Having students pick their own books at any age can be challenging. I imagine your first graders need a lot of guidance at this point in the year choosing books at their independent level. Having an open-ended category like my short or micro-reads might work well to give your students more options and ownership during times when they might have shorter periods of "free-reading." I've found the key in my room is making sure they know when it is okay to read what. I am definitely seeing my students being exposed to a much greater volume of text throughout the school day than they were earlier in the year. Perhaps other first grade teachers could weigh in here on how they give more ownership to their students when it comes to book selection. ~Genia
Having students pick their own books at any age can be challenging. I imagine your first graders need a lot of guidance at this point in the year choosing books at their independent level. Having an open-ended category like my short or micro-reads might work well to give your students more options and ownership during times when they might have shorter periods of "free-reading." I've found the key in my room is making sure they know when it is okay to read what. I am definitely seeing my students being exposed to a much greater volume of text throughout the school day than they were earlier in the year. Perhaps other first grade teachers could weigh in here on how they give more ownership to their students when it comes to book selection. ~Genia