Part 2 & 3 Research & Support

Research and Support

Since the next two sections covered a quite a bit of material, I will do my best to summarize my recap and my thoughts concerning chapters 3-8.  First of all, I love Stead’s idea about organizing a successful class library.  Labeling specifics is a key to help children navigate your class library. A good idea is to label by author since children are attracted to series. In my own classroom, I hope to base my selections off of student interests so it will be extremely easy for students to find exactly what they are looking for. Another suggestion I would use is incorporating magazines, articles and brochures in the class. It gives a different appeal to students and doesn’t present itself as the mundane task of reading. It gives off the air of exploring.

The next section focuses heavily on how the computer can be an asset if kids are taught to use it properly. He encourages the use of computers for independent reading but also cautions that you must be the guide in this situation and have a number of websites already prepared for them. I am not sure I like the idea of the computer for pleasure reading in the class. It seems as if that would require constant monitoring and trust on the part f the teacher.

He does lend a good idea about computer research though. He  says you can divide the task of finding good and relevant sources amongst fellow teachers of the same grade. Granted, I am not totally sure all teachers would be on board with this use of extra time, but it is a good idea. I guess this depends on the extent to which your school has computers available also. Before students begin researching, it is highly important you teach them the "ins & outs" of the internet and the use of search sites. One great tip is to aim your students at sites with (.org) rather than (.com) for more authentic and reliable sites. 

As a way of testing whether students are being proactive in their search, Stead offers the RAN organizer. This is just like a KWL chart on steroids. Aside from the 3 main points of interest, this chart adds a column to check whether the information you thought was validated in your research or turned out to be a misconception. I think this organizer helps encourage metacognitive thinking skills a way to interact with the text.

Part 2 talks a lot about the support students need when selecting books. This NEVER occurred to me! I was literally wondering why I needed to hold a kid's hand to help them pick out what they want to read,... but I get it now. As much as I want to give my students a bit of autonomy in my classroom, this book has made it more apparent they will need a bit of guidance. Kids are apt to just look at pictures and base their choices off the front cover. The author gives a list of mini lessons that can be very beneficial for teachers to give to help selection. 
A couple of my favorites are: 
1. Knowing when materials are too difficult
2. Skimming through text to determine suitability  
3. Strategizing to work out unknown words

When students are able to discern whether a material is too hard, then they have mastered an important 
step in the selection process. That means they will know to pick something that makes sense and that they can comprehend. . For many students this just means to recall facts and information. But a sign of true comprehension is when students begin questioning and making connections. By teaching students  the art of skimming, they can then determine whether it is a book they are capable of reading.

Stead gives some helpful strategies for figuring out unknown words. I think I would write these on a paper and laminate them so students could have easy access to them and wouldn't ever have to feel embarrassed for not remembering how to sort out word meaning on their own. 

Another VERY important point brought up in this chapter is to help students to read widely. Too many students get hooked on one type of book or one author and they need to be pushed a little bit out of their comfort zone. Peer-recommened texts are also included in this section. This method can be good & bad. Many are eager to read what their peers throw their way but it can also be bad if that book is not at a suitable level.

Chapter 7 leaves us with ways to set up and deal best with student conferencing. Setting up conferences   can be greatly beneficial but teachers must be careful to set time limits. Teachers are advised to look for a whole plethora of things during these conferences such as fluency, expression, goals, and what they are reading. Ensure that your students too are prepared to conference with you. Allowing them a checklist helps teach self regulation. I am all about this! Help teach them to be accountable.

A simpler way for some teachers to conduct conferences is informally. BUT, teachers must make sure to keep good records while this process is going on. 

Chapter 8 gives example of how to level books and situate them in a library setting based on difficulty. This makes it easy to teachers to recommend books by students by just following the color code that matched the students independent reading level. One of the big points I took away from this section was looking at the pre-assessment in order to determine the range of levels within your classroom. This is so important to do before labeling your books. Once you decide to begin the actual coding process, publishers have done most of the work for you; most publishers already indicate the levels of their books.