Since I blogged last, I've started taking Foundations of Library and Information Studies, finally got AR up and running, and published my first school newsletter. The following is an article that I wrote for the newsletter. I changed the names of the students.
Students had fun learning about picking books that interest
them, are on their level, and is just right for their purpose. To make it fun
we compared “Good-Fit Books to picking out shoes. We read Pete
the Cat: Rocking in His School Shoes, and we talked about our school
shoes. Students agreed that wearing
skates to school would not be a good idea.
We read other books about shoes, and talked about how choosing a book is
like choosing shoes.
Do I like it? Does it interest me? My pig slippers interest me, because I like
pigs. I have a small collection of
pigs. I would enjoy reading the Olivia
books that we have in the library. One
of my favorite books is Piggie Pie by
Margie Palatini. Just because I like my
pig slippers, and stories about pigs, does not mean that my best friend will be
interested in pigs.
Does it fit? It
is not too easy or too hard. My pig
slippers fit me. They were not too small
or too big. When Ray tried on my
slippers, they were too big. Although Ray might like books about pigs, he probably would not be able to read Charlotte’s Web about Wilbur the pig. A
“Good-Fit” book for Trey might be If You
Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff.
Choosing a book that is too easy or too hard will not help us become good
readers. My pig slippers are comfortable
to me, but my granddaughter’s tap shoes were too small. I would not be comfortable in her shoes.
Does it help me? Is the book right for what I want to do? Duncan tried to play basketball in my fancy
high heels. It did not work. My pig slippers did not help me play
basketball or tap dance. Fourth graders are
not going to read Good Night Moon to
learn about the moon phases.
The students have been decorating "browsing sticks". I will share how we plan to use the sticks in a later post.
