EDITOR'S PREFACE: Nothing is more central to literacy
instruction than reading books. In long association with the formal act of
reading, though, is the more informal act of browsing for books to read. With
so many books available, browsing is an essential element of the life of an
individual who actively seeks books to read. Oddly, while schools provide a
great deal of instruction in the various aspects of approaching, understanding,
and reflecting on and analyzing books, browsing is rarely taught. If the
field’s goal of inculcating in students the intellectual habits of lifelong
learners (and readers) then this should change.
In the past, the question “where can kids go to browse
books?” would have seriously represented a barrier to their engaging in browsing.
After all, kids really can’t be in class and at the bookstore or public library
at the same time. And requiring them to visit these, assuming they live in an
area and milieu in which it is possible at all, would transform the act of
browsing from the casual, informal, curiosity-driven, authentic experience that
makes it valuable, to a contrived, formal, “special” experience requiring
planning and effort that would spoil it.
In today’s world, though, the impact of the Internet to
connect and make accessible information, makes true browsing possible and easy,
and a highly valuable practice to add to overall body of activities designed to
deepen the reading sophistication of young readers.
The article below is from Dr. Rose Reissman, a long term advocate
of students learning books and expanding the body of approaches by which
teachers can accomplish this… (See her
full bio at the foot of the article).
Rose reports...
I’m
a lifelong print reader, something that predates and goes far beyond my life as
a teacher, I habitually browse books by cover, looking for blurbs and quotes
from other authors who write endorsements, by mentions of book clubs the books
are chosen for, and by awards the books may have won. I value these indicators
of the quality of books I consider and they often serve me well.
I also
check out the author's websites, interviews, and videos. I also look at Twitter
feeds and Instagram posts. I've done this for the last 3 to 4 years as reader,
not as a teacher. And quite understandably, this habit has made its way into my
life as a teacher, too. I check books
and authors I teach now, the same way.
I am proposing to show students how
to "digitally browse" an author or book title through checking out (free
of charge) reviews, endorsements, book trailer s or author appearance videos on
YouTube, as well as free audible excerpts provided by publishers that are
sometimes available.
I think that, not only in these
current, kids at home and taught online times, this is particularly relevant
and valuable. But even before quarantined instruction, the ways books are now promoted
online, we now have available a wonderful, new set of free resources that make:
teaching and inculcating kids in the joys of digital browsing (directed at
knowing and understanding print books). Like window shopping this costs nothing
- we browse to sample and decide what to fully taste and consume - it shapes us
as readers.
………………………………………………………………………
Digital Book Browsing - 21st Century
Habits of Effective, Inspired Readers
By Dr. Rose Reissman
There is a brand new, award winning book that would be
perfect for your class. Unfortunately, you have no budget to purchase copies or
time to teach it. The traditional approach would be to bring the print book in to class, read an excerpt quickly, and in that way you would motivate and
engage students in the narrative of the book.
21st century books can be “digitally” accessed and
browsed by student readers with the support of a simple body of links to online resources that is previously
curated by the teacher (on average, this can be done in roughly 10 minutes) –
The teacher creates a list of those links that are most useful and provides it along with
target questions to focus their thinking.
What sorts of commonly found free resources are these? Good ones to curate include: book trailers, audio
excerpts (from verbal readings of the book), author sites, and videos of author
interviews, and author participation in other online productions to name a few.
But how does this play out with a new book that you, at
least, want your students to browse?
As a sample experience try digital browsing the 2020 Newbery
Award winning New Kid by Jerry Craft (Harper Collins, 2019). This graphic novel
is about a new kid at school; he’s from an urban public school and with
financial aid has the experience of attending a luxury middle school in a well
to neighborhood.
Digital Browsing the book? Here’s how!
- Use the book trailer
- Instead
of leading with the standard book title discussion or cover walk, why not
captivate students by starting with a quick viewing of the book trailer https://youtu.be/BpmqqHl_zOA
. Focus the students’ viewing by
challenging them to come up with the themes and questions raised by the
trailer. Have them debate whether
they would want to go to a beautiful, physically imposing school but be
different from the other students.
Open up the discussion to allow them to talk about whether they
feel their parents want a future for them which they do not personally
want. Give the students the
opportunity to reflect on continuation of the plot or write their
anticipations of it based on this animated trailer. Break the students out in groups and
have each create a chart to predict the plot. Group forecasts can be compared with the
actual Craft plot later on.
2. Use the Author Site
Show the students the nicely designed author site for Jerry
Craft.
Challenge them to examine it for the following focus
questions.
1. Why
did Jerry become an author?
2. What
other authors is Jerry promoting? Why
would he promote other authors?
3. What
other free preview media formats of the book does Craft include on his site
which do not require you to spend any money, to sample the book?
4. What
fun fact did you learn about Craft from using this resource?
3- Use Videos of Interviews and Author Appearances
- Harper Kids Interviews Jerry Craft.
Have the students watch this video and then ask:
1. Many
authors and illustrators who write books that are fiction, really write about
themselves. List all the facts Jerry
uses from his own life in this fiction story.
2. What
challenges did Jerry experience as a black male in his neighborhood of
Washington Heights and then after traveling to Riverdale?
3. What
does Jerry say about his process? In
what ways does he contrast his art process with his narrative text story
telling?
4. Should
readers check out author videos or is that a waste of reader time? Explain your
reaction.
Students can
look up videos or interviews of other contemporary favorite authors and compare
them with this way. Does Craft use this format well to get his purpose across?
What proves that he does it well?
Explain how the tempo of his presentation and his clarity help him,
5. Blindfold
Drawing Challenge
This is a wonderful way for English teachers to get across
procedural narrative structures and to collaborate with art colleagues. Jerry
Craft uses his precise telegenic arts talents.
The students should listen to the calm and measured
procedural steps that Craft uses as he draws his lead character blindfolded.
Students should list them in order.
Students good with a craft should attempt to do so at least
with closed eyes. They can detail their
steps and check the results.
This activity is one which captivates and engages learners
of many types and also accesses some key components of cartooning to readers.
4. Jerry Craft reaction to winning the Newbery
Award 2020
This video is worth watching because before it, students can
be asked:
Are graphic narrative books worthy of winning the equivalent
of an Oscar, Emmy or Grammy in the Young Adult literature world? Are their ideas as important as an all prose
narrative story? Explain your answer.
Once kids discuss their response, have them listen as Craft
shares his joy over his win. He explains, as a graphic novelist, this social
justice and equity theme, and its significance.
As adult readers in the 21st century, we teachers
can inform and enrich our experience checking out authors and their books
online. Why not extend that to modeling this delightful 21st century
act of digital browsing for students, too?
It’s a powerful way to expand the circle of digital and print readers,
one accessible link at a time.
Mark Gura, Co-Chair of the ISTE Literacy Network edits this blog...
