People have been asking me for more information about my "Any Novel Novel Study" I created. It's been used extensively in hundreds of classrooms. One of the difficulties that I had was when I gave them all the same exact novel to read all at the exact same time, and to answer the same questions about the same chapters. ..and on and on and on.
I found that some students finished it the first night (and them told the class what happens), while other students couldn't get past the first paragraph. Then I decided to start the year with the same novel. I usually read "Hatchet" (by Gary Paulsen), and then gave the students a set of organizers in order to help support their thinking while I read sections to the class.
Once I showed the students how the grpahic organizers worked, then I set them off to select their own novels according to specific criteria. The students used the organizers and marking guides to assess their own learning, gathered vocab words, raised questions, got into small groups, and went from there.
The booklet could be used with 4 or 5 main novels (i.e., Literature Circles), or to the extreme, each student could be reading a different novel. What I've noticed is that the student's interest is high, they learn to set goals, the engage with the text they've selected, and best of all, it recognizes that learners are different.
Recently, a teacher sent me this email:
"My class and I are really enjoying your "Any Novel Novel Study"! I am actually looking forward to doing report cards next week as my marking book is now set up in a way that makes sense to me and is an easy conversion to our report card writing program!"
A local district recently purchased 1000 copies for many of the teachers within the district! Currently, I'm giving workshops on how to use this resource, as well as highlighting some of my other resources.
Ray
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