Good Choice! by Tony Stead

Good Choice! Part 1

Good Choice! by Tony Stead is for teachers who are stuck in a rut about reading instruction. Tony Stead believes that first and foremost, students must have independent reading time that they find pleasurable to become successful and motivated readers. The first chapter is about ways to effectively establish independent reading and book borrowing strategies, and the second chapter is about how to incorporate independent reading throughout the day.

Part 1 of Good Choice is many strategies for independent reading time, but they are all fun. Stead sets up a classroom community and gets families to join in with learning to read. I really enjoyed how he has a classroom community so that the reading process is not only independent, but it works as a group effort. One strategy that really stuck out to me is how he has had a home library where he lends books to go home with students and their families. Also, no matter how much of a community the classroom may be, the individual accountability for one’s own learning in still held high. One of the first strategies listed by Stead is having a reading log. In reading logs, students write what they are reading, to whom, any thoughts and comments about the book, and recommendations of the book to a classmate who may enjoy it. With the reading log, the students are getting writing instruction in, so the log is cross-curricula!

Part 2 of the book was mostly strategies to incorporate independent reading throughout the day in the classroom. It included so many clever strategies that can be used to supplement   reading class. One thing he mentioned that I think would be a fabulous idea for a general education class, probably third grade and up, is a news board. Not only can children learn about important events locally, nationally, and internationally, they can be introduced to a different type of writing and expression. I had one issue with one of the strategies Stead listed, which was using word searches. Perhaps they could be used at a center or for a game, but I don’t think that word searches assess comprehension or even the ability to spell- I think they just assess your ability to find letters amongst others. Other than that tiny glitch, I loved all of these! I think they would be useful for me as a special educator because they are fun, engaging, and motivating. They also teach students without them knowing they are being taught, which makes learning an easier process. I can’t wait to blog about the next part of Good Choice!

 

Good Choice Part 1

          Good Choice was a Good Choice

The author of Good Choice, Tony Stead, engages readers in a very straightforward and yet descriptive way. In examination of part 1, Stead places his focus on self-selected reading, the creation of an effective borrowing system, home reading, literacy stations, and how to creatively implement literacy in other content areas. Stead provides examples that worked within his own classroom and some that did not, zeroing in on the reality that all teachers have failed ideas from time to time. The great thing about these failures is you learn and become more knowledgeable and capable then before.

Stead strongly promotes a well-thought out borrowing system. Time loss and chaos will likely ensue if your system is not accompanies by strong organization and monitoring. A fantastic recommendation the author recommends is for teachers to keep reading logs. This shows interests and care for students reading choices, but also allows teachers to make suggestions and learn about student interests. In essence, something as simple as keeping reading logs can help create a community of learners by allowing teachers to truly invest in their students.

One of the most important points Stead brings up , in my opinion, is the need for students to read at home. Though many worry parents have negative influence on their children's reading, Stead assures us there are activities to do and discussions to be had that serve as inspiration. I think this must be a top priority for teachers, especially in the lower grades. Sending a brochure to parents of simple ways to help can be a game changer. Many parents will not go out of their way to look online, but if they are handed a brochure at least a few are bound to read and follow it.

Literacy Stations, Literacy Stations, and Centers! These are a most effective way to allow for enjoyable learning while the teacher engages in guided reading. Though centers have become popular in the classroom in recent years, Stead cautions teachers to carefully model these stations lest they become a hang out.

Along with providing 9 centers, Stead also provides considerations for success. Basically, he points out how to avoid potential failures. This is fabulous! Also, he provides examples in the Appendixes--giving teachers a solid resource to lean on.

Last, the author addresses a need to incorporate literacy within social studies and science. The two often-forgotten content areas can be linked to literacy in various ways. From setting up a research station to allowing students the opportunity to glance through non-text books and magazines help create a love for these subjects while incorporating literacy.

Overall, author Tony Stead passionately wants to instruct teachers on effective ways of giving students large doses of reading. His thinking is creative and his experience is obvious. The 4 main take aways are these:
                                    1. Het to know students
                                    2. Infuse a love of reading in students.
                                    3. Look for creative and painless ways to use reading.
                                    4. Remember literacy can be attached to any content area!

Thoughts on section 1.....

I found chapters one and two of Good Choice to be very informative.  The themes discussed in the book seemed not only applicable in my future classroom, but also related really well to things we have been discussing in class.  Tony Stead does an excellent job making his case for giving children ample time to do independent reading and offers many suggestions on how to do this in different activities in the classroom.

As I began reading this section one thing that quickly stood out to me was that getting uninterested students interested in reading is a constant challenge.  Stead offers a few ways to make these easier that I thought would be helpful in the future classroom.  He suggests giving them time to read everyday, having a variety of texts available for them, teaching them about the purposes for reading, and helping them figure out how to respond to their reading.  The first two suggestions are pretty general, and things that I would have considered, but I probably would not have first thought about teaching children about different purposes of reading and what to do after they read.  After hearing them I think these are great suggestions that have the possibility of exciting students about reading!

Another thing that stood out to me was Stead's experience with creating organized systems in the classrooms he has worked with.  It seemed that the systems he suggested for lending libraries in classrooms were all very well-organized and thought out.  This is something that I want to take with me into the classroom, and something that I want to expand past reading.  I really like the idea of giving groups of students different times to do tasks so that they all do not scramble into the lending library at once.  It seems that systems such as these may take a few weeks for students to learn, but after they develop a routine I think it would work out nicely.

The second chapter offered a multitude of ideas to get students reading during the school day.  Many of these ideas included working in centers set up around the room.  I wish that I would have read this section before I was a part of a group that had to design a classroom reading plan in class!  With Tennessee's state mandate requiring 60 minutes of small group work during daily reading instruction, I found this section to be so helpful in thinking of ways to use this time wisely.  Here are a few of my favorite activities that were talked about:

• Reading the Room
• This involves letting a couple students go around the classroom during reading centers and looking for certain types of words around the room.  Students reread text on posters, the board, and other materials to find words with different endings, patterns, symbols.
• Poems, Chants, Songs, and Rhymes
• This is a center where the teacher prints out various poems, chants, songs, and rhymes and puts them into a box for the center.  The students can then practice reading them to each other.  I thought that some of the books that we had looked at in class such as Hinky Pinks.
• Science Center
• In this center students read science texts and explore different items that relate to their readings that have been left in the center.  I really liked this because it went across subjects and could be applied to other subjects such as social studies.
• Matching and Sequencing
• This involves students rearranging story sections/sentences so that they make sense.  They read books and are then presented with strips printed with sections from the book.  They are then required to order them correctly with their group.  I liked this because I have noticed students often struggle with this on tests and see where this could be good practice.

I learned a lot of things in section one that I will take with me into the classroom.  I am excited about reading the rest of Stead's text to see what other ideas I can gain!