I thought Ripp's post was very helpful and I appreciated her links to the files. I had two thoughts. First, my negative thought, which is, what to do with the bad attitude students who refuse to do any work, let alone read a book. I know they are out there and my mind always goes to them. Is it possible that the conferring and the wonderful book suggestions just suck them all in and they become voracious readers? I have no experience with this so I don't know. I just observe these students and hear teachers tell about them. I know that building personal relationships with students is the first step to success. I just wonder what happens when a teacher hits a seemingly immovable wall with a student. It worries me.
One thought I had about adapting Ripp's suggestions with middle school students is that from my experience students this age love to share the books they enjoy with others. I feel like the conferring sheet could be adapted to a sheet that could be made public if a student chooses. The sheet shows the reader's progress, what skills they worked on, and how they ranked the book from beginning to end. This information is rarely shared in a book promo. I wonder if being able to relate to a book's readers would add another enticement for a student to choose the book.
2 comments:
I like your idea of the conferring sheet being made public so students can share the books they have read. Book promos within schools are usually based on the teacher's recommendation, so seeing what students have rated a book is a great idea! As for your question about what to do with bad attitude students, I have no clue. I think there will always be students who refuse to read a book, but letting them have the choice of what book they read will always be better than having no choice. Maybe letting the student incorporate other forms of literature, like even graphic novels if they're interested?
Yes, I'm all about choice and I promote graphic novels. I feel like success happens when someone just finds the right book. I really need to investigate this more. I know there has to be a ton of ideas. I'm just not knowledgeable enough.
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