An Immersive, engaging approach to teaching History and Language Arts
Engagement is Key!
Getting students to engage with the curriculum is one of the hardest things about education today. There are so many things that students are more interested in. Lectures don’t hold their attention, videos are usually outdated and worksheets are just seen as busy work. Letting students learn in a truly engaging way is the ultimate goal. Enter… reader’s notebooks.
What are Reader’s notebooks
Each reader’s notebook is based on a children’s novel. The notebook is filled with graphics to color and comprehension questions to answer. Depending on the ability of your students, you may have them just draw a picture to represent their thoughts or they can write short or long responses for each page of the notebook. A reader’s notebook can be used during whole group instruction; in small reading groups or during independent reading time.
Introducing Reader’s notebooks
At the beginning of the year I will choose one novel to read as a whole class. I will purchase one novel per student and I will copy the corresponding reader’s notebook to go with that novel. Each student will get a novel and a reader’s notebook. I will read the novel aloud as the students follow along in their own book using finger tracking. Throughout the reading I will pause occasionally on a word and the students will read the word that I paused on. This helps to keep them engaged and it also models good reading. As we move through the text we will look to our reader’s notebook for the different questions to answer. I will model how they are to be answered. The reading of this novel is highly guided. Every step of the way I model what I do and how I think as I engage with the novel and the reader’s notebook. During this stage everyone is writing the same this in their notebook.
Using Reader’s notebooks throughout the year
After the initial novel is read, I then have students read in small groups using the same process. I assess students reading abilities and then make small groups. I make sure to evenly distribute low and middle readers into groups of 3-4. This is important! I don’t want to put all my low reader’s together, the low reader’s need to have group members that know how to read relatively well. My top 4-5 reader’s I will put in a group together. I like to give these high reader’s a challenge with the book they read in order to help them stretch so I don’t integrate them with the low and middle readers. Make sure your groups are compatible. This is another reason I like to read the first novel together whole group, this gives me time to get to know my students and understand who will work well together. I only change groups once a year! I do this because novels take longer to read and I want to make sure they have plenty of time with the group to complete a novel. If a group completes one book can move onto another book. I will typically give them a break between novels with 1-2 weeks on a computer program to break it up a little.
Day to day students will sit in their small groups. Establish norms of what this looks like before beginning. For example maybe everyone brings a chair and they sit together in a circle; maybe your desks are in small groups and each group sits at a different table; maybe they sit on the floor in a circle. Everyone follows along in their book. Each student reads a paragraph. If there is a lot of dialogue, I have them read a whole page. NOTE: you may need to teach students what a paragraph is and how they know when to start and stop their turn. I usually have them read for 20 minutes and then take 5-10 minutes to look at their notebook and work in that. We do this daily.
What is the teacher doing during this time? A lot of the time I will walk amongst the groups and listen to each group in turn every day. Some days I will spend my entire time with one group. Sometimes I will pull a student aside to help them independently. It honestly depends on how well the groups are working together.
How this engages in history
All the reader’s notebooks are for historical fiction novels. I have found that if students can read about a character in history, they can feel immersed in that story and are highly engaged. Providing a beautiful, flexible resource for them to use while reading the novel takes the pressure off of the student to answer all the questions correctly. Many students connect with art and using a coloring book helps them engage with something they love.
Differentiation with Reader’s notebooks
Differentiation is embedded with reader’s notebooks. There is open space on each page students can choose to draw their answer, answer with one or two words or answer in complete sentences. This does not mean that students should just try and get away with doing the bare minimum. You can approach each group and guide them with how they should respond in the notebook. If one student is not meeting that expectation take them aside and talk with them.
Another way to differentiate is each unit has four books. One that is a lower level, two middle level books and one challenging book. In my first unit on Native Americans, The easiest book and reader's notebook will be Sees Behind Trees. The middle level books and reader's notebooks are Sign of the Beaver and Children of the Longhouse. The most difficult book will be The Birchbark House. The questions in each reader's notebook are designed with the level of that book in mind.
Units
As I create units, they will be added into my shop. I will focus on US history for my first several units and then move to world history. Good luck and Happy Reading!
