 The book tour strategy is great for introducing students to the course text book and other content reading materials. Not only does it familiarize students with the resources and features of a book, but it empowers students to use the resources available to help themselves be successful students. Just think about how many questions could be answered just from reading and knowing how to use their book! The book tour can be a worksheet that groups work on together, or can be a tour of the book's features led by the teacher. The book tour should emphasize special features of the book (graphs, different fonts, special sections, etc.) and help students realize how their book is created to help them be successful. What you'll see in 1423! I am already set to use the book tour during my first week of school! (See my handout below.) Our math text books are loaded with many helpful resources, but students are often so intimidated by the book that they never even look past the practice problems. Although as a new teacher I assumed that students would re-read the sections if they were stuck, in actuality that rarely happened. However, I believe that if I help students break down the book's features and show them that the textbook is an accessible and helpful resource, the chances that students will actually use the book to be successful will greatly increase! I plan to use the book tour as a worksheet. Groups will work together to determine some of the specific aspects of the book, after which we will have a large group discussion of our findings. We can return to our discoveries from the book tour frequently as the year goes on to see what resources are available as material gets increasingly challenging. Strategy adapted from Reading and Learning Strategies: Middle Grades through High School, Lenski, Wham, Johns, & Caskey |
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Book Tour |