November Blog: Kim Plexico- Kindergarten- Routman- Chapter 3- Share Your Reading Life
A quote from the book that struck a
chord when I read it was "too often reading becomes a chore, something
they dreaded." The author
asked some children why they read, and they gave the usual academic benefits, but
no one stated that they read for pleasure. I thought how sad, but how true! "If they don't read
for pleasure, they are not going to make it a life-long habit or goal."
For struggling readers, it is important to find out what they are passionate
about then use this to help them find books they would enjoy reading. I used this strategy with my own fifth grade son the other night when he struggling to find a book to read. He wasn't interested in any of the books on our bookshelf or in his book bag. We talked about his love of sports and how he can find
magazines, online articles, and newspapers to read. In other words, what you
read does not always have to be in a book. Hopefully, this will encourage him
to read for pleasure. As parents and teachers we have the power of books in our
hands to show our children that reading can be fun!
My children often bring in books from home for me to read aloud to the class. There is always a sense of excitement when I am reading their "personal book" or library book to their classmates. As I read the chapter, it sparked an idea to build upon their excitement. The author talked about showing the children a picture of her home library and discuss the importance of having a library in their home. I will use this idea to introduce the concept of having a personal library where
they place their personal books on a shelf in their home. This weekend I will encourage them to bring in their favorite book from their personal library to share with
our class. With these books, we will have book talks, create a "best seller" bulletin
board, and partner read. This will be a fun project to complete leading up to our school Book Fair the first week in December. I am excited about sharing our love of reading with
each other in our classroom!
Kim - I just love how you embrace the ideas you read about and almost immediately formulate a way to put them into practice. Your bulletin board is wonderful and the discussions your children had about nonfiction vs fiction were inspiring. Such young readers can do soooo much given the right environment & guidance.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim,
ReplyDeleteThe passion you have for this profession exudes in all you do and the compassion and kindness you have for your students is also evident. I love how you are taking the ideas Routman presented in this chapter as possibilities for implementation for your kindergarten classroom. I know that they would enjoy bringing in their own personal books to share and the best seller or top book list is at the top of my list for great ideas too. Thanks, Dawn