"The Book Whisperer" Chapter 2

Lots of teaching blogs are participating in "The Book Whisperer" discussions right now.  I'm a little late to the game since my book didn't arrive from Amazon until this weekend.  Since it arrived, however, I've been reading and following along with the discussions on all of the amazing teaching blogs. I must admit, I've read ahead. I L.O.V.E. this book! I can't wait to put all of her words of wisdom to use in the fall!!

Here are my responses to the discussion questions for Chapter 2:

1) Would you start the year off with a book frenzy similar to Miller's or would you adapt it?

Being a first grade teacher, the thought of letting the kids have a free for all with my classroom library on the first day of school is the scariest thing in the world! I like the idea of letting the kids have access to the books right away, but I would have to do it in a more controlled way. Someone else had posted about having baskets of books to rotate around to different groups. I like that idea. In the past, I've passed out a book to each student during the first few days, but I can see that maybe it didn't interest them so of course they wouldn't sit quietly to look at it. If they have a basket to choose from they're more likely to find something of interest.


2) What were your impressions of Miller's more positive descriptions of the three types of readers?

I love her descriptions of the three types of readers.  Way more positive!  It made me think back to my previous students and how maybe I could have responded differently to those kids who she classifies as developing readers. I think the positive labels will make a difference in how I think of those students as readers.


3) 40 books!!! What do you think of that??

That's awesome!  I love Miller's positive attitude about her students reaching the goal.  Students are (almost) always looking to please you and impress you.  I completely agree that goals and expectations must be set high... they will work hard to reach it.  I'm going a little ahead here, but I love what she says on the bottom of page 77, "Failure is not an option, so why talk about it."


I'm about halfway through chapter 4 now and can't wait to pick it up again (once I'm done blog stalking for the morning).  Be sure to check out my previous post with a Student Interest Survey freebie!

--Mrs. Pollard