5 Tips for Helping a Student Find the Right Book
By Rebecca Abler
Edutopia
In the Edutopia Article "5 Tips for Helping a Student Find the Right Book" Abler speaks about the joy in seeing a student find the "book." More importantly, according to Abler "the book, in my own definition, arrives when a student is no longer learning to read but reading to learn. They’ve read a lot of “chapter books” for fun, excitement, and adventurous means. They are now emerging from adolescence and are in the early to mid-teen years. At this developmental place, they are beginning to seek to understand the world," (October 2014).
So what are the tips that help you take a student from "learning to read to reading for fun?" (Abler 2014).
Step 1: Know the student. When you know the student you can offer suggestions with still allowing them to choose what book they would like to read.
Step 2: Try it. Encourage students to try different genres, they might really like them and learn about something new.
Step 3: Display the books. Sometimes students are intimidated by the library setting whether it's a school setting or the public library, seeing the 100s of titles to chose from can intimidate students into not reading. Try displaying books in your classroom so students can take a book tour or offer book recommendations via their peers. What is this book really like? Does someone my age really like reading it?
Step 4: Abandonment. Let students know that it's alright to abandon a book. If you are really not liking the book or you can't get into it, it's ok to stop reading it.
Step 5: Book Shop. Give students time to look for books. They need to read back covers and decide what fits best for them. Most importantly give them time to read. In class. As well as, time to talk about what they are reading, in class!
Think about these 5 steps the next time you are helping a student find "the book."
