Conduct a Reading Interview
Prepare a list of interview questions designed to elicit information about a young reader's reading beliefs, preferences and habits. What types of materials does the child read? What does the child believe about the purposes and functions of reading and about her/himself as reader? What reading habits has the child developed? Where and when does the child read? How does she/he select books or other materials to read? You may want to locate ready-made reading interest inventories on-line or in teacher resource books to use as a starting point for developing your questions. After you have conducted the interview with a child in your class, analyze his/her responses to note patterns in reading beliefs, preferences, or habits. Consider the information that you have gained. How might you, as the child's classroom teacher, support his/her continued growth as a reader?

Exploring Literature through Art
Young children communicate through visual symbols as easily as they communicate through language, yet by the middle grades many children feel very insecure about making art. Children of all ages who have the opportunity to transform their responses to books through visual means are learning to be confident creators. In addition, their familiarity with art can increase their visual literacy and their aesthetic understanding.

• Too often children are given a box of crayons and a small space at the top of some lined newsprint paper and told to "make a picture" of the story. Chalk, paints, markers, colored tissue papers, yarn, steel wool, cotton, material scraps, wires—anything that might be useful in depicting characters and scenes—should be readily accessible. Teachers might provide more interesting paper, such as wallpaper samples, construction paper, hand-painted papers, the "second sheets" of computer paper, and remainders from printers.
• The teacher's role is to design a rich environment for creativity by providing materials, challenging children's thinking, and honoring children's work. Teachers can help children think about their stories or poems by asking focusing questions like these:
1. What would be the most appropriate material for you to use for your picture?
2. What colors do you see when you think of this story?
3. How will you portray the main character?
4. Where does the story take place? When? How could you show this?
• In follow-up discussions when children show their work to the class, teachers can encourage them to talk about choices and reactions. In this way, children are encouraged to reflect on or appreciate their own work and that of others. In addition, the teacher gains valuable insight into their thinking.

Displays, Dioramas, and Museums
Displays naturally attract children. While locked glass cases may be appropriate for some materials, it is the inviting hands-on aspect of a table display that entices readers to investigate books and things they might otherwise not discover or to create an inviting exhibit of work in response to a book or theme. Before beginning a study of the beach with kindergartners and first graders, a teacher displayed a child's bathing suit, sand, a souvenir T-shirt from a nearby beach, and some sand toys along with beach-related books.

• A diorama, another kind of display, is a three-dimensional scene often including objects and figures. Using cardboard boxes or shoe boxes turned on their sides, children can create a memorable scene from a book. A larger box partitioned in two allows a child to contrast two events or settings. Children should be encouraged to make every part of the diorama. If a teacher emphasizes the importance of accurate details, children must return to the book to check descriptions and facts. Teachers should also ask children to write about their diorama—how it was made, what it shows, and which book it is referencing. Then observers can appreciate the details, and the child has real authority and real purpose in writing.
• A museum is a labeled collection of objects that an author included in a story. A folktale museum made by older students included a pea slept on by the princess, a chicken bone Hansel used to fool the witch, and a feather left behind by the Crane Wife. Sixth graders displayed their museum items on posterboard and presented their artwork to the class, explaining why each item pictured was important to the story.
• Displays, dioramas, and museums have the power to make a book seem more real to readers. Explanatory labels need to be written for each display. If the displays are shared enthusiastically with other classes, some children will surely find books they want to read. In the process of making scenes or visualizing parts of a story, children revisit the book to explore settings, rediscover the author's use of descriptive language, and often are better able to generalize about and discuss a story. These collections and the books from which they are taken then become highly visible to children and further invite them to keep reading.

Responding Dramatically
Creative dramatics offer children a unique opportunity to respond physically to a work of literature. One form of dramatic response is Tableau. Tableau is a living representation of a scene or image formed by one or more students posing silently and motionlessly. In this form of response a small group works cooperatively, selecting one scene from a work of literature to present in Tableau, or in freeze-frame. The group selects props, discusses the characters' positions in relation to these props, decides upon and practices appropriate facial expressions for each character. Once they are ready to perform, they strike their poses and then maintain in these positions. Their stillness allows an audience the opportunity to reflect on the tableau they have created. The audience should consider:

• Which event(s) in the text are being depicted in this Tableau?
• How does each of the characters in this scene feel?
• Have the performers reproduced or reinvented this scene from the text?
• How does this Tableau effect your previous interpretation of this scene?

Chapter 2 Recording Sheet (20.0K)