Catherine Paul: Can somebody read that learning target for me?

Student: I can participate fully and mindfully in my book club discussion.

Dr. Pamela Cantor: When teachers enable choice, they’re setting in motion a child’s ability to direct interest towards something that matters to them. If we can capitalize on the interests that a child has, what we’ve done is taken some of the difficulty out of learning it.

Student: In my book, I Am Malala, their city that they like live in is in war.

Dr. Pamela Cantor: We want students to push their developmental range. We don’t want them to shut down and be discouraged, but at the same time we want to push them to the greatest level of challenge that they can do with confidence.

Catherine Paul: Let’s get started. One person at a time, we’re summarizing.

Oh, book choice is everything for getting a lot of kids to read.

Student: In my book, Does My Head Look Big in This, people have started to accept Amal for her choice to wear the hijab.

Catherine Paul: I give them about ten different books to choose from. I tried to include different themes that I thought would resonate. When they choose their book, we use a protocol called PICK. The P is whether they understand the book’s purpose. The I is to reflect on their interest level in the book’s topic. The C is comprehension. If they open it up and read a passage, do they remember what they read? That shows comprehension. The K is for do they know the words. When they read, are there more than five words that they don’t know? That book is too hard. So we go through the PICK process for students to choose a book that they like but also is at their reading level.

Dr. Pamela Cantor: Their choice of a book can give a teacher a sense of where they feel competent, and also give the teacher insights about where it would be important to push them.

Catherine Paul: I feel like it’s a good way to get to know them, and it’s a good way to know how they’re doing. In addition to that, it gives me a look inside of their minds. Being able to choose your own book means that that book is special to you, and you take it home and it feels like your friend, if you’ve chosen it yourself.

King Middle School