Do We Ever Tell Students What They Have to Read During Read to Self?

Like everything we do with children, there is not one hard and fast, black and white rule. Typically our response to this question is that we focus more of our time on teaching children the IPICK method to choosing books that are a good fit for them, rather than picking books that may be a good reading level but ones they may not be interested in. By teaching children IPICK, it gives them a tool to choose books independently for Read to Self time as well as any other reading situation. This strategy allows children to choose books whether they are in our classroom or school library, public library or book store, and even home. Consequently, our first choice is for children to choose their own books for Read to Self, with our constant vigilance during one-on-one and small group instruction to be certain the books meet their needs.

That said, we also know that inevitably we have students that may need more support with picking books for Read to Self. Despite frequent teaching, they have a tendency to select books based on the cover, current popularity, or what may provide perceived status. Or, they may be overwhelmed by the seeming grandiosity of an entire collection. We have standing appointments with these students to help them make appropriate selections. This may come in the form of a previously selected stack for them to look through, or just one tub, with directions that may sound like this: "This might be a perfect tub for you. Take time this round to browse through these and select some that you'd be interested in reading completely. Put those in your book box and I'll come check on you before the round ends to see what you've decided on." This type of strategy provides the needed scaffolding while still holding a high standard of independence.