Rethinking "Just-Right" Books

Rethinking “Just Right” Books

The title of this blog post is “borrowed’ from an #IRC2015 presentation that I attended by Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris, literacy consultants and authors of the book Reading Wellness: Lessons in Independence and Proficiency where they shared practical, research-based and standards aligned literacy lessons that improves students’ proficiency as readers and writers. A bit of background: this was my fifteenth year attending this annual conference and let me tell you that one of the reasons the Illinois Reading Council has been awarded honors from the International Literacy Association for two years in row is because attendees get to meet and learn from a range of nationally well-known authors and literacy researchers like the founders of Burkins and Yaris-Think Tank of  21^st Century Literacy.  I will be discussing other “take-aways” from the conference in upcoming posts so stay tuned.

Now, I had been following Burkins and Yaris on their blog and twitter for several months and was really excited to finally be able to see them in person, in fact we all want to look into the real faces of our edufriends and teachers because although social media let’s us feel virtually connected to the people we faithfully follow, its not the same thing. After reading their statement of philosophy, Burkins and Yaris caught my genuine interest and attention from the start:

"We believe that effective change happens from the inside out. We know that when teachers understand the foundations of how children learn to read and write, they are better equipped to teach students. Teachers need opportunities to learn new techniques and strategies that inform their instruction. Their learning needs to be extended to their own classrooms, and they need support as they continue to question and try out new innovations. Our staff development is based on the following ideals:
§ All children can be taught to be better readers and writers.
§ Teachers cannot teach reading and writing effectively without knowing their students.
§ Teachers who understand their students’ reading process can more effectively teach them.
§ It is possible to teach instructional standards without sacrificing your inner teacher.
§ Teachers are researchers who use what they know about their students’ knowledge of skills and strategies to plan appropriate instruction.
§ Ongoing support and professional learning encourages reflection.
§ Reflective practitioners recognize both the strengths and weaknesses of their teaching and implement long-term changes that have a positive impact on student learning."                                                                                                                                        -Burkins and Yaris

It’s always a profound moment when you find someone else who shares your belief about teaching and learning. It was a real “light bulb” moment!  And their Friday discussion around “just right” books further emphasized that students’ thrive as readers when they have meaningful encounters with text. Burkins and Yaris went on to demonstrate that in the era of Common Core State Standards, it is important that instruction is built around a framework of four intentions-alignment, balance, sustainability and joy:

• ·      Don’t let the “letter level” (FnP) determine all of a students’ reading diet. Interest and choice plays an authentic part in getting children to love reading. “Our teaching has to marry intention and necessity in order to be aligned with increased academic performance."

• ·       It’s important that teachers take the “posture of growth mindset, student self-agency and hard work”.  Getting students to persevere often has everything to do with mindset (theirs and ours) and we must give them the language and habits of mind that will allow them to persist even when learning becomes difficult. “Agency begins with believing things are changeable.”

• ·      Building reading strength through productive effort was the main focus of the conference session. “Once students understand the types of problems they will encounter as they read as well as the productive effort (solving words, increasing fluency and making meaning) they put forth to solve them, then it improves their ability to face more challenging texts and gives them the opportunity to build stamina.” Burkins and Yaris termed it “ to lift heavier and heavier weights."

• ·      Students and teachers should have a joy of reading.  You won’t read what you are not interested in. “Share your enthusiasm and make it contagious. Readers read all the time.”

  

Burkins and Yaris recognized that the first part of the school year is teaching students to self-select “Just Right” books but they emphasized the new research that building reading stamina is a process of managing students’ independent reading “regime”.  They believe students’ ability to read challenging text is built over time by “lifting heavier and heavier weights” or increasing the level of text complexity students are exposed to and practice reading.  Or as we like to call them at my school, vacation to future books with “just right” in between but with an added layer of complexity that goes beyond the “Goldilocks” method of too easy, too hard, and just right. The lesson they shared with us was from the book Reading Wellness: Lessons in Independence and Proficiency entitled Lifting Weights ( Burkins and Yaris, Stenhouse 2014):

The explanations of the “weight” categories are as follows:

Light Effort:

Best for developing fluency; least beneficial for acquiring vocabulary.

Fastest rate; highest reading volume in a given block of time.

Relaxing; involves the least effort, and all of it is productive.

There are very few things to figure out about the print and/or the meaning, but the reader can handle all of them pretty easily with near perfect form (comprehension).

Medium Effort:

Develops fluency and potentially some vocabulary.

Slower rate, but the reader can still read much in a given block of time.

Mostly relaxing; involves more effort, but still is very productive.

There are some things to figure out about the print and/or meaning, but all of them, with maybe a few exceptions, the reader can still handle while maintaining form.

Big Effort:

Contributes less to fluency development but much more to vocabulary growth.

Slowed rate; reader reads even less in a given block of time.

Involves more focused effort, but it is still very productive.

There are many more things to figure out about the print and about the meaning, but all of them, with maybe a few exceptions, the reader can handle independently without compromising form beyond recovery.

Maximum Effort:

Contributes minimally to fluency, if at all, but can contribute substantially to vocabulary growth.

Slowest rate, as a reader must mostly read slowly and often reread; reader can’t read for very long without fatiguing.

Manageable stress; involves extensive effort, some of which may not be productive.

There are even more things to figure out about the print and about the meaning, many of which are complex, sometimes disrupting form. Some textual challenges are beyond the reach of the reader without the support of other sources of information.

Burkins and Yaris first had the audience look at the type of texts representing each of the different weight categories (magazines, novels, informational text, professional, reference texts). Next, they had us stand up and pretend to lift a series of weights-three, five, eight and ten from the floor and as we did they asked questions such as: how heavy did the weight feel?,  was it difficult to lift from the floor?, was it difficult to do elbow bends?, how was our form?. As you can imagine, it became more and more difficult to reach, lift and bend while keeping our form but as they pointed out-with persistent practice each weight becomes more manageable.

I couldn’t purchase their book at #IRC2015 but I have put in an Amazon order for it. Guess who did the foreword?-Christopher Lehman (another fav)! He says” Reading Wellness is not a book about teaching core standards; it’s about teaching the core of our children-and, in turn the core of ourselves.”

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 Shedding Light:  What resonates with you about this conversation and the authors’ teaching intentions?  How are we building students’ reading “muscle” and fostering productive effort?  What texts might you use to demonstrate with students the different “weights” three, five, eight and ten pounds? How are we nurturing  our students’ love of reading?

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light. ~ Albert Schweitzer