Chapter+7

__**Getting Ready: Finding Reading Mentors and Setting Up Reading Centers **__ We are teaching the children to do things readers do outside of school. We are familiar with literacy centers. Here we read about reading centers. Discuss the difference noted on the comparison chart on page 195 and explain how you might use reading centers in your classroom. If you already have reading centers, tell us how they are set up, how you utilize them.

My reading clubs don't have the focus I should have. The chart on pg. 195 is a focus. Now the partnerships will be based on research. I want to use Science, Social Studies and Math when creating these clubs. During the first month, using the Reader Workshop structure during these core subjects, minilessons will be created to teach the goals of our Clubs. Children will practice skills needed to sustain a productive Club. It was stated that this should follow private reading everyday. As I respond to this thought it became clear to me I can use Clubs everyday. These Clubs will give my children the transfer of strategies used earlier in the day.

Margaret Fox

Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend - Getting Started Developing reading centers begins with combining partnerships to create small groups. Reading Centers usually stem from a common theme, quite often when teaching a nonfiction unit. I have used reading centers in my classroom when working on nonfiction. I organized my nonfiction text into themes and had my students choose from baskets of books based on the same subject in each reading center. They chose two books from the basket and then completed a compare and contrast Venn diagram about the two books. As they worked, they had discussions with the other students in their reading center about the subject and the texts they had chosen. We also used reading centers based on authors. I had books available for groups written by authors such as Patricia Pollaco, Gail Gibbons, and several others. They chose the author based on their interest and then read several books by that author. Then they had discussions about similarities between the texts.
 * Respond Here: **
 * I have not done reading centers. I have only 2 components of the reading workshop which are independent reading or private reading and partner reading. Both components were very open and flexible. This year I am going to model after this book and I would like to try reading centers but again, as I keep saying it is hard for me to implement everything as I have many requirements with our basal reader, tests, and kids getting pulled out for Tier 2 and 3 work throughout the day! **
 * Some of the differences I noticed on pg. 195 were being ability based versus possibly not with reading center partners, daily reading compared to 3-4 times a week, the number of books varied and the discussions varied. I thought there were more similarities than not. S gaunt **

Two of the stand out differences between regular partner reading and partner reading in reading centers is that partners are not necessarily at the same reading level and that the books may not be at each student’s just-right level. It is a challenge to find quality non-fiction texts to support readers in the lowest reading levels, but the text features of a non-fiction text can still support these readers as they gain some new information about their chosen topic.

Last year we used reading centers to expand our knowledge of the solar system since that was our reading month theme and something that holds the interest of most elementary students. Partners selected a planet to study and were given several books and Internet print outs to read. Students wrote 2-3 questions about their planet before beginning and recorded an answer, if one was found, and other things learned on sticky notes as they read with their partner. Each partner also received a book very close to their just-right level to keep in their book box to reading during the independent portion of workshop. Students created books about the learning they discovered while reading their books. Their non-fiction books contained at least three examples of non-fiction text features and were then shared with the kindergarten students in our building. Many students told me it was their favorite reading all year and were asking to do more.

Stephanie Cooper I did not use Reading Center groups explained by Collins but I’m very excited to try this type of group reading. The chart on page 195 explains the difference between Partner Reading and Reading Center-partner reading. In Reading Centers partners focus on books of a common theme of interest. The partners do not have to be at the same reading ability and if it is a nonfiction theme then the books do not have to be at their independent reading level. I like this type of grouping of students because it encourages and fosters natural curiosities. I also like that this type of partner reading because it is the early stages of book clubs and literature circles which most readers will encounter in later grades. Each year during the nonfiction unit I have had students that would gravitate towards each other because they were both interested in a book of a theme. Reading Centers formalizes this natural occurrence and I’m anxious to see how it works. Garth

This was definitely my favorite chapter. I have never used reading center as described in the chapter, and I absolutely fascinated by the concept. I had so many questions as I read, which Collins answered most of them as I read. This is definitely taking reading to the next level and teaching young readers what real readers do. I would love to observe reading centers if anyone is willing?! Fran Olesen

I haven’t tried reading centers but am excited to do so. Like the others, I’ve noticed that the big differences are around partners who may not be at the same reading level as well as books possibly being a range of levels in each basket. I like how Collins flip-flops the reading workshop structure when it’s a reading center cycle (p. 195). She gives her mini-lesson geared toward the reading centers and lets kids go off to work in that partnership first. Then they have independent time. I think this would help kids easily distinguish their regular partnerships from their reading center partner. It would likely breathe new life into partnership work, as well. I like Stephanie’s idea about having kids create a book based on what they learned from reading from the themed baskets. This would be a great tie-in to our non-fiction writing unit. Students could research a topic of interest and then work on their own books during writing workshop. I’m thinking that reading centers could have a similar focus, such as only author baskets one cycle or only characters another time. I’m wondering how to form the partnerships during this time though. Would I open it up so that kids could list a few topics they want to study and then find others who want to join them? Or, do I assign partners and they find a common interest between them? I suppose it will be a bit of both. I could see letting kids explore some books from any bin in our library before setting up the themed baskets. This would give them time to explore and generate possible interests to pursue. I envision conversations springing up amongst the students and that they’d discover a topic and a partner with whom they want to work. Well, this was my thinking and wonderings as I read the beginning of the chapter. I'm thinking I'll be figuring out the answers to many of my questions as I continue to read!

Sara Sabourin

While I have not used reading centers exactly as outlined on page 195, I have had partners read non-fictions books and create classroom reports. The one strength for some of my students was that while they may not have been a great reader; Discovery Channel or the internet gave great information and they were able to share that and add to what we were reading and thus make all partners feel like contributing members of the group. I like grouping different students together by interest, it lets all students shine in an area that they may not always be able to.

Sue Ronning Using the outline on page 195 has given me ideas of changes that will take place in my classroom for Reading Clubs. I have always had partners read non-fiction books and create classroom projects but after reading this section, there are some changes that I will try the next time I do this. It has helped me as a teacher with ideas on mini-lessons for the entire class and some different expectations, skills, and strategies to implement. In making these changes, it will provide the students to be able to really explore their texts and give them more ownership in their projects.J. Baker

**First off, I am so thankful that in Reading for Real, the name of this is changed from reading centers to Reading Clubs. That name reading centers is already utilized in a very heavy way and can make this discussion confusing (at least for me! ) I have not used Reading Clubs yet in past years. I plan to implement at least 3 this school year to begin to put it into practice. I would like to do a nonfiction reading club, a poetry club, and a/ biography reading club. These clubs will really give children a chance to practice some of the skills we have covered in reading workshop with a partner in an even more independent way. They'll have more chances to explore with the books in their club and be able to make some independent decisions on how they will set goals for what they are trying to accomplish. I look forward to implementing this structure in my classroom this year.** **--Kristy Weberg--**

The chart on pg 195 is so helpful in the sense that it is black and white! I did not always ability group by partnership but some of the reading time does feel like it was more like a reading center. The type of text helps me better analysis things. The partner work also lets me mull over what types of groups happened in my room. KDN

#1. "Reading is not just school work but life work." This chapter explores the idea of creating lifelong readers. We hear and use this term often and this chapter raises the question, what is a lifelong reader? Explain in your words what a lifelong reader is and what are the characteristics of a lifelong reader. Life Long readers tak the "ugh" out of reading. Because of my planning, my readers will seek out more printed material that has them seeing the connections of print in many forms. They will be actively involved in expanding their knowledge.
 * __Chapter Seven: Readers Pursue their Interests in Books and Other Texts __**

Margaret Fox

We often use the phrase "I want my children to be Life Long Learners." I have nerver said "Life Long Readers". To better unsder stand our world we need the opportunity to read, savor and converstations to give us knowledge. This is what I do, it's time to get out of my neat world of controlling the learning of my children. Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend #1 – The idea of lifelong readers is very powerful. I believe that a lifelong reader is someone who loves to read. A person who is able to make meaning from print and wants to be engaged in text is a lifelong reader. A person who has a favorite author that they enjoy reading is a lifelong reader. A person who has a favorite genre that they love to read is a lifelong reader. A person who has favorite character types and favorite settings to read about is probably a lifelong reader. A person who has a passion for reading and finds enjoyment in reading is a lifelong reader.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Respond Here: A lifelong reader (in my opinion) is a person who values the power of knowledge. A person who respects reading and where it can take you. A lifelong reader is a person who constantly wants to learn and stay challenged compared to being stagnant. I believe that being a lifelong reader is closly tied into being a lifelong learner. People that are lifelong readers are people who want their brain, thoughts and feelings stimulated! I love it that I have the ability to hopefully extend and offer this to students in my classroom! S. gaunt **

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A life long reader is a person who chooses (despite all the other activities that tempt them) to read daily. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fran Olesen

A lifelong reader has the skills and strategies to decode and make meaning from texts AND is personally motivated to read texts for different purposes. They see the power in the written word. They know that they can read to learn, laugh, cry, wonder, be inspired, and be challenged. They love reading! Like Stephanie, I believe the terms lifelong reader and lifelong learner are closely connected. Most lifelong learners will also be lifelong readers.

Sara Sabourin

**A lifelong reader is someone who reads because they know they have to in order to succeed in any area of life. People who cannot read adequately, or are too lazy to read, or just choose not to read cannot succeed in any of their endeavors, be them big or small. They also cannot really function in mainstream society. I read another book about adults who do not have adequate reading experience and may not read well enough for an adult really operate in an alternate society, missing out on many of the benefits and tools more of us use everyday. I want my students to have access to everything they need to find success in life, therefore I want them to be readers. They may not grow up to love to read the more popular, recent fiction book on Oprah's book club, but I do want them to know what they need to read for their lives, how to get access to the print they need, and then to have the skills to read, understand, and use that print. If this is accomplished, there should be no reservations about reading and because they can do it so well, they may even choose to read Oprah's book, just for fun!** **--Kristy Weberg--** -- <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">#2. Several possible units are explored in this chapter: nonfiction study, author study and character study. Kathy <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">offers suggestions on how to immerse them in the particular books for that unit and also launching the reading <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">centers and cycling them throughout the unit to support them. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">As you read through the nonfiction study, discuss what lessons or ideas jumped out at you. What would be <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">easy? What part might be difficult? Tell us why.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">I will be working on the nonfiction study for this year. This is a weak area on my team. I know I will use my text book but that's my minilesson. In the clubs will be books, right fit, to expand their thiking and conversation of the just right answer. Pg. 207 has bullits that will be used to be accountable for the real reason we read nonfiction. Also the skills and strategies readers need to read well.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Margaret Fox Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend #2 The nonfiction study is a unit that seems very natural and easy for me to teach. When teaching nonfiction, my mini-lessons are focused on the aspects of nonfiction that are different than fiction. One lesson that I teach is about captions and how they are used to give information about the pictures. Another lesson involves headings and sub-headings and how authors use these to divide the important pieces of information in the text. I teach how vocabulary is often highlighted and the definitions are given within the text or along the edge of the text. We look at the text features of table of contents and the glossary as well. When teaching nonfiction, I typically begin with something that the students already have prior knowledge about so that they can refer to what they already know in order to dig deeper into the text. I also teach about organizational strategies such as Venn diagrams and T-charts within the nonfiction unit.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Respond Here: I agree with Bobbi, as I do many nonfiction based lessons and children love reading non-fiction! Most children I have do anyway. I really like the idea of launching as Stephanie said. Usually kids just naturally dive into the nonfiction book baskets with little knowledge on the text features until we do work with them. I still think that it is going to be very difficult for me to fit this all in and I am worries about it, however I can blend this in with the animal research projects that we do in the spring. It makes more sense to launch and talk/teach the text features first. I think that children learn this in second grade ( I know that they do) however, most forget by the time they are back in school and I need to do several lesson on the features as we go along. I like the chart that she makes and I need to do that and keep it up. I really like how she had the kids sort through the topics and then make subtopic books. Usually we have one big basket on animal books and a science basket. It would make it much easier on the kids and myself if we could sort and label them together! All of these ideas I am hoping to implement to a certain degree. S gaunt **

I like the way Kathy Collins immerses her students in nonfiction text and does a week long launching unit before having them select their topic and books. I also concentrated on nonfiction texts during my read alouds when students were preparing to study them on their own, but I like the idea of having the launching as a way for students to be exposed to a wide variety of texts at varying levels as they discover text features and see what topics are available to them. This seems to whet their appetites for nonfiction and give them basic skills so they can jump in after the launching week. I particularly like the way she helps students focus their reading by saying, “Think about what you’re interested in finding out more about.” I, too, had students write questions that were either too easy or too broad to answer. We did talk about how some questions are challenging to answer, but that doesn’t solve the problem of students trying to hone in on only that question. I plan to use her statement this year and look forward to seeing the results I get. I also plan to use her Reading Center Reflection form. It seems like it would be a quick form, but hold students accountable for their work. Stephanie Cooper Nonfiction reading is so important for our young readers and I focused on this type of reading when I covered Kathy Collins’ Unit Seven. I liked her lessons on teaching the nonfiction features that help a reader understand and learn about the topic. These lessons are pretty easy to teach and fun for the students to try and find the different features. The lessons that jumped out at me was the “thinking” lessons. As I conferred during this unit I noticed that students think differently when reading nonfiction stories as opposed to fiction. So, we created a nonfiction chart that listed out “types of thinking” with symbols that are specific for nonfiction reading. The students then recognized their thinking as they read nonfiction books and with sticky notes put down the symbol. We had fun during sharing time explaining the types of nonfiction thinking students were having. Garth

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teaching non-fiction is one of my favorite genres to teach (next to character study) because kids are interested in the world. They have so many wonderings The points Collins made about KWL especially the L part. "I have learned over the years to make sure I say, 'Think about what you're interested in finding out more about,' rather than, 'Think about questions you have about the topic.' When we ask our students to list questions they have about a topic, they often come up with questions that they may never be able to answer." This is so true. I have had numerous times when students came up with questions that were sub par, too vague, or just unanswerable. I plan to try hard to adopt Collins's language throughout the year. I also appreciate the three cycles Collins employs in this unit. Each one builds on the first bringing the work to the next level. I am very excited to use it. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fran Olesen

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Even though I have had a non-fiction reading cycle in my classroom, After reading this chapter it has given me many new ideas and ways of using it in the reading clubs. I am excited to try some of these ideas in my classroom with the children to see the difference in their reading habits in non-fiction. It seems like my non-fiction study always took place towards the end of the school year and even though I always thought I was doing a good job with non-fiction reading I can see now some of the changes that would definately benefit the students. I had always had them in larger groups, and trying it with partner reading, I can see will be so much more beneficial for the readers. I think making some of the changes will enable the children for a more in-depth study with non-fiction. J. Baker

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">#3. We all have a favorite author. We might have several and different ones for different genres. Reading over the <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Authors Study Unit, what ideas would you like to try? <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">What is one of your favorite authors that your class usually has and how do you go about an author study in <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">your classroom? One of my favorite author studies is with Patricia Polacco. My struggling readers are always amazed after we have read a few of her books and we talk about Patricia’s struggles with reading and how she became an author. My favorite comments from this unit are always when my students remark that just because they are having trouble reading, they can still do anything they want to do. Making an author “real” for students makes their books much more interesting. I do a number of author studies throughout the year, my students do well when they understand the pattern of a book and a familiar author gives that feeling of security. Sue Ronning One of my favorite author studies in teaching Kindergarten is Eric Carle. The children love to read his books and we usually do this in the spring when I start with The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The colorful pictures are so inviting for the K students and I love to sit and listen to the children re-read and re-tell the stories over and over again. Eric Carle's books are ones that my children over and over are drawn to in the classroom. After reading this chapter, there are many wonderful ideas that I am excited to try in my classroom when I can with author studies. J. Baker
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Respond Here: We usually study several authors throughout the year. I have separate baskets for each author and kids go to them after I have read several books by a certain author. I tend to focus on using the text as mentor text with our Lucy Calkins units of writing. Most children will lean toward an author after we have done several lessons in our writing with mentors unit . I used to do much more with the author units on a broader basis, now with time constraints and more curricular demands the author studies have gone strictly to writing/craft lessons and of course styles. One of our favorite authors is Patricia Polacco and we study her again as said through the lens of writing craft. There is no magic involved in the way that I go about an author study. We read and discuss several books on that particular author, they are kept on the author shelf and kids read for SSR if they so choose. The real work as I have already said goes into the writing units and using cerain authors as mentors. I think that I will broaden that up as well this year and begin an author study in more general terms as I used to when I taught first grade. S. Gaunt **

**This past year, I would say we did full author studies on Angela Johnson and Gary Paulsen. With the Angela Johnson books, we read one each day for about 7 days. As we went, we started listing out some of the big ideas or themes we noticed in each book. This was really our first author study, so I chose the author and started to model how to pull out some of this thinking. But after the first 2 or 3 books, more and more kids were coming up with the thinking on their own. First, they were noticing similarities and differences about the books, as Kathy notes on page 227. These were a bit easier to pull out. But they we started doing more thinking on why the author includes the ideas she does. Because so many of her books about family relationships (sisters, grandparents, fathers, mothers, etc), kids came to the conclusion that family is very important to this author, and she wants her readers to experience all that she knows and has felt about family. After that it came naturally that kids began making comparisons to their own families. It also made several students ask to do some research on the internet to find out about Angela Johnson's upbringing, where she was raised, and what her family was actually like. This was my first time really doing an in-depth author study and I was happy to see how much thinking it brought out in kids. I can easily implement more of this through read alouds, independent reading, and reading clubs** **--Kristy Weberg--**

An author study is an area that needed work in my room. I would highlight an author especially in writing. I would highlight a basket of books on an author, Crews, Pollaco, Magic Tree House series but I would not give it the depth that it needs. The many connections that students can make to self, txt and world plus the strategies that can unfold. I am rethinking this piece.KDN

While we talk about many authors during the school year, two come to mind that tends to be favorites in my classroom year to year. Tomie dePaolo and Tony Abbott, who writes The Secret of Droon book series. I have book baskets of other authors, but these two are winners in my students' eyes. I can't say that I really have any one way of doing an author study, therefore I was very happy when I read this section of the book. While my students have talked about similarities between books by the same author, that's usually about it. I think I am going to try and find more information about their lives online for the readers to read and place them in the book baskets. I also want to work out a way to have students give author referrals, maybe have a way we can share them in our school library. TGaribay

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">#4. There are other suggested studies you can have in your classroom, such as the character study, poetry unit, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">reading project, etc. Share with us what other studies you have tried in your classroom, if any. Comment on <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">which of these you might want to try.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> **
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Respond Here: I have done a poetry unit and again it is through the Lucy Calkins Units of Writing.We have also worked on specific types of poetry as well as open ended poems as Lucy does. All of our poetry books are kept on one shelf and we usually try to read a poem a day in the morning before SSR time. I have never done any other studies as Kathy does and I have never sorted through my poetry books to put them into subtopics. Again, this is a great idea and something that I will need to add to my list for the fall as I hopefully will be plugging away at sorting books!!! I have much work ahead of me! S. Gaunt <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have used Lucy Calkins's poetry and character study units and was extremely pleased with the process and the results. I am a bit confused about the reading project - is it a unit of study or something the students do during chose time? I couldn't find more than a couple of pages about it in the book. Could anyone sign light on this for me? Is there an actually unit, mini-lessons, process? **
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Fran Olesen ﻿ **

**-Kristy Weberg--** Poetry studies! Hooray! Way before Writer's Workshop, I did poetry units where my special education students would read tons of poetry and write an anthology of poems. When I used Daily Five, I would say 90% of the time, students wanted to read poetry books during their read to someone choice. I wondered for a long time if I should let them do so much poetry, but after observing it closely for a week, there was no question that I would let them continue to read it. Their fluency increased. Their intonation got much stronger. Their love of reading words grew. Their conversations about poetry became much deeper. I happened to find a CD of Shel Silverstein reading some of his own poems. Some of the students were crying they were laughing so hard. I will always be a strong believer in teaching poetry. Just look at the condition of my 20 or so poetry books and tell me if students enjoy it or not. TGaribay
 * As far as doing this in the context of a reading club, I have not yet done any of these studies. Last year we did do an author study as a whole class, and started to touch on a poetry unit during the poetry unit in Writing Workshop. Most of my kids had very little exposure to poetry, so we had do read some before we could begin writing it! But for this coming school year I plan to do both a nonfiction and poetry reading club, probably just after I complete a unit on this in Reading Workshop. I would also like to do a biography unit and reading club, because this is a genre of text I would like my kids to have more exposure to. This would come later in the year and I will have to gauge this on how the other 2 reading clubs went earlier on. **