It is very important to let students know how much you value reading by sharing what you are currently reading. Sharing your passion for reading will inspire children and motivate them to read since they admire their teachers and like to emulate them. I know how excited my students get when I share things from books I am reading. Their eyes swell up when I tell them that I have books in every room of my house. I also tell them that I am addicted to reading, and I cannot go to the mall without stopping by a bookstore and buying books. When teachers talk about their favorite books and authors, it widens the students' knowledge of different authors. Students also need to experience a variety of genres so that they do not read the same types of books all of the time. We are going to start keeping a genre list. Students not only need to know that we read, but how we read by modeling. I want my students to develop a habit of reading for pleasure and not reading because they have to. We should teach children how to love books so thy will immerse themselves in books and develop a love for reading. Research shows that when this happens, students will score better on tests. When the teacher's enthusiasm about books expand, the students' interests in books will also expand.
According to the article, if the teacher is an avid reader, then, it will be easy to model. I like the idea of creating a "favorite author" area with books and information about the author. We are already keeping a writing notebook, however, I would like to revamp them to include students' favorite passages and quotes. My students have started recommending books to each other, especially, if it is a book about something that we are studying. Children value the opinions of their classmates, so selling books to each other is very effective. We have been keeping reading logs, however, I am continuing to read and research keeping and maintaining a reading record starting with myself.
Your love of books is evident in your classroom! Was there anything specific you took away from this chapter--a new idea to try?
ReplyDeleteI added some ideas that I am going to try in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteLove your ideas about a genre list and a "favorite author" section! Thanks for adding those details!
ReplyDeleteHi Lucile,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post is excellent! I appreciate what you went back in added to the post, sharing your reading life with us and the ideas you are considering for providing your students with opportunities to share their favorite books and authors. You discussed how you want to try keeping a genre list with your students so they can see the different variety of texts you are reading together and then students can create their own individual genre lists to see what genres they are currently reading and which ones they may want to try out. Thank you! Sincerely, Dawn