This will be the first of a series of posts relating to Katie Martin’s new book Learner Centered Innovation which I am reading as a part of #IMMOOC 4 Each week I will be targeting suggested blog prompts and reflecting on how the ideas in #LCInnovation resonate with my teaching experiences.
I’ve been thinking a lot about read alouds in the Library for a couple of years now. As a School Librarian I’m scared to admit this publicly but sometimes I don’t feel the love for read alouds. I don’t need to be sold on the value of the concept – if I did, a quick google search would bring up a plethora of articles and posts about how beneficial read alouds are for students at all levels as well as the value of picture book read alouds for all ages. What I’ve read is well written and seems like sound judgment with convincing examples and findings. But that doesn’t change the fact that I have a read aloud problem and I need to focus on solving it for the sake of my students. With that in mind, one thing that I’m inspired to really assess for potential change after finishing the first chapter of Learner Centered Innovation is how I can improve read alouds in my library program.
I started to realize I had a read aloud problem after a recent job change that took me from weekly read alouds with perhaps 12-15 classes per week in a K-Gr 5 school, to doing them with 26 classes per week in a K-Gr 2 school of the same size. If you are going to make a read aloud effective, it takes planning. It also takes a lot of energy. To do this 26 times every week seemed to start taking something away from the experience. My read aloud burnout was leading to less effective experiences for the students.
There is so much more my students need to know about and use in the library and so much more I hope that they will see it for. In the last couple of years I’ve shifted away from doing the expected read alouds in every class every week in favor of other information literacy skills. It’s still a core element in my primary grade program for a variety of reasons. It’s not going away entriely and it shouldn’t. But it needs a revamp. I need a revamp. When, I cut back on the book a week plan I inherited, and I felt like things were moving in a better direction but I still don’t think it’s enough.
I’ve been wrestling with my read aloud dilemma for other reasons as well. It seems like a good way to introduce students to the variety in our library but let’s break this down: I have more than 13,000 books in the library and I’m introducing 1 book per class each week. That’s less than 10% of the collection. Sure I change it up between fiction and nonfiction, picture and chapter books, different genres… but I still wonder if perhaps I could do more.
Another line of thinking in my internal debates on this topic popped up when I started fearing that there was a perception that the book of the day was the primary “lesson”. My suspicion began growing after hearing a student told by another staff member present, “No you don’t need to go to the bathroom, You can wait until after the story.” This got me thinking…
What if they really need to go?
Is hearing me read this story really worth sitting there uncomfortable? Or worse?
What message is that statement sending?
There’s no way hearing me read this story could seriously be that important. I mean, if I’m going to ask them to stay riveted to their seats no matter what, this had better be one heck of a read aloud.
The book isn’t the lesson, it’s what we do with it. It’s how our thoughts and actions might be different after experiencing it. And it’s not just about ME reading the story it’s got to be about what THE STUDENTS do after hearing it.
And what if they are doing this just to escape? That’s something I should pay attention to.
And if this part of our class today is seriously that vital, then why should needing to leave the room for a few minutes mean that a student totally misses out on the high point of my lesson?
None of this was making sense to me. My concerns were piling up.
We have this great state picture book award that the kids get to vote in to pick a winner from ten titles selected each year. I work to create unique extension activities for each title but while something may be a huge win in one class, it might fall flat in another. I’m starting to realize it is because those lessons were planned around the book more than the students. I was aiming for engagement but not empowerment. And, being totally honest here, no matter how much you love a book or how many interesting and fun extension activities you coordinate, it’s really challenging to make it exciting and stay focused on one title 26 times. After a while you’re reading the book for maybe the 20th time and you’re actually thinking about something else entirely and then you suddenly realize you got to the end of the book and you can’t remember reading the middle. It’s like a long commute you make every day and your brain goes on “autopilot” until you suddenly look around surprised that you are almost home. I’m being brutally honest here because that’s what the call to action was at the end of our recent #IMMOOC YouTube live event – Do something that makes you uncomfortable. There are few things more uncomfortable than being honest about your mistakes, failures, and uncertainties.
So when #LCInnovation asked me to consider
Why is it critical to spark curiosity and ignite passions in learners?
Because if I’m asking for real learning from students – real honest authentic hard work – I owe them something inspired in return.
Because I know how I tune out when I’m forced into a professional development activity where I have to listen to someone talk about something I don’t feel connected to, I owe it to my students to not continue the pattern just because it’s what we’ve always done.
Because all my students deserve useful, thoughtful experiences if they are going to see the vast potential of the school library and their place in an information society.
So now that I’ve shared the problem, let’s talk solutions.
Great read alouds are not in short supply but, no matter how amazing the story, it’s all in the delivery. If for any reason it’s not getting delivered in a meaningful way, it’s important to recognize that and be comfortable changing up the activity.
When the book is pre-selected as part of a unit, perhaps students – with a little lead time – could suggest or plan the extension activity. This would allow each class to explore the title in their own way.
When the objective is to draw comparisons with a curricular topic from class, instead of reading just one book to everyone perhaps try centers with ebooks, audio books, or other print books and let them choose which to listen to live, or electronically, or read with each other, or alone. Then, when coming together to share the connections they have made they will have so much more to talk about with different groups having unique points of view to contribute.
Make listening to some read alouds a choice instead of a required activity once in a while. If a student is more interested in reading their own book, maybe that is really okay as long as they are engaged with a valuable reading experience.
Using read alouds as a way to advertise special sections of the library moving the location of the read aloud to that section and invite students to listen on an exploration of samples from a topic or author. That way it’s about the library, not about the routine.
Allowing students to take turns selecting a read aloud on a topic in advance. They will have great ideas of how to share their favorite topics with others.
If the class, or a large portion of it, is not in a place where they can really connect to the book at that time recognize and respect that message and move on to something else.
I already periodically present an experience that is more of a collection of book talks – reading a few pages or first chapters of a variety of books in the hopes to “sell” them to students. I would like to challenge myself to say “Today, everyone leaves with something new” and share enough books that every student leaves with something they haven’t tried before.
I’m hoping that by taking this conversation outside of my own head, and drawing in viewpoints from a few others, I will find more suggestions and solutions out there so that when read alouds happen, I can feel confident that my students and I are getting the learning experience we all deserve.
#LCInnovation