ELLEN
BERG
Diary #24
Toward Independent Readers
"They say that breakin' up is hard to do; now I know, I know that it's true."‹The CarpentersThis week I came to the conclusion it is time to—gently—cut my girls loose. I had just presented a stack of five books to Cassie, and she quickly discarded each one. None met her criteria. I returned to my shelves, wondering how I would keep up with book-a-day habit when I could not find a book to interest her out of the 500+ in my room. I think I learned a key strategy when I began offering book recommendations to my students. I have seen my homeroom really begin to grow as readers, reading faster and more intently than they did at the beginning of the year. Their enthusiasm has spilled over to other classrooms as my homeroom shares books they have read, and this advice: "Just ask Mrs. Berg for a book; she'll find you a good one." And let's face it; seeing such a positive response was an ego rush. My students are undergoing a reading renaissance, and I had a hand in that. I liked that my students were coming to me for assistance and actually following my recommendations. I was Queen of the World. Mel Brooks said, "It's good to be the [queen]." Good for me, perhaps, but not so good for my kids.
Ending our co-dependence
As Cassie rejected my book choices, it finally occurred to me that she was far too dependent on me to make her reading choices. If I continued to enable her, neglecting to teach her how to find books on her own, what would happen to her over the summer and next year? Would reading become a positive experience linked only to Mrs. Berg's class, never to be found again?
It was clear to me I had to cut her and the rest of my girls loose after teaching them how to find books on their own. I began to consciously model my own book selection process for them. I take recommendations from people I know, I read the covers, I use online book reviews to make decisions about books I want to read. Next, I started pushing my students to take ownership of their reading choices. When Marcy asked me for another book suggestion, I told her to talk to Kelly since she had some books she'd really liked lately. I also put Cassie and Marni on Amazon.com, directing them to some of the recommendation pages posted by readers who liked many of the books they like. I told them to read the reviews and make a list of the books they are interested in reading. Next year, as I expand this strategy from my homeroom into the whole sixth grade, I am planning on starting a recommendations wall where kids can write a brief review of the books they read on an index card. I would also like my students to give occasional book talks to their peers. I want my students to own the responsibility for reading and finding books they like so they can truly become independent readers and learners. Sometimes it is hard to let go, but let go we must if our students are to mature and grow.
