Over the past three years, I have worked to incorporate student choice into my classroom. And it is a goal to continue that incorporation for the upcoming year. One of the choices that I would love students to make would be choices connected to reading.
I would love if EVERY student could articulate what they wanted to read or what they were interested in. Reading, even if it's what you like, for a little every day helps you to become a better reader just like running every day helps you to become a better runner. So I have looked at various websites/tools to help my students take back some of the choice in reading.
1. HPL: If you have a library card you can download e-books! The worry and fuss about returning on time, late fees, or even not having time to go downtown or to a branch is now gone! Now, I just have to set up library cards with all my students!
2. Newsela: For those who don't love fiction, a choice of articles about sports, science, technology, or what is going on in the world is a great way to snag reluctant readers. The lexile levels of the articles can also be changed. Another plus, is most are short and sweet, great for 15-20 minutes of reading.
3. MyOn: This site tracks lexile level, filters choice based on interest, and even quizzes students at the end of the reading with five multiple choice questions. A plus is the amount of WWE and car books that many male students are tearing through!
4. Fanfiction: While I don't always think it is most eloquently written, Fanfiction is still high interest. Fanfiction sites like Wattpad have been allowing writers to share their work and many students are interested and follow various authors. Plus, who wouldn't want to read about Harry Potter meeting One Direction?! (RIP Zane...)
While these are only a few, there are many more to look into. And many non-traditional book reports that I can do with students. Personally, I am envisioning this as an independent/homework style of work that students can create projects or respond to in order to share out interesting info with their peers!
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ReplyDeleteLove all of your ideas about choice! The trick with choice always seems to be accountability, but it seems that the tools you have identified will let you track the reading of your students.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this great information, Danielle. I hope to incorporate more independent reading in my classes this year and while I have a small classroom library it would be great to be able to expand student choice and availability beyond what is physically available to them.
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