Notebook Connections: Strategies For The Reader's Notebook (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I picked up this book for two reasons. One: I am doing interactive notebooks with my English 1 Support students and I thought it would give me good ideas. Two: it's about the "reader's notebook," which was something I wasn't familiar with.All in all, I wasn't disappointed with the book. The writers give clear reasons for why they developed certain strategies, how to do it (including a mini-script, in some cases), and goals and procedures. Often, there are student examples, too. I haven't gotten a chance to implement anything in this book - I think it's going to take some planning over the summer to translate them to lesson plans with handouts, useful scaffolding, and a better concept of evaluation - but I look forward to that. Truly a smart book, especially for those teachers who spend more time teaching reading than writing. Like Aimee Buckner, I have often been frustrated with the poor quality of my students' reading response entries. Aimee provides practical solutions for teaching students how to respond and provides rubrics, lesson plan ideas, and reflections to use with students.I do not always agree with her approach, for example, I do not grade students' grammar, spelling, etc. when assessing response entries (perhaps I should). I will need to tweak some of her ideas to make them work with my philosophy about teaching reading, but isn't this what all teachers do? Take someone else's kernel of an idea and make it our own? Thanks, Aimee, for the kernels...
What do You think about Notebook Connections: Strategies For The Reader's Notebook (2009)?
Gotta read some school stuff, too. Hoping to get some great ideas for our new literacy program.
—glenn
A great way to get students reflecting and getting deeper meaning from what they read.
—purplefroggie
This is the kind of teacher I want to be. Fantastic ideas!
—Sarah
