Book Floods and Book Deserts

7/5/2019

Chapters 1 & 2
Here are a few prompts to consider for these chapters. Please add any other additional comments, connections, or reactions you have to these chapters too.

Chapter 1: Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp talk about “book floods” and “book deserts.” How do you see the students you work with within this paradigm? How do you think we can shift more classrooms, schools, and communities into book floods?

Chapter 2: Does your school have a school library? How does it contribute to the literacy community in your school?

Happy posting!

6 Comments

Janice Ewing

7/7/2019 08:41:21 am

Hi Fellow Readers,

The metaphors of a "book flood" versus a "book desert" seem to me to provide a good foundation for the book. In my experience as a reading specialist and in working with teachers in a variety of schools as a grad instructor, I feel as though I've seen a very wide range of book availability. The vast majority of teachers that I've worked with go to great lengths to build their classroom libraries, but the starting points are very different. Some are provided with extensive collections, and add on through gifts from parents and at their own pace, to meet students' needs and interests. Others are scrounging around at yard sales, searching for grant opportunities, and/or spending significant amounts of their own money to piece together a classroom library.
Similarly, with school libraries, I've seen wonderful resource centers and met librarians who are at the heart of literacy in their schools, and other schools which have lost all funding for libraries and librarians.
I'm interested in hearing where others see themselves and their schools in this framework.

Meg Norris

7/8/2019 12:20:48 pm

When thinking about "book floods," I imagine a river filled with books that students are eager to read. Yet, I oftentimes wonder how we can bring this vision to fruition. Here are a few things I have considered when getting students more interested in reading after reviewing the first two chapters. First, we need to let students choose books that interest them. When students find books of interest, they are eager to read more and expand their thinking. Secondly, we as teachers need to read a lot of children's literature. The more we know about the books the more apt we are to make recommendations to students based upon their interest. Lastly, we need to advertise books by creating book doors, posting signs about great books to read, etc. The librarian can be a great resource to helping us know the books that students want to read. This is why I believe it is so important to have a school library filled with a plethora of good books that students want to read. By seeing books and how everyone is interested in reading them, students, even reluctant readers, might be more willing to pick up that next great read from the "river" of books.

Rita S

7/13/2019 08:58:28 am

I agree that a "book flood" is an excellent strategy for exposing students to a wide variety of texts. Having easy access to books and time to read can instill the love of reading beginning with our youngest students. However, I also believe that informal book chats can help students develop an interest in certain themes, enjoy sharing their thoughts, and avoid a consumerist attitude toward reading and learning.

Janice Ewing

7/13/2019 10:32:24 am

Rita, I agree about the value of informal book chats. I think it's important for students to have the opportunity to talk reader-to-reader with their classmate and their teacher, and not always feel as though they're being tested or judged. For the same reason, I love to see student book clubs at all levels. As adults, we love to talk about what we're reading, without having the "right answer."

Carol Shiffrin

7/17/2019 12:40:08 pm

One common thread in the comments from you, my colleagues is the importance of readers sharing their thoughts about their favorite books with other readers. One of the things I look forward to when I go to my exercise club is the posted list of books, authors, and those who recommended them. I have often sought out the person who made a recommendation to find out more about the book. I think it would be great for students (and teachers/librarians ) to start that kind of list in their classrooms or libraries and then give the students time to seek out the reader to find out more about the book recommended.

Meg Norris

7/19/2019 03:59:51 pm

Hi Carol,

I agree! The more that we promote great reads through a variety of ways the more students will read.

Thank you for sharing!

Summer BOOK CLUB

Book Floods and Book Deserts

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