Reading to Learn: Nonfiction Book Clubs Within a Content Area



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Guided Reading


While guided reading will not be a primary instructional strategy during this nonfiction book club unit, guided reading may take place within the book club format. In The Art of Teaching Reading, Calkins states, “Certain moments lend themselves to guided-reading groups… If a book club is reading Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet together, we might bring in an article about the author and do a guided-reading session around this article. We sometimes do guided-reading work using short nonfiction texts from the social studies or science curriculum.” (Calkins, 2001) Certainly, in a unit such as this, news of a certain country might come up at any time and seem appropriate for the reading at hand. If such a text presents itself, it is a fantastic way to demonstrate nonfiction reading as real readers do it, and guided reading would be the most appropriate way to present that new text.

Calkins also points out, “Most of us find ways to give extra time to our struggling readers before school, during lunch, or after school. In this work, guided reading is a staple.” (Calkins, 2001) Certainly, we do not abandon the support we provide for our struggling readers through guided reading because we’ve embarked upon a nonfiction book club unit of study. The guided reading that Calkins speaks of is, however done in addition to the unit of study as a support for struggling readers. It could take place during conferences or perhaps at another time altogether. Since support for struggling readers is, out of necessity, designed to meet the needs of individual students, specific plans for it have not been included here.



Assessing Readers throughout the Unit


Assessment will occur throughout this unit. Whether it is during the active engagement aspect of the minilesson during a conference with an individual student or book club, all informal and formal assessments will be used to drive instruction.

Conferring


Conferring with individual students and book clubs will serve as a main form of assessment throughout the unit. In being that this unit’s focus is on non-fiction reading and book clubs, conferring will hold two purposes, one, addressing reading skills and strategies students are using and the second being talk moves students are and are not utilizing. Conferring opens the reader’s world to the teacher and allows the teacher to focus on the skills in which the student(s) need to develop in their reading and talking. It also allows the teacher to highlight the smart work students are doing while they are reading and/or talking within their clubs.

Areas of deficiency: Analyzing conference notes will serve as a jumping off point for further teaching. It will lend itself to effectively planning strategy groups and shared reading instruction.

Areas of strength: From conferring with students/clubs we can tap into the smart work students are doing. The teacher can highlight the strategies students are using and use this work as mentor work for other students in the class.

During conferring, note taking on the teacher’s part is a major component to effective planning and future teaching. A teacher needs to research the reader(s), collect data on the strategies they are using effectively and ineffectively in order to decide what to teach.


Active Engagement


During the minilesson, we have the students briefly try out the strategy that we are teaching them that day. Even though the students are not doing this work in their own books yet, the active engagement part of the minilesson gives the teacher a glimpse into the students’ train of thought and initial use of the strategy. If students seem to be struggling with a strategy during the active engagement, the minilesson can then have two active engagements to give the students another opportunity to have a go at the strategy.

Student and Date

Reading Strategies Used

(Choose one to Compliment)
Areas to develop

(Jot down areas of deficiency)
Teaching and Future Teaching
(Choose one strategy from areas to develop)










T:

F.T.:











T:

F.T.:











T:

F.T.:











T:

F.T.:











T:

F.T.:











T:

F.T.:







Below Standard

Working Towards Standard

Meets Standard

Exceeds Standard

Monitoring for Sense

Talk and/or teacher questioning does not demonstrate an understanding of the topic. Student does not appear to be using text features to read and understand.

Student uses text features for support from page to page, but uses them only in the text in which they appear rather than carrying them from text to text. Talk demonstrates a general understanding of the topic.

Student uses text features to organize his or her thinking about a topic. Talk demonstrates a clear understanding of what is being read.

Student is able to create his or her own text features (headings, captions) in his or her mind when they are not provided in the text itself, and then uses these to organize his or her thinking.

Envisionment

Student is able to create a picture in his or her mind that directly matches a provided illustration/photo. Student does not build upon the picture in their mind as they gather new information.

Student can create a picture in his or her mind using primarily the provided images from a text and converting some written text into pictures. Student does not consistently pull information from a variety of sources.

Student pulls together information across a single text and also between various texts by constructing mental images. Student is able to convert written text into a picture in his or her mind


Student gathers information from all available resources in order to create a cohesive and multifaceted picture in his or her mind. The student creates a synthesized mental image.

Interpretation

Student is able to talk about a picture, but cannot pull out a main idea. Talk is very literal and is not based in prior knowledge.


Student can read a picture and pull out at least 1 main idea that they can support using evidence from the picture (and perhaps prior knowledge).


Student can read a picture and pull out at least 3 main ideas with supporting evidence from the picture (and perhaps prior knowledge).


Student can read a picture and pull out at least 3 main ideas with supporting evidence from the picture, prior knowledge and other texts.


Interpretation

Student does not identify connections between print and images OR recognizes only the most literal connections.

Student connects the print and images on a page but cannot expand upon the connections when asked.

Student is able to connect and talk about information presented in print with information presented through images on the same page.

Student recognizes disconnects between images and text on the same page, and looks for how they might connect.

Synthesis

Student does not recognize the interconnected nature of topical texts. Student does not talk across texts.

Student shares ideas with the book club, but does not support these ideas with textual evidence from multiple sources.

Student shares ideas in topical conversations within book clubs using evidence from the texts to support his or her thinking.


Student shares ideas with textual support and poses questions of his or her peers. Student cross-checks discussions with texts.

Synthesis

Book Club conversations and conferences are focused exclusively on the text at hand, no reference to prior texts or knowledge.

Book Club conversations and conferences tend to be focused on the text at hand, few references to prior texts.

Book Club conversation and conferences will reveal the student making connections between texts.

Book Club conversation and conferences will reveal the student making connections between texts, life experience and prior knowledge.

The above rubric could be reproduced for each student to assist teachers with determining areas of strength and weakness in this unit of study. It also gives some indication of where students might be during this unit, and the direction we want to take them over the course of the unit.

A Plan for other components in your curriculum


This unit of study focuses on non-fiction content area reading across a topic in book clubs. The content area we have focused on is Social Studies, but we have written this unit with other aspects of curriculum in mind. This unit can be used with a variety of topics, not just in Social Studies but in Science as well. The bends in the road are specific to nonfiction reading, not to the content area.

This unit of study lends itself to writing as well. In fourth and fifth grade, students write persuasive essays. In order to support this upper grade work, students in third grade can take the beginning steps during this unit. To support writing throughout the unit, students are compiling post-its and writing about reading entries that can be used to write persuasive letters. These letters can be written to persuade the reader to come and visit their country of study. The students have studied their country in detail and will be expected to use this information in their letter. This letter can be part of a larger project as well. Students can make a brochure providing detailed information and highlighting certain aspects of their country.



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De Lucia/Fay Reading to Learn: Nonfiction Book Clubs Within a Content Area



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