Acknowledgments Introduction: "What Book Should I Read Next?" Vignette of a High School Reader CHAPTER ONE Why Are My Students Snapchatting Their Way Through The Odyssey-and What Can I Offer Instead? Why We Have to Minimize the Role of, but Not Abandon, the Classics Why We Need to Incorporate Choice Reading What the Blended Model Offers What's Next: Sparking Joy in Our Classes CHAPTER TWO Getting Ready for the Blended Model How to Set Up Your Classes So Students Really Read Possible Follow-Up Steps CHAPTER THREE Building a Blended Curriculum for Fiction-Based Units Why Start With Fiction? What's Important to Know About This Planning Process Before Diving In? Getting Started How to Make Your Unit Pop and Avoid Potential Pitfalls CHAPTER FOUR Building a Blended Curriculum for Nonfiction-Based Units Why Nonfiction? What's Important to Know About Planning Nonfiction Units Before Diving In What to Do When Your Students Are Choosing to Read Novels and It's Time to Teach Nonfiction How to Plan a Nonfiction Unit Based on Your Class Text How to Make Your Unit Pop and Avoid Potential Pitfalls Why What You Just Planned Is Important CHAPTER FIVE What to Plan for Day to Day Crafting Daily Lesson Plans Breakdown of the Period or Block Ten Minutes of Focused Teacher-Led Instruction Transitioning Into Reading Time What Students Are Doing in Addition to Reading: Writing, Thinking, and Questioning Teach Readers to Demonstrate Their Thinking About Reading: Modeling What to Do With Students' Writing About Reading: Assessment and Differentiation Closing Out the Class Training Ground for Readers CHAPTER SIX Bring Talk Into Your Blended Reading Classroom Why We Need to Teach Our Students Ways to Talk About Books How to Bring in Talk in Meaningful Ways If They're Not All Reading the Same Book, What Are Students Talking About? Time for Shared Texts, Too How Often We Incorporate Talk Into Reading Time Why Talk Boosts Our Teaching CHAPTER SEVEN Assessing Readers: Grading That's Useful and User-Friendly Formative Ongoing Assessments That Won't Make You Hate Your Job Summative Assessments How to Stay Sane When Grading CHAPTER EIGHT Building Teacher-Student Relationships Through the Blended Model Why the Blended Model Opens Up Space for Powerful One-on-One Teaching How to Talk to Students About Their Reading What We Can Expect as a Result of Talking to Students About Reading Final Words We're Ready to Embrace Change Resources Resource 1: Our Book Reviews: Sample Assignment for Sharing Choice Books Resource 2: Technology Integration Ideas to Support Choice Reading Resource 3: My Reading Goals: Student Sample Resource 4: Bookmark Calendar Template Resource 5: Sample Grade 10 Unit Plan: The Scarlet Letter Resource 6: Unit Planning Template Resource 7: Sample Grade 8 Unit Plan: The Outsiders Resource 8: Sample Grade 11 Unit Plan: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Resource 9: Reading Notebook Prompts: Transfer of Skills to Choice Books Resource 10: Examples of Realistic Fiction Book Club Annotations and Analysis Resource 11: Choice Read or Class Novel Check-In: How Do You Know They're Really Reading? Resource 12: Reading Notebook Rubric Sample 1 Resource 13: Reading Notebook Rubric Sample 2 Resource 14: Reading Notebook Rubric Sample 3 Resource 15: Sample Essay Assignment, Outline, and Rubric Using Choice Book Resource 16: Sample Literary Analysis Essay Assignment for Choice Book References Index
With the blended model, teachers lead close examinations of key passages from classic texts, guiding students to an understanding of important reading strategies that they can transfer to their choice books. Teachers gain a platform for demonstrating the critical reading skills students so urgently require, and students thrive on reading what they want to read. In this research-backed book, teachers are also shown the basics of creating a classroom library and how to build a blended curriculum for both fiction and non-fiction units.
Berit Gordon coaches teachers as they nurture lifelong readers and writers. Her path as an educator began in the classroom in the Dominican Republic before teaching in New York City public schools. She also taught at the Teachers College of Columbia University in English Education. She current works as a literacy consultant in grades 3-12 and lives in Maplewood, New Jersey with her husband and three children.