9. Bookmarks
I will print up bunches of bookmarks on brightly colored card stock. There will be piles of these by the door to the classroom. On one side, there will be space for the student's name, the chapter of the textbook, and many spaces for the student to write down questions that come-up as they read the chapter. On the reverse side, there will be many spaces for the students to write down important information that they come across in their reading, with spaces for the page numbers where they can find that information again. I will probably have some that have spaces for vocabulary, key terms, main characters, main events, main dates, bold face bullets in the text, etc., if those are more useful for a particular lesson or a particular student.. I will require every student to take one for every reading assignment, even though the students will know that I will never collect them or grade them. I don't want students to feel inhibited or stressed about using this valuable reading and study guide creatively by the anxiety of them being graded. They will also know, however, that even though I won't collect or grade them, if I find that student is not filling them out and I feel that student would benefit from using bookmarks, I will strongly encourage that student to use bookmarks, and will check to see that they are doing it. Periodically, maybe everyday if necessary, I will open-up the classroom discussion for students to call out any questions that they noted on their bookmarks, and resolve those questions right then and there, so that the whole class gets the benefit of the answers. However, every student will know that they can bring their bookmark to me so that we can discuss their questions privately if they are more comfortable with that. I will tell the students to hold onto their book marks and to use them as a study guide or prompt at the end of the unit.
Bookmarks will benefit the struggling readers who have trouble remembering what they read or comprehending what they read. I think that bookmarks will also help my ELL readers. Bookmarks will help all students remember what they read and where to find key information they want to go back over. All students will find them useful as study guides. Bookmarks will also be a good assessment tool both for students and for me, the teacher. They will help me assess whether the student is "getting it", and will help me assess whether I am "teaching it". If the same questions pop-up on a lot of bookmarks, it will cue me to go back over that material and to pay closer attention to what the students missed the first time.
10. Trips to the library
I will make arrangements to take each of my classes to the main branch of the public library before our first big research project. I will have made arrangements in advance with the director of the library, so that the librarians will be prepared to give the students a thorough and complete tour of the library. The tour will be to show the students what materials are available, where the books are, where the periodicals are, where the computers are, where the special collections are, as well as where the bathrooms, water fountains and information desks are located. I will ask the librarians to show the students how to access and use the various materials and tools available in the library, and how to get help when they need it. I will also have prepared my students to bring with them the information they need to get their very own library card, and will make sure that every student has applied for a library card before we leave the library. I will arrange a similar tour of our school library as well. I want all of my students to know where the public library and the school library are, what materials and tools are available to them in the libraries, how to access and use those materials and tools, and how to get help when they need it. I want my students to feel comfortable and confident in their public and school libraries, and to be able to use them to the fullest extent with ease and confidence. I also want my students to know that the library card is one of the most important cards they will ever put in their wallet.
This strategy will benefit every student in the classroom, struggling readers, dependent readers, ELL students and gifted students alike.
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