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Rethinking the Whole Class NovelDonalyn Miller
www.slideshare.net/donalynm
www.bookwhisperer.com
@donalynbooks
What are the benefits of whole
class novels?
What are the drawbacks to
whole class novels?
“…students are not reading more or better as
a result of the whole-class novel. Instead,
students are reading less and are less
motivated, less engaged, and less likely to read
in the future.”
—Douglas Fisher and Gay Ivey, "Farewell to Farewell to Arms: De-
Emphasizing the Whole Class Novel"
Whole Class Novel Benefits
Provides a common text for instructional purposes and reference.
Assures that students read at least a few books.
Exposes students to works with cultural, historical, or literary significance.
Whole Class Novel Concerns
No single text can meet the reading levels or interests of the wide range of readers in a classroom.
Novel units take too long. Students cannot read enough to develop strong literacy skills.
Extensions and fun activities reduce authentic reading, writing, and thinking.
How can we reap the benefits of
teaching a whole class novel,
and minimize the concerns?
If your culture or curriculum
requires reading a whole class
novel…
Shorten the amount of time you
spend reading the book.
Strip units of activities like projects and vocabulary work.
Alternate whole class novel units with independent reading units.
Use read alouds and shared reading, particularly with difficult text.
Provide students time to read in class and receive support from you.
If you are not required to teach
specific books…
Design instruction around genres, themes,
literary elements, or comprehension strategies.
Differentiation (Tomlinson, 2000)
Content
Process
Product
Learning Environment
Allowing students to choose their own texts
fosters engagement and increases reading
motivation and interest.
--Gambrell, Coding, & Palmer (1996); Worthy & McKool (1996);
Guthrie & Wigfield (2000)
Motivation Background Knowledge
Reading Level
Matching Readers to Text
SAMPLE UNITDystopian Science Fiction
Modeling
Teacher identifies characteristics
of dystopian societies, and reads
aloud Suzanne Collins’ The
Hunger Games as a mentor text.
Teacher identifies and reinforces
characteristics when encountered
in the book.
Guided Practice
Through class discussion
and written responses,
students analyze the
dystopian society in The
Hunger Games.
Independent Practice
Students select another
dystopian science fiction
book and apply the same
analysis. Students compare
their own books to The
Hunger Games.
Use common texts like short stories, articles,
and book chapters for modeling and teaching.
SAMPLE UNITSuspense and Foreshadowing
Modeling
Teachers defines suspense and
foreshadowing, and reads
aloud, “The Escape.” Using a
think aloud, teacher identifies
and evaluates moments of
suspense and foreshadowing.
Guided Practice
Students and teacher share
read, “The Monkey’s
Paw.” Students identify,
evaluate and discuss
moments of suspense and
foreshadowing.
Independent Practice
Students read “The
Landlady” and “Grave
Danger.” Students identify
and evaluate moments of
suspense and
foreshadowing.
Independent Practice
Students record and evaluate
moments of foreshadowing
and suspense in several
chapters of their
independent novels.
Create guiding questions or independent
practice that can be used with any book.
27
Dust Bowl Reading Ladder
Reading Ladders
(Lesesne, 2010)
Guiding Questions for
Examining Historical Events
Who are the people in your text?
How did they get involved in ___________?
What were the short term consequences for
them?
What were the long term consequences?
Sample Unit
Nonfiction Text Features
Modeling
Teacher reads aloud Mosquito
Bite. Using a think aloud,
teacher identifies text features
and describes how text
features enhance the book and
increase comprehension.
Guided Practice
Students and teacher share
read several nonfiction
articles. Students preview
the articles, make
predictions, and evaluate
how the text features
enhance comprehension.
Guided Practice
Students preview various
nonfiction trade books,
identifying and evaluating text
features. Students share text
features from their books,
make predictions, and develop
a class chart of text features.
Independent Practice
Students select two
nonfiction trade books to
read. Students preview the
text features, make
predictions, and evaluate
how the text features
increase comprehension.
Ask students
to apply what
they have
learned to
their
independent
books.
Core Idea
Reposition instruction around
independent reading.
Books belong to their readers.
--John Green
