This year I have been sought by both teachers and students in the lower and upper school alike for my bookshelf. At faculty meetings I am widely regarded as the “Book Whisperer.” Although that’s not quite the appropriate use of the term whisperer, I’ve accepted this moniker happily.
Each of my students have read at least five books on their own this year, not including picture books, while the average student has read between ten and fifteen. Some students have read beyond twenty. Reading is by far, my students’ favorite free time activity in class, even more than going outside! They audibly GROAN when the bell interrupts their reading and it’s time to go to another class. Crazy, right?
This post takes its name from famed educator Nancie Atwell’s text of the same name. It is an essential read for reading teachers everywhere. You can find it in PDF version here.
The Reading Zone posits that we can build “skilled, passionate, habitual, and critical readers” by acknowledging certain rights that all middle school readers should have. Here’s what has worked in my classroom.
1 - Children must be given the right to choose their own independent reading material.
Nothing is more important to middle schoolers than choice. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s to give a child options, even if there are just three options which all benefit you, the teacher.
“Do you want to read the Baby-Sitters Club, or finish reading Amulet with your friend?”
“Do you want to read the Baby-Sitters Club, or finish reading Amulet with your friend?”
Bonus: “Do you want to sit next to me and read, or sit next to the window?”
2 - Children must be given time to read uninterrupted in school.
I can almost hear you crying out now, “But how Yeka? These kids don’t want to read anymore!” You set the tone for what the reading classroom is like. It is up to us to build a predictable, reliable, and expected reading routine for our little people. Read here for some ways to spice up reading time in the classroom.
3 - Children should track the books that they read as a source of pride.
Whenever there are new students in my class, I always pair them up with one of those kids who gets along with everyone and have them read Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty, a book that deserves a post of its own. Either directly before or after that, I have them read a class favorite picture book like Bird by Zetta Elliot or Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts. This typically lets me get a quick grip on their reading fluency, but also gives them two books right off the bat for their book tracker. This practice helps to situate them in the culture of the classroom. Here’s what an example of a book tracker from one of my students who recently tested at a middle third grade reading level:
There’s nothing like the pride that comes from completing a book tracker! When a full Book Tracker is newly completed, I may call home in congratulations or parade the student by other adults in the building to show off. I’ll ask the student which book on the list their favorite was, and then have them tape the completed book tracker into their Writing Journal.
4 - Children should be aware of the authors they are reading, the genre they are reading, and the meaning of awards on the covers of their books.
I show students the original Baby-Sitters Club books written in the eighties by Ann M Martin before handing them the Raina Telgemeier, Gale Galligan, Chan Chau, or Gabriela Epstein graphic rewrites. This positions them for conversations regarding the comparison of writing and illustration styles.
Some Fridays, I will read to the children books like “The Last Stop on Market Street,” or “Before She was Harriet,” books with Newberry and Coretta Scott King awards. I’ll introduce the award on the cover Every. Single. Time, and award a student who remembers Every. Single. Time. Here’s a list of all the Coretta Scott King award winning books for your own story time unit.
5 - Children must not be subjected to academic digestion every time they read.
This will churn the enjoyment out of reading and ostracize exceptional students such as those with IEPs and language barriers. It will negatively affect all students, especially with books like The Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo or the Hate U Give by Angie Thomas which sit close to students’ hearts. Just let them enjoy the books, recognizing that the value of reading doesn’t always translate into immediate academic chart value.
6 - Children must be given the right to re-read books.
If you feel a student is re-reading the same book too many times, begin reading a new one with them, or find its book cousin. If a student has finished reading “I am Alfonso Jones” by Tony Medina, hand them “Fights” by Joel Christian Gill. If a student has finished the Raina Telgemeier series, it may be time to move on to either The Baby Sitters Club Graphix collection or the Making Friends trilogy by Kristen Gudsnuk or the Olive series by Kayla Miller. But really, we should all be given the time and space to revisit our old characters and friends living still within the pages of a past read.
7 - Children reserve the right to not finish books which they are not enjoying.
After offering an indecisive or reluctant reader two or three books, I may tell them, “Get to page x (typically fifteen or twenty) and tell me how you like it. If you don’t like it, we will find you another one.” I’ll mark that target page with a bookmark, so they have a tactile checkpoint. This insurance policy makes all the difference, especially to picky readers.
8 - Children should talk about their books, and at times children should be obligated to write about their books.
Be aware of which child is reading what. This may seem like a daunting class, but a simple “Did you finish Mr. Wolf’s Class last night?” or “How’s Beezus going?” builds an expectation and awareness of detail that our young people crave. They want someone to notice, they want someone to care enough to remember.
Cheat, if you must! Sometimes, when a student begins reading a new book, I write this as a note to myself in the margin of my planner. I’ll do this also when they give me a bit of information, perhaps that their mother or sister had a baby. This knowledge of them goes a long way.
One of my favorite things to get readers talking is ask students which member of the Baby-Sitters Club they are. Stacey McGill, the fashionista from New York City is my absolute favorite, although when we took this classroom personality quiz during a snowy virtual school day, I got Claudia Kishi (her best friend, so not so bad!).
On most Thursdays, students complete one of these writing prompts about the text they are reading independently. Any type of writing works! No two classrooms are the same.
9 - Whenever possible, the teacher or a fellow classmate should preview students on a new book.
This is a practice I adapted from my days in Special Education that I find useful even while introducing my own friends to new books. The idea of a brand-new text, new vocabulary, new characters, new settings, and new conflicts can prove daunting to the reluctant reader. Cure this apprehension by sitting down with your student and introducing the text. Sometimes a book introduction is just giving them a simple premise, or controversial question raised by the book.
Take Twins, by Varian Johnson for example. I will say to a student; “This book is about two sisters who are best friends and happen to be twins. They’ve done everything together, until they reach the sixth grade, and this twin feels as though she needs her own identity, she wants to be popular. Her sister isn’t too happy about that. Have you ever been embarrassed by your family? Was there ever a time you dodged your own sibling at school? Then, to make matters worse, they both end up running for class president. Can you imagine what this would be like fortheir friends?” You can bring up a set of twins within the grade. “Can you imagine if Jayden and Jayda’s friendshad to choose between them? Yikes.” Listen with intention to the responses the student gives you.
Or, get another student to preview their peer on the book. This loans the book instant credibility because another young person has read it, it isn’t just you offering your opinion, which, let’s be honest, is rapidly losing value to the Tik-Tok generation.
In my classroom, reading has helped to re-cultivate the ever-elusive childlike nature that is denied so many of our urban children in a present world that demands their rapid maturation. Books have allowed my students to view themselves as the intellectuals and thinkers they are.
Books enable me to mirror the colors and characters that are represented in my students’ daily lives in a meaningful and relevant way. Non-fiction picture books have allowed me an alternate medium to use in reinforcing my social studies lessons. Be on the lookout for my upcoming post about my essential classroom books.
Until next time.
Read The Reading Zone (2007) by Nancie Atwell in full here.