Reading Without Walls Challenge, Part 2

We began our Reading Without Walls challenge with a "topic" challenge.  (See my previous post).  This week had us digging in to the "character" and "format" challenges.

We discussed how a character might look different:
  • Hair or eye color
  • Length of hair
  • Skin color
  • Clothing - it could be from a different country or period of time
We discussed how a character might live differently:
  • The story takes place in a different time.
  • The character has a different culture and celebrates different holidays.
  • We don't play the same things.  For example, I am an indoor kid and like to play video games.  I am not like kids that like to run around outside and play.
  • We speak different languages.
  • The character isn't human.
  • The character has an accent.
  • The character lives in the forest.
  • The character is homeless.  I have a house.

1st and 2nd grade students looked for a character challenge book and brought it to the rug.  On the rug students shared their choices and reasoning:

I don't run around in underwear and I don't have super powers.
I have 2 brothers and Greg has 1.
It takes place on an island.  I don't live on an island.
My Nana doesn't live in the city
I draw better than he does
He doesn't like broccoli and I do.

In 3rd-5th grade we also discussed what the format challenge was.  We talked about how we were going to challenge ourselves to read in a format that we don't usually read in.  For example, we talked about how if we typically read nonfiction books, we would try a graphic novel or a fiction book.  We talked about our options - everybody books (picture books), biographies, or even a magazine.

3rd-5th grade students were then directed to locate a character and a format challenge book and decide which one they would take home this week.  They brought these to me and I took their picture with their book of choice.  They told me which kind of challenge book it was.  This served as a great check-in and assessment - did they understand what they were looking for?  For the most part, yes, they did.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Origami in our library

Image
The crafter and engineer in me LOVES origami. That has rubbed off on my students. Students' love of origami grows and evolves in our library Why origami? It is active! Active nonfiction books guide students through DOING something. It has a different feel from most books that share facts.  It supports literacy - both spatial and the traditional literacy. Origami encourages reading through the visual appeal of the pages - no heavy text is required to read to be successful. Captions or short directions do the trick. Short spurts make students feel successful! Leadership! Student leaders will emerge from the group and become "coaches" for the others. It is often the least likely candidate who will lead these groups.   Paper knows no language barriers. Students can sit side by side and fold together despite the fact that they do not speak the same language. Folding is its own language! It is practically FREE! Students can borrow a book and grab a stack of paper to take home a...
Read more

Circulation Policies in our Library

Image
Developing relationships with students and families is my priority. I want them to have what they need from our library, but I also want (and need) them to respect our library and other students and return books so others can borrow them. Lost books are a reality. We lose MANY of them (too many of them) because it isn't something I spend much time or energy dwelling on. My hope is that the "lost" book has found its way into a home and is being loved there. However, this is something that has been increasingly on my mind. This past summer I read Rebeka Barringer's Knowledge Quest article  “How Inclusive and Human-First Circulation Policies & Practices Can Impact a Child’s Relationship with Elementary Library Spaces” (Nov/Dec 2022) and it spoke to me. It made me think about the language used to communicate with families student buy-in (or lack thereof) in the circulation of books I decided on action items for this year to address lost books: Help students underst...
Read more

Rating Rear Ends!

Image
When I found this book, I KNEW it would get students' attention.  Any and all things "gross," "weird" or potentially "inappropriate" scream out READ ME! I took this opportunity to purchase it, read it aloud and create a fun activity that would (hopefully) get students' attention (grades 2-5). I chose four animals to feature. Each animal's "behind" had a moment to shine (or block, stink, paralyze, etc). We read and "ewww-ed." Four rear ends that paralyze, communicate, frighten, and block. Then we rated the rump. The book had a 5 emoji rating system, but I modified it so we could have a "four corner" system. I created signs and put them at the corners of our rug. Emojis used to "rate the rumps" Students walked to the emoji rating that best fit their opinion of this rear. Once we took in how the voting landed, we returned to our reading spots and repeated this process for the next rump. Read, rate, repeat! ...
Read more