When You Don’t Have to Read a Book Cover to Cover

We read so many books cover to cover, from beginning to end, but sometimes it’s ok not to do that.

Recently, I assigned the book Immigration by Debra J. Housel to my students since we are studying immigration in class.  This is one of the many great non-fiction books found on Big Universe.  I especially like texts written such as this because it really lends itself to jump-reading.

After introducing the book to my class, I had them take a picture and text walk.  In this book there are so many headings, pictures, captions and small bits of information that it took a bit of time during which students were drawn into certain sections.  Once we had performed our pre-reading ritual, I invited the students to choose sections that most interested them and read those pages.  Just like the variety of students I have in my class, there was a variety of topics on which they chose to focus.

Slowly and in a seemingly random way, students created their own path through much of the book.  And that path seemed to make sense to them.  A couple students started at the concluding pages and then went right back to the beginning.  My Chinese student was naturally drawn to the pages on The Asian Experience as were a couple of her close friends.  It was interesting to peek over students’ shoulders and see what information they chose to read.

We talked about what it was like to read parts of a book, not necessarily in order.  Many students liked it.  It gave them some choice and didn’t overwhelm them with too much information.  After some time, I asked students to pair up with another student and share what they read.  Some students found that they had read the same pages and talked about the interesting facts they learned.  Other students found themselves sharing their new knowledge with a friend.

The students then created a t-chart (much like the one Melissa Edwards talks about in Experiences and Connections) with the two headings: “What I learned” and “What I want to read next”.

Unfortunately, we had run out of time in our Computer Clubhouse at school, but the list of what they wanted to read next became their homework.  (There’s nothing like the recommendation from a peer!)

It was fun for the students to flip through the book and discover information that was meaningful to them and I look forward to using this activity with other books on Big Universe that you don’t have to read cover to cover.

~EMP