Best Practice #1:Â Allow Student Choice for Independent Reading Books
One effective practice for choosing content is giving students agency over what books they read during independent time. The reason why this is an effective practice is because it encourages students to choose books that interest them, increasing participation and engagement during independent reading time. Gallagher and Kittle argue that this content method also helps students develop healthier reading habits. They state that "[w]e raise expectations for all readers by providing time to read and choice, and by conferring regularly with students to listen to their thinking" (Gallagher, Kittle, Pg. 49). The expectations Gallagher and Kittle describe are very significant. When students choose their own texts, they are more responsible for their reading. They cannot make the excuse that they are not reading because the teacher picked something they don't like. This added accountability and increased engagement makes free-choice independent reading books an effective choice of content.
Best Practice #2: Mentor Texts
Mentor texts are another effective content practice. Mentor texts are pieces that the class reads and analyzes together. They are very helpful when it comes to teaching narrative writing, as they allow the class to analyze how stories work collaboratively. Mentor texts should be chosen with students in mind. A decent amount of diversity should be present among the texts, so all the students feel engaged. Gallagher and Kittle support the use of mentor texts. They stated, "[w]e selected mentor texts that reflected a diversity of experiences and cultures; we believed these would not only engage our students but also demonstrate the features and conventions we expected them to use" (Gallagher, Kittle, Pg. 153). As Gallagher and Kittle state, choosing effective mentor texts model the expectations for good writing. Due to its effective modeling and engagement, Mentor Texts are an effective choice of content for the English classroom.
Best Practice #3: Background Building
Background building refers to teaching students the societal and historical background of what they read. This means teaching students about the people who wrote what they are reading, and the values of the society they originated from. The logic behind this is that knowledge of where a text comes from is necessary for a complete understanding. Lorena German is a proponent of this content method, arguing that "[b]ackground building deconstructs the idea that authors are unbiased or somehow disconnected from their surroundings...Whatever we write, be it fiction or nonfiction, carries us in it" (German, Pg. 52). Essentially, what German is arguing (and what background building teaches) is that the sociological backdrop in which a text is created is a vital part of understanding. By involving social concepts and history, background building makes literature more relevant to the real world, giving students more of a reason to pay attention. For those reasons, background building is an effective content choice.