BOOK REVIEW:THE BOOK WHISPERER 

(DONALYN MILLER)

"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him"

Richard Mc Kenna

Every educator should read this book.

The Book Whisperer explains explicitly and clearly as stated on the cover "how to awaken the inner reader in every child."  Donalyn Miller makes the reader reflect on the heart of why we are readers and how to instill the love of reading to everyone in your class.

Miller states in her book that we should be asking ourselves "What is the purpose of reading?" and "What are we trying to promote in our reading program?".  We awaken the inner reader by teaching students to read for pleasure.  

This book put a smile on my face.  Simply put individual choice in what a child reads along with independent reading are two main factors to success.  This makes total sense, after all, as an adult we don't choose to read books that we are not interested in or won't enjoy!  Why would we expect students to read books that they are not interested in?   The classroom library needs to have high-interest books for the students to have choices in selecting books they are interested in reading.

Miller has reached many of the conclusions I have recently.  As a Learning Support Teacher (LaST) I took these principles to develop a volunteer reading program for struggling readers - H.E.A.R.T reading program (Have Every Age Read Together) for older struggling readers.  
You can find this program on Teachers Pay Teachers.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Intervention-training-powerpoint-for-volunteers-2113988

Miller's principles could be used for all students every day all year round to promote lifelong readers. This book will provide teachers with a blueprint for a reading program that will promote a genuine love of reading.

In Miller's classroom students have a 40 book requirement.  She has high expectations and this has had its rewards, however, Miller provides the important ingredients for success TIME, RESOURCES and LEADING BY EXAMPLE.  Miller is an avid reader who demonstrates openly and wholeheartedly the love and passion she has for reading.

I will be writing about other suggestions and tips made in Miller's book in more detail.

My love of quotes will be a Wednesday edition to my blog  called Wednesday's Words of Wisdom. You can also follow my board "Words of Wisdom" on pinterest.

https://www.pinterest.com/magsmg/words-of-wisdom/

Until next time...

 H.E.A.R.T READING PROGRAM

Finally I can write about an intervention program I have been trialling that has been a great success. After reading many books and spending time researching I created a read aloud program catering for the older students at my school who have a low reading esteem and motivation to read.  This is run by volunteers of all ages, hence the name HEART (Have Every Age Read Together) as some of my most valuable volunteers have been not only parents but grandparents, retired teachers or people in the local area wanting to volunteer.

Why the HEART reading program?
It is a research based program.  The main component of the program is the student reading aloud.  As the proverb says "Practice makes perfect".

In learning to read reading practice is a powerful contributor to the development of accurate, fluent, high-comprehension reading. (Allington, 2009)

If the student has poor fluency the tutor will read aloud to the student to model fluency.  HEART establishes that reading is for enjoyment and pleasure.

The success of this program lies in that the students are the centre (HEART) of the program as they select the books they are interested in reading and there are a wide range of reading material available such as magazines, comics and picture books to name a few.   The students are taught how to select the "just right" book using the five finger rule to check if book they select is a good level for them.  Tutors also have a 100 word grid to check if the book is at instructional level.

Students are assessed before commencing the program and reassessed after a ten week period.  The successes are celebrated and students are involved in discussing new goals.  All decisions are made in conduction with the students so that they are totally involved in the program.

HEART fosters fluency by ensuring the readers have books they can read accurately and engage in with enjoyment.  Another important component of the HEART program is the comprehension.

Readers benefit from comprehension strategies as fewer than 10 per cent of struggling readers have decoding problems.  Some struggling readers exhibit weaknesses in understanding what they read.
("What Really Matters for Struggling Readers" Allington, 2012 pg 137)

There is also a sight word component so students learn to read sight words quickly. (or by HEART)

I have developed a powerpoint presentation that can be used for training volunteers or can be used for a parent workshop.  It can be found on TPT.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Intervention-training-powerpoint-for-volunteers-2113988