The Book Whisperer
Curtis, Christopher Paul
D
Day My Butt Went Psycho, The (Griffiths)
Developing readers
Doctorow, E. L.
Dormant readers
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson)
E
Elley
Elmore, Richard
Encouragement: celebrating student milestones ; providing for dormant readers; responsiveness to students as; using reader surveys to provide . See also Enthusiasm
End-of-year evaluations
English Journal
Enthusiasm: book commercials and; celebrating student milestones; expressing personal excitement ; found in reader’s notebook
Excerpts
Expectations: carrying books everywhere; expressing for students; raising students’ reading; setting for library visits
F
Failure: celebrating successes rather than ; reader’s ability and
“Farewell to Farewell to Arms “(Fisher and Ivey)
Farmer, Avi and Nancy
Feedback: End-of-Year Reading Evaluation form for; getting students’ ; offering on student’s progress
Finding Nemo
Fisher, Douglas
Florida State University
Forms: Characteristics of Genre; End-of-Year Reading Evaluation; Reading Interest-A-Lyzer
Fountas, Irene
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Konisburg)
Fun folders
Funke, Cornelia
G
Gardner, Kim
Genres: building knowledge of; Characteristics of Genre form; identifying books by; organizing discussions on; student’s notes on ; testing reading as; “Ultimate Library List” by; used in author’s requirements
Goals: announcing for library visit; inspiring more reading; personal choice and meeting learning
Goodreads website
Green, Donna
Griffiths, Andy
Guiding Readers and Writers (Fountas and Pinnell)
Guts (Paulsen)
H
Halsted, J. W.
Harry Potter series
Hatchet (Paulsen)
Heidi (Spyri)
Helprin, Mark
Hiebert. H.
Hjalmarsson, H.
Honest book appraisals
How Angel Patterson Got His Name (Paulsen)
How Reading Changed My Life (Quindlen)
“How to Kindle Reading”
I
“If They Don’t Read Much, How They Ever Gonna Get Good?” (Allington)
In the Middle (Atwell)
Independent reading: after other work completed; carrying books everywhere; during interruptions ; expanding classroom time for ; fitting to curriculum; improving achievement with ; institutional support for; libraries and; making cornerstone of class; measuring with reading logs ; personal responses to Miller’s use of; raising students’ expectations of; replacing warm-up lessons with; scholarly opinions of; starting classes with; students end-of-year response to; using with developing readers
Inkheart (Funke)
Inkspell (Funke)
Inspiring more reading: activities for; students feedback on; teachers’ role in ; ultimate teaching goal
International Reading Association
Interruptions in classroom
Ivey, G.
J
Jackson, Holbrook
Jacobs, B.
Jen Robinson’s Book Page
Jurassic Park (Crichton)
K
Keene, Ellin
Kelley, Susie
Kennedy Krieger Institute
King, Stephen
Konisburg, E. L
Korman, Gordon
Krakauer, Jon
Krashen, Stephen
L
Last Book in the Universe, The (Philbrick)
Lee, Harper
L’Engle, Madeline
Libraries: announcing goals for visit; modeling skills for; organizing classroom books by genre; preparing classroom; scheduling time for . See also Classroom libraries
Lifelong reading: author’s reflections on ; fitting reading into daily life; goal for students; importance of to teacher
Linnakyla
Literacy: achieving with alternatives to whole-class novels; developing lifelong reading skills; differing approaches to; impact of teaching whole-class novels on; parents and; teaching with traditional language skills
Literary awards
Literary classics
Little House in the Big Woods (Wilder)
Lost World, The (Crichton)
Love of reading: exposing student to great literature vs.; informing recommendations; instilling
Lundberg
M
Mann, Horace
Marcello, Peak
Matthew effect, the
Maugham, W. Somerset
Mayflower (Philbrick)
McKenna, Richard
Mercado, Nancy
Miller, Arthur
Miller, Celeste
Miller, Don
Miller, Donalyn: activities inspiring more reading; classroom library of ; connecting with others via books ; experiments in teaching; personal responses to teaching of; reading requirements for students; reflections on lifelong reading; selecting books for classroom libraries ; suggested student forms; teaching practices of
Modeling: inspiring others to read; library skills; reading habits ; sharing responses to reading ; use of reader’s notebook
Morrison, Toni
Mosaic of Thought (Keene and Zimmerman)
Motivation: blog responses on nurturing ; book commercials for; book groups for; celebrating milestones and; expanding in-class reading time and; incentive programs for; practices deadening ; reading as own; reading logs for; realigning teaching practice to; scholarship on creating; students feedback on; traditional book reports and. See also Encouragement
Multiple readings of books
My Life in Dog Years (Paulsen)
Myers, Ron
N
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health
National Reading Panel
No Child Left Behind
O
Oral reading: preparing and practicing; round-robin and popcorn reading ; substitutes for. See also Read-alouds
Outsiders, The (?)
P
Parents. See Adults
Paulsen, Gary
Peer pressure and reading
Pennac.
“Peter Effect, The” (Applegate and Applegate)
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Philbrick, Rodman
Picture day
Pinnell, Gay Su
Podcasts of books
Poetry
Popcorn reading
Power of Reading, The (Krashen)
Publishers Weekly
Q
Quiet time
Quindlen, Anna
R
Rag and Bone Shop, The (Cormier)
Ragtime (Doctorow)
Read-alouds: favorite; introducing; round-robin and popcorn reading ; whole-class novels as
Readers: achievement gap for; dormant ; effect of oral reading on; empowering book choices by ; impact of whole-novel teaching on; increasing reading time for; self-identity of; statistics on adult ; types of; underground ; using surveys to encourage; working with developing
Reader’s notebooks: creating own; keeping ; using information from
Reading: achievement gap in; activities inspiring more; authentic; books multiple times; carrying books everywhere; children’s books ; creating classroom for learning ; demotivation of; during classroom interruptions; fitting independent reading to curriculum; importance of; importance to teacher; incentive programs for ; increasing time for ; inspiring others to read; instilling love of; institutional support for independent ; as its own reward; making classroom place for; opportunities provided wit
h; peer pressure and ; reflect on what you’re; responsively encouraging; Rosenblatt’s transactional theory of; starting classes with; student resistance to new strategies for; teacher’s role in modeling; testing as genre; types of; unusual habits and places for. See also Independent reading; Lifelong reading; Oral reading
Reading Interest-A-Lyzer surveys
Reading plans: making own; reading requirements and
Reading requirements: emphasizing importance of reading with; genres for ; not linking to class failure ; reading plans and. See also Expectations
Reading research: attempts to explain reading problems in; on creating motivation ; scholarly opinions on independent reading
Reading Teacher, The
Reading workshops: book commercials and reviews; building knowledge of genres; getting student feedback on; identifying books in genres; implementing book groups ; key components of; library time; organizing discussions on genres; quiet time during; topics and structure for; transforming classroom into
Real reading;, See also Independent reading
Recommendations: basing on reader’s notebooks; book talks vs. personal ; books and websites for reading ; investigating industry; love of reading informing; making for students; reading children’s books for; taking from students; using reader surveys to provide
Reis, Sally
Reluctant readers
Renzulli, Joseph S.
Response entries in reader’s notebooks
Responsibility: involving students in learning goals; reading as student’s
Rewards: for incentive programs; reading providing own
Rights of the Reader, The (Pennac)
Robinson, Jen
Rosenblatt.
Round-robin reading
S
Samuels. A.
Schmidt, Gary
Scholarship. See Reading research
Scholastic Reading Counts
Scott, J. A.
Self-identity: changing opinions of self; improving readers’; reading identity of teachers; shaping with book choices
Self-reflection activity
Share-reading
Sharing: reading preferences with students ; responses to reading
Shining, The (King)
Short stories
Six Flags Reading Contest
Sixth Grade Nickname Game, The (Korman)
Size of books
Skinner, B. F.
Spoilers
Spyri, Johanna
Stand, The (King)
Standardized testing: independent readers’ performance with; preparing students for; testing reading as genre; using traditional comprehension tests
Stanovich, Keith
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Struggling readers
Student-teacher relationships: building ; as one reader to another; sharing honest reading preferences
Students: assessing achievement of; building knowledge of genres; carrying books everywhere; celebrating their milestones; choosing own books; creating book commercials and reviews; discussing how they choose books; effect of independent reading on; encouraging reading of; end-of-year feedback from; engaging in reading; example of notes on genres ; exposing to great literature vs. love of reading; fitting reading into daily life; hearing teacher’s responses to reading; immersing in books ; improving achievement of ; incentive programs for; influence of teacher’s reading on; initial responses to reading; learning how to teach from; learning how to use texts; leaving book choice to ; making lifelong readers; new reading strategies and; nurturing relationship with ; pairing for oral reading; preparing for standardized testing; raising expectations for reading; reactions to traditional reading practices ; reader’s notebooks of ; reading requirements for ; reading workshops for; resistance to reading in; response to reading logs; responsibility to read; self-identity as readers ; taking recommendations from ; teaching book care; “Ultimate Library List” compiled by
T
Tchudi, S. teachermagazine.org
Teachers: celebrating student milestones; confronting initial responses to reading ; conversations with students for assessment; creating learning conditions; developing lifelong readers; differing approaches to literacy by; encouraging readers ; expressing excitement about library visits; importance of reading to; inspiring reading in others; making own book choices; modeling reading habits; organizing discussions on genres; personal reading improvement plan ; reader’s notebook for; relationships with students ; self-reflection activity for; sharing book responses with students; showing students how to use texts; using end-of-year evaluations; validating student’s reading choices . See also Modeling
“Teaching Children to Read”
Teaching practices: author’s experiments with ; book commercials; book groups; book reports ; book talks; discussing book selection; effectiveness of grammar warm-ups; emphasis on reading as fundamental; end-of-year evaluations; expanding reading in class; framing reading as its own reward; freedom within reading requirements; impact of whole-novel teaching on readers; incentive programs; independent reading within curriculum; limited number of concepts per book; little support for independent reading; personal responses to Miller’s; preparing for standardized testing; reading logs; reading workshops; replacing warm-up lessons with reading; responsively encouraging reading; resulting in demotivation; rethinking whole-class novels; round-robin and popcorn reading; student forms; students’ reactions to traditional; substitutes for oral reading; testing reading as genre ; traditional comprehension tests ; traditional language skill techniques; unexamined wallpaper; whole-class novels. See also Curriculum; Reading requirements; Reading workshops
Teenreads.com
Testing. See Standardized testing
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)
Thomas.
Time: expanding classroom reading ; reporting accuracy of reading logs; required for whole-novel teaching practices; setting aside personal reading
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)
Townsend, Atwood H.
Transactional theory of reading
Trinity Meadows Intermediate School
Tripping Over the Lunch Lady (Mercado)
TumbleTalkingBooks
Twain, Mark
U
“Ultimate Library List”
Underground readers
University of Colorado at Bolder
V
Validating reading choices
Vega, Denise
View from Saturday, The (Konisburg)
W
Washington Post
Weaver.
Websites for reading recommendations
Wednesday Wars, The (Schmidt)
Weinbrenner, Susan
Well-Wished (Billingsley)
What Really Matters for Struggling Readers (Allington)
Whispers sections
Whole-class novels: alternative teaching methods for; impact on literacy ; rethinking approach to
Wilder, Laura Ingalls
Wilkinson.A.G.
Winter’s Tale, A (Helprin)
Wordsworth, William
Wrinkle in Time, A (L’Engle)
Writing
Y
Yellow Brick Roads (Allen)
Z
Zimmerman, Susan
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is hard work, and not only for the writer. My greatest hope is that this book is worthy of those individuals who provided unflagging support to me during the process. We share one vision—our commitment to children and the goal of inspiring and motivating them to read.
First, I must thank my publisher, Jossey-Bass. I accepted their offer to publish this book because their earnest belief in helping teachers and students shone like a beacon from every person I met. Leslie Iura, Paul Foster, Dimi Berkner, and Christie Hakim championed the book from the beginning and gave me a great deal of leeway while writing it. I appreciate their confidence. Discovering Paul’s love for Where the
Red Fern Grows was an added bonus! Thanks also to Julia Parmer, Pamela Berkman, Carolyn Uno, Carrie Wright, and the rest of the editorial and marketing teams who worked in the trenches to bring this book to publication.
The dedicated team at teachermagazine.org gave me my start in 2007 when they hired me to write an “Ask the Mentor” column and later offered me “The Book Whisperer” blog. The seeds for this book were planted at teachermagazine.org. I am grateful to Virginia Edwards, Mary-Ellen Phelps Deily, and Anthony Rebora for their support. I also appreciate the many readers of the blog whose comments make me think and who inspire me with their teaching knowledge and consideration for the students in their classrooms. Thanks also to Jen Robinson, who regularly links to my blog on her own outstanding Web site.
To call Elizabeth Rich an editor misrepresents her contribution. Elizabeth brought me to teachermagazine.org, advocated for my work, and eased my fears about writing this book when she agreed to edit it. Every line has been filtered through her shrewd judgment and instinct for storytelling, and this book is better for it. Never afraid to push me when she thought I could do more, Elizabeth taught me how to be a writer, to look for the turtles, and to see a bigger vision for this book than I first thought possible. Thank you, E, for being not only interested, but interesting. You are more than my editor; you are family.
This book would not have been possible without my principal, Dr. Ron Myers. Ron is the epitome of an instructional leader—dedicated to his own professional growth and that of his staff. He always says, “It is about the kids, not the adults,” and never allows us to lose sight of the reason we are in education—to improve the lives of children. From reading drafts, to opening his home, to writing the afterword, Ron has been a tireless promoter of this book. Ron, even though you are a University of Oklahoma fan and tell corny jokes, I will work for you as long as you will let me.