By Gail Boushey & Joan Moser "the sisters"
I got my new books from Amazon yesterday! I started reading The Daily Five and so far I am enjoying it. I read 4 of the 7 chapters at my husband's softball game...(I know I am such a good fan). I at least looked up and took a reading break every time he was at bat. I always enjoy reading about teachers who have these amazing strategies and systems in place in their classrooms. I picture what it's like and get excited about having a classroom where the kids all adore reading and quietly manage themselves, moaning when they have to stop reading.
The problem is, when I read about their classrooms and their students, I can't but thinking that they just don't sound like my students. The ideas are great and it would be my job as a skilled teacher to figure out how those ideas would work best in my classroom with my group of children, and I can do that, but at the same time, given an adopted reading curriculum that I have to follow, I don't have the ability to simply teach kids how to read in whatever manner I please. There are protocols that I have to follow.
With the daily five system, as I am learning, it seems like the strategies and expectations can be used in conjunction with an adopted curriculum, but I do think that I would need more TIME (and what teacher doesn't). Even though it can be frustrating at times, I do think that I continue to get new ideas and even if I can't use the specific ideas from a given book, I always find reading about teaching to be inspiring.
The one part that I loved the most from what I read so far was using shoe selection to teach kids about Good-Fit books and book selection. The authors discuss using IPICK:
I chose a book
Purpose-Why do I want to read it?
Interest-Does it interest me?
Comprehend-Am I understanding what I am reading?
Know-I know most of the words.
I think this alone is a great tool to help kids select books that are appropriate for their personal interests/abilities. The authors extend the lesson further in a way that is really cute.
The mention bringing in a bag full of different kinds of shoes-- running shoes, golf shoes, rain boots, dress up shoes, and a pair of their husband's shoes that are much too large. They discuss with the kids how each kind of shoe has a different purpose. We would not wear ballet slippers in the rain! We certainly could not go running in the rain!
"Just like choosing which shoes to wear for which activity, we also have a purpose when we choose a book."
They broaden the discussion by mentioning a type of shoe that they do not have in the bag-- maybe soccer shoes-- because they do not like soccer. This helps to explain how being interested in something makes it right for us. Kids should select books that are interesting to them.
Finally they state, "We pull out our husband's much-too-large shoes, put them on, and proceed to try to move around the room. Amid giggles and peals of laughter we point out that these shoes are too big, so they don't fit. This is just like a book that is either too easy or too hard to read or that we don't understand. The shoes don't fit and neither does the book."
I know how important it is to relate new ideas to schema that kids already know. The shoe analogy is such a fun way to get kids to see how important it is to choose Good-Fit or "just right" books. They already have the skills to properly choose appropriate foot wear so why not extend those judgement skills to selecting books that will help them become better readers.
I will definitely use that lesson with my class next year!
