Explanation and Rational of Podcast

In my experience as a teacher of first and third grades, I have seen that it is often difficult for children to objectively decide on a book that is suited well to their own reading ability. While the most obvious reason for this may be that children don’t yet possess the metacognitive skills to think objectively about their own learning, I feel there are other reasons as well.
One reason is that a child’s interest in topics often surpasses his or her ability to read about such topics, the result being that he or she wants to read about topics on which no books appropriate to his or her ability exist. This makes the child want to read books that are too difficult, but this will inevitably frustrate him or her.
Another reason I believe children try to read books that are too difficult is peer pressure. There is a stigma attached to reading books that may seem like “baby books.” “Chapter books” are reads that are coveted by all.
The purpose of my podcast is to teach students a tool that will help them objectively choose a “just right” book. I will talk about the “five finger rule” in which the student holds out one closed fist upon beginning a page in a book he or she likes. For each word the student attempts and has trouble reading, he or she will hold up one finger. The rules are that by the end of the page if the reader is holding up:

• No fingers or one finger; the book is too easy.
• Two or three fingers; the book is just right.
• Four or five fingers; the book is too hard.

At the end of the podcast I will reassure students that if a book is interesting but too difficult, they should not feel bad, but instead, try to read the book again in a few months.