I share it with someone.  I once had a student call me the giving tree and I cannot help but tear up a little every time I think of that.  I have yet to decide whether the tree is foolish or simply in love, I cannot wait to discuss it with my students.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes – My great friend gave me this book shocked that I did not own it or know it.  After I read it, I saw why this is a classic for any classroom as we build community and try to see how we all fit together in this new constellation.

These 10 books barely scratch the surface of what I cannot wait to share with my students, but these represent some of the first ones I will pull off the shelves as I ask them  to enjoy a tale, to sit back and listen, to discuss and explore the deeper meanings of these books.  Another year awaits, a new groups of kids await, and I can’t wait.

I am a passionate 5th grade teacher in Middleton, Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day.  First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress.   Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

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Reading

What the #Nerdybookclub Taught Me About Reading

Pernille Ripp

I have always been slightly nerdy, ask my oldest friends and they will tell you stories of eye rolls whenever I discussed the latest sci fi flick I couldn’t wait to see.  Or get me started on a favorite author and watch.  I haven’t ever been a geek, I would have to be really good at math for that, but a nerd, that I could embrace.  My adulthood didn’t change my nerdy ways but only sophisticated them.  I could now pass ubernerdy things of as cool and stand behind them tall.  And when being a nerd became kind of cool, I was so nerdy, that even my husband still laughed a little bit at me when i got too out there.

So when I fell into the Nerdy Book Club I knew I was at home.  All of these book lovers in one group, oh and the hashtag and the chats; I was home.  And yet even I could not have realized how much the Nerdy Book Club would change me and the way I teach.

So The Nerdy Book Club taught me that

  • It is okay to get really, really excited about a book and want to give it to everyone I meet.  I am thinking of you “The One and Only Ivan.”
  • It is ok to want to talk books with friends, even if those friends are 20 years younger than you.
  • It is ok to bring in my books to school and perhaps sneak a chapter or two during recess.
  • It is ok to weed out my library and finally get rid of the books that no one has touched, no one will touch, and to give them to others who might.
  • It is ok to not do book talks.
  • It is ok to not do whole group books unless it is so deep and so rich that the whole class will actually stay engaged.
  • It is ok to tweet out pictures of new books you have received because you are so gosh darn excited about reading them.
  • It is ok to tweet authors and hope they will respond to you.
  • It is ok to have your class tweet authors and hope even harder that they will respond to them.
  • It is ok to have a pile of books beside your bed that never quite seems to diminish and yet entices you to sit down and read every time you pass by it.
  • It is ok to change from a clothes shopaholic to a bookaholic as long as you don’t go broke.
  • It is ok to watch your home library start to bleed into your classroom library because some of your kids are ready for a bigger challenge.
  • It is ok to do book challenges as long as they do not suck.
  • It is ok to not love a book and tell students that.
  • It is ok to make book trailers rather than book projects.
  • It is ok to think books, breathe books, talk books even if no one is listening or cares.
  • It is ok to have the reading taste of a 5th grade boy.
  • It is ok to think that reading and loving books is the most important thing we can ever model for our students and our own children.

Thank you Nerdy Book Club

 

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