Teaching Novels When Kids Don't Read at Home Part 2 [S4 E86]

Listen to the full episode below:

Today is part two of our episodes focused on what to do when our kids don’t read at home. If you missed last week’s episode, you’re going to want to head over to episode 85 and listen to that one first.

Although Amanda likes to joke that she never has this problem, we all know that, in fact, everyone has that problem. We’re going to tell you in this short episode what you can do to change this. 

Last week’s episode was really focused on students that weren’t reading whole-class novels at home for whatever reason. No judgment, by the way! This week’s episode is more focused on when students have choices and are still struggling to read at home. 

These are the kids that you let choose the book on their own and are actually engaged in it and interested, but the kicker is that they’re still not getting the reading done once they leave the classroom.

Giving students choices is the first step to shifting that control to your students to give them a sense of pride and ownership over their reading. That is typically a successful strategy for most students, but the realization is that there will likely be a few students who aren’t following through. 

We’re not going to totally get on our soap boxes, but this is a huge reason we truly believe formative assessments should be focused on building and practicing skills that provide you with the data that you need. With that being said, give the students choices and Sesame Street Quizzes!

Topics Covered:

  • Reasons students may not be reading at home

  • Strategies to shift your mindset and relinquish control 

  • Questions you should be asking your students to help them build their skills

  • How to do close reading when you’re not all reading the same thing

Resources

Related Episodes:

More about Brave New Teaching:

Join hosts Amanda Cardenas (Mud & Ink Teaching) and Marie Morris (The Caffeinated Classroom) in discussions about being brave, trying new things, and all things teaching! As seasoned classroom teachers, Amanda and Marie bring their experience, insight, energy, and oh, so many opinions and ideas... It's time for all teachers to take their classroom and teaching practice into their own hands!

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Amanda Cardenas