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Book Choice

Facilitator Notes

How do we choose appropriate books for struggling readers?

How do we use observations and running records to adjust book choice?

See also:

  • Video: Using the Analysis to Choose a New Book Example 1 and Example 2, in the Instructional Decision-Making Section of this module;
  • Suggested Readings for information you may want to provide for discussion during the Session, or as follow-up after.

How do we choose appropriate books for struggling readers?

PREPARATION:

  • Provide copies of various books at Levels 4-6, or another level appropriate to your participants.
  • Have teachers bring 3-6 books they are considering using soon with a group, and recent running records or other observational notes, writing, etc., from a targeted struggling reader in the group.

 

BEFORE VIEWING:  On chart paper, post the title “Considerations for Book Choice.”

DURING VIEWING:   We suggest that teachers take notes related to the guiding question, “How do we choose appropriate books for struggling readers?” as well as other thoughts and questions, while they view.

AFTER VIEWING:

  • After each clip, discuss it with partners or small groups. Then add major points about book choice to the chart, e.g.:
    • Books that children will be successful in reading
    • Just right – not too hard, not too easy – the “learning zone”
    • Places to work on strategies the children have been taught to use
    • Just a few places you expect children to need to work – so comprehension, fluency and enjoyment aren’t compromised
    • Carefully selected to provide opportunities for the type of work the children need to do to build their processing systems (based on close observation of their reading, running records, writing, etc.)
    • Enjoyment of the book!
    • Advantages of books with familiar characters
    • Choosing a sequence of texts rather than one book at a time (subject always to revision!)
    • Examining books for new concepts and structures (both fiction and nonfiction)

You might want to star points already on the chart from previous clips.  This will give you a visual reminder of major considerations.  Also add any other considerations raised by participants.

  • Examine books you have provided for opportunities to do a specific type of work needed at this level to advance children’s processing systems. For example, as shown in Video 2, identify opportunities in level 4-5 books for children to use parts and read through the entire word.
  • With partners or small groups, ask teachers to discuss what struggling readers in one of their groups need and are ready to work on, and identify places in the books they brought where this can occur. Then ask them to consider all the criteria on your chart to choose their next book.
  • Create a sequence of books to use, discussing how one book provides the stepping stone to the next. (You may want to provide some examples as well as using the books teachers have brought.)
  • Discuss how to overcome any practical obstacles to making appropriate book choices and brainstorm solutions. For example, a well-organized and well-stocked bookroom is essential to meeting every child’s reading needs.  Funding and purchasing an adequate bookroom is the first step!  In addition to regular school funding, often grants and community support can be enlisted to help meet this requirement.

How do we use observations and running records to adjust book choice?

This part of Book Choice presents one teacher’s thought process about changing the text level for the group.

 

PREPARATION:

 

BEFORE VIEWING: A question is provided above each set of clips to guide viewing and discussion.

DURING VIEWING:   We suggest that teachers take notes related to the guiding question, as well as other thoughts and questions, while they view.

AFTER VIEWING:

  • Discuss the clip(s) with partners, small and/or large groups before moving to the next question and set of clips.
  • You may want to compare the texts of Little Chimp and Big Chimp and Jack and Billy to discuss why Little Chimp presented too many challenges to the children when early high frequency words were not firm. Note how Jack and Billy consists almost entirely of high frequency words, while Little Chimp requires the children to do considerable work with endings and parts of words.

 

FOLLOWUP:

  • Meet with individual teachers or teams to support choosing books for groups with struggling readers.

 
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Book Introductions

Facilitator Notes

See also Suggested Readings for information you may want to provide for discussion during the Session, or as follow-up after. Especially consider using “Orientation to a New Book: More Than a Picture Walk,” by Connie Briggs and Salli Forbes, as an excellent guide to what’s important in book introductions.

How do we introduce a new book to help struggling readers maximize learning without being overwhelmed?

The first three video clips lay out important considerations for creating a book introduction.  The fourth clip, “Book Introduction Lesson,” can be used as practice for participants to note where and how criteria for a successful book introduction are met.

 

PREPARATION:  Teachers will need to download or have available:

  • Baby Panda text transcript (or copies of the book if possible)
  • Kitty Cat and the Bird text transcript (or copies of the book if possible)
  • Book Introduction Level 4 transcript
  • Have teachers bring a book they plan to introduce in upcoming lessons, and recent running records or other observational notes, writing, etc., from a targeted struggling reader in the group.
  • Optional: Provide multiple copies of a few books for practice in creating book introductions

 

BEFORE VIEWING the first 3 video clips (Book Introduction: Reading is Meaning, Book Introduction: How Words Work, and Book Introduction Considerations):  On chart paper, post the title “Successful Book Introductions…”

DURING VIEWING:   We suggest that teachers take notes related to the guiding question, “How do we introduce a new book to help struggling readers maximize learning without being overwhelmed?” as well as other thoughts and questions, while they view.

AFTER VIEWING:

  • After each of the first three clips, discuss it with partners or small groups. Then add major points about observations of what makes a successful book introduction to the chart, e.g.:
    • Gives “gist” of the story upfront
    • Previews text as needed to support meaning
    • Involves the children in discussion to make predictions or inferences as needed to sustain their understanding through the text
    • Clarifies/rehearses potentially confusing structures, including punctuation and layout
    • Introduces or supports problem-solving strategies the children are learning to use (e.g., using parts, specific HF words)
    • Clarifies characters’ names, unusual but important words
    • Is carefully planned!
    • Is concise and focused
    • Supports the children to be successful but leaves them important work to do as they read

 

Also add any other considerations raised by participants.

  • After viewing Clip 4, “Book Introduction Level 4,” provide the transcript and give participants time to mark up the transcript by labeling how and why considerations from the chart were addressed. Add any additional observations.  Note that there is no rigid checklist for a good book introduction.  (The Briggs and Forbes article referenced earlier may be very helpful to clarify this point.)

What additional insights can we gain to make our book introductions most effective with struggling readers?

PREPARATION:  Teachers will need to download or have available:

 

BEFORE VIEWING: Consider the guiding question, What additional insights can we gain to make our book introductions most effective with struggling readers?

DURING VIEWING:   We suggest that teachers take notes related to the guiding question.

AFTER VIEWING:  Discuss participants’ thoughts and questions.  Some points you might want to explore:

Video Segment 5: More About Meaning

  • Understanding the themes of the story (not just the plot), help children to integrate meaning with visual and structural information in a “feed forward” system as they read. (You may want to discuss places in Mushrooms for Dinner or other books where this understanding might support a reader.)
  • As we move up in levels, the pictures hold fewer direct clues to the words. Therefore, we need to teach children to hold the big ideas as they read, not only to identify specific events or objects from the pictures.
  • Write down your initial summary and your plans for your book introduction!
  • Make sure the children are verbally involved in the introduction.

 

Video Segment 6:  Choosing Places to Problem-Solve

  • Discuss the factors that went into the decision to “leave ring, give beautiful” in the introduction. Notice that because the teacher was very intentional in leaving “ring,” she was fully prepared to create a strong teaching opportunity when the child had difficulty at “ring.”
  • Give participants time to examine their own books for what they would leave and what they would give in their introductions. Emphasize that all these decisions are based on knowing what the children know and what they are working to learn.

How do our book introductions support our early emergent readers?

PREPARATION:  Teachers will need to download or have available:

 

BEFORE VIEWING: Consider the guiding question.

DURING VIEWING:   We suggest that teachers take notes related to the guiding question, and any other thoughts or questions.

AFTER VIEWING:  Discuss participants’ thoughts and questions.  Some points you might want to explore:

  • Note commonalities between the two video clips, e.g., one sentence summary, linking to the children’s prior experience, engaging the children in noting what is happening on each page through the picture, clarifying any confusions and planting vocabulary. Discuss the purposes served by each of these aspects of the introduction.
  • In both cases, the book introduction is well under two minutes long. Teachers might practice creating and engaging in a book introduction with a level A or 1 book and keeping it this short.  Then discuss the challenges participants encountered in doing so, and why the brevity is important.

How do we choose and introduce vocabulary in book introductions with transitional readers?

PREPARATION:  Teachers will need to download or have available:

 

BEFORE VIEWING: Consider the guiding question.

DURING VIEWING:   We suggest that teachers take notes related to the guiding question, and any other thoughts or questions.

AFTER VIEWING:  Discuss participants’ thoughts and questions.  Some points you might want to explore:

  • Discuss and chart various reasons to choose to introduce unknown vocabulary words (that children might or might not be able to decode). Reasons might include words:
    • representing an important concept in the book (e.g., ingredients)
    • repeated often, especially at the beginning of the book (e.g., fern)
    • difficult to problem solve with visual (e.g., knead)
    • useful for expanding future writing and oral vocabularies (e.g., bellowed)
  • Discuss how the reason for introducing the word influences whether to simply mention it, talk about it extensively, and/or show it visually.
  • Discuss the protocol used with “trumpeted” (from Richardson, J., 2016. The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading.)  Particularly discuss the importance of the turn and talk.
  • Give participants time to choose words they might introduce in a Level 16-20 book, discuss their reasons, and share how they would introduce the word. (Again, recognize that these decisions would be highly dependent on the needs of the specific struggling readers.)  Note that Richardson also recommends that if there are more than 5 words in a text that you feel you need to introduce, the book is too hard!  Pick a different one.

 

The parameters of this section only deal with vocabulary in the book introduction.  See Suggested Readings for more comprehensive investigation of teaching children at these levels to use context clues to infer meanings and build vocabulary in the process of reading.

 

AFTER VIEWING THE ENTIRE BOOK INTRODUCTION PART OF BEFORE READING:

  • You may want to provide pairs or small groups of teachers with a choice of books and ask them to prepare an introduction. Be sure they create a profile of the struggling reader(s) they are using the book to teach, so they can match their introduction to the children’s needs.
  • Give teachers time, with a partner, to describe observations of a struggling reader they are teaching and plan the introduction to a book they are planning to use in an upcoming lesson. Share and discuss some of these in the larger group.
  • Discuss how to overcome any practical obstacles to planning and executing successful book introductions, e.g., varying needs of the children in the group, keeping the introduction short (to provide the main time for reading) while encouraging oral language and thoughtful expression of ideas.

FOLLOWUP:

Meet with individual teachers or teams to support creating book introductions for groups with struggling readers.