A Novel Approach: Whole-Class Novels, Student-Centered Teaching, and Choice

As the pendulum swings in education, veteran teachers know it isn’t wise to throw the baby out with the bath water. This book saved my heart this year when my district suddenly took the freedom to use my professional experience and creativity. We middle school teachers were told we were never to teach with a whole-class full text. For the first time, I wasn’t able to teach kids how to love a book, how to notice all the mysteries and celebrate the craft as it touched our hearts.Kate Roberts sees the value in a variety of teaching methods and recommends a blended approach—teaching reading through a combination of student-selected independent books, book clubs, and whole class novels.As a teacher who is committed to evolving based on published research, I knew I wanted to learn more about teaching well with independent reading and book club models. Roberts gives practical strategies and models in videos. I learned just what I hoped to learn and feel much more confident about implementing these more effectively in my classroom.She also supports my own anecdotal research through many years as a high school and middle school teacher, by recognizing the value of analyzing the craft and themes in a challenging text as a team. We can entice students to notice deeper meanings and sophisticated craft moves when we can pose questions and target their focus during partner work. Reporting what they uncover to the whole class boosts confidence and prompts even deeper thinking yet. My students then applied the skills they learned in book clubs, and it was exciting to watch their deep analysis unfold with this guided practice. If only leaders knew what we really do with full texts in the classroom these days—it’s not a dragged-out worksheet like it may have been for them in the past. Roberts coaches us to use full-length texts to teach valuable, transferable skills and strategies, showing us how to limit time spent to make sure students also have time to read what they choose.This book was just the validation I craved at just the right time to save my soul. Even though I’m not permitted at this point to use what I have learned, I know I’m not wrong. I am so grateful that such an honored professional spoke up and shared her expertise. I hope some day I am able to implement every bit I learned from this book.Thank you, Kate Roberts!

I abandoned whole-class novels several years ago in favor of independent reading. After years of trudging through whole-class text studies, I had grown weary of limited engagement from my students. Great literature was ruined for me, and when I implemented a full reading and writing workshop, I navigated away from core texts and focused on engaging students through the power of self-selected reading. Not long ago, I began missing the conversations my students and I had around novels such as The Outsiders and Fahrenheit 451. There was no touchstone, no allusion that we could hold onto as we ventured into genre studies, mentor texts, and independent writing since the reading focus in my classroom had changed so drastically. Deep inside, I longed for a return to a classroom structure that enabled free choice independent reading AND focused core text studies. Then I found and read Kate's book. And it has given me the ideas and strategies I need to return to whole-class novels.If you are reticent about whole-class texts, or have abandoned them in favor of self-selected reading, I encourage you to pick up Kate Roberts's book and give it a thorough read. Kate's experience in the classroom and her immense wisdom with reading strategies and methodology help make a return to core text studies manageable and realistic. There is something beautiful about the seamless way she weaves independent reading, book clubs, and whole-class novels into her language arts classroom. The focus on skills as opposed to content help transform the horrifying trudge through classic literature into pleasurable reading experiences. And more importantly, your students will reap the rich benefits of Kate's ideas.Reading this book will deepen your thinking and raise your awareness of places in your teaching where whole-class texts will nudge your students further in their reading lives. I promise you will not be disappointed by this phenomenal book.

Roberts makes a simple, sensible case for whole class novels and how they compliment book clubs and independent reading. She eloquently states what every English teacher knows in their hearts but doesn’t know how to put into words. This book is a wonderful read that brings together old and new concepts with a fresh take on application and theory.

A Novel Approach explores and seeks to resolve a dichotomy in the field of language arts. “The two camps: those who believe in teaching reading through mostly teacher-driven whole-class texts and those who believe in teaching primarily through independent reading and skills instruction (Roberts 5). Whole-class reading advocates suggest that student struggle in reading common great and complex works, when led by a proficient reader (teacher), lifts the level of their thinking about texts, prepares them for post-secondary education experiences, and builds a strong sense of community--both in the classroom and in the world-at-large. Supporters of independent reading as a primary mode of instruction focus on core values such as the importance of independent reading ability in the classroom, the development of reading skills in each and every student, and the increased engagement that comes with allowing choice in reading instruction. Unfortunately, research regarding these two approaches does little to solve the dilemma, as there are studies which support and contradict both methods of teaching. After exploring both the pros and cons of these methodologies, the author spends the remainder of the text showing educators how to use the best of both approaches in the classroom. This book is a quick and enjoyable read as Roberts writes with a voice that is easy to connect with.*I give four stars largely due to mechanical errors which should have been caught during the editing process. Surprising that such a well-respected publisher wouldn't catch them prior to publication.