I’m not exactly thrilled with the quality of readers out there. I think it’s not good to ask kids to read above their level. Most of us hand them books that are above their heads. In general, the TPRS/CI communitey routinely asks kids to silently read books that are above their level, and it frustrates them.
Most readers labeled “level 1” are really level 2. Level 2 readers in general are really level 3 readers, etc. The few kids can read them, the larger group can’t. When are CI teachers going to reach all their kids all the time in their classes?
So if you know of or have yourself written any readers for FVR out there – very low level short books that are actually level one readers – not level 2 readers mislabeled as level 1 – books that able to hold the interest of and engage your students better than what has been out there in the past – please let me know. I’ll sell them in my online bookstore (under construction on my new website).
You will keep all the money from the sales of your readers. I do that because I want to help teachers through these tough times. Plus, those who split the profits with authors don’t know how hard it is to write one of those suckers. I tried to write a reader with a vocabulary of under 150 words once about ten years ago, a really simple one. I gave up after a month. It’s that difficult!
Requirements to get into my bookstore are therefore:
- Ultra-simple texts of under 175-200 new words max, so level 1 kids can read them in the spring of their first year of the language, after working with the Star up to that point, having read the stories and tableaux that they have created around the Star up to that point in the year.
- Each page should contain 2/3 to 3/4 images and 1/4 to 1/3 words.
- Images can be photos or drawings. Drawings allow you to build a recognizable “visual brand”. Marko Sanden’s book about Ana is an example – it can be found at Marko’s site at fluencyfox.com.
- If you must, write thematically to “cover” what is required in the curriculum. But that’s not really CI, it’s an unfortunate mix of CI and the textbook.
- More interesting are readers that address what we are living now as a society: BLM, justice, disappearing bees, etc. Now that’s a challenge!