Chapter 3: Share Your Reading Life
I connected with this author on such a personal level! I liked that the author seems to be a sentimental and quite organized person because I feel that my life is very similar. The author included how she kept her favorite quotes from her books and I do the very same thing. I have been raised by both my teachers and parents alike to love words and vocabulary, so it was so nice to hear that someone else shares the same passion for reading and finding sentimental value from texts as I do.
Especially from the connection I have made to the author, I now have a larger yearning to conduct the same reading-centered lessons and activities with my own students in my own classroom. Although I have previously shared my love for reading with my students, before reading this article, I had never thought about telling them exactly what I love reading and why. I had just said, "I love reading and you should too!" Sometimes, loving something is not enough. Being able to describe your passion for something and really dive into the depths of your passion's meaning is what captures others and sparks their interest as well.
Before reading this article, I had actually made my classroom "Reading Rug" more appealing than before by adding student-made anchor charts (i.e. "How can I become a better reader" anchor chart with student-written responses), an "I love reading" picture to my bookshelf, a fuzzy rug, several comfortable chairs, and a very large stuffed teddy bear; however, I feel that I focused more on the look and comfort of the reading area than the actual books, themselves. I have found that my library consists of many literary fiction texts such as fairy tales and Junie B. Jones. What I really need to be doing to "vamp up" my library is giving students more option of choice. My goal for the next few months is to add in 'a gazillion' more non-fiction books and to label different book bins by genre.
This author has really pointed out the importance of options for children when it comes to genre. The author mentioned--and even gave a graphic of--a Genre Wheel, where students can see all of the different genres and are asked to read at least two books from each section of the wheel. I know that I will find this extremely beneficial to my students in the near future and I cannot wait to use it with them!
As a first year teacher, there is a lot of things thrown my way that I feel are over my head; however, one thing I know for a fact is that if a child can read better, they can virtually do anything better. I have been, am, and will focus a lot of my attention and instruction on the importance of vocabulary in text and try to foster a passion for reading in each and every student that comes my way.
I too was like you in that I only told the kids that I loved reading, but I never shared what I love to read. I love that your goal for the next couple months will be to add a "gazillion" new books and label baskets with genre. As a new teacher you already realize one of the most important things, that better reading will benefit all aspects of learning!
ReplyDeleteHI Raegan,
ReplyDeleteI always appreciate the sincerity of your blog posts. This one was no different. I have seen first hand how inviting your classroom library is and I know your students appreciated the homey touches you've added such as your rug and your teddy bear. That alone makes students want to come over and browse the books. I agree with you though, that we as teachers need to focus on the quality and variety of the books we offer students. Thank you for taking time to think about how your classroom library can be improved by adding more informational texts. I, too loved the genre wheel idea and think it could be helpful in exposing students to a wider variety of texts. Thank you! Dawn