I'm excited to share that Whole Novels for the Whole Class made an appearance in a First Person piece in the brand new Chalkbeat NY site, formerly Gotham Schools, called How Sticky Notes Help My Students Read Novels Independently. The piece centers around an excerpt from the book in which my diverse group of students share the varied approaches they take to recording their thinking on sticky notes as they read. I include some reflection on my own struggle to find the right balance between structure and freedom for students during the reading process. I believe the right balance is going to differ depending on the students, and helping students figure out what works for them is something I want to continue to explore. I explain my philosophy and methods for teaching students to use post-it notes in detail in Chapter 3 of Whole Novels for the Whole Class.
Check the article out here.
How do you have students record thoughts as they read? Does it work for all of your students? How do you differentiate?