But They All Read At Different Levels By Laura Robb

Not too long ago, on a visit to two sixth-grade classrooms, I saw very clearly the challenge teachers have before them when they try to differentiate reading. In both classrooms, 11-year-olds who read like fourth graders shared tables with classmates who read like the average ninth grader - a five-year span. How you approach this challenge can make a huge difference for all levels of readers.

In the first classroom, where the students were leaning about biography, the teacher asked them to read the first two chapters of The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers. But only half the class read the chapters. A few students just looked at the photographs, two students wrote notes to each other, one put her head on her desk, and several others began doodling. Roughly five minutes into the silent reading period, the teacher gathered the non-reading students and read the chapters aloud to them. When class ended, she sighed. 'What else can I do? They can't read the book, so I read it to them.' This is one way to manage whole-class reading. But there is another way.

In the second classroom - in the same school - the teacher read aloud a passage from Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull. As she read, she modeled cause/effect strategy by thinking aloud and answering students' questions about her thinking process. Next, she gave students instructions for silent reading: They were to read the next two chapters of their book, jotting down tough words on self-stick notes. Each student was reading a biography at his or her own level. Some pairs read the same title, but most students had their own specially chosen books. As the group read, the teacher held individual conferences. When she met with Josh, she focused on making inferences. Keisha and Carla practiced using context clues. With David, she focused on causes and effects. Each conference lasted no more than a few minutes.

You're probably thinking that you'd have a much better chance of reaching all your learners if your classroom looked more like the second one. But maybe you don't know how to do it. Here are the 10 most frequently asked questions I get from teachers on differentiating reading instruction. I hope they'll help you diversity, too!

How do I get started with differentiation?

The first step is to move away from organizing your teaching around single books. Instead, choose a genre from which all books will be drawn, and pick a topic or theme. You can then focus on a particular issue that is present in all texts. Students studying realistic fiction, for instance, might discuss what constitutes a family, and what determines whether their relationship is smooth or rocky. If you have students read different books on the same topic, they'll be able to bring a variety of ideas and perspectives to their discussions. Besides, using different texts means students will be able to advertise great books to one another!

How do I find books at each student's reading level?

I ask students to use the 'three-finger method' to see if a book is just right for them. Have students open their book to a age near the middle and read it. Using the fingers on one hand, students should count the number of words they can't say or don't understand. If students get past three fingers, the book is too hard. The book is 'just right' if students understand and can say all but two or three words and if they can retell what they read. Of course, as you get to know your students better, you will be able to predict what kind of books will be just right for each one. Then you can gather books from your local library, school library, or reading resource room. Also, check out book club offerings or host a book fair at your school. Keep a small monthly allowance for searching local yard sales, and collect reading material from friends, family members, and neighbors, too.

What does a unit plan look like? How much planning do I need to do in advance?

I suggest making an overall plan for each unit, including the theme, your choice of reading and vocabulary strategies for modeling and student practice, the selection of read-alouds, a variety of independent texts for students to choose from, journal entry assignments, and tiered projects that meet the varied reading and writing levels of students in your class, as well as their particular interests. You know your class best.

Should I have individual conferences with students? What should I cover?

Meet with students individually while the group is doing silent reading. You might talk about a reading strategy you're working on or discuss specific aspects of text structure. For students who read far below grade level, you'll want to check their general comprehension before talking about these topics. Ask them to retell part of the text. You can also work with students on using context clues or discussing how your theme connects to the text they're reading. Students who can work independently can have partner conferences and then turn in a paper showing what they discussed.

How do I keep conferences to only five minutes?

The key is to focus the conference on a single topic. For example, if you're holding a conference on a specific reading strategy, first have the student explain the strategy and tell how it helps her understand what she reads. Then, have the student open her book and read one page aloud to you, doing a think-aloud to show how she applies the strategy to her independent text. Take notes on the student's performance, and provide scaffolding as needed. To make sure you don't lose track of time, us a kitchen timer.

How do I assess students when they have different assignments?

Try using journal entries. If I want to grade students on their comprehension of realistic fiction, I might ask them to write journal entries that tell how they drew conclusions about a character's personality, what changed from the beginning to the end of the book, what the conflict was, and so on. Also try using tiered activities; that is, give students a menu of activities at different levels. Tiered activities can help you discover students' levels because students will usually choose activities they know they can complete successfully.

Should I organize students into groups so they can discuss their reading?

Absolutely! I like to take some of the week's class time to meet with small groups for a 10- to 15-minute discussion. During these discussions, ask group members to talk about an open-ended genre question (for biography, Do you feel the person's accomplishments were positive or negative? Why?), or you can ask them to connect their book to an issue you've been discussing. Holding these conferences reinforces the social aspects of reading, and moves interaction beyond you and the student to the whole group.

My students are reading so many different books. do I need to read them all?

The answer is — fortunately — no! You can try to skim several books before a unit starts, but don't be discouraged if it's not possible to get to know them all. You'll be able to determine whether a student has read a book by the amount of detail he offers in his discussion. When you get a response such as, 'The main character is a detective, and she's really smart. She solves the whole mystery,' you should definitely probe further. Ask the student to give examples of why he thinks the character is smart and how she solves the mystery. If the student can't do this, he may not have read the book or he may have found it too difficult. Ask gently, 'Why is it tough for you to remember the details?' If the book was too hard, give the student a few other choices.

Does every student need to read the same number of books?

No. Your stronger readers may choose longer texts, which means they will read fewer books. Meanwhile, struggling readers may read shorter texts but read more of them. Negotiate with your class the minimum number of books they should read in a unit. Prepare a schedule with reading and writing due dates, and remind students of the dates often. Help students budget their time by scaffolding the process. For example, break down a writing assignment into chunks (drafting, revising, publishing) and give a due date for each step. This way, you can offer students feedback between each step, further scaffolding their final outcomes.

What do I do if students don't complete their reading assignments?

This situation must be handled with care in order to build trust and help students develop a passion for reading. One of my students, Zach, arrived at school announcing that he disliked reading and hadn't done any of the summer reading. 'Are you going to call my mom?' he asked. I told him we would try to work it out together. We had several lunch meetings during which I found out more about Zach's reading struggles and about his personal interests. After we found books that suited his needs, Zach began to enjoy reading and did a lot of it. By the time he asked me if he still had summer reading to make up, I told him that he already had!

As teachers, our most basic goal is to reach each and every one of our students. By implementing differentiated instruction, you can meet your students where they are and provide the scaffolding and inspiration they need to move forward.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=245270&ca=Education

Create An Inviting Classroom Library By Laura Robb

When I support a school district with improving reading and motivating middle school students to read, I always interview dozens of students from each grade during my first two visits. I find that middle school students are candid, and these interviews often spotlight students' needs and provide me with the data I need to work with administrators and teachers.

David (pseudonym) was the first seventh grader I interviewed on my first day at his school. When I asked him how I could help improve his reading, he blurted: 'Give me words. Oh, yeah,' David added, 'and stuff I can read.' Indeed, when I reviewed David's standardized testing and the Independent Reading Inventories teachers had administered in the past, David and too many other students at this school had weak vocabularies and were so far behind their grade level that they weren't able to read the grade level anthology in language arts classes and the textbooks in science and social studies.

Outside of school David read 'some comics,' but not books or magazines. 'Man, I don't touch those,' he told me.

The language arts classrooms in David's school had no libraries. Moreover, the school's library was inadequate and manned by parent volunteers who were not there all the time and who lacked the training and authority to order books and magazines. Readers like David, who needed access to books to practice reading to enlarge their vocabularies and background knowledge, lost reading ground each year. The first initiative teachers, parents, and administrators rallied around was to raise money for rich and varied classrooms libraries. I helped them understand that immediate access to books, magazines, and graphic novels at a wide range of reading levels in a classroom library would enable students to choose books that interested them, books they could connect to and enjoy (Cunningham & Allington, 2003). Immediate access to materials they could and wanted to read would provide the practice reading students needed to become better readers.

It's wrong to assume that books and other reading materials are available to all children in the United States. Moreover, differences in access to books cause gaps in reading achievement. Now let's explore ways to make the classroom library not an 'add on' to curriculum or a luxury item for independent reading but an embedded literacy strategy, one that promotes independent reading.

Inspire Students to Read With Your Classroom Library

With schools using government approved basal anthologies - one grade level text for all - those learners who need the most reading practice to improve don't have easy access to books. Like Richard Allington, I believe that readers who struggle need to read as much, if not more than proficient readers. That's why I believe that if more schools put classroom libraries at the top of their wish lists, they could make it happen and meet the needs of all students.

A library should be one of the first resources schools buy. I want books to be central, and reading them the heart and soul of every middle school classroom. Books should be the first thing that catches students' attention when they enter a classroom, and they best serve students when they are arranged to 'sell' themselves, not unlike how you find them displayed in a good bookstore. I organize and label my books and book shelves by genre because I find that middle school students look first for a favorite genre - and then for a beloved author or one recommended by someone. I separate fiction and nonfiction genres into categories such as realistic fiction, suspense, biography, nature books, and so on. Come up with your own ways of organizing your books that reflect your students' reading interests. Here are the genres I suggest you collect:

Poetry: this includes fiction written in free verse such as Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes, The Taking of Room 114 by Mel Glenn, Witness by Karen Hesse, and Carver by Marilyn Nelson.

Short Texts: short stories, fairy and folk tales, myths and legends such as Kathleen Krull's Lives of Extraordinary Women and Lives of the Athletes, Her Stories by Virginia Hamilton, Heroes and Monsters of Greek Myths by Bernard and Dorothy Evslin, and Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes.

Fiction: realistic, historical, letters, diaries, suspense, fantasy, science fiction, graphic novels and comics. Here are a few books my students rate as topnotch: California Blue by David Klass, Crash by Jerry Spinelli, Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson, Somewhere in Darkness by Walter Dean Myers. A few all-time favorite authors are Richard Peck, Diana Wynn Jones, Avi, Barbara Cooney, Walter Dean Myers, Gordon Korman, and Jacqueline Woodson.

Nonfiction: informational chapter books and picture books, biography and autobiography, diaries, letters, journals. Black Whiteness: Admiral Bird Alone in the Antarctic by Robert Burleigh, Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull, Confucius: The Golden Rule, and Lincoln: A Photobiography both by Russell Freeman are titles students repeatedly check out. Beloved nonfiction authors are James Cross Giblin, Russell Freedman.

Suspense, Mystery, Horror, Romance, Series, Graphic Novels, Magazines: In addition to the above categories, I also include a section on horror and suspense, romance and 'girlie' books (my students' name for these), comics, graphic novels, and magazines. Each year students bring comics and magazines for their peers to check out. I always permit students to choose what they enjoy and find interesting. Through book talks by me and their peers, most students branch out from comics to books. That's why my library contains books by R. L. Stine, Stephen King, Carolyn Cooney, John Bellairs, and Joan Lowry Nixon. Authors of series that are frequently passed from student-to-student are Gordon Korman and Aiden Chambers.

It takes time to build a large and varied classroom library. You can ask your PTA to raise dollars for books, you can apply for grants, and you can order titles from book clubs and use your bonus points to enlarge your library. Make sure that you create appealing displays that shout to students, 'Read! Read! Read!'

Keep Book Displays Dynamic
Books in a neat row with spines showing save space, but it's not an ideal display for book-browsing. Here are some strategies for enticing young readers to pick up a book:

Create clear, colorful labels above each section (mysteries, biographies, etc.).

On each shelf, place two to three books with covers facing outward.

Use your entire classroom. Set up displays on window sills, line some up in the chalk tray of your chalkboard, on an extra table, on your desk, or on the top of bookshelves.

Change displays every five to six weeks and take a few minutes of class time to point out each new crop of books that arrives. Pique students' interest by sharing the genre, author, cover photo, and if you have time, read the text on the back or inside cover. Advertise books so they invite students to browse and explore genres and authors that are new for them.

When my students write about their personal reading lives, they give high marks to classroom libraries. Christa Doerwaldt notes, 'I love having a library in our classroom! It has books at our reading levels, and it is easier to see what books are there than in a big library.' And Alice agrees when she explains that 'A library in class really helps me because I have so many books at the tip of my fingers.'

Knowing students' interests early in the year can empower you to help them select books that will motivate them to continue to read. Also, negotiate a way to keep track of books that have been checked out. Here's a system that works for me.

Tips for Keeping Track of Library Books

Put your name in each book.

Record each book title in a data base on your computer.

Create a check-out system so students can take books home. I use a notebook where students write their name, the book's title, the date checked out, and date returned. Students can keep books up to a month.

If a student fails to return a book, I work with that student. Most of the time students return books. However, it's wise to accept that there will be some books lost each year that you may have to replace.

Have students shelve returned books.

Since most schools have small to no budgets for classroom libraries, you'll have to be creative to enlarge your collect. Here are some suggestions:

First: Ask parents to donate books they no longer need.
Second: Mine those yard sales and your local good will store.
Third: Ask your parent organization to do some fund raisers to purchase books.
Fourth: Use book clubs and build your library with the bonus points you receive.
Fifth: Visit local business and ask them for contributions to books for classroom libraries.

Make sure that you let your principal know what you plan to do.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=247399&ca=Education