a simple solution

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Home : 2003 : September : 10

a simple solution
By sj

I put a dispan bucket of little paperback books of all levels in front of me on the table. Then I call all of my struggling and insecure readers to come sit around me and the table, leaving some of my more capable readers
to read in pairs or independently. The group around me works like this: The children each take a book from the front of the bucket and read softly. I tell them that I want them to read just loud enough that I can "tune in" to their reading whenever I feel like it. I am instantly available when one of them hits a snag...and there's my mini mini lesson on the spot. I try to work through

the class having different students sit in chairs right beside me on left and right so that I hear everyone, even my better readers, read at least a few times every week. When a student finishes his little book, he places it in the back of the bucket and chooses another from the front of the bucket. Everyone is reading constantly, there is no time lost walking, choosing books, etc., and everyone gets help as they need it--and I'm able to monitor and constantly assess. My students seemed to really enjoy this strategy because they got to have me listen to them read--which they all seem to want. If a student happened to choose a book that was too hard, I would just say, "choose a different book" and it would go into the back of the bucket. I discovered this little strategy by accident a couple of years ago and loved the seamlessness of it and the way that it kept all of my students actively reading simultaneously. Several of my coworkers have tried it since then, and every one has reported that they really liked it. Isn't it funny that sometimes the simplest solutions work as well as some of those fancy ideas we have to study to learn how to do?