1. Strengthen and build our fundamental reading skills
2. Learn new information
3. Foster a love for reading
When students go to read, it is important that they consider the purpose for reading in that specific situation. Are they reading to do more research about animal communities during Daily 5, or are they looking for a good bedtime story to read with their older sibling? This distinction can drastically change the type of book that a child should look for in that moment.
In class, the main distinction we make is between good fit books and choice books. When students bookshop in our class library, they choose 4 good fit books and 1 choice book to read for the week. Below you will find a brief explanation of these two types of books. It may be helpful to use this language when your child looks for books to read at home as well.
Good Fit books
What are they?
Here is an anchor chart we made as a class to describe a Good Fit book. The students know their Fountas and Pinnell Reading levels, which is really helpful for finding good fit books. However, sometimes we don't know the letter level, so this 5 finger check is another great strategy students can use to see if a book is a good fit for them.
Why do we read them?
- Strengthen our fundamental reading skills
- Build our reading stamina.
When do we read them?
- Anytime we read independently
- Daily 5 Read to Self Rotation
- Daily 5 Read to Someone
Choice Books
When Do we read them? - With an adult, sibling, or other proficient reader - When we want to further research a topic - When we just want to relax and enjoy some quiet time | What are they? These are books that we really want to read, but are more for interest purposes than to help us build our fundamental reading skills. These books are still so important, because they help achieve purpose #3 for reading in 2nd grade - Foster a love for reading and books! Why do we read them? - High interest level for the topic - Push our comprehension skills and higher order thinking (with support) - Just for fun! |
A Good Fit book can also be a choice book!!
While this is the ideal situation (that every book a child wants to read is a good fit for them), just like I'm sure we have all experienced at some point, life just isn't that perfect!
I've shared with students my experience with reading news articles: I love being up-do-date on what is happening in the world, but I have a really hard understanding what I read in a news article. So, I found a podcast I can listen to that gives me the important information in the news. I can understand it much better when someone is reading it to me, rather than if I was reading it myself. This is similar to how many students may understand a more challenging text if they have the support of an adult or more proficient reader.