We talk a lot about the importance of choice, and it was proven to me today–big time!!! A struggling 2nd grader I work with really hates to “do the work”. Almost every time, I have to prompt him about strategies we’ve been working on all year (and last year, as well).

Yesterday, he was selecting new books, and one I had put in the mix was a Biscuit book. That one caught his eye, and he chose it to read. He was very successful–by using s couple of strategies I’ve suggested probably a hundred times. I had him do a reader response sentence in his journal, and we actually made it through with out him becoming frustrated. Today when he came in, he asked if I had any more books about Biscuit. Of course I had collected a few and let him choose. Another successful read. AND he asked if he could write about it–two complete sentences in some of the best writing I’ve seen him do. THEN he asked if he could keep the books with him for Read to Self time in his classroom.

Needless to say, he made my day. Giving kids choice really can be powerful!!