Classroom Library End of Semester Update: My Students Learned to Love to Read Again!

Book donations to our new Classroom Library

The end of our first semester is upon us and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my classroom reading project that I began this year and to provide an update since so many of you donated money or sent books to my classroom.

 Over the summer I read Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer which then led me to other experts on the subject of independent reading in the classroom such as Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. I read lots of studies and did a lot of research before deciding to dedicate fifteen minutes of every class period to independent reading; that is a whole lot of class time and I wanted to be certain that this would be a good investment.

 It was.

 Part of my concern that initiated this project was that our new curriculum, Guidebooks 2.0, strips pleasure reading and short stories almost entirely from my syllabus. It is a scripted curriculum and we are not allowed to take away from it, but we ARE allowed to supplement it, sparingly. I decided that the most important thing to me, for my students, was to ensure that they did not lose their love of reading due to the prescribed, often dry, articles, speeches, and court opinions that they are required to read, especially in the tenth grade syllabus. We have two units: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (9 weeks), and Macbeth (9 weeks). Both of those are wonderful stories (although we never read the Henrietta book, only articles about the story of Henrietta and the ethics involved); the problem is that the Guidebooks strip pretty much anything imaginative or engaging from the students.

I hoped my reading project would help keep them engaged and interested in reading.

 In my classroom this year, from August to December, my students read just over 345 books, give or take a few. As they complete a book, each student logs the title and date into his Reading Notebook; the sense of accomplishment in looking over this list at the end of the semester can be great for most students.

 Some students read a lot more books than other students, but that doesn’t take away the accomplishment of those slower readers. I have one student who has never finished a book in his life but read all of Bob Batchelor’s biography of Stan Lee. I ordered that book specifically for this student and I watched as that bookmark sank deeper and deeper into the book each day. He read the entire thing; that was a huge accomplishment for this particular student.

 At the other end of the spectrum, I had avid readers who relished the opportunity to engage in their favorite hobby and they read dozens of books.

 Every Friday my students wrote a letter to me in their notebook reflecting on what they read during the week and discussing their current book. These letters opened a dialogue between us and strengthened our relationships. Reading became a common bond for us. We talked about books and we talked about the real life lessons that they taught us.

 One of the most popular books this semester was The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I bought four copies of that book, and our school library kept another copy going. The kids wanted to read it, they wanted to talk about it, and they wanted to read other books like it. When one of my girls finished it and wanted a similar book I handed her Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. In this book a boy is considering shooting the person he believes killed his brother. As he descends in the apartment building elevator, he has “encounters” with family and friends who are no longer alive and he has an opportunity to reflect on his planned action. My student was engrossed in this book and when she got to the ending, her jaw dropped and she looked up at me, wide-eyed, breaking the silence in the room with, “Mrs. Becker!”

 I love that a book can elicit this kind of a reaction from a kid!

I have a male student who was a reluctant reader and he’s been working on Hatchet all semester. Nearing the end of the book now, he just shook his head and muttered, “This lil boy has been through too much…”.

Through reading we have traveled to a mysterious Night Circus, an enchanted Hazel Wood, and explored the mysteries of outer space. We have explored the future and looked to the past. We have examined damaged characters and learned from the mistakes of others.

 On Friday, as I was grading final reading reflection letters, so many of my students expressed gratitude for our reading program; one girl wrote, “One thing I learned this week is that I remember how much I love reading and I’m proud that I read multiple books this semester.” Another wrote “I love that we get to read in here,” and yet another student who was not a particularly avid reader in August, expressed pride that she read three entire books this semester.

 Through reading these letters each week it was really gratifying to see so many of my students enjoy reading and discussing their books with me. I’ll be honest though, not every student fell in love with reading. I had a couple of boys who never got off whatever random page the book landed on. I had another boy who just grabbed a soccer book with brief biographies of soccer stars and he would prop it open on his desk to hide his phone behind it. We had multiple discussions about this behavior but I also know that I can’t force a kid to read and I refused to penalize them with grades on this. I feel strongly that reading should be its own reward.

 In the end I’d say with about 85% strong participation, 10% moderate participation, and 5% utter apathy, this was a real success for my students. I will definitely continue this program next semester which begins in January and will tweak it by talking more about the books I’m reading; I’ll also invite more open discussion about books my students are reading in addition to the one on one discussions we had this semester.

 Since a significant number of the books in our classroom library arrived through donations from our Amazon Wish List, and some of those donations came through readers of this blog, I wanted to update and share our progress with you.

 Reading opens so many doors for students on so many different levels; I feel truly honored to be able to guide my students into the world of books.

Take a Trip to the Louisiana Book Festival, 2018

Signing copies of Cane River Bohemia.

The fifteenth annual Louisiana Book Festival was held last weekend and your humble correspondent was honored to be a part of it as one of the presenters for my book Cane River Bohemia.

You know you have reached the surreal when you are signing books fifteen feet away from Donna Brazile who was there signing her new book, Hacks, or riding the elevator at your hotel with the legendary Ernest Gaines. I was fortunate enough to see Mr. Gaines last year at the Books Along the Teche literary festival: he is a gracious gentleman and gifted writer.

My husband and I drove to Baton Rouge Friday afternoon in time to make the author’s party at the State Library of Louisiana that evening. I’ll admit that I did think about Stacy McCain when we drove through Livonia. (You might ask him about that speeding ticket a few years ago!)

The author’s party was fabulous; there was a jazz band and enough superb Louisiana food to feast upon for days: gumbo, boudin balls, crab cakes, shrimp alfredo, bread pudding, etouffee, and of course Abita beer; the food just went on forever.

I met the most fascinating people and added to my “want to read” list in a significant way. I even added a children’s book to my list: Poncho’s Rescue: A Baby Bull and a Big Flood, by Julie Thomas, who was working with the LSU Vet school during the floods of 2016 and was involved with the team who helped save the very sick little animal after his rescue. It’s quite a story!

I ran into the fabulous Mary Ann Wilson who I met last year, also at the Books Along the Teche Literary Festival; she was giving a book talk entitled "Voices from Louisiana: Profiles of Contemporary Writers."  In New Iberia last year she spoke so eloquently on James Lee Burke's Tin Roof Blowdown I had to come home and re-read it.

With Dr. Mary Ann Wilson

I also chased down Karen McManus, author of the popular YA novel, One of Us is Lying, to tell her how much both I and my students love her book. She was very gracious and didn’t seem to mind my gushing fan-girl approach, thankfully.

And of course, I got to visit with my favorite editor, Margaret Lovecraft of LSU Press who made my book so much better than what I envisioned.

With Margaret Lovecraft, LSU Press.

Day two began with a little sightseeing around Baton Rouge; we spent a lot of time on the levee watching the tow boats and barges on the Mississippi River; we toured the old Louisiana State Capitol which is absolutely stunning.

Old Louisiana State Capitol

 The stained glass, kaleidoscope dome is breathtaking. Then we headed over to the Capitol grounds for the festival.

Stained glass dome, Old State Capitol

The Louisiana Book Festival draws about 20,000 people and is one of the top book festivals in the South. This year there were 250 authors either giving talks about their books or participating in panel discussions. There are children’s events and various live music performances as well as food trucks all day long. The book presentations take place in the State Capitol Building in the various House and Senate Committee meeting rooms in thirty-minute intervals and then the authors are shuttled over to the signing tent to sign copies of their books.

 My presentation was one of the last ones of the day and so we had plenty of time to browse the book tents while waiting. We picked up My Brother’s Keeper by Chris Blackwood, which is a true-crime thriller about the 1984 death of Gary Kergan from Crowley, Louisiana. The case went cold and was finally resolved thirty years later and it’s a wild one. Chris sat next to me as we signed books together and she signed our book! We also bought The Sound of Building Coffins by Louis Maistros, the epitome Southern Gothic novel filled with voodoo, quirky characters, and mysterious plot. It’s getting good reviews so I can’t wait to just get lost in this one.

 Louisiana is home to so many terrific and talented authors, I think in part due to the cultural diversity we have in our state. From the southern tip of the state to the far northeastern corner, we are a mélange of swamps, rice fields, sugar cane and cotton fields, and bustling cities. We are refineries and skyscrapers, blue collar workers and suits. We are the Shreveport Symphony, New Orleans jazz, and Cajun zydeco. We eat boudin, crawfish, alligator, meat pies, and the infamous gumbo. We are fine dining with a river view in Baton Rouge, woodfired pizzas at the craft beer tap room in Arnaudville, and huge homemade burgers in Coushatta, and delicious pies in LeCompte. We are magnolia trees, Spanish moss, azaleas, and cape jasmine. We are Spanish, French, African, Jamaican, Creole, Irish, English, Hispanic, but uniquely American. It is no wonder that Louisiana writers and authors create such a wonderful and diverse collection of material every single year which is celebrated at the Louisiana Book Festival.

Be sure to put it on your calendar for next year: you won’t be sorry!

What are You Reading?

What are you reading?

I want to know!

I recently finished reading  One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood at the recommendation of my daughter, who has never steered me wrong in books, and it was exquisite.   I loved every single page and every little nuance.  It was simply the most beautiful book I've read in a long time.

It's a book that makes you feel smart, too.  So often I was thinking, "Yep, I see what you did there!  Very good!"

The premise of the book via Amazon is:

The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don't they teach you anything at school?  

So says 104-year-old Ona to the 11-year-old boy who's been sent to help her out every Saturday morning. As he refills the bird feeders and tidies the garden shed, Ona tells him about her long life, from first love to second chances. Soon she's confessing secrets she has kept hidden for decades. 

One Saturday, the boy doesn't show up. Ona starts to think he's not so special after all, but then his father arrives on her doorstep, determined to finish his son's good deed. The boy's mother is not so far behind. Ona is set to discover that the world can surprise us at any age, and that sometimes sharing a loss is the only way to find ourselves again.

The relationship between Ona and the boy (he is never named) is charming and heartwarming.  Their conversations are delightful, funny, and enlightening.

I fell in love with Ona, yes, but I also fell in love with Quinn and with the boy who I really feel like I know.  But most of all, I fell in love with the writing of Monica Wood.

I have decided to buy this book for everyone I know for Christmas because everyone needs to read it simply because it's so beautifully written and crafted.

True love = me and this book.

I'm also doing some YA reading to keep up with my students so I just finished reading We'll Fly Away by Brian Bliss which is on the long list for the National Book Award.

This book will definitely engage my students and I can't wait to share it with them.  So many of them are in love with Angie Thomas's The Hate u Give and while this is not exactly like that, (different plot) it is as engaging.

Here's the premise for We'll Fly Away from the National Book Foundation:

Uniquely told through letters from death row and third-person narrative, Bryan Bliss’s hard-hitting third novel expertly unravels the string of events that landed a teenager in jail. Luke feels like he’s been looking after Toby his entire life. He patches Toby up when Toby’s father, a drunk and a petty criminal, beats on him, he gives him a place to stay, and he diffuses the situation at school when wise-cracking Toby inevitably gets into fights. Someday, Luke and Toby will leave this small town, riding the tails of Luke’s wrestling scholarship, and never look back.  

But during their senior year, they begin to drift apart. Luke is dealing with his unreliable mother and her new boyfriend. And Toby unwittingly begins to get drawn into his father’s world, and falls for an older woman. All their long-held dreams seem to be unraveling. Tense and emotional, this heartbreaking novel explores family, abuse, sex, love, friendship, and the lengths a person will go to protect the people they love.

Again, I felt like I knew these people.  Bryan Bliss has created a heart wrenching, thoroughly believable story and the tragedy of this book is that what happens to Luke and Toby can and does happen to our teenagers all the time. #truth

The writing is fast-paced, the dialogue is real, and whether or not you're into YA lit, you should read this book because it has implications for adults as well.  As a teacher, it has a message for me, too.  I'm interested in checking out other books by this author.

I've been reading a new author lately - new to me, that is.  I was checking out the list of authors that will be at the Louisiana Book Festival in November (I'll be there with Cane River Bohemia) and came across Steph Post.  When Michael Connelly writes the blurb for your book, I'm going to check you out!

I'm a stickler for reading books in order so I started with A Tree Born Crooked; again, here's the premise from Amazon:

James Hart, with a tough-as-nails exterior and an aching emptiness inside, does not want to go home. Yet when James receives a postcard from his mother, Birdie Mae, informing him of his father's death, he bites the bullet and returns to the rural and stagnant town of Crystal Springs, Florida, a place where dreams are born to die. James is too late for Orville's funeral, but just in time to become ensnared in the deadly repercussions of his younger brother Rabbit's life of petty crime. When Rabbit is double crossed by his cousin in a robbery-turned-murder, James and a local bartender, the unsettling and alluring Marlena Bell, must come up with a plan to save Rabbit's skin. A whirlwind road trip across the desolate Florida panhandle ensues as James tries to stay one step ahead of the vengeful Alligator Mafia and keep his brother alive. With bullets in the air and the ghosts of heartache, betrayal and unspeakable rage haunting him at every turn, James must decide just how much he is willing to risk to protect his family and find a way home.

I loved this book and I loved the characters, even the ones you're not supposed to like.  The whole time I was reading this book all I could think of was, "First novel?  Good lord, I can't wait to see what this writer can do!"

The story was fast-paced and full of suspense.  I was quite satisfied with the ending and so I moved on to Post's next novel immediately which is Lightwood.

Lightwood begins the Cannon trilogy and begins with Judah Cannon walking out of prison after serving his time for the family crime business.  He immediately reconnects with his lovely girl, Ramey, and then life gets complicated - not because of Ramey, but because  Judah is sucked back into the family business so fast he doesn't know what happened. He promises Ramey that they'll break free.  Soon.  Just not yet.  Tension.

In this book, Post creates one of the more interesting characters I've ever come across in Sister Tulah, a truly crazy preacher who has an iron thumb over the entire county.  You just know there is more to her story and Post artfully withholds some of that for later.

Where Lightwood ends, Walk in the Fire continues, the second book in the Cannon trilogy. I'm not finished with this one yet, but with only a quarter of the book left, I can tell it's going to be a real page turner until the end.  We have many of the same characters in this book as with Lightwood; even some of the ones who didn't survive Lightwood have a role in Walk in the Fire.  Post introduces a few new characters to this story and with each book I can see her craft become more and more polished.

I can say that because I've also read an advance copy of her latest novel, Miraculum, which will come out in January 2019.  I'll do a full review of Miraculum in a few weeks, closer to her publishing date, but just go ahead and pre-order that one because you're going to want to read it.

Miraculum is not about the Cannons, but is completely separate.  (Will there be a sequel, Steph?!)

 For now, I'll just say this:  think Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked this Way Comes crossed with The Greatest Showman, and Water for Elephants; add a serving of Steph Post suspense and tension, and you have Miraculum.  I truly loved this book and can't wait to share it with everyone!  It's the kind of book that even after you close the covers it stays with you.  You keep thinking about it.

I hope someone makes a really great movie out of this one because it's so visual and so textured; the characters are rich and finely drawn, and Daniel Revont needs to be played by Daniel Day Lewis.  Just saying.

I'm usually reading two, maybe three books, at a time and so I'm about to begin Delia Owens's book Where the Crawdads Sing.  This is another one recommended by my daughter, and like I said, she's never steered me wrong.  I can't wait to start it!  I also have some YA that I brought home for Fall Break reading: Mirage by Somaiya Daud and Dry, by Neil Shusterman among them.

How can one not love reading?!  There are so many great adventures between the covers of a book!

So, what are you reading?

The Classroom Reading Project: Week Six

My classroom Friday afternoon; everyone is reading!

It's been a couple of weeks since I last updated on the Classroom Reading Project and so here at the end of Week Six, I thought it might be time to catch you up!

We are reading!

The background:  After spending the summer doing a lot of research and inspired by Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer and Penny Kittle's Book Love, my students are starting every class with fifteen minutes of silent reading.  My classroom library now has just over 300 unique titles and the total book count is about 340 with duplicates, and this is in a large part thank to the many generous folks who have been sending us books from my Amazon Wish List.  Additionally, I have been hitting thrift stores almost weekly and also ordering specially requested books from Amazon with my own money.  (I currently have three copies of The Hate u Give, and the school library has one, and we still have a long waiting list!)

Currently:  As of today, my students, across three classes, have read about 35 books since school started the second week of August!  (That's just counting books from my classroom library; I have one boy who read voraciously in books from home.) Plus one girl's mama read The Hate u Give too ("Where's your book today?" I asked.  "My mama picked it up and now she's all into it and I have to wait until she's finished!")

I'm pretty impressed with that number because when I went back and looked at my surveys we filled out at the beginning of the year, I did not have thirty kids that could remember the last book they read outside of required school reading.

That being said, I still have a number of students who have not finished a single book; they keep abandoning them and picking others.  This does not bother me a whole lot just yet because a lot of these students are not experienced readers and are finding their way to books, genres, and authors that they can connect with.  I'm doing everything I can to facilitate that and help my kids find the right books.

One of the things I’m trying to do more of is have conversations with my students about what they are reading. Now that we are some six weeks into this independent reading, I want to encourage them to finish books, reduce the number of abandoned books, and put books in their hands that ignite their love of reading and story.

I want to encourage them to read outside of class as well. We truly need to increase the number of minutes we read each day outside of class. The standard seems to be anywhere from 200 - 600 pages read a week to be prepared for college level reading, but for now, I need to meet them where they are and to help guide them to books that they enjoy but that also challenge them.

Overheard in the classroom this week: “The Bone Witch is so good! I read three chapters

My classroom Friday afternoon

yesterday!”

Spontaneous discussion among those finished with The Hate U Give:
“I didn’t like Starr; I didn’t like the way she changed herself and tried to be two people like when she went to school, it wasn’t how she really was.”
“No, I didn’t either! You have to be true to yourself, you have to be yourself!”
“I liked Kenya! She was funny!”
"But wasn’t Starr just doing what she thought she had to do to survive and do you think the story was about her actually finding out who she really is?"
"Maybe but you can't fake who you are."

One of my girls, at the end of The Fault in our Stars:
“Oh my gosh I thought HAZEL was the one that died! All this time I thought….oh my gosh, oh my gosh….” and she covers her face with the book for a moment before finishing the last few pages.

“Oh! You got the next Full Metal Alchemist?! I want it!”

"Is The Hate u Give back in yet?"

Reading Notebooks:  Each week my students write a letter to me in their reading notebook where they discuss what they've read, what they think will happen, how the book relates to real life (or not), or whatever is on their minds about their reading through the week.  Now, each week, more and more are giving me suggestions and requests to add to our Amazon Wish List.  Their letters are getting longer and more detailed, more thoughtful.  More reflective.  Many are asking for suggestions for their next book.  And I write back on each and every single one.

Wrap up:  So, here at the end of Week Six, I am still solidly committed to our classroom reading.  I don't have one-hundred percent buy-in, I won't lie.  I still have one boy who puts his book on his desk and never opens it.  I have a couple of students who are probably fake reading.  I'm hoping they will all come around.  I will continue to work with them and have conversations where I try to steer them to books that ignite a love of reading for them.  I have a couple who may or may not finish more than two or three books before the end of the semester in December, but that will be two or three more books than they have ever read, so I'm okay with that.

I do think that for many, it is the best part of their day (for some it may be the worst part, too!)  ;)

I'm keeping copious notes and reflections each day.  At the end of the semester I need to do a serious, hard reflection over this and be certain that it has been beneficial.  I expect to see improvements in writing, in vocabulary, in comprehension, and I expect my students to move to more challenging books by the end of the semester.  We are reading anywhere from a fifth grade reading level to an adult reading level.

My goal has always been to try and build lifelong readers and if I can aim some of my students in that direction then this has been a success.

Most Popular Books in M205 this week:  
The Hate u Give by Angie Thomas
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
Full Metal Alchemist series by Hiromu Arakawa
My Hero Academia series by Kohei Horikoshi
One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Paper Towns by John Green
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Shameless Begging:  Our Wish List is updated with most recent requests from my students nearest the top.  Some are becoming invested in the series and want the next book and some have heard about books from others and have made requests.  Most are around the $10 to $15 range, all are less than $20.  We would love it if you would like to send us a book!