Durham Public Schools PL

Presenters: Kara Watson | kara_watson@dpsnc.net | Presenter; Rita Rathbone | rita.rathbone@dpsnc.net | Facilitator
Location: Little River Elementary School TBA
Description: THIS SESSION IS FOR EMPLOYEES OF A MONTESSORI SCHOOL OR DISTRICT INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF SUPPORTING THOSE SCHOOLS ONLY Book Chats! is a program created by Lakewood Montessori educators to help students build goal setting skills, establish themselves as regular readers, improve fluency, build vocabulary, strengthen comprehension, have scheduled opportunities to check out books, and learn to talk about literature. “The act of goal setting, therefore, is a practice that educators can use to help fuel students’ learning-to-learn skills, such as a sense of agency, intrinsic motivation, and capacity to manage their own learning.” Student Goal Setting: An Evidence-Based Practice Through our Book Chat plan, we allow students to self-select books. There is abundant research to support this effort. According to a study done by the Institute of Educational Sciences, “student self-selection of reading materials leads to greater pleasure and interest in reading (2017).” This same study shows that this joy and curiosity results in a greater motivation to read. Communities visit the library in school approximately every two weeks. We call this visit Book Chats. Adults meet with individual students to update their digital book tracker, (students have a paper tracker they must bring to every Book Chat. We talk about books they’ve recently completed, remind them of their goal, sometimes do a fluency check, help students find their ‘next book’, and encourage them to persevere with their reading.
Subject Area(s): Arts, Global Languages, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, CTE, ELA
Topic(s): Culturally Responsive Practices, Communication Skills, Reading‚ Writing‚ Thinking‚ Speaking‚ Listening, Student-Centered Learning
Targeted Instructional Grades: 7th Grade, 6th Grade, 8th Grade
Targeted Roles: Coordinators, Directors, Instructional Coaches, Mentors, Assistant Principals, Facilitators, Instructional Assistants, Principals, School Counselors, Specialists, Teachers