The Book Whisperer
Donalyn Miller was a 6th grade language arts teacher in Texas who is said to have a “gift": She can turn even the most reluctant (or, in her words, “dormant”) readers into students who can’t put their books down. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
New Take on the Newbery
Each winter, the children’s literature world debates the upcoming Newbery Awards, the annual honor given each January by the American Library Association for the best children’s books of the previous year. Scores of book bloggers create Newbery shortlists predicting the winners, while libraries across the country host mock Newbery committees. Discussing the timeless appeal and literary merit of the books we read is an authentic pastime for readers, but this year the importance of the Newbery Award itself is the center of a media storm.
Education
Opinion
No Twilight for Reading
Eight English teachers, surrounded by hundreds of teenagers, stand in line behind velvet ropes. Everyone wears black, sporting t-shirts bearing slogans like, “And so the lion fell in love with the lamb,” and “Edward prefers brunettes.” Two girls, in matching Cullen Crest jackets, snap pictures of the crowd with their cell phones.
Education
Opinion
Lowering the Bar
I have radar for kids that read a lot. Kids who read while walking down the hall—noses buried in The Odyssey or The Warrior Heir, kids who pester our librarian daily for the latest sequel in a beloved series, kids who lug books to the principal’s office, the bus line, or the lunchroom— I see avid readers everywhere. Perhaps I recognize kindred spirits, readers for whom books are a natural extension of themselves and who cannot spend a day without reading. I was this kind of reader in school. You might recognize readers like this in your own classrooms. Just look for the kids whose heads are bowed covertly reading a book propped open inside their desks, even when you are teaching. I imagine many of you are gifted readers just like me—finding true self-actualization in a career path that feeds your need to read.
Education
Opinion
Readers Seek Their Own Level
It takes some of my students longer than others to fall in love with books, so it cheered me last week to see Bobby checking out all six books in Gordon Korman’s action-packed On the Run series. Bobby, a developing reader, has had a bit of trouble finding books that he enjoys. Sidling up to him, I said, “Wow, it seems like you are really making some reading plans. What interests you in reading On the Run? I know that a lot of kids in the class love it.”
Education
Opinion
People of the Book
Currently switching between two books, People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks, the story of one book that unites people across cultures and time, and Inkdeath, the latest in Cornelia Funke’s popular Inkworld series, I am reminded of how much I love fiction books that include readers and books in their plotlines: Books that highlight the importance and joy of reading. Books that reveal the power of reading to transform your life. Books that provide social commentary about censorship. Books that show reading as a path out of ignorance and oppression. Books where reading heroes rule the day. In celebration of my favorite sub-genre, here is a list of my all-time favorite books about books and readers.
Education
Opinion
Fake It 'Til You Make It
Hiding a magazine inside a book, reading the same page for 20 minutes, or holding a book upside down—it isn’t funny when you witness students reading like this in a classroom. Fake readers can often identify words and read them out loud, but fail to understand the material they are reading. By the time fake readers arrive in my sixth grade class, they possess coping skills that hide their inability to read a book and comprehend it. Many of these students have earned A’s and B’s in language arts classes in previous years and passed state achievement tests, but they still cannot read well.
Education
Opinion
Why Reading Books Really Matters
My oldest daughter stuck a lapel pin into the bulletin board over her desk which reads, “School prepares you for life, which also sucks.” Cringe worthy, I know, but I imagine this sentiment is one that is commonly felt by many schoolchildren. No matter what we do to make school instruction engaging for kids, sometimes school is just school—an endless hamster wheel of assignments meant to prepare students for life as workers and contributors to society.
Education
Opinion
Starting Block
Sorry I have been off the grid for so long. Did you miss me? I took a little time off from blogging to finish writing my book. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child will be in bookstores early next year, and I cannot wait for you to read it. Thanks to all of you who sent words of encouragement and support.
Education
Opinion
Cleared for Take-Off
I find myself drawn to readers in public places as if we share a common bond. We wild readers, freed from school reading demands, gloriously indulge our reading habits, proudly carrying books wherever we go and brazenly reading in front of other people.
Education
Opinion
The Tale of Two Tables
Wandering the aisles of my local Barnes & Noble, I approach a table bearing the sign “Summer Getaway Favorites.” Thumbing through the stacks of paperbacks and new hardcover releases, I see the usual summer fare—fast-paced thrillers from favorite authors like Janet Evanovich and Lee Child, weepy beach blanket reads, and thick historical epics. Summer runs on a different schedule; we savor the slower pace of vacations and the longer days. Juicy like peaches, heart-pounding like theme park roller coasters, lazy like panting dogs, summer books represent everything we appreciate about this time of year.
Education
Opinion
Out of the Box
I just finished reading Airman by Eoin Colfer, and today’s obsession is flying. I spent an hour on the Internet investigating the invention of kites, balloons, gliders, and airplanes. It is clear that Colfer researched early flying machines and the brave, crazy men who dared to build and fly them. After reading this adventure, I know that the invention of the gas-powered engine was a pivotal link in creating a working plane, and that balsa wood and canvas make a good, light frame for one, but let’s face it, I did not pick up this book because I needed research on planes, and it won’t be the reason the boys in my class will clamor to read the book next year. They will read Airman because they want to fly.
Education
Opinion
Summer Slump
School ends in four days and I am working with my departing students to set reading goals for the summer. Discussing “summer reading slump,” when students’ reading levels decline over the summer because they don’t read, I share with my students the advice of researcher, Jimmy S. Kim, who recommends that children read four or five books over the summer to maintain their end-of-school-year reading levels. I urge each child to make lists of at least five books they plan to read over the summer break, frequently loaning books to sweeten the deal. After all, our class library books sit unread and unloved for three months. I consider these loans the literary equivalent of taking the plants and class pets home for the summer.
Education
Opinion
Reading First Puts Reading Last
On May 1st, the Department of Education released the preliminary results of Reading First, the federal program which provides grants for initiatives which improve the reading achievement of at-risk elementary school children. The initial findings of the DOE study indicate that students participating in Reading First perform no better on reading achievement tests than their peers in other instructional programs. Instead of re-addressing the flawed premise on which Reading First was built, the 2000 Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read, policymakers ask for more money to fund this failing federal program and beg us all to give Reading First more time.
Education
Opinion
Smoke and Mirrors
Click, click. My classroom is silent except for the scratching of pencils and that horrid noise. Click, click. My students are half way through a practice test for the state reading assessment. Click, click. One boy in the corner is methodically pushing the lid on and off a highlighter while he works. Click, click. This incessant hearbeat beneath the floorboards of my classroom is driving me mad. Click, click. I silently approach my tormentor, and look at his test. Click, click. A sea of neon alien blood flows across his paper; it appears that he is marking every other line in a code that only he can decipher. Click, cl… I thrust my open hand in front of him, and he places the offending marker into it. The clicking stops and I retain my sanity for another day.