The Book Basket ~ My Summer Experiment
May 14, 2009 · 21 comments
My book post is a little sparse this week. With several appointments, and some extra outings this weekend we didn’t read aloud as much as I hoped.
I am still reading The Read-Aloud Handbook
by Jim Trelease. If you have not read this book, reserve it at the library today! I am learning so much. After reading much of the book last week I had an idea for a summer experiment. I have a boy who just turned seven. We have worked on reading skills and phonics for about a year and a half and he is still struggling. We are not doing anything intensive, but we work on reading skills every day.
One idea Trelease emphasizes in his book is that kids can learn to read by being read to. Since I have a struggling reader, this gave me an idea. Over the next few weeks I plan on video taping my son while he is working through his reading lessons, in order to get a baseline. Don’t worry he loves being on video so this will not bother him. He will also complete a short reading assessment. Then on June 5th all the curriculum will be shelved and for the entire summer I plan on reading to him at least 30 minutes a day. He will also have 15-30 minutes of sustained silent reading, although he can read for longer if interested.
At the end of the summer I will repeat the assessments and have him read the same passages that were videoed to see if he makes any progress. Since we are taking a summer break anyway I figure this experiment cannot fail, and if nothing else we will read some great books this summer!
Okay, enough of my rambling and on to the books:
Red Red Red
by Valeri Gorbachev Cute story about a turtle who is in a hurry to see something “red, red, red.” The whole town ends up following him and ends up viewing a beautiful sunset.
The Trouble with Cauliflower
by Jane Sutton This story is about a Koala who thinks he cannot eat cauliflower because it brings him bad luck. I was unsure about this book at first because of the whole luck thing. But the point of the story is that his bird friend doesn’t believe in luck so she tricks him in order to change his mind. In the end Koala learns that cauliflower does not cause bad luck. If you don’t want the whole good luck/ bad luck thing introduced to your kids skip the book.
How Many Stars in the Sky?
by Lenny Hort The illustrations in this book are beautiful. It is a story of a boy who cannot sleep so he decides to count the stars in the sky. His father cannot sleep either and they end up driving to find the best place to count the stars. I enjoyed this book and the kids did too.
If Jesus Came to My House 
by Joan Thomas This book was really sweet. It is the story of a boy who imagines that Jesus comes to his house, and Jesus is in the form of a small child. The boy talks about all the things he would like to do with Jesus. Towards the end he realizes that Jesus cannot come to his house in the form of a child, but there is a way to have Jesus live through his actions towards his friends.
Sophie’s Masterpiece
by Eileen Spinelli This is the story of a spider who weaves magnificent webs. She struggles to find a place in the house where she will be accepted and not shooed away. A cute story with a bittersweet ending. (think Charlotte’s Web)
That Special Little Baby
by Jane Peddicord This book is a rhyming story that talks about what babies do as they get bigger and bigger. A cute book, especially if you have a new baby in the house.
If you have not entered my giveaway for a Kid’s Love Travel book head over to this post and leave a comment. This is a great book series and is perfect for homeschoolers, day trips, stay-cations, and vacations. Whatever your plans are this summer you will love having a Kids Love Travel book in your book basket.
Finally a question, do you use bookmarks or do you fold down the corners to mark your place? I am a corner folder… except with library books.
Now it is time to link up your book basket post. Please link to the actual post and not your blog homepage so people can easily find your post. Then visit the other participants and see what they are reading!
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad you found Jim Trelease! I heard him speak once, years ago, and he is fantastic. I read aloud to my (older!) kids to start every school day. We have enjoyed many, many wonderful books together.
Trelease’s book makes a great baby shower gift, too!
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I was so sure that I had Jim Trealease’s book but I can’t seem to find it now! I will definitely have to look harder for it.
I am a bookmarker. However, I use the word bookmark very liberally – I don’t usually use “real” bookmarks, I use whatever piece of paper happens to be nearby at the time
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Just discovered your site, and LOVE it! I’m signed up for e-mail updates and am favoriting you!!! I haven’t actually read any of the books you mentioned, but I’ll be looking for all of them during one of our Summer library visits. Thanks for the recommendations.
Good luck with your Summer activity plans. I think that sounds like a really great idea. I bet you’ll see a vast improvement when comparied the before and after videos.
Oh,to answer your question, I am a bookmarker and so is my 5 year old. I detest dogearring. (Sorry! LOL) If I don’t have a proper bookmark on hand I’ll use a scrap piece of paper or anything flat just so I don’t have to damage the book’s pages.
RebekahC
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Forgot to mention, that I’m going to look for that book by Trelease too. My 5 year old is a really strong reader, reading at approx a 3rd grade level. However, I still have a 3 year old at home who isn’t quite to the point my 5 year old was at this same age when it comes to reading. I’d love to work with her more, and maybe this book will give me some ideas.
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I fold corners. Obviously not library books but my own definitely fold corners. Sometimes that causes problems as the books I have read several times wind up with very worn corners.
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I love book recommendations! Thanks for sharing yours. I think I’m a bit hormonal this a.m. When I read the review for “Red Red Red”…”The whole town…end up seeing a beautiful sunset.” That made me cry. HELP!
I too will definately look the Trelease book up. That sounds great!
Continue to love your blog!
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I am a bookmarker. I used to a be more of a corner folder, but then I noticed my girls watching me and, since they were too young at the time to really grasp which books were library books and which were our own, I went to bookmarks. Now it’s great as they always seem to be making bookmarks as a project and love giving them to me. : )
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I’m an oddball when it comes to books. I don’t fold down corners OR bookmark. I just remember where I am. LOL
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I’ll have to check out the Red Red Red book, sounds like a fun story!
As for how I tend to bookmark… I can never decide! I tend to fold down corners with the books I own, I try to use a bookmark or remember where I am for library books. My bookmarks aren’t always real bookmarks though. There’s been times that a kleenex finds a new job before it’s true purpose or maybe even a coupon gets enlisted for the job.
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I, too, had a 7 year old that struggled to read. It had me questioning my knowledge that reading is developmental with most children being ready between 7 and 8 years old. I was concerned that perhaps I had made a mistake by steadfastly refusing to go the flash card and study route with her – even though I had read a ton of research and had two degrees in education. I was about to give up and drag out the phonics workbooks when she just took off. By the time she was 8, she was reading on a fourth grade level. Literally all we had done with her was read aloud to her and talk about the letter/sound relationships when she brought it up. I’ll bet your 7 year old is reading like a pro by the end of summer. By the way, I’ve had The Read Aloud Handbook since I was a first year education major … too many years to mention!
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oh forgot to add, i do both including to personal books and library books.if i have a bokmark,ill use that if not im lazy and ill fold down the corner
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Dog-eared corner-folder all the way!
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I am a bookmarker with any ol’ piece of paper my husband is a dog-earing, corner folder even on library books yikes! I watch him do it and every so often I have to ask him why he doesnt just use a bookmark he says he always done it so it is a habit.
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Sounds like a great experiment! This is how my boys are learning to read. Just doing it. My 6.5yo decided he wanted to read “The Tale of Desperaux,” which was WAY beyond his reading level. But that’s what he wanted.
So, we started reading it together, one paragraph at a time. He needs a lot of help, but in just TWO PAGES — over the span of a week or two, his reading has improved significantly!! All that exposure to bigger words has built up his phonics skills and given him great confidence. It’s not the only thing we’re reading, so I can see how much better he’s getting at the easy stuff.
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Loved your experiment… I wish him much success!!! I had asked for your Read Aloud Handbook for Mother’s Day and my husband (who is an elementary school principal), found it irresistable and read it on several occasions before placing it in my gift bag. He couldn’t wait until I opened it to read it some more and has now decided to give away several copies to staff members at the end of the school year!! (Again… you are blessing way more people than you realize… and are enriching their lives!!) My heart went out to your 7 yr. old son b/c I also have a 7 yr. old son who is a VERY RELUCTANT reader with some special needs and we have been doing reading instruction and phonics for a year and a half and it is just SOOO hard for him!! It breaks my heart that he “hates reading” and getting him to practice SO that he gets better is frustrating!! (So I have a vested interest in the outcome of your experiment… hee hee!!) Best of Luck!
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By the way… book suggestion… have you guys ever read “Chicks and Salsa” ?? It’s a family favorite over here… OLE!!!
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I love your summer experiment idea. I was wondering about the summer lag with reading too. My son just hit his grade level for reading and I don’t want him to fall behind in his reading over the summer. We devour books in our house but he rather us read out loud than try and read on his own. We are having a mini book club in the neighborhood. There are enough kids that I thought we could try it (we have about 8 at the rising 2nd grader level).
So I am picking out a few books they can be read aloud or read alone chapter books. Every two weeks in the early evening we are going to try and get the kids together to talk about the book. Highlight things like describe characters in the book. What happened in the last chapter? What did the chapter title mean? What do you think will happen next? My hope is that they kids read with their families but also talk about the books together. Sort of give them something more. Also let them guide some of the discussion. I set up a blog for the parents too so if they want to participate but will be gone for the summer months or just miss a bit they can still see and read what we did. The kids could even post questions they want to bring up. I am not sure how it will turn out but so far we have quite a few parents interested. Also the younger siblings will get time at the book club too… we will start the time out with a read aloud picture book and get the little ones involved before they can run and play. At least that is my intent. I love your ideas too. We will be following along to see how it turns out.
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I just started Phonics Pathways with my 5 yr old daughter. Thank you so much for posting your homeschool curriculum. It has been very helpful for a first time homeschooler! I also appreciate that your son does things in his own time. My son didn’t walk until he was 20 months old, and he will be 2 July 3, but still doesn’t talk. I’m pretty sure he’ll be a “late-ish” reader too
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Jim Trelease is one of my heroes. As a children’s librarian (& nanny & preschool teacher before that, I know the power of reading aloud. If you ever have the chance to attend a workshop, Jim is a great presenter.
I have to say, though, my heart gave a little lurch when I read that you fold corners–until I got to the part where you leave the library books alone.
We librarians are a little finicky about that. I had a customer once check out a three hundred page cookbook and she took the whole thing a step further. Every recipe that she liked, she folded the page in half. She liked almost every other recipe!!!
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Thanks for suggesting The Read-Aloud Handbook. I borrowed it from the library and I love it! I have only read a few chapters so far and it’s great. I was already reading aloud to my kids on a daily basis and this book reassures that we are doing the right things. I plan on buying my own copy now to use as a reference both at home and in the classroom when I go back to work. Thanks for the post, and your great blog. I get so much from your website!
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Toni,
How did your summer experiment go with your son? You never did report back on that…or did I miss it somewhere? It sounds interesting
Warmly,
Elizabeth
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