This week, I made a decision to apply a strategy that worked effectively several years ago when running secondary school wid reading sessions.
While it is great to see libraries with shelves full of books, some students might find their choices to be overwhelming. This is normal behaviour for humans as sometimes making a choice between many options can be difficult.
Sometimes it needs to be narrowed down, especially if kids are reluctant readers or require direction.
Yesterday, I had a small group of students from a Year 9 English class drop in for a wide reading session. Their teacher indicated that they can only read at a stage 2 level. I am already aware that options are limited for recommending books at that level and currently ordering more items suited to those students.
But I managed to load up a small cubed trolley with a selection of books - many with illustrations, humour or short stories. I even threw in graphic novels.
I placed the books on the table and students were allowed to choose books from the table to read. A few elected to browse the shelves to broaden their choices.
I was impressed with the response to graphic novels with three students (out of nine) electing to give a graphic novel a try. Their teacher was impressed with the choice of manga that requires them to read from back to front.
