Box Books for Emergent Readers
Linda Ball
laball@ilstu.edu
Kindergarten
Metcalf Laboratory School
Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois 61790-7000
(309) 438-2371
SUBJECT
Emergent reading
GRADE
Kindergarten, first grade, Reading Recovery
ABSTRACT
Students help create Box Books, which are small, reproducible books tied in to thematic instruction in the classroom. After creating a book, the students read the book to three others students or adults in the classroom. The Box Books are stored in a box which the student decorated. When there are 10-12 books accumulated, the books are sent home. Box Books provide students with opportunities to be successful in emergent reading and writing activities.
OVERVIEW OF BOX BOOKS
Box Books are reproducible books that will enhance any emergent reading program. The books provide young children with many opportunities to practice reading and writing. They are versatile and easily integrated into any curriculum. Box Books can reinforce basic concepts, put songs and poetry into print and enhance theme experiences. Box Books provide printed words in meaningful contexts and give children an opportunity to discover the richness of language. They are child-centered with simple, repetitive text based on language experiences.
Box Books encompass the many stages of reading development that most emergent readers experience:
enjoyment
Box Books provide an excellent means of assessing students' progress and development through the reading process. From early stages of memorization to word recognition and reading behaviors, Box Books will encourage the students to behave like readers. This collection of books builds on successful reading experiences, develops a positive attitude towards reading, and gives children of every ability an opportunity to enjoy reading and writing.
OBJECTIVES
Our main objective was to create a collection of books for our emergent readers. We wanted the children to have their own, individual copies readily accessible to read whenever they chose.
In addition, we felt it was important that the books were in some way personalized, or unique to each child. The creation of the "Share and Sign" page was the motivation the children needed to read with their peers. The assessment page provides a quick, simple evaluation that can be completed as the children read their books to the teacher.
COMPONENTS OF THE BOX BOOK PROGRAM
Individual boxes or containers for the storage of books
The children are very excited about their book boxes. They decorate the special boxes, about the size of a shoe box, that hold their collection of small books that they have made and can read at a beginning level.
Teacher/child created books
Box Books are reproducible books that the children illustrate and/or complete with ideas and words of their own. There are two pages on an 8 2 by 11 sheet of paper, cut in half, so the books are small enough to fit into the child's book box. The books may contain words to a song, poems, or repetitive text familiar to the children.
For example, there is a book for the color blue, with the words "See the blue _________." on each page. The child completes each page by drawing an object and coloring it blue and writing a word to complete the sentence. Another book about colors, "Planting a Rainbow", combines all colors. On the first page is the following: "Every year I plant a rainbow. I buy the seeds and plant them in my garden. I watch the rainbow grow." On the second page is: "I have some red flowers." On the third page is: "I have some yellow flowers.", etc. The child illustrates each page with the appropriate color of flowers. There are similar pages for other colors. The last page of the story allows the child to complete the sentence "In my garden you can see ________." (Click on the links to see a sample of this book.)
Thematic word lists
Thematic word lists provide the children with words they may want to use in their books. For example, there is a "fall" word list that contains pictures of familiar objects commonly seen in the fall (i.e. pumpkin and leaves), along with the words for those objects. The "family" word list contains pictures of different members of a family. The thematic word lists are used extensively by our beginning writers and are readily available in all areas of the classroom.
Share and sign page
The back page of each book is the "Share and Sign" page. This page states "I read my book to" and allows space for three people to whom the child read the book to sign their name. The creation of the "Share and Sign" page was the motivation the children needed to read with their peers. Click on the link to see a sample page.
Assessment tool
The assessment page provides a quick, simple evaluation that can be completed as the children read their books to the teacher.
USE OF THE BOX BOOKS IN THE CLASSROOM
The Box Books are introduced periodically throughout the year. They are usually a culminating experience completed at the end of a unit or theme. For example, around Thanksgiving Day the children learned a song and illustrated a book containing the song. As the children learn colors they create a book for each color. On each page of the book about the color blue the child completes the sentence "See the blue ________." with a picture of something blue.
The children have many experiences with the text before they are asked to complete their own books. This helps the children be successful readers because they have created some of the language and have illustrated each page.
The children read their book to a classmate or an adult in the room and have the person sign the "Share and Sign" page on the back of the book. The book is considered complete after three people have signed the page. Three times a week the children have "Rest and Read" time, during which they may read to others, although they can also read the books at other times throughout the day.
The children keep their books in their own book box, where they are available to be read to others in the classroom. They have their own ballpoint pen with their name on it to keep in their box for use in getting signatures of those to whom they have read the book.
The books are sent home periodically so the child can read them to family members. The first set of 12 books was given at parent conferences, and additional sets of 10-12 books are sent home throughout the year.
REACTIONS TO BOX BOOKS
The children enjoy creating their own books and like to read them to others. In fact, many children add additional lines to the "Share and Sign" page so they can read the books to more people. They can usually read their book successfully because they have had several experiences with the book before they attempt to read to others. Often the verse in the book is familiar to them. Because they completed many of the sentences in their books, the children can read their books successfully.
Parents are enthusiastic about the books because they give them an opportunity to listen to the child "read" to them, and they can see the child's progress throughout the year. The children collect their parents' signatures when they read their books at home.
Laurel Brucker, a former colleague, helped me develop the Box Books.We have presented Box Books at several workshops, and they were well received by the teachers attending the sessions. Many kindergarten and first grade teachers in our state are finding the same success with the Box Books we have had.
Goodyear Books, Division of Scott Foresman, will publish 28 reproducible Box Books plus thematic word lists under the title Look, Look, I Wrote a Book!, to be distributed in the summer 1997.
SAMPLE BOX BOOK
(Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version of the page.)
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