I have always struggled with interest inventories. In theory I understand how they can be helpful but I have never found one that felt "just right". This year my school is implementing a new schedule for meeting student's needs in reading. I will have a "flood" of specialist come into my room twice a day during my Daily 5 rotations. I wanted a way for them to get to know the children as well. So I thought of making an folded paper book for each child. We will spend the first week making it and then keep it in our "just right reading bags". During our Daily 5 rotations a teacher/specialist can confer with a child using the book to get to know each other better. I made each book by folding large paper into a book. This makes a six page book. The pages will include
"Family"= draw everyone who lives with you
"School"= favorite thing(s) to do at school
"Home"= favorite thing(s) to do at home
"Books"= things I would like to read about
"Friends"= my friends
"Reading Log"= the last page will be the start of a reading log to write down the titles of books they have learned to read. (I am thinking about stapling small sized legal pad pages to have lines here)
What types of Interest inventories have you found useful in elementary grades?
