Add to your paperless ELA or Library/Media Center resources with a Digital Book Tasting! 

Encourage your students to try new authors and genres!

* I’ve used children’s book award nominees and winners to extend and enrich instruction in my 5th grade classroom, and with 3rd, 4th, and 6th grade students I’ve tutored. And, I used Book Tasting activities to have an additional, fresh approach using Accelerated Reader. 

* Book Tasting data was also used as a valuable tool to help group students by book interest for our Literature Circle activities.  

* Accelerated Reader gave me a simple way to confirm a book had been read and understood. Read OR listen to a book… take a quiz… choose another book to read OR listen to… was our mantra. 

* I did NOT ask students to choose independent reading material by Reading or Lexile level. 
I did NOT worry about Reading or Lexile levels assigned to books I read aloud. 
In my opinion, Reading levels don’t need to define your students. Sharing the article I read about that HERE.

* I wanted my students to build confidence and stamina as independent readers, refine and improve their listening skills, AND develop a sense of what they enjoyed reading or listening to being read aloud.

* I wanted my students to visit the Library with enthusiasm, selecting books by an author they've come to enjoy, a genre that has them hooked, excited about the next book in an author’s series, gain comfort and confidence exploring nonfiction, or trying an author or genre that might be something my students wouldn’t ordinarily select. 

* I wanted to encourage my students to embrace the understanding that adults do not choose a book to read because of the thickness of the book spine, OR the number of Accelerated Reader points a book might be worth, OR the Reading Level assigned to it. 

Teachers and families continue to find our way to creatively provide meaningful, digital, paperless learning experiences with the changes COVID-19 has brought to our interactions. 
This page was created January 19, 2023 and last updated: April 3, 2023