Reading for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Spring, 2011

I use this strategy with a small group of my fluent first graders. I give them two choices of chapter books and a short description of each when we finish a book and it's time to choose a new one. They choose what they would like to read from those two choices and vote on what they'd like to read. They keep reading journals and write down their predictions, questions, connections, and opinions as they read. They bring these each time we meet and use them for the discussion. I read the book along with them and help facilitate the discussion. I try not to lead so that they can ask each other questions and make comments to one another. I started this as my research project last semester and have found it to be successful with my students, not only as a great motivator to read, but also as a way to help them think about their reading on a deeper level.

Research on this strategy has shown gains in reading comprehension and content knowledge, raised levels of engagement and enjoyment during reading, and gives students opportunities to challenge each other's thoughts and opinions. My students love the opportunity to choose what they read and write about it. They also enjoy sharing their thoughts with each other and myself. I too have found that they thought about what they read on a deeper level than simplytelling about the characters, setting, etc.