Does your school give you the freedom to teach reading anyway that works for your students? Or have you ever considered using novels in addition to your reading curriculum? If so, here are the top 5 reasons you should teach reading using a novel study.
Even if you have a set reading curriculum, reading novels will keep your students engaged. There are many benefits for teaching reading using a novel. Here’s a look at a few of those reasons.
High Interest
Students love listening to their teacher read no matter how old they are. When you pick high interest novels to read, students are very engaged.
Therefore, behavior issues in your classroom are eliminated.
I let students who need their hands to be busy at all times have a paper and crayons in order to draw when I’m reading.
Additionally, if you read a novel that is the first book in the series, students will be motivated to read the other books in the series.
Similarly, if students enjoy the novel they are reading in class, they will seek out books by the same author.
Genres
Reading multiple novels throughout the year with a variety of genres will expose students to each genre’s characteristics.
Then students will be able to compare and contrast genres.
Here are the novels and matching genres I use to teach reading using novel studies in my 4th grade class:
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume- Humorous Fiction
Jack by Liesl Shurtliff- Traditional Literature
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr- Biography
From an Idea to Disney by Lowey Bundy Sichol- Nonfiction
New Kid by Jerry Craft- Graphic Novel
Love that Dog by Sharon Creech- Poetry
Hat that Cat by Sharon Creech- Poetry
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper- Realistic Fiction
Check out other novel study suggestions: 9 Fourth Grade Read Alouds blog post
Reading Skills
While reading novels with a variety of genres, you are given the opportunity to teach a vast number of reading skills.
For instance, when you are reading a traditional literature novel, go over characters, setting, plot diagram, and problem/solution.
On the other hand, when reading a nonfiction novel, it is the perfect chance to review fact/opinion, text features, text structures, and summary.
It can be difficult to find poetry novels. However, Love that Dog and Hate that Cat are the perfect books to read to your upper elementary students.
The books include specific poetic terms and follow the year of a boy who is reluctant to write poetry in his classroom.
After going over a specific reading skill, put notes over the skill in your students’ reading notebooks.
Then students can reference their reading notebooks throughout the year when that skill comes up again.
Note Taking
Being able to take notes is imperative as students get older.
Teaching students how to take notes is easy to do when doing a novel study.
I have students draw a T chart in their notebooks. On the left, they label the chapter number and a summary of what happened. Then on the right, they write their thoughts.
To begin the year, I have the students copy my notes on the left side and I model my thinking on the right.
As the year goes on, students become confident enough to write their own notes.
Students with accommodations receive guided notes. This way they can fill in the blanks or highlight important information.
Projects
Novel studies lend themselves perfectly to a culminating project at the end of the book.
There are a variety of end of the novel projects that you can assign that incorporate reading skills as well.
For example, a one pager is a visual representation of each student’s interpretation of the book. Directions for one pager can be easily found on Google.
Also, a Project Menu gives students choice in choosing how they show what they have learned from the novel.
A few examples of novel study projects to include on your project choice menu: create a new book jacket for the book, create a comic strip of one chapter, design a board game, record a book talk over the novel, or write a poem on a topic or character from the book.
Also, at the end of the year, students can work on an Author Study Project. In my Author Study for Elementary Students blog post, additional ways to create projects are laid out.
As you can see, there are multiple reasons to teach reading using a novel study.
Not only does it make reading engaging for the students, teachers also enjoy novel studies.
