Choosing Books that are Just Right

Hello, fourth graders.

This is such an exciting day because it's our first

lesson in our up the ladder fiction unit, the first

reading workshop unit of the year.

We're going to be focusing on choosing books that are

just right.

When I think of just right, I always think of

Goldilocks and the three there.

So that's why you see that picture right there?

All right.

Before we move on any further with this lesson, I

want to ask you a couple of things to rate.

We're going to use the scale 1 to 10 1

being not at all 10 being Ah, Holton.

Okay, so here the here's the first one I want

you to rate.

How much do you like having a friend?

Press pause, Go to your digital notebook and jack down

your rating on the Post It note that I left

you And then when you're ready, press play.

Okay. The next one is How much do you like

reading again?

Press pause.

Go to your digital notebook and rate reading 1 to

10 and then press play again when you're finished.

So I'm guessing since I can't see what you wrote

at the time that I'm Rick ordering recording this.

But I'm guessing that a lot of you wrote down

10 or near 10 at least for how much you

like having a friend.

But I'm also guessing there might be, Ah, handful of

you who rated reading at ah, or or five or

maybe even a six.

And I want to tell you that you know what

I understand.

I get it.

I can remember when I was in school.

Sometimes my teacher teachers made me read books that I

didn't have any choice about.

I had to read the one that gave me and

I just didn't like them.

I wasn't interested in them.

Or maybe it was too hard.

And you know what?

The other thing I didn't like about was these worksheets.

I have to read a passage or read a book

and then answer a whole bunch of questions about what

I was reading.

And it's sort of just, I don't know, took the

fun out of it all.

So I get it.

If reading wasn't a town of 10 for you, but

I have to tell you that my goal by the

end of the year, the end of the month, even

or this unit is to get you to rate reading

as a 10 out of 10.

I'm gonna move heaven and earth to make that happen

this year.

However, I can't do it alone.

You've got to help me.

And the first way you help me with that is

by choosing books that are just right for you.

So let's dive in and talk about how we go

about doing that.

So what I want to teach you today is probably

nothing that you didn't already know.

I want to tell you that there are some so

so books out there.

But then there are some really great books out there,

too. And if you want to rate reading as a

10 out of 10 you've got to go find those

books that are just perfect for you.

And you go about doing that, um, by thinking about

what types of books you love, what kind of characters

or plots draw you in and make you want to

turn the next page?

And also, you need to make sure that you have

books that are at the right level for you.

Not too hard, not too easy.

So let's talk a little bit more about that when

we're thinking about books that are too hard or too

easy. I am sure that some of you have been

in the same boat that I've been in.

I have read a book before that I thought was

going to be great.

And then I get going in it and some of

the words are just too hard.

And I spent all my time trying to figure out

how to say the words or even figure out what

the words mean, and it really slows me down, and

it makes me feel stuck.

Three other thing that happens to me with that is

that I can't read fluently anymore, and it just doesn't

sound good.

Um, I've also read books, and you probably have two

that are just too easy for me.

And while they might be fun to read because they're,

you know, old favorites of yours and there's nothing wrong

with that, they're not the just right book, either, because

when I fly through them, I they feel sort of

flat to me because I'm not really engaged in them.

I already you know, I don't have to stop and

think about what's happening.

Um, so books that were too hard and books that

are too easy neither one of those types of books

really make me feel like a strong reader.

So I need to find a book that's just at

my my just right level, right in the middle.

That Goldilocks sweet spot.

The other thing that I want to think about is

what interests me.

So if you like sports, you might want to choose

a story about a kid who loves sports.

Um, if you love to be terrified on roller coasters

or scary movies, then you might want to choose a

story that's more like, ah, thriller mystery.

So think about what interests you.

That's a really big part of finding the perfect book

when you're in this search for the just write a

book. So this is what I like to do.

First, I think about what kind of books have I

read in the past?

Um, I'm not really big on silly books.

Um, I prefer books that have really strong characters and

try to do the right thing.

Um, I prefer books.

They're page turners.

I just can't wait to get to the next part.

Love that.

I know this might sound strange, but I love books

that have short chapters.

This way I can read through to the end of

the chapter and have a good stopping point so that

whenever I need to go and do something else, I

don't feel like I've left it in the middle of

something. So I really do love books that have shorter

chapters. Um, let's see what else?

Oh, you know what?

You could also think about things that you don't like.

I really am not that into SciFi or anything like

that. Don't get me wrong.

Once in a while, I try something different.

Um, and I have been surprised, but normally it's not

my thing.

Um, I know that I love historical fiction, so that's

really a go to for me whenever I'm looking for

a new book, and also I listen to what other

people have told me.

I talk about books a lot with my friends and

my family.

We share books, so I really take the recommendations of

people pretty seriously.

And there's all kinds of websites and things like that

that you confined recommendations on to so recommendations from others.

That usually leads me in a good direction as well.

So when we go ahead and try to find books

this year, it might look a little different than what

it's been in years past.

I think, typically a ZX fourth graders.

By now you know that we would probably go to

our classroom library and pull out a bit of books

and sort through it and try to find, you know,

one that interests us.

And, um, you may or may not be able to

do that.

I know those of you who are learning with me

in my class were all at home virtual, so that's

not really a possibility for us.

But there are lots of ways to find books.

If you do have books at home, you certainly can

can do this process with books that you have at

home. Um, we all have access to epic digital books.

We have access to SORA, which is sort of like

a digital online library through links toe learning with our

intermediate library website, and you really can go out and

get ah library card at the Hudson Balls Library or

the Crandall Library.

I'm not sure if you can go into the library

just yet, but I know that you can order books

from them online and then go pick them up curbside.

So there are other options out there for us, even

if we can't go grab a bit of books from

a shelf.

Now, let's see.

Um, if I was to have a been or maybe

be at the library searching on the shelf before a

book, um, I might take a look at the cover.

Now, I know they have that raised Never judge a

book by its cover, But you know what?

It is important.

Um, there's a serious called amulet that I know a

lot of my fourth graders last year were reading, and

that we're into is a graphic novel very into.

And I remember on the first book in this series,

there is, like, this big active, post looking thing on

the cover.

And when I saw when my students reading, I thought,

Oh, that is definitely not a book for me.

That was just no way that that looks a little

creepy to me.

So that's probably one that I would steer away from,

but not only looking at the picture on the cover.

I also look at the back, and I read this

summary that gives me great information in a place to

start. So there's this other series called Diamond Daniel and

on the back I haven't written down here.

There's a little blurb on the back of the book,

and it says that, um, Diamond has a can do

attitude and awesome brainpower.

And so to me, she sounds like a really strong

character and probably one that I would want to learn

more about.

So that would probably be a book that I would

pull off of the shelf or out of the bin

and start reading a few pages in the book.

Um, don't just rely on the summary, get right in

there and read Effort the first few pages of the

book and see what it's like before you decide whether

you think it might be for you or not.

Okay, so zoom in on this because I want you

to get a good look at it, how to find

books that are really just right for you.

You want to make sure that they aren't too hard

or too easy.

You want to make sure they're the kinds of books

that you like.

Ah, the characters and the plot should pull you in

and make you want to turn that page.

And finally others might have recommended them to you.

So your job for the next 10 minutes is, however

you are able to do this, I want you to

go in search off a good book that you're going

to want to sit down and read with.

So use all of those strategies that I just talked

to you about.

Find a book that you think is going to be

just right for you.

Take about 10 minutes.

Set a timer.

Really? Because that's what I would do for you if

I was with you.

Set a timer for about 10 minutes, and then once

you find a book, just sit down, dig in and

start reading, and you should probably read for about 20

minutes or so.

So all in all, it would be about 30 minutes,

10 minutes to find a just right book, and then

a good 20 minutes or maybe more.

If you find one quickly, where you're just sitting down

and reading this book.

If you start a book and you think you maybe

this wasn't a great choice, then go ahead back.

Now is the time.

And try another one that you that you might have

come across when you're finished with that 30 minutes total,

you're going to want to go back to your digital

notebook and find the spot right at the end where

it says share because we are going to be having

shares with each other.

Digital shares were going to be using flip grid.

So you wanna click that link and head over to

flip grid to participate in our share?

All right, everybody enjoy your books and have a great

time reading.

Choosing Books that are Just Right

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