A Love of Reading

As teachers, we are obsessed with instilling a love of reading in our students. We have both been around though all the newest, latest gimmicks for the best way to teach children to read.  We started with phonics, moved into the whole language phase, back to phonics and who knows what is next?!?! What we want to do is PUT A BOOK IN OUR CHILDRENS' HANDS AND LET THEM READ! We are going to share some of our favorite ways that we promote reading in our classrooms.

BOOK SHARES

Each morning, as soon as the children unpack, each child gets to "check out" books from the class library after returning the books from the previous day. We have themes like SPACE, CATS, WEATHER, LOVE, FAIRY TALES, TEETH, WHALES, etc.  They are allowed 5-7 books of their choice in their bag, and of course they can keep a favorite in their bag for a few days, but no hoarding books allowed. Too long and it becomes like an old friend you can't let go, or a competition to see how long they can get away with keeping it from the others. It's a FIRST GRADE THING.  HA! Some of the books are on their level and some have to be read to them, however we always encourage them to choose JUST RIGHT BOOKS. We want them to FEEL LIKE  and BE successful readers.Let's face it, if they think they can't read, they won't.  Sooooo, we have to build in success to get the old ball rolling.  By Friday morning, students must choose a book they enjoyed reading and prepare a sheet for Book Share Fridays. The students pick a sheet up from the class library after getting their new books for the day, and begin their book report.  To introduce this, I play an old antique READING RAINBOW VHS (Yes, we still have VCR's in our room too). At the end of every episode, children always did a book share that I really loved.   They simply tell us about the book, which makes you want to check it out right away. They may also bring in a prop to go along with the book share, and it's always exciting when a parent makes a food item to go with the book!!

READ

Through the years, our school has adopted  D.E.A.R. (drop everything and read) and we used it for years.  Our school set  times and we all 

DROPPED EVERYTHING AND READ A BOOK. 

The whole school participated. Even the principal! After a couple of years, schedule problems and TESTING all the darn time, we had to set times individually.  At times, it was a bit of a problem getting first graders to sit still and actually read during the time the school wanted us to read.  BUT...after reading Daily Five, we learned that we have to teach the kids to sit and read, as well as all the different ways to read a book, even if you don't know all the words, build stamina, and give them a choice of what to read. We also have to SHOW them what reading looks like. Teachers have to sit down, be quite, and read too.   

READ-IN

Every November, during National Children's Book Week, we have a READ-IN. The kids bring sleeping bags, pillows, wear pajamas, and we READ all day long!  We schedule different things through out the day to get them up and moving.  They enjoy it, but can't wait to get back to reading!  We have guest readers every 45 minutes. We ask police officers, high school football players, the principle, the district superintendent, firemen, etc to come in and read one book, but also to tell us why reading is important to them. We also set 30 minutes for parents to come in, get on the floor, and read with the kids.  We serve milk and muffins in the morning.  Then we have bookworms (gummy worms) in the afternoon!!   FUN, FUN day!

CURL UP WITH A GOOD 

BOOK AND READ

On the first Friday in January, we have another day that we do nothing but READ!  The kids wear their pajamas again, bring sleeping bags, and we read. We do not invite guest readers from outside the school this time. Instead, we ask our special teachers (PE, Office Aide, custodian, lunch room staff, etc.) to come in.  We serve hot chocolate and mini donuts for snack!  We do more cuddling and reading with our own students on this day. Right after lunch, we get settled in our sleeping bags and watch THE SNOWMAN.  They love this!

BUDDY READ (with another grade)

One day, every other week we get together with our 5th grade buddies and read! This is a win-win for all of us.  The 5th graders are like movie stars in our eyes! When we see them in the hallway, or at an assembly, you would think they'd seen someone straight off of Nick Jr. They are our reading role models. We can hardly wait to see them each week. We take turns staying in our room or going UPSTAIRS to their room. You should see the wonderment in their eyes when we go upstairs to the room with the giant chairs and giant desks! 

MODEL

Each day we read to our students.  It doesn't matter when you read, they just need to hear you read.  We choose right after lunch (when the schedule permits).  It's a good time to calm down, lay on the floor if you want, and listen.  We choose different chapter books depending on the season and interests at the time. Honesty, sometimes I think this is where all our comprehension is learned.  They will listen and get so involved in the story, characters, and predicting what's to come, that it is the PERFECT opportunity for teaching all of your comprehension skills.  They like to draw and write summaries about what you read as well.  Another win, win activity.

BUDDY READ

We give our students time to socialize with books!  Right after we read to them, we send them off to BUDDY READ.  We alternate days between BUDDY READING and READ TO SELF.  They learn the rules of both.  They know what I expect. Talking is okay during Buddy Reading if it is about the book. During Buddy Reading, the teacher can move around group to group and listen.

READ TO THE TREES

Okay...this is the coolest ever!  We read "The Garden" from Frog and Toad Together.  Remember when Toad thought the seeds were afraid to grow, so he read them a story?  Well, out behind our classroom we have a wooded area. The trees have no leaves...yet!  In the spring we go out and each child adopts a tree.  A few times a week, we go out and read to the trees. Miraculously leaves begin to appear!

READ-OUT

Every Friday in May, we have a READ-OUT!  We take books and beach towels outside, find a shaded area, and read for about an hour!  Teachers enjoy the sunshine and the kids have a blast!  And they are READING!  

LISTEN TO BOOKS

We think listening to books is just as important as reading them. The children may not be decoding or working on fluency, but they are gaining vocabulary, hearing what good reading sounds like, gaining new information, picking up on intonation and so much more.  

TEACH

Of course we teach a little too!  HA!  We have to give the students the skills and strategies to make learning to read easier for them.  If they can't do it, they won't like it.  It's our job to assure every child that they can do it and give them every way possible to get there. Below are some of our tools we use to help our students love reading and understand what they have read.  

BOOK EXTENSIONS

We have a boxed reading program in our district.  Until this year, we were asked to use it.  And most of the time, well, some of the time, okay a few days a week, we used it.  We knew what the kids needed to learn to read. This year we've been given more freedom to teach the way we know our kids learn best. We have recently added our Book Extensions to our TPT store that focus on the books our kids love!  Remember, we want them to LOVE TO READ, while learning!  The easiest way to see each individual extension is to click on the Book Extension link to the right, under CHECK IT OUT.  

COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES

We compiled a set of Comprehension Strategies that can be used with ANY book in your classroom tomorrow!  These activities are so helpful when trying to teach comprehension to your students, and can be used after read-alouds, in groups, with a partner, in a center, for homework, or for pre-writing about the text. If they aren't comprehending what they are reading, they aren't reading. 

We ♥ Reading, Do You?