So I’m more than halfway
through The Book Whisperer now, and I
have to say that Miller is winning me over. I’m still not certain I’ll be able
to pull it off as magnificently as she does, but I’m very much looking forward
to building my own library of grade-appropriate books and encouraging my
students to read 30 of them before the end of the year.
My biggest concerns were
assessment and test readiness. With everyone reading different books, I
wondered, how could she possibly be sure that her students are actually reading
and comprehending as much as they should be? Furthermore, if she’s not teaching
the standards and having test prep sessions, how does she know her students
will do well on standardized testing?
I must admit that I still
have some concerns, and I still wonder if I’ll be as competent as she is
considering that my mental library is infinitely less vast than hers. However,
I’m very optimistic that between now and the time I have my own classroom, I’ll
be able to read a hundred 3rd–5th grade level books. Plus,
the advancements in technology since The
Book Whisperer was first published make finding similar books to those that
were a hit much easier than the process would have been in 2009. So I’m
confident that I’ll be able to role model a joy of reading to my students, and
that by the end of the year they’ll all be much better readers than they were
when they first entered my classroom.
And I love her response to
traditional styles of assessment!
I
want my students to learn what life readers know: reading is its own reward.
Reading is a university course in life; it makes us smarter by increasing our
vocabulary and background knowledge of countless topics. Reading allows us to
travel to destinations that we will never experience outside the pages of a book.
Reading is a way to find friends who have the same problems we do and who can
give advice on solving those problems. Through reading, we can witness all that
is noble, beautiful, or horrifying about other human beings. From a book’s characters,
we can learn how to conduct ourselves. And most of all, reading is a communal
act that connects you to other readers, comrades who have traveled to the same
remarkable places that you have and been changed by them, too. (p. 151)
I know, it may sound a
little pie-in-the-sky, but she does offer several concrete examples of
alternative assessments that I can definitely see myself employing and, more
importantly, she reports that all of her students are acing standardized tests!
I’ll leave you with a few
examples of assessments that seem to be at least as effective as book reports,
if not flat out better.
Select a theme or concept that students
are expected to understand, gather a wide range of texts on this topic, and
form book groups. For
example, if we’re studying World War II, students can choose any book on the
subject. Class discussions will be enlivened and understanding deepened as
several points of view come to life based on the perspective of the books
chosen by the students. The student who read a book written by a Japanese
American will have different responses to the questions, “How were the
characters (or people, if the book was nonfiction) in your book involved in the
war? And what were the long-term consequences for them?” than the person who
read about the Tuskegee Airmen. What an excellent approach tom cross-curricular
education! (pp. 128–129)
Use short stories, excerpts, or poems
to teach literary elements or reading skills, and ask students to apply their
understanding to their independent books. For example, if the concept being taught is literary conflict. Students
can consult their independent books to identify the conflict(s) in their
stories, and have a discussion comparing and contrasting how the conflicts are
resolved in each book. Students learn the concept, and are less tempted to
cheat using Cliff Notes, for instance, than they would be if they were forced
to read, say, Farewell to Arms. (pp.
129-130)
Book Reviews. Instead of writing a book report, students consult
the back cover, inside flap, and professional book reviews before creating
their own book review using a set of criteria including quotes from the book,
cliffhanger questions, and personal reactions to the book. Since students in
Miller’s class don’t have to finish books they don’t like (they can simply
start a new one they find more appealing), I can see students being much more
engaged in the creation of a book review than they would be for a book report
because instead of an obligatory assessment for the teacher, they’re actually trying
to convince their friends to read a book they liked.
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