"Book Buzz"

This week I had the students working on their Independent Reading. Each student has a few books to read in school and at home that are on their reading level. I ask the students to read quietly to themselves for 20-30 minutes then they respond to their reading in their Reader's Notebooks.

Some students keep Post-It notes for every chapter they read in their Independent Reading books. They are asked to write 2 bulleted points detailing what happened in the chapter they just read. After reading for 30 minutes, I asked 2 students to discuss what they read independently. These two students were reading the same book and had a very clear, focused "Book Buzz" on the the book Frindle by Andrew Clements.

After "Buzzing" the students tape their Post-It's into their Reader's Notebook. They copy the date, title and author of their book. They track how many pages/chapters they read and also what strategy they were working on that day. The Reader's Notebooks are easy to check and a great artifact to bring to my reading conferences I hold with each child every week.

4th Grade students "Book Buzzing" with Miss Laird during Reader's Workshop. (3/18/09) *It was spirit week: Pajama Day :)