A READING LABORATORY

      Almost done with college and still reading adolescent literature.  That’s me.  I love adolescent literature.  When I see a Newberry, I buy.  When I see Lois Lowry, I buy.  Why?  The stories are deep; indeed they are what I wish I could have read more of in middle school.  When I discovered that I would receive fifty—that’s right, fifty—books from the Middle Grades Reading Network (MGRN), I couldn’t wait to start reading.  I also couldn’t wait to start sharing. 

      My first placement for student teaching was at a high school. I was disappointed to find that three fourths of my students hated reading.  I began asking myself why, and I discovered a few different answers.  First, some students see reading as being forced upon them.  Second, they all want to read stories with characters who are their age experiencing the very same things they have to deal with in everyday life.

      For our silent sustained reading (SSR) period, many of my students refused to bring books, so I offered several of my books from MGRN.  Many of my high school students began reading them, and some even took them home to finish.

      I soon was carting my “library” over to the middle school, where I would have my second placement.  I stored my books in milk crates, and students openly read them for SSR and also during free time.  Even students who normally struggle with reading gradually became immersed in some of these books. 

      Thanksgiving was approaching, and I wanted to plan an enjoyable activity for the day before the holiday.  I decided to do a reading lab where students fill out lab sheets that survey the different books from MGRN.  Before class I put students into groups of four, and I placed a pile of the books on their desks.  Students used books like Heart Beat and Ella Enchanted to complete their lab sheets.  The sheets included charts that asked for basic information such as title, author, and copyright, and they also included questions such as Does the first sentence of the books make you want to keep reading? Does the front cover attract your attention?  I also asked students to rate their books on a scale of one to five, even though they had only read the first page or so.  Students really liked doing the reading lab, and some who say they don’t like to read proclaimed: “I want to read this book!”

      Reading labs are a great activity just before a break.  Students were engaged in doing labs on different books.  Students especially liked the freedom to choose books from all the hard covers that MGRN provided.  I was encouraged to see students’ initial hatred of reading give way to eager participation.

      The day I hauled the books into my cooperating teacher’s classroom, students hurried to complete their work so they could flock to the boxes on the floor.  The variety available seemed to supply something for everyone. 

      It’s encouraging to see that even eighth graders will respond to “class reading time.”  It seems that no matter our age, most of us enjoy the luxury of sitting back and listening to someone read a good book.  I have discovered that reading aloud for all to hear is an excellent classroom management tool when students are overly talkative or seem under the weather.  It is also an enriching educational strategy at any time.  When I gave students silent reading time, they sometimes lost interest and drifted off into daydreams.  However, when I read aloud to them, they remained alert and responded to my questions regarding the content with a surprising awareness of the story line.  My students were able to picture scenes in their minds, and, in that way, develop a personal connection to the material.  I even saw more participation in class discussions.  I was excited to see such enthusiastic reactions to the books.

      Some students even developed a love for a new form of literature while perusing the books.  A student named David approached me while returning Concrete Poetry to its place and said, “Miss Baird, I really liked this book.  I didn’t used to like poetry, but this book is really good.  It’s cool.”  I was thrilled to hear such a reaction from a boy who rarely read before.  Many students, especially in middle school, do not care for poetry.  But, this book of poetry sparked David’s interest.  He even began to advertise the book to his friends.  At least five students checked out Concrete Poetry after David’s experience with it, and I heard some wonderful reports about it.

     When I learned I would be the recipient of the Middle Grades Reading Network grant and would receive books to use during my student teaching experience, I was absolutely overjoyed.  My mind reeled with the possibilities of how to use the books during my assignment at Scribner Middle School in New Albany.

      I decided on what I called the Independent Book Project with my sixth grade Honors English class. The students were very excited from the moment I introduced the books to them.  After they had the opportunity to review them, we held a raffle to decide who would receive which book.  It was a pleasant surprise to see that most of the books were of interest to more than one student. 

      Throughout the two and half weeks of the project, students read their books, worked on developing note taking skills, focused on the development of characters, wrote a review, included information about the author, and provided an oral presentation that included a visual.   The project contained many elements, all of which focused on hitting a number of standards as well as different interest levels within the many tasks.  Fashioning the project this way allowed opportunities for students to learn required skills while working on their organizational skills, following multiple step instructions, and taking a role in their own learning.  

      On the first day of the project, the students received all the requirements so they knew from the start what was expected of them.  I gave the students freedom to choose their areas of focus. As the writing process began, I observed the variety of ways students worked to suit their individual learning styles.  Some focused on the review of the book while others focused on information about the author.  I was pleased to see the different approaches as the students assumed responsibility for their own learning.  For example, some emailed their authors to tell them how much they enjoyed their book and asked for firsthand information.

      I enjoyed watching the students become excited about the books and took satisfaction in knowing I had helped create an environment in which students initiated their own learning.  Not only did students develop in-depth knowledge about one text, but they also encouraged their classmates to read additional titles. 

      The students join me in thanking the Middle Grades Reading Network for this invaluable learning experience.  I am very grateful for the books and the opportunity to share them with my students and supervising teacher.

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     “So, whatcha got in the box,” eagerly asked one of my students as I struggled down the halls of Geyer Middle School carrying a rather large box filled with books provided by the Middle Grades Reading Network.

     “Books. You wanna read them?”

     “For sho, Miss T,” he replied with a twinge of sarcasm.

     I walked through the school doors knowing that Geyer is a Title One school with a 90 percent English Second Language population.  I wondered how excited my seventh grade students would be about books.  I had no clue about  these students’ reading levels or even how well they spoke English.  All I knew was that I was going into a classroom in which 60 out of the 90 students had failed ISTEP in sixth grade.

       Over the summer, my professors asked if I would like to receive, read, and use during my student teaching experience 50 books provided by the Middle Grades Reading Network.  How could I say no?  I had never read any of the books sent, but I was familiar with a few of the authors, including  Sharon Draper and Sharon Creech.

      “Okay, guys, I have a present for you all --- a whole box full of books!”

       The students stared back at me with blank looks and lacking the enthusiasm for which I was hoping.  I got worried.  I thought my students would be rejoicing at the chance to read new books.  I was hoping they would be yearning for literature, but then I looked around the classroom that I was in and realized that the students were already surrounded by literature.  It was everywhere -- on the walls, on the cabinets, libraries -- shelves and shelves of literature.  Why would my books be any more special than the ones already in the classroom?  How could I get them excited?

      While the students were eating breakfast that morning, I arranged the books on my section of the bookshelf.

       “Have you read all of those?” asked one student whose cheeks were stuffed with a blueberry muffin and whose hands held a juice box.   Ironically, he was one of the students failing the class and yet was one of the best readers.

      “Yes.  I spent the summer reading them while I was at work.”

      “Are they good?”

       “Yes.”  

      Not only were the students listening and intrigued with the clean, hardback covers, but they seemed genuinely interested.  In middle school it’s not cool to read, but when the “coolest” guy in class asked, suddenly everyone listened.

      “So, do we have to read them?”

      I had decided that I was going to make the reading voluntary.  Every day the students had 30 to 60 minutes of sustained silent reading in which, if they wanted, they could read the books.  I felt that if the books were pushed upon them then reading would be perceived as more of a chore than pleasure.  Plus, not all of the students in my class were at the middle school reading level.

      After a few days in which no one touched the books, I made a plan to introduce my students to the books.  It is never good to judge a book by its cover, so I gave them a preview of a few books a day.  After each preview I would ask, “Any takers?”  In fact, I felt more like a salesperson then a teacher, but it worked.  Once the students saw my enthusiasm and heard a little bot about the stories, the books became a hot commodity.  A Deadly Game of Magic practically sent students into arguments over who would get to read it first. Before I knew it the students had called dibs on several of the books such as Romiette and Julio and Ruby Holler.   I offered the supplemental worksheets from the Indiana Library Federation website as extra credit and had a few takers.

      After I left, my supervising teacher used The Last Book in the Universe as a read aloud and she said that the students loved it.  The books are being shared with all of the teachers in several different subject matters.  Who said reading across the curriculum is a hard task?  As long as there are good books it’s simple.

     Thanks to the Middle Grades Reading Network, my students and those of many other student teachers around the state had 50 inviting and current new books to read and enjoy!

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     Opening the box brought so much anticipation and then the sudden realization that I would have to find a way to incorporate these books into my 8 week stint at Northview Middle School.  I began my middle school placement the second week of March.  There were only 3 weeks until spring break.  The kids were excited, the teachers were excited, I was excited.  I knew that over the course of my weeks of teaching I would need to cover a variety of topics with them from Greek Mythology to capitalization and punctuation.  Where would these books fit in so close to the end of the year?

     I finally decided to just do what seemed natural.  It was nearly impossible to change their daily habits this late in the year and incorporate silent reading.  With all of the demands and pressures on the students in my 8^th grade classes, I felt that forcing them to read these books would simply push them farther away.  What they needed was something to boost their grades.  What they needed was something that captured their interest.

     “What does this have to do with my life?” students often asked when I introduced mythology.  “Why do we need to know this?” they would question when grammar was reviewed.  Some students even ventured to challenge me with comments such as, “I’ve never read an entire book.”  How does a teacher respond to such statements as the last?! 

I decided to offer the books to students as an extra credit assignment.  Many of the students came to me with failing grades.  I encouraged students that didn’t often read or really needed the extra points to pick a book.  I gave short explanations of the various books, and then as interested students began to search through them I asked them what they were interested in or what the last book they read was.  Students were shocked that some of the books were really about relevant issues to them. 

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My mentor teacher and I were both very excited about having so many books available to students right in the classroom.  To me, this was the most important way I could make use of the books.  So, throughout my student teaching weeks, I used the books as a mini-library.  Once a week our block had a “Reading Period”.  During this time I reminded students of our class books and suggested to individual students books I thought they would enjoy.  Students often took advantage of this time to peruse the books and check one out to read on their own.  The first day I set the books out, the students all noticed and began asking if they were going to be able to check them out to read.  The physical presence of so many interesting books in the classroom immediately raised students’ reading awareness. 

Aside from making the books available for students to check out, I also used the books for a Partner Book Read unit.  I only did this unit with one of my 7^th grade classes.  While there are many bright and intelligent students in this class, they were less likely to pick up a book to read on their own than my other classes.  Therefore I targeted them for this unit.

For the final project of the unit, the partners presented their book to the class.  The students came up with wonderful creative projects to advertise their book.  Additionally, we discussed public speaking skills to help prepare them to share a summary of their book. Through these presentations, students empowered one another to continue reading as they talked positively about their books. 

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     During my first week at Salem Middle School, I used Booktalks to capture the students’ interest in the Young Hoosier Books that I had lined up along the chalkboard.  I explained to them about the grant that I had received, and what an honor it was to share these books with them.  My idea that the Booktalks would create student interest in the books turned out to be an overwhelming success.  Students from the first and second classes were begging to check the books out before the third class had the chance to be introduced to them. 

    We were doing a Poetry Unit at the time that my stay at SMS came to an end, so in order to incorporate a fun lesson on my final day there, I passed out one of the Young Hoosier Books to each of the students and asked them to write a poem inspired by the front cover.  Most of the poems that came out of this lesson were meaningful and expressive in ways I hadn’t thought of. 

    One of the titles that was frequently checked out and brought up during discussions was Jason’s Gold, by Will Hobbs.  The students seemed to really enjoy this book and many others as well. 

            The final thing I did to encourage the students in their endeavor to read was by actually reading some of the books to the students everyday after lunch.  The students absolutely loved this.  Reading some of the books I received from the Middle Grades Reading Network to the students was actually like showcasing the books to the students.  For example, after reading Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief to the students I observed a student reading the book on her own.  Daily reading to the students really encouraged them to become independent readers themselves, which in turn, will aide in making them life-long learners. 

            My cooperating teacher, Kent Litwiller, was excited and supportive of bringing more books into the classroom for the students’ use. This made great books more accessible to our students. The independent reading program that Kent used in his classroom already required the students to read several Hoosier books on their own and take Accelerated Reader quizzes on the computer, have a student-teacher conference, or write a report about the book.

            When the school year began, I told the students about the Middle Grades Reading Network and pointed out the section in our class library where these wonderful fifty books were located. I also posted a chart with a list of the Young Hoosiers and all the students’ names. Every time that they read a book on this list, they would come see me for a sticker to be placed in the appropriate spot on the chart.