Free The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, Jeff Anderson Page B

Rankling over the space limitations in my classroom, it frustrated me when I could not feng shui my furniture and the children into some sort of reading oasis. I was letting the gurus down and, probably, my students. I once mentioned to Ron, my principal, that I wanted to pull out all of the desks and drag in couches and coffee tables, turning my room into a Barnes & Noble. He laughed and shook his head. He thought I was joking ....
    FIGURE 3.2 : Students read while sitting on Aunt Fanny.

    As I often do when confronted with an ideal that I cannot seem to achieve, I stepped back to reconsider the true intent of the dedicated reading corner. As I see it, the reading area in a classroom is meant to serve two purposes: to send the message to students that reading is important by setting aside a prominent place for it in the room and to provide students with comfortable condi tions in which to read by not confining them to institutionally mandated seating at desks under harsh lighting. Can we do this without the community rug and the floor lamps? Of course we can.
    Have you ever tried reading upside down on the monkey bars ? Let’s just say that one didn’t work out very well. The book fell and I lost my page, so I tried for it and I landed on my head. Not smart!
    â€”Brittany
    I have never seen a student who became a reader because of access to a beanbag chair. What do we hope to accomplish by designing a living room in which students can read? After all, don’t we bemoan the fact that students don’t read in their living room at home? If you have a quiet reading corner, by all means, use it. I support any classroom design that makes it less institutional and more inviting to students, but don’t regret it if you don’t have the resources or space for a dedicated reading area. Readers are remarkably ingenious and resourceful when it comes to finding a place to read.
    In New York City, I saw a man on the subway hanging on to a strap with one hand while holding the book he was reading in the other—no cozy nook needed. I was instantly reminded of my husband, who power-reads books on the train while jamming to his iPod. I have students every year who read while walking down the hall (They seem to have some internal GPS that prevents them from walking into things!); riding the school bus; or sitting in a crowded, noisy lunchroom. A classroom atmosphere that promotes reading does not come from the furniture and its placement as much as it comes from the teacher’s expectation that students will read. Accepting this, I know that my entire room is a reading haven, a place where students can read in comfort and where reading doesn’t require a dedicated area to take center stage every single day. We must send the message that any place can be the right place for reading, whether it’s on the subway or in an out-of-the-way corner. Students needn’t wait for perfect conditions to start reading. The time is now, and the place is here.
    Unusual Places to Read
by Mrs. Miller’s class
    Â 
    shower
empty bathtub
under the bed
grocery store
closet
roof
stairs
on top of brick mailbox
hedges and trees
trampoline
using dog as a pillow
in the open trunk of a car

Quiet, Please (Except Maybe This Teacher)
    I insist on quiet during reading workshop time; I think this is because I need quiet to read and I know that quite a few of my students cannot fall into a book without limits on noise. A few years ago, while I wandered the classroom looking for students who needed help finding a book, I noticed four boys, Grant, Tien, Joel, and Brett, whom I had nicknamed the “ Eragon Posse” after their shared love for Christopher Paolini’s book (now a trilogy), whispering in the back corner of the room. “You boys had better be talking about literature back there!” I barked as I ambled over to them, determined to squelch any nonreading behavior. Assuring me that they were on task, Grant