[MOSAIC] just right books?

[CNJPALMER at aol.com]

I just love all the thoughtful comments on book selection. First of all, I  
agree that in actuality saying a kid has a single reading level is a fiction. 
It  depends on genre, it depends on schema, it depends on text structure, 
figurative  language, the use of flashback...for little kids whether or not there 
are  pictures, whether or not the text is read orally or silently, how long the 
text  is...and on and on and on. When I write an assessment report for an IRI 
I have  done on a particular student, I always list the independent, 
instructional  and frustration levels as ESTIMATED!  Naturally interest and motivation 
 also play a role. 
 
To be a devils advocate though, I think we do have to consider readability  
in a broader sense AND we need to consider what our purpose is for using a  
particular book with our students. I work with a lot of older struggling readers  
whose text books AND often their literature is well beyond their decoding  
abilities.  When they struggle continually, not only can they not  comprehend, 
their lack of fluency means they read more slowly and then read  less. And then 
the Matthew Effect comes in to play...the poor get poorer...they  read less, 
have less practice and then the gap between the strugglers and the  rest of 
the students widens.  Teachers for years at my school put their  entire class in 
the same book, and the strugglers, with only books at their  frustration 
level fell further and further behind. We don't do reader's workshop  so there was 
only SSR time for kids to get choice and not wanting to look  stupid, these 
same kids STILL would pick books well above their level. It was  not good for 
these kids at all.
 
Kids need a high volume of easy reading in order to develop fluency.  
Research (See Dick Allington; What Really Matters for Struggling Readers) When  we 
are helping a child to improve fluency, we absolutely ought to make sure we  
give them books at their independent level.  
 
Ellin argues in To Understand that kids ALSO need to have practice in  
challenging text also. Kids need to experience the thinking...the rigor... and  the 
intellectual struggle. She suggests that there are scaffolds in place...the  
child has listened to the book being read aloud several times, there is a coach 
 there to help the child through...etc.  
 
SO...what do I make of all this? It is, once again, about balance. We need  
to think about the needs of the kids and make sure that the books the kids read 
 will move them forward as a reader. The schools that require kids to stick 
to a  particular level may be helping kids move forward in some aspects of 
their  development...that is assuming that they are looking at multiple  
assessments---including teacher observation and judgment to determine the right  levels 
for kids. But we need to keep thinking big picture. They need both the  
challenge AND the easy reading...at high volumes!
Jennifer
 
 
 
In a message dated 4/23/2008 10:16:18 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
gina_nunley at hotmail.com writes:

With all  the talk about leveled books I am interested in another perspective 
on  matching kids to books.  I use QRI to determine instructional and  
independent levels and use this information with kids for SRI and novel groups  or 
guided reading.  9sixth grade)

I know of experts and colleagues  who believe we have over emphasized the 
need for this and feel that kids can  handle books that may actually be above 
their instructional level when they  are engaged in book groups, and in fact 
benefit from the challenge....and  amaze you with their level of comprehension in 
discussions. 

Then again I remember reading once that you have to be careful because  
frustrational level material can be more than frustrating...it can be  damaging.

Just reopening the subject in my own mind.  








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