Amanda Stephens-Blog 4-November: Kindergarten - Share Your Reading Life- Routman (Chapter 3)

Amanda Stephens- Blog 4-November: Kindergarten- Share Your Reading Life-Chapter 3 (Routman)

          When I think about reading, I think about all of the books I have read for pleasure. I think about all of the books I have chosen that interest me. I think about the books that sparked my imagination.  I can’t imagine never reading for fun.  That thought just seems so foreign to me but unfortunately, as Routman states, the thought of “reading for pleasure rarely comes up without some prodding” when discussing books.  This is so sad.  How can you not read anything for fun?!  Routman encourages teachers to share their own personal library with students to model good reading habits. “When we make our reading lives explicit to our students, their reading lives expand in many directions.” (Routman 2003)  By sharing our own personal library with our students we are showing them that it is okay to read for pleasure, it is okay to choose from a variety of genres, and that it is okay to read something other than books.  I think that Routman offers wonderful ideas on how to encourage your students to develop a “Reading Life”.  Some of my favorite ideas for encouraging my students are a class top ten list, having students bring in books from their personal library to share, making a favorite class author section in my classroom library, and creating book reviews.  I especially like the book review idea.  I would love to have each of my kindergartners write a simple book review telling why they like a particular book (of their own choosing).  It would be so much fun to let the students share these with the class and then display them on a bulletin board or in the hallway. It might also be fun to video these book reviews in the form of a commercial and let the children watch themselves reviewing their books. What a great way to get them excited about the upcoming book fair!  It would also give me more insight as to what type of books each of my students enjoy. This will help me to help them in choosing high interest books.  I plan to share more about my “Reading Life” with my young readers and hopefully encourage them to love reading for fun just like I do!