All year, I've been working to spark an interest in reading with my students and help them increase their reading time. As Donalyn Miller says, “A classroom atmosphere that promotes reading does not come from the furniture and its placement as much as it comes from the teacher's expectation that students will read.” (The Book Whisperer) We need to make reading time a priority and find time to squeeze in reading minutes DURING our school day. I have always been passionate about developing a love of reading and books. I did not have that growing up. I seldom went to the library, and I do not even recall a real reading routine. It may not have been emphasized back then, but we know now just how important it is to develop a habit. I chose to be a reading specialist to help kids find that for themselves and to help parents with this at home. Do you have a culture of reading in your classroom? Think how important that is to our daily lives. No matter what level your students are at, it is our responsibility to find what interests them and help them develop a love for reading.
Identify Your Readers' Style
First thing Monday, I had a handful of fresh new books to place in front of my "dormant" readers. Let me tell you...the kids were fighting over who could take the books first. They made their choices, and then I gave them time to get going with them. One of the boys ended up abandoning one book after reading the first chapter. He realized it was too hard (I think), but he commented that it was just too long. The key is to know your students interests, have options for them within their reading range, and allow choice.
Confer with Your Readers
Right off the bat, I implemented conferencing time as well. This conference form from Reggie Routman worked well to guide our discussion. I met with each of the kids to review current reading and reading plans. During reading time, I pulled students one at a time to discuss where they were in their books and to make plans with them as to when they would complete the books. One of my girls was reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and she planned to finish by Friday with plans to read one of the Dork Diaries next. We talked about other series that were similar...Big Nate, and James Patterson's new series, Middle School. I used this conference form to record our discussion.Set Reading Goals for Genres
On Tuesday, we added a few forms to our reading notebooks. We've been using interactive notebooks all year, so I chose to add our reading logs to the back of the books. {This form} from Donalyn Miller works well because the kids were excited to rate the books. It gives them the goal of completing the book (since you can't rate what you haven't read) and the goal of being able to recommend the books to others. We also added {a genre chart} to the back as well, and I discovered there was some confusion about genres. This means additional mini lessons to provide clarification. My students are so excited about doing star ratings. It highlights their hard work. The quote of the week came Friday from a little boy that just hasn't shown much enthusiasm, "Do you have any more like these??" I almost cried right then and there, and the answer was, "Yes I do. How many do you want?" The hook....George Brown.Teach Explicit Lessons on Real vs. Fake Reading
As a group, we talked about how to squeeze in reading minutes and made an anchor chart like this one from Fearless in 5th. We talked about reading emergencies and the importance of carrying a book with you. The kids really do crave time to just read, so keeping strategy mini lessons short is really important. Most of our time needs to be spent in the book or with the kids talking. We need to work hard to monitor the amount of talking we do and step back to listen to their thinking. If we focus our talk on think aloud with gradual release, we will more likely see transfer. Make Reading Cozy and Comfortable
In the end, this is what I want. I want my kids so into what they're reading that they do not even know I am photographing them. I want them to be WILD about reading because that WILL transfer into a lifelong habit. After all, we want kids to love reading and spread the love. We want them to go out into the world literate people who are able to talk about what they've read. We want them to be wide-read, knowledgeable about all types of books, and purposeful in their reading choices. We read fiction and nonfiction differently, so it's important that children have opportunities to discover all genres. Donalyn Miller gives her students the 40 book challenge. Mine now have the 10+ book challenge for the last quarter, and next year, we'll all be accepting the 40 book challenge from day one. How about your students? Imagine what a great school you'd have if every teacher set that standard for his/her students. It would put a lot of fun and energy back into our children's days.
Motivating Readers
Teaching Strategies that Work...Motivating Struggling Readers
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