I’m not sure when big purses became the fad, but I can tell you I jumped right on the bandwagon. Little purses just weren’t cutting it. I never had enough space for all the things I thought essential to carry around. After an aching shoulder and countless attempts of searching for my keys, I realized: bigger is not better! My purse, much like my students’ reading journals, was in desperate need of downsizing.
For several years I had students reading workshop and read aloud thinking combined in one composition book. Despite my best intentions of teaching students how to properly organize their notebook, by December without fail they were frayed, worn, and disorganized. I spent more time searching for current entries than actually reading their work!
A Reading File for Read Aloud
That’s when I got the idea from a fellow colleague about a read aloud file. Our last read aloud was Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. Gathering a stack of 28 manila files, I transformed each one into a read aloud file. On the cover of the file I pasted a copy of the book cover and back blurb; on the back I attached the map of Alcatraz Island (the setting of the story). Stapled on the inside left was a “how is the character feeling today” chart, a table of faces matching an emotion. The opposite side included stapled color-coded pages labeled with thinking strategies. I had two pages for each strategy as well as additional pages for literary devices and “Noteworthy Notes.” Depending on the point in the year I included the thinking strategies we were focused on. Slipped into each file was a loose sheet of alpha boxes, a table with each letter of the alphabet in a box. While I mocked up the first one, I realized the file set-up process is a great job for parent volunteers!
Files in Action
As students hear the read aloud signal they gather their read aloud file, pencil and form a circle on the carpet. We begin with a recap of the previous day’s reading to catch up absent students and refresh our brains. As I begin the next chapter, students open their files, pencils ready in hand. At this time students let their listening and thinking guide their writing.
Students choose to write on any strategy as much as they like, as long as they have at least one entry each day. On a connections page a student may write, “Moose is frustrated with his Mother because he always has to watch his sister, I know how this feels because I have to watch my brother a lot and don’t get to go play.” Often I reread juicy descriptions while students draw their mental image and compare with classmates to show variations in visualizing. Students also fill out their alpha box sheet with a description from the story beginning with a certain letter. For example, in Al Capone Does My Shirts the main character is Moose, in the M box they could write Moose: the main character, a 12-year-old boy. These sheets tend to fill up fast so I keep blank copies in a bin for students to grab as needed.
Once I finish the chapter I ask students to refer to the “how is the character feeling today” chart and ask students how the characters might be feeling. This elicits discussion leading us to use evidence to form predictions. Tuning in to the feeling of the character supports deeper levels of thinking. The kinds of connections I want to highlight are student text-to-self with the feeling of the character. Also there can be several emotions one character might be feeling, leading to respectful debate of why the character may feel multiple ways. The feelings chart is a vital piece of the file as it gets all stages of readers thinking, connecting and sharing.
Read-aloud files are graded on quality and quantity. I show student examples of completed folders and also fill out my own folder for the first couple weeks talking students through my entries. Each week I ask students to leave their folders out on their desk during read-to-self time. As students set off around the room to read, I quickly stop at each desk and look through each file. I jot the date and a quick note acknowledging something they have done well and maybe something I would like them to try. A typical comment might look like “Wow! You are asking many deep questions! Try putting a star by the ones you hear answers to.” Or “Your mental images are very detailed; I can tell you can really picture the story in your head. Next time try filling in an alpha box to go with your mental image. Keep up the great work.” Ultimately I want to see effort in showing evidence of listening and thinking.
As September approaches I look forward to setting up my files for my first read aloud, Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O’Connor. Uniquely written, each chapter in this book tells the story through the perspective of one character at a time. I would like to try a character study or character check in where each student chooses their favorite character to track along the way. This could spur small-group discussions and link beautifully to one of our first thinking strategies: connections. The great thing about a file and a purse are the ever-changing contents — the options are endless!