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Thursday, August 23, 2012

5 Finger Test

I know that many of us have used the 5 Finger Test with students to help them select books that are on a comfortable reading level for them.  Do you still occassionally use the 5 finger method with students?  What are some other ways you help students make good decisions about book selection?

 BTW, I saw this website that has bookmarks of the 5 Finger Test. Click on the little pink PDF down-arrow next to the words Download this Doodad.
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7 comments:

  1. MarianneAugust 28, 2012 at 3:04 PM

    I love this and still use it throughout the year with my students. Love the bookmark! I found a binder when I first came to the library with a lesson on CAN IT BE FOR ME. Each letter stands for a way to help you choose a good book. Some are good, others not, but it's always one of my first lessons of the year.

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    Replies
    1. Pamela FosterSeptember 3, 2012 at 12:44 PM

      Hey, Marianne. Could you share what each letter stands for? I found that very helpful with my students as well. Also, I read Book Whisperer this summer, and the author talks about helping kids learn how to choose books for themselves as well. She says to be sure to start the conversation with the "real" ways kids choose books (cover, heard about it before, made into a movie, friend liked it) and add other ideas that might be more helpful to them individually but that they may not know yet, such as the five-finger rule.

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  2. LindaAugust 30, 2012 at 2:35 PM

    Love this. Thank you.

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  3. PhyllisSeptember 1, 2012 at 12:23 PM

    I found a great chart at Utah-Idaho School Supply that I've posted for our children at Franklin. It is better than any that I found online. Last year the whole school made a big push to help the children apply the 5 finger test when selecting books. It made a huge difference and was reflected in higher LA test scores last spring. Now I see children actually "reading" their books instead of just "looking" at them.

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  4. Jeane BSeptember 7, 2012 at 11:48 AM

    Phyllis,
    What a great idea to have the whole school work on selecting the "just right book." Since we are an AR school our kids take the star test to determine their ZPD or book levels. Our books are color coded to help them find the right ones, but that doesn't mean they select those books or that their teachers follow through to see if they have the books they need. I think I will suggest that this year we work on the five finger rule as well as actually using the information we gathered from the star test to direct kids to the right books.

    I don't remember where I got it from but I have used something called A JUST RIGHT BOOk . It is like CAN IT BE FOR ME.

    Here is what the letters stand for

    A -Author

    J - Jacket

    U - Useful i.e. how to books

    S - Spine colorful spine may attract attention ( think Hugo Cabret)
    T-Title
    R -Readability
    I - Illustrations
    G -General Appearance thick, thin etc.
    H-Hook first sentence or paragraph or page
    T - Topic
    B-Blurb
    O- Old Friend familiar maybe read it before
    O - Opinion --reviews
    K - Kind -genre

    Hope this helps

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  5. Donene PolsonSeptember 11, 2012 at 12:46 PM

    I have been teaching the five finger method for years but I did not know about the great poster. It is a "Must Have."

    Thanks
    Donene

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  6. JillNovember 15, 2012 at 1:38 PM

    My buddies and I used to say second grade was a hard grade to get kids to read appropiate books for their level. They are excited to read, which isn't the troublesome part, but they think they can read and understand any book. Believe it or not, my Adult English Language Learner students think the same thing. The teacher of level 4 of Learning English and I do several lessons with them about that.

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