52 min
#73 - Finishing Strong & A Conversation with Tina Athaide Books Between Podcast
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- Istruzione
Intro
Hello and welcome to Books Between - a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who wants to connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love.
I’m your host, Corrina Allen - 5th grade teacher, a mom of two girls (10 and 12), and muddling through some allergies. So if you are wondering why I sound “off” - we can blame all those plants trying to have babies! A quick reminder before we get started that you can find transcripts and interview outlines of every episode - along with lots of other great middle great content over at MGBookVillage.org.
This is episode #73 and today’s show starts off with a discussion about strong endings to the school year and then I share with you a conversation with Tina Athaide- author of Orange for the Sunsets.
Main Topic - Finishing the Year Strong
Our main topic today is ending the school year with your students with strength and purpose. And wrapping up those final weeks together in a way that allows for both reflection on their reading lives and a way to step forward into a summer that builds on the successes of the previous year.
It’s like the school year is the runway and the summer is the solo flight after take-off! If you haven’t been building those reading habits all year long, then… well that lift off is going to fall flat. But - there are some things that we can do to plan for a strong transition from that supportive classroom reading community to a strong independent reading life. For me, my school year up here in New York doesn’t end for another five weeks but lots of my friends are already wrapping up their school year so I thought it would be a good time to discuss this topic. And whether you are a parent, or a librarian, or a teacher there will be something in today’s show that you will find useful.
First, we’ll talk building in time for reflection and what that can look like. Then, I’ll discuss some ways for students to celebrate and share the reading they’ve enjoyed during the past school year. And finally, I’ll chat about how to usher them into summer with a solid reading plan and hopefully some books in their hands.
Reflection
One of the most effective ways to cap off your school year is with some time for reflection and feedback. And there are a few options for you to consider.
A student survey for YOU to grow as a teacher. So this would involve asking your students questions to help get feedback to help you improve. These questions might be - What was your favorite read aloud this year? What strategies helped you grow the most as a reader? Did you prefer partner reading or book clubs and why? What types of reading responses helped you get the most of your reading? Should we read more nonfiction? What books should we get for our classroom library? Pernille Ripp uses these types of surveys exceptionally well, and I’ll link to her website to get some ideas for you to try and to tweak. It’s also really important that students get the opportunity to write about and discuss their own reading habits and growth - for their own self-reflection. In that case, since the purposes are very different, the questions you ask your students will be different. And if you’ve helped them build that habit of keeping good track of their reading, this will be a thousand times easier. These questions might be along the lines of - How many books did you read this year? How does that compare to last year? Of the books you’ve read, how many were non-fiction? How many were graphic novels? Written by a person of color? Written by a man? Were historical fiction? What was your favorite book you’ve read? How many books did you abandon and why? Those questions that dig a bit deeper are so powerful - especially when given the opportunity to share those thoughts with others. Another way that you can have your students doing some powerful thinking and reflection about the books they are offered is by guiding them through a divers
Intro
Hello and welcome to Books Between - a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who wants to connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love.
I’m your host, Corrina Allen - 5th grade teacher, a mom of two girls (10 and 12), and muddling through some allergies. So if you are wondering why I sound “off” - we can blame all those plants trying to have babies! A quick reminder before we get started that you can find transcripts and interview outlines of every episode - along with lots of other great middle great content over at MGBookVillage.org.
This is episode #73 and today’s show starts off with a discussion about strong endings to the school year and then I share with you a conversation with Tina Athaide- author of Orange for the Sunsets.
Main Topic - Finishing the Year Strong
Our main topic today is ending the school year with your students with strength and purpose. And wrapping up those final weeks together in a way that allows for both reflection on their reading lives and a way to step forward into a summer that builds on the successes of the previous year.
It’s like the school year is the runway and the summer is the solo flight after take-off! If you haven’t been building those reading habits all year long, then… well that lift off is going to fall flat. But - there are some things that we can do to plan for a strong transition from that supportive classroom reading community to a strong independent reading life. For me, my school year up here in New York doesn’t end for another five weeks but lots of my friends are already wrapping up their school year so I thought it would be a good time to discuss this topic. And whether you are a parent, or a librarian, or a teacher there will be something in today’s show that you will find useful.
First, we’ll talk building in time for reflection and what that can look like. Then, I’ll discuss some ways for students to celebrate and share the reading they’ve enjoyed during the past school year. And finally, I’ll chat about how to usher them into summer with a solid reading plan and hopefully some books in their hands.
Reflection
One of the most effective ways to cap off your school year is with some time for reflection and feedback. And there are a few options for you to consider.
A student survey for YOU to grow as a teacher. So this would involve asking your students questions to help get feedback to help you improve. These questions might be - What was your favorite read aloud this year? What strategies helped you grow the most as a reader? Did you prefer partner reading or book clubs and why? What types of reading responses helped you get the most of your reading? Should we read more nonfiction? What books should we get for our classroom library? Pernille Ripp uses these types of surveys exceptionally well, and I’ll link to her website to get some ideas for you to try and to tweak. It’s also really important that students get the opportunity to write about and discuss their own reading habits and growth - for their own self-reflection. In that case, since the purposes are very different, the questions you ask your students will be different. And if you’ve helped them build that habit of keeping good track of their reading, this will be a thousand times easier. These questions might be along the lines of - How many books did you read this year? How does that compare to last year? Of the books you’ve read, how many were non-fiction? How many were graphic novels? Written by a person of color? Written by a man? Were historical fiction? What was your favorite book you’ve read? How many books did you abandon and why? Those questions that dig a bit deeper are so powerful - especially when given the opportunity to share those thoughts with others. Another way that you can have your students doing some powerful thinking and reflection about the books they are offered is by guiding them through a divers
52 min