The Love of Reading
The Love of Reading
I understand 100% of the importance of reading because just a couple years ago in high school, I dreaded reading because I had my phone and it was so much cooler…or so I thought. My love and hate relationship with reading dates back to when I was in elementary. It’s been ups and downs but thankfully I love reading now and will continue to read for the rest of my life. Reading is such a crucial skill and needs to be shared to younger students as we move into a more complex digital age.
When I was in elementary school, what I found first sparked my love for reading was when the teacher would let us pick books from the library and they didn’t limit us to which genre or type. I also really loved when we moved into specific books as a class and then we would be able to watch the movie adaptation of it such as Tuck Everlasting. The movie was the reward because we got popcorn and ice cream and well who doesn’t love popcorn and icecream.
Here are ideas to help foster a reading culture in the classroom :
1. I also found reading buddies to be especially useful as older grades were paired up with a member of the younger grades and every other week there would be time to discuss and read together a book of choice. I think this not only fosters friendship but allows the older students to develop teaching skills as well. This also fosters school wide reading as the students are looking forward to and diligently reading to be able to talk about the books to their buddies. Older students can also tailor their teaching approach to suit the needs of their younger buddies. This personalized attention can help struggling readers catch up and challenge advanced readers to explore various topics.
2. Another idea to spark interest in reading is to make trips to the library fun! An idea could be scavenger hunts in the library to find certain books about for example : science or with a color in the title or sports related! These fun activities will get the students touching and viewing different books. To make these hunts even more active, consider incorporating clues, riddles, or puzzles that require students to decipher book titles and authors' names. This not only enhances their problem-solving skills but also deepens their familiarity with the library's space.
3. You can also remind parents by including take home flyers during the last couple weeks of class to stimulate reading during the summer. Annie E Casie Foundation (2015) mentions that in the summer many students lose the reading skills learned in class because of the couple months when they are off school they aren’t readily pursuing reading. The foundation goes on to say that “75 percent of students who are poor readers in third grade, a critical grade for literacy skill building, remain poor readers in high school”. Which is crazy to hear because grade 3 and high school has a big gap however, this is especially important to remind parents to continue to allow and spark interest in reading in their kids. The flyers could include points like:
- Have books available in your child's reach.
- Play the alphabet game by finding letters starting from A-Z while in the car or on a walk.
- Play easy word or rhyming games with your child.
- Use sidewalk chalk to make a mural with your family. Don't forget to title your masterpiece.
- Have a "book-nic." Grab a blanket, snacks and books to celebrate a beautiful summer day.
- Reading night with neighbors or friends during a set time at night and then celebrate with movies or snacks after
I love TED videos and this video really captures the power and importance of reading!
Luke is a charming 9 year old boy who shares his perspective on why he reads and why it’s important to him. Spoiler : He reads everywhere! Books accompany him. Reading to him is “love in action”.
The Power and Importance of...READING! | Luke Bakic | TEDxYouth@TBSWarsaw
To relate reading back to #LeadingLibs
I found the book especially helpful during my time writing this blog about reading cultural in schools. Contrary to beliefs that the work of a librarian is not merely "reading books to kids and helping them check out materials". The role of a librarian or library staff member or teacher is to curate information, tools and strategies for students and at times for other school members. I feel that we cannot talk about reading culture without touching upon the part where we do lead from the library whether it's bringing classes to the library and or the library itself being a social hub for students. To advocate for students to read is to empower students by leading with example. I feel that it would be helpful for whenever there is a chance either when the class enters the library or on announcements to remind students of the inclusive environment in the library. Students could be reminded of library reading contests such that when they finish a book they can add a sticker to their name or win a small prize depending on the library budget. All these ideas can get students involved and it is all fun and more reading.
To End Off...
Here are my list of top books to read (for fun) :
The Colour purple (Alice Walker)
It Ends with Us (Colleen Hoover)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Taylor Jenkin Reid)
Love Boat Taipei (Abigail Hing Wen)
The movie trailers that go along with the books above :
The Colour Purple : https://youtu.be/wPwzBUui1GA?si=lp8wQRl_R2uQdHg3
Love Boat Taipei : https://youtu.be/roN5jqd235k?si=BMn-ABszvITJuRZN
References :
Summer fun for kids: Activities that foster a love of reading (2015). . PR Newswire Association LLC.
Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019). Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age.Links to an external site. International Society for Technology in Education.
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your ideas for fostering a reading culture. I agree with you that there are many strategies that schools, TLs, and classroom teachers can work on together to build a vibrant reading culture. While I see the applicability of your ideas in an elementary context, I wonder if you have any ideas how you might adapt them to a secondary setting. I think buddy reading definitely has its appeal among younger children. I can attest that my daughter who is currently in grade one loves getting to read with an older student or adult. Perhaps in a secondary school, student services and skills teachers can pair up classes for buddy reading. The differences in class sizes and the challenges of class compositions might complicate the feasibility of this idea but it might work if the classes are roughly the same size and have strong literacy skills. Additionally, I think a secondary school TL can turn the library’s webpage into a newsletter or digital take home flyer of sorts that highlights the goings-on in the LLC such as new books, recent collaborations with the TL, and makerspace ideas and projects. The ideas in your post are certainly amenable and adaptable for secondary students. Thanks!
This is a good reflective post that includes many solid ideas for fostering a reading culture. I appreciate the way that you bring forward learning from our text. The Luke Bakic video is very inspiring. I wonder how students might respond to his message. I also appreciate that you have included a list of books you recommend. What a great way to model reading engagement. In your next post, you may want to include some additional academic reading and research to complement your strong reflective narrative.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you sharing your own experience and what really excited you about reading! I can see how this experience, and how you weave in strategies and approaches to your own teaching, will really support students to become eager readers.
I particularly enjoy the idea of the library scavenger hunt. I agree, getting students to engage with library materials and pick them off the shelf is half the battle, particularly in the elementary school. Often the large shelves are intimidating and students head back to their old favourites or simply say there was nothing that interested them. Having books read aloud and shared with the covers facing out inspires engagement with materials. I can imagine having different themed or skill based scavenger hunts throughout the year could inspire further engagement. Thank you for sharing this idea!
Hi Michelle, I really like the idea of a library scavenger hunt - maybe I'll offer a book of their choice as a prize.
ReplyDeleteYour scavenger hunt idea is so cool! I do a boring version in my poetry unit but the idea of students searching for elements in books they may not have otherwise looked at and end up being interested in a nice outcome. And your book list is quite diverse which makes it much more appealing.
ReplyDelete