The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child Epub Free

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child [Paperback]

Author: Donalyn Miller | Language: English | ISBN: 0470372273 | Format: PDF, EPUB

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Donalyn Miller says she has yet to meet a child she couldn't turn into a reader. No matter how far behind Miller's students might be when they reach her 6th grade classroom, they end up reading an average of 40 to 50 books a year. Miller's unconventional approach dispenses with drills and worksheets that make reading a chore. Instead, she helps students navigate the world of literature and gives them time to read books they pick out themselves. Her love of books and teaching is both infectious and inspiring. The book includes a dynamite list of recommended "kid lit" that helps parents and teachers find the books that students really like to read.

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• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (March 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470372273
• ISBN-13: 978-0470372272
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Foreword, by Jeff Anderson, author and literacy staff developer ix

Introduction 1

CHAPTER 1 There and Back Again 7

CHAPTER 2 Everybody Is a Reader 19

Whisper STUDENT SURVEYS 39

CHAPTER 3 There’s a Time and a Place 47

CHAPTER 4 Reading Freedom 69

Whisper READER’S NOTEBOOKS 99

CHAPTER 5 Walking the Walk 103

CHAPTER 6 Cutting the Teacher Strings 119

Whisper END-OF-YEAR EVALUATIONS 153

CHAPTER 7 Letting Go 159

Afterword, by Ron D. Myers, principal 179

Appendix A: The Care and Feeding of a Classroom Library 183

Appendix B: Ultimate Library List 193

Appendix C: Student Forms 201

References 213

Index 217

Acknowledgments 225

About the Author 228

About the Sponsor 228

How do you awaken the inner reader in someone? You teach them to read for pleasure. It sounds like such a simple concept really. Forcing spinach down a kid's throat doesn't make a kid love spinach any more than forcing boring books down a kid's throat. But serving that spinach in a souffle and giving a kid a book that they enjoy just might work.

The author pulled me in from the beginning by being a reflection of what I'd like to see myself be as a literature teacher. Mainly, she's able to turn non-readers into readers and to turn book loathers into book lovers. Her 6th grade class is challenged to read 40 books each year and most go even beyond that goal. But I work with adult ESL students in an American literature class. Could her methods work for them as well? In one week, I've already noticed an excitement from my book loathers when I announce that it's time for pleasure reading in class. They know that if they don't like something, they're not going to be forced to read it for "pleasure". And that seems to make all the difference to them.

I felt the need to underline passages and write in the margins of this book (a rarity for me) as I read. Miller talks about how important it is that students read to become good readers. This is why she feels so strongly about giving free reading time in class. She also feels that teachers should re-evaluate class activities to determine whether such activities are accomplishing anything or are mere busy work that could be replaced by reading time. She also expresses the importance of reading leading to private dialogue or "whispering" between student and teacher and between student and student. This whispering can be accomplished through letters back and forth between student and teacher and from individual student-teacher conferences.

Donalyn Miller's passion for reading is quite obvious when reading this book. She reminds me of myself: I am an avid reader who carries a book wherever I go just in case I can "steal" a few minutes reading while waiting for an appointment, a traffic jam to unwind, etc.

She also loves being a teacher. She loves her job, respects her students and shares her love for books and reads with her students. She learns her students' personal reading preferences by making them fill out surveys at the start of the school year. Those who don't like to read learn to love to read by the end of the school year.

Her tips make a lot of sense. She suggests the reading teacher do the following: develop a personal library, create reading workshops, initiate book groups, allow students to read books they enjoy and don't demand book reports, have a reading corner with comfortable furniture available, and give the students some empowerment by working with their personal reading interests. If a student can read at least 30 minutes a day then the student is on its way on becoming a book whisperer.

One good tip for teachers: read more children's books and take recommendations from your students on what you should read.

According to Miller, there are three types of readers: the Developing reader, the Dormant (reluctant) reader and the Underground (gifted) reader. All can overcome their hesitance to read if teachers allow them to choose their own books to read. Her class day starts every day with fifteen minutes of "Independent Reading" where students can read whatever they want, a book, a magazine, a picture book, silently. If a book doesn't interest them after a few minutes, they can try another book.

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