Just Right Books and the CROP-QV

     One of my biggest challenges when I dove into this Reading class was trying to match my high school readers with appropriate text for independent practice. Not one of my nine students are instructional above a third grade level, but I am not about to hand them 1st to 3rd grade texts and expect them not to run from the room in disgust. Fair enough! In my last post I mentioned scouring the public library for over two hours that first night, after they had shared their interests with me, to find a book that would fit each of them. I can honestly say that out of my 9, I was only truly successful in that pairing with four of them. The problem was not in the fact that I had chosen books they hated, it was the fact that they hated reading. Period. I understand the reasons why, but that wasn't helping me choose good books for them to practice with. I also spent countless amounts of time scouring the Internet for non-fiction sites that I could get topics that were age appropriate, engaging, and at an appropriate level. I went in that first day with an article that debated having seat belts on school buses in an effort to introduce Connections. It was awful. The article was awful. The kids hated it. I hated it. The whole period was a hot, struggling failure. I drove home that afternoon in a state of mild depression, but determined to make it better. I realized that I was trying too hard to make my instruction convenient, non-offensive to their age, perfect, and enjoyable for them. I was WAY over-thinking this! Rather than do what I know works, I forgot that they are the same struggling readers I taught in elementary school - just in bigger bodies. These kids are teenagers who hate reading because they can't do it. How in the world did I ever think I was going to teach them to love it with a debate on seat belts?  I came home and headed to the basement to rummage through the 8 large boxes (don't judge me...) of books that I purchased for explicit reading instruction in elementary school. I armed myself with 10 beautifully written texts that I had used to introduce the CROP-QV to my younger students.
     When the students came in, they saw the "picture books" on my desk. I held my breath. And then, the same readers who had just told me on that first day that they had no memory of books as children, remembered. They remembered Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, and some even remembered When the Relatives Came. I was encouraged, but the real test would come when I attempted to read them aloud to teenagers. Long story short - they hung on every word. Seriously. Teenagers sitting stone still listening to every word as I modeled thinking and reading. It was amazing. I had two of them miss the class for Speech, and when they returned they were insistent that I read the book aloud to them that they had missed. Here were two 17 year old boys begging me to read Ten Good Things About Barney!! And I did. Lesson: Just read them good books and they will come. :)

     I decided to use the trusty CROP-QV to introduce some basic strategies to the students so they could have some immediate options to use for support in their reading. Obviously they are all in high school, so it isn't like all of their other classes are waiting patiently for them to become more proficient readers. For those not familiar with the CROP-QV, you can Google it and read more about it than I probably even know. Basically, it teaches six strategies to support comprehension. Connections, Reactions, Opinions, Predictions, Questions, and Visualization. I introduced each one on a different day, modeled the thinking, and then had them practice it on their own with their independent text. I have them record the thinking on a Post It note and we share them at the end. I model deeper thinking and guide them to offer support for their thinking as well. For example, not just "I'm a girl and so is the character", but "I can completely understand why she felt bad when no one asked her to Prom. No one asked me last year and I was a wreck." Here is what it looked like after I had introduced them all:

     This is how I posted their examples on the wall along with definitions of the strategies. I had them add the definitions to their journals. 

     On the left is a picture of one of our first anchor charts. I always take pictures of the charts, print them out, and have them add them to their journals. That way, they don't waste time copying them down but can still have them for support.
     Here are some close ups of the CROP-QV definitions.

     I also did a mini-lesson to show my thinking out loud and how I used each strategy to support my comprehension of the story. This is the one for Connections. (PS: Grandfather is spelled wrong, I know. Ugh... I fixed it after I took the picture.)

     After I had introduced them all, I gave them a CROP-QV to complete. I explained that I understand that they won't use every strategy every time they read, and some strategies won't even appeal or be useful to some of them. I just wanted them to show me that they understood the basic concept of each and how to apply the strategies. Some did a great job and others still had some thin thinking without support. No worries! It is all a work in progress. I assigned a grade to show them how they fared, but I didn't record it. I also put tons of comments. Here are two examples. One isn't bad for a first attempt, but the other is weak. We discussed the results, and they came to the conclusion that it was because one student was engaged in her reading of Stone Fox while the other student was only mildly interested. That's progress!!

     We also discussed that The Hunger Games is well above his independent reading level so it was harder to follow and comprehend. He was relying on having seen the movie. I made a deal with them on that, though. I am not the Book Police. One of my students was told last semester that he couldn't read this series because it was too hard for him. Well, of course it is - but, he heard "You're too stupid to read the book everyone else you know is reading." I know that is what he heard because he told me that. So I told them they could keep one book they chose no matter what the level and one book that I chose or helped them choose. They had to use mine for their independent practice of the mini-lessons, but they could read theirs the last ten minutes of every class. It is nice to watch them read the books I have chosen and leave the harder ones alone in their Book Box, but who's noticing.... :) 

     I leave you with pictures of three of my students engaged in Reading. Arguably my favorite pictures of all. 

     Notice the pencil pouch on her desk in that last picture? I made them each a pouch of supplies with everything they will need in class. It stays in their Book Boxes with their books and journal. It saves a ton of time and didn't cost much. Hello Dollar Store! Their Book Boxes are set up like this: 

     My next post will be on Metacognition. That has been a huge hit. Who knew you had to think and read at the same time... Who. Knew. (PS: Cris Tovani..... seriously, a Reading Goddess.)

     Happy Snow Day #2 to all my Georgia Friends! Hope everyone stays safe and warm. 

Mrs. Beck