Hello Book Whisperer fans, 1. I was not a good reader or a bad reader as a child BUT I did know the people who were better at reading. I hated anything to do with reading out loud or round robin type reading. In fifth grade my teacher assigned a book report on something to do with history. I had never actually read a nonfiction book before and chose Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. This book sticks out in my mind because I finished it! Yes, it was the first long book I had finished. In high school I became hooked on the VC Andrews series of The Flowers in the Attic. Anyone read this book series? Nothing like bizarre brother and sister love while locked in an attic. Hey, it hooked me as a reader.
2. I believe I connect with most students at some level. I tell them I was not the best reader and did not like school. I share my love for reading now and how that journey takes some time since you must find the book that hooks! I promote, model and share my reading life. . . practice what I preach. I am in a bookclub with friends and talk about this with my students (which some call me a nerd but I laugh because of the irony). Heehee 3. I bought The Book Whisperer on a whim last spring (yes I judged the book by the title). I implemented the genre ideas with my 8th grade English class last fall. I had one section of block in English and the rest were strictly writing classes. Anyways, the students were stunned by the requirements of 20 books for the semester (our middle school is set up on block schedule so the class ran 90 minutes for a semester). Needless to say the class read 366 books that semester. It was incredible! Most loved but some did not however they still met the requirements. At the end of the semester 95% of the class responded in the surveys positively that they couldnt believe they met the goal of twenty books and loved the class time to read. Now this fall I will be teaching 7th grade reading. I am excited to implement the genre requirements and independent reading. I am looking forward to this book study to enhance my teaching and learning process here. WELCOME everyone and thanks Laura for hosting! Rhonda PS: I actually was apart of a totally scripted reading program for 3 years. One of my administrators had me removed because the program owner did not think reading teachers were right for their program (thank goodness) Now what does that say about the program? Donalyn is absolutely right when saying most of these programs are in it for the money and I believe they do not like people questioning their process. Do I think that program worked? Hell no! Why cant administrators see it? Who knows?. . . Ok off my soap box.  _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
