There are many skills involved in getting all of the goodies out of a good book. My students make great strides every year with their reading strategies. When teaching them how to "un-pack" a non-fiction piece, they have a copy of the piece that they can write on, highlight, and make their own notes. In fact, we teach them how to annotate a text to aid in their comprehension and give them a purpose for reading. This is a luxury they do not have when it comes to the novels we study. I have class sets of each, but since they are to be used again, the students can't write in them.
If I could provide each student with their own copy of the novel, they could annotate their books in the same way that they annotate a non-fiction article. This would be excellent practice not only for the requirements in their 5th grade year but for the remainder of their academic career.
On top of aiding in overall comprehension, this would help them to organize their thoughts when they have to write about their reading. It would help them to more easily identify themes, and notice the frequent use of figurative language.
Currently, students must "stop and jot" their thoughts and reactions to their reading. This leads to loss of focus and hinders comprehension. If they could simply underline a passage, write a little note, or draw a star, they would be less likely to lose focus.
There are so many benefits to students having their own copy of the novels they read. If we could provide that to them, it would be one more step in the right direction toward fostering lifetime readers.
About my class
There are many skills involved in getting all of the goodies out of a good book. My students make great strides every year with their reading strategies. When teaching them how to "un-pack" a non-fiction piece, they have a copy of the piece that they can write on, highlight, and make their own notes. In fact, we teach them how to annotate a text to aid in their comprehension and give them a purpose for reading. This is a luxury they do not have when it comes to the novels we study. I have class sets of each, but since they are to be used again, the students can't write in them.
If I could provide each student with their own copy of the novel, they could annotate their books in the same way that they annotate a non-fiction article. This would be excellent practice not only for the requirements in their 5th grade year but for the remainder of their academic career.
On top of aiding in overall comprehension, this would help them to organize their thoughts when they have to write about their reading. It would help them to more easily identify themes, and notice the frequent use of figurative language.
Currently, students must "stop and jot" their thoughts and reactions to their reading. This leads to loss of focus and hinders comprehension. If they could simply underline a passage, write a little note, or draw a star, they would be less likely to lose focus.
There are so many benefits to students having their own copy of the novels they read. If we could provide that to them, it would be one more step in the right direction toward fostering lifetime readers.
Read more