Well, we need to make sure that we are offering students options in what they read, interest surveys where we’re trying to connect them with books that match their personal interest. When we’re working with students on either end of the grade level spectrum, we need to make sure we have a diversity of text to offer them. Often when I go into classrooms and look at classroom libraries, I’ll see a lot of text for that grade level reader because those are the expectations for the classroom.
And there are token few texts for students who are reading below grade level or who may be acquiring English and a token few texts for students who are reading above grade level. With students who are advanced readers, precocious readers, we have to be mindful too that often where their true reading level is may not match their emotional age, and we have to look at content then to make sure the content is appropriate, you know.
Experts in gifted education recommend that students who are advanced readers read fiction at their emotional age and non-fiction at their true reading level. We have to do a better job of offering text that our students both can read and that they’re both interested in reading. And it’s the same at home with parents to make sure that while we may have aspirations that our child is reading at grade level, buying books and putting them in the home that are at those grade level text only cause struggle if the child can’t actually read them, and they won’t improve as readers.
And parents are, of course, the first line when working with students who are gifted and guiding them towards choices that are appropriate for their age but also help them follow a passion or an interest.
