Helping students own their reading and writing through their interests and passions

When one of her students brought in a fishing and hunting journal, Katie seized the opportunity to highlight and celebrate this reader. This boy doesn't think of himself as a reader but he is - a passionate one when it comes to hunting and fishing!  He couldn't wait to show her an article about a humongous fish. He displayed many behavioral markers of deep understanding as outlined in Talk About Understanding by  Ellin Keene (Heinemann, 2012).

*He was deeply engaged. He was excited about each of the headlines and stories, posing questions along with his running commentary that is rich with "fishing" vocabulary. He used words that I didn't know, words that won't be on a standardized test but he had all of the language and concepts of fishing. He had background knowledge.
* He wanted to take action!
 He wanted to catch a fish that big!
* He was willing to struggle. This journal is written at a level above his lexile as determined in a school setting but in his fishing and hunting world, there is no lexile! You read it because you want to!
*He wanted to engage in rigourous discourse- he had any kid who had ever fished (many and most of his class) telling their fish stories, what they need to do, what kinds of lures and lines were best for certain kinds of fish.

Katie pointed out the great voice, the point of view, humor, and persuasion in a variety of articles. She had her student model for the class how he chooses what to read based on interest- a great lesson in reading nonfiction text. He modeled for the class how to use the table of contents and how to read the headlines. Here was a student who doesn't usually see himself in this role, teaching the class because he is a reader!

Points to Ponder:
What are the texts your students read outside of school?
How can you capitalize on their interests and passions?

Recommended Reading:
Talk about Understanding by Ellin Keene
Opening Minds by Peter Johnston
Choice Words by Peter Johnston