Miss, can I borrow this book?

Student to class teacher: Miss, can I borrow this book please?

Teacher: No, you can’t – this isn’t at your reading level. Choose something else.

Teacher librarian:

Students should be encouraged to borrow uncontrolled texts from the school library, such as chapter books and informational texts, to look at the pictures or read them with an adult. Limiting a child’s access to rich text because they cannot yet decode them sends the unhelpful message to the student that they are not clever enough for those texts. We need to foster students’ relationships with books, adjusting expectations of how much they decode themselves in accordance with their skills.

Seamer, J. (2022). Reading success in the early primary years: A teacher’s guide to implementing systematic instruction. Taylor & Francis Group.

Choice is powerful, giving students agency to become motivated learners and readers. It is worth reminding teachers and parents of the role choice plays in reading success, in an appropriate format such as a library newsletter, informational email to teachers or in general conversation. To navigate this difficulty, I have created an infants section in the library which includes picture books, readers and early chapter books for K-2 students. Within these collections which are sufficient for nearly all of these students, there is a wide variety to choose from.

Research does support voluntary choice being critical for reading success (Allington & GabrIel (2021a), Lindsay (2010),  Gambrell (2011), Ainley, Heidi & Berndorff (2002)). Choosing the right book generates excitement and motivation to find other similar books, students assume ownership over the books they choose, gain confidence as they become familiar with characters, settings, and author’s style, choose to read at home with parents noticing the change (Lowe, 2016).

References

Ainley, M., Hidi, S., & Berndorff, D. (2002). Interest, learning, and the psychological processes that mediate their relationship. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(3), 545-561.

Allington, R.L., & Gabriel, R. (2012a). Every child, every day. Educational Leadership, 69(6), 10-15.

Gambrell, L. (2011). Seven rules of engagement: What’s most important to know about motivation to read. The Reading Teacher, 65(3), 172-178.

Lindsay, J. (2010). Children’s access to print material and education-related outcomes: Findings from a meta-analytic review. Learning Point Associates.

Lowe, K. (2016). For the love of reading: Supporting struggling readers. Primary English Teaching Association Australia.

Seamer, J. (2022). Reading success in the early primary years: A teacher’s guide to implementing systematic instruction. Taylor & Francis Group.