Read-Aloud: The House that Crack Built

I recently spent several class periods with our human growth and development classes. They have been studying the effects of illegal drugs, so I took my picture book, The House That Crack Built in for a read-aloud.

This book is so simple, yet so powerful. Its a very structured tale, modeled after The House that Jack Built. This read-aloud is very appropriate as a kickstart for drug discussions.

After the read-aloud, the students participated in written conversations. These are one of the easiest ways to incorporate writing into the content area curriculum. Once the read-aloud was complete, students were asked to write down whatever their thoughts were on a sheet of paper. I gave questions and prompts to help guide their writing--I prompted them to think about the book, its illustrations, the drugs that they had studied, their personal experiences. After a few minutes of silent venting, the students traded papers with a neighbor. The neighbor read their comments and then responded at the bottom of the paper.

This letter-writing, of sorts, can go on for a few minutes. Students simply respond to each other's thoughts in writing. They enjoy writing letters in class anyway. Why not let them write on a topic that you approve?

Book Talk vs. Book Pass

I have done three days worth of book talks with an English teacher's classes this week. Wow am I tired.

Book talks are an easy way to help students find a book that they are interested in. You simply address the class, talk about books that you like, give them as much information on them as you can, maybe even do a read-aloud from some, and try to hook them onto a book. The trick with book talks is that you have to know what you are talking about. You can't fake enthusiasm for a book and you certainly can't sale something you aren't excited bout yourself. Students know when they are hearing the real deal and when you are just trying to pull one over on them.

With the last group of students, I tried something different. I chose to do a book pass instead of book talks and I even varied the typical book pass method. I sat the student at tables of four with stacks of 7 books on them. Each student had a book pass worksheet (a page that has a column for the title, the author, and any student comments). Instead of passing the books like they do in a typical book pass, it was more of a book grab.

I almost think that this method worked better with the students that I don't know. Since I was working with someone else's class, I lacked some of the validity that I would have with my own classes. The book pass exposed each table to a different set of books. Once we finished, I talked about some of the ones that I felt most passionate about, but it wasn't my show alone. The students were able to have more ownership in choosing their books. I think it went well.