BHH (Book-Head-Heart)

Students struggle with reading. It’s not that they can’t call the words on the page, they have a genuine fear of a lot of words on a page. It doesn’t matter if it is a simple storybook all typed and fit on a single page, or if it is a 350-page novel, they are intimidated by it. So, when I read about Book, Head, Heart strategy, I thought this is a great idea to implement in the classroom.

When students read, they need to understand that they are reading for a purpose. Even if it is leisure reading, it still has a purpose. Let's break it down.

 Book: what is the book about? Who is telling the story? What does the author want the reader to know?

Head: What surprise is in the story? What are the assumptions of the author about the reader? What confirmations are there? Are there any challenges? What have you noticed?

Heart: What have you learned about yourself in this reading? How will this make you a better reader?

This strategy was practice in our class for a discussion of a novel used for independent reading. The instructor provided a set of questions generic for any book, however, it allowed for open-ended responses. While the questions were generic, you could not participate in the discussion unless you had completed the reading assignment. A stack of index cards was placed on each table for the students to read aloud and answer. Some examples of the questions are below.

           In the Book

                      What is the book about?

                      Who’s telling the story?

                      What does the author want me to know?

           In Your Head

                      What surprised me?

                      What does the author think I already know?

                      What changed, challenged or confirmed my thinking?

                      What did I notice?

In your Heart

           What did I learn about me?

           How will this help me to be better?

Answering these questions will help the students to dig into the text to make connections to the reading. Students are taking “mental action which helps build and inhabit the World of The Text.” (Bomer, R. 2011)

I had the privilege of reading The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz with a group of ladies in my Literacy in the Secondary School class. This book was about a group of three children with special spiritual gifts and their holy dog. The story is told from many perspectives as the inquisitor travels to find the children so that he can later kill them. The Inquisitor tells the story by collecting stories from those who have seen and experienced the children and their miracles. The author wants the reader to know that there is good in everyone, it doesn’t matter what the religious practice is, everyone can be a part of God’s plan. I believe the author wants everyone to learn to put aside their differences and focus on the bigger picture of helping out your fellow man when you can.

What surprised me the most was that the one who was thought to be the villain in the story was actually an angel. The author assumes that we know the history of each religion and can identify with the teachings of them. While this is not the case, there is enough information provided in the reading to grasp a general idea of what each teaches and the similarities found in them. I noticed that there is a heavy presence of Christian principle throughout the book. I also noticed that there are many other religious principles that share a common thread with Christian principles. I learned that I actually enjoyed reading this book. I was surprised by that revelation! The book has encouraged me to continue to find common ground and to look for the good in people. There is always a reason for the reason people act and respond the way they do. Find the commonalities and build on them.

It is my hope that I am able to implement the BHH strategy in my classroom and that my students find joy in reading and not just the mandate.