Personal Reading: How to Match Children to Books

Building strong, independent reading in grades K-6 is one of the best ways to develop lifelong readers, and giving children options for free reading promotes personal ownership over literacy growth. In Personal Reading, Rona Flippo guides you through the process of aligning each student in your classroom with selections that are not only appropriate for them but whose content will excite them into opening new books.

Personal Reading shows you how to meet the motivations of each student, while avoiding pigeonholing children into a predetermined series of texts that may not address their individual interests and needs, nor foster independence. Flippo includes numerous reproducible forms that help teachers inventory children's favorite topics, curiosities, and purposes, as well as ideas for activities that engage learners in their own personal-reading development. With the help of Personal Reading you'll learn key strategies for matching children to books, including:

• assessing children's prior reading knowledge
• gauging students real interests, motivations, and purposes
• differentiating books and instruction to match individual children
• offering children a variety of genres
• providing activities that build personal-reading momentum
• getting parents, families, and communities involved.

The path to a lifetime of reading enjoyment begins in your classroom. Read Personal Reading, use its many "Try It Out" activities and practical forms, checklists, and tools. You'll find the right books for your students and make their first steps into a life of self-sustaining literacy positive ones.