“ You may have tangible wealth untold; caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you will never be. I had a mother who read to me.”
Strickland Gillian
Retrieved from Creative Commons
One important component in fostering a reading culture is the need for reading to be shared and valued by all. It starts in the home and continues when the child enters school. Providing social interaction and building background knowledge through shared experiences help to instil a love of reading.
In terms of the school, I believe it needs to be something that is valued by the whole staff. Activities and events promoting reading need to be encouraged by not only the teacher-librarian but also the staff as a whole. A number of years ago, the school I was teaching at had all the teachers read their favorite children’s book in different classes on a rotating basis one morning. It was such a terrific experience and one that put the focus on the enjoyment of reading. If I were to do this at my own school now, I would take this one step further, and extend the invitation for older students to read their favorite book with perhaps their buddy classes? Everyone needs to share the excitement of reading. Talking about books and engaging in conversation about reading with students is essential.
In looking at Stephen Krashen’s “Power of Reading”, I wholeheartedly agree that kids need access to interesting books. I know this is an area I need to work on. I work in a single-track Immersion program and I’m just now starting to feel my way around ordering French resources. I also recognize that peer suggestions are huge. I see this with my two teenagers at home as well as in the library with kids swapping books and asking to put a book on hold, as they want to read the book their friend had.
Krashen also mentions comfortable cushions and pillows, as kids would have an opportunity to curl up and read. While I think this would be a terrific idea, I’m having a hard time envisioning how this could work. All I am seeing is pillow fights and a dash to the cushions when my classes of thirty arrive?
Krashen talks about reading itself as being the best motivator, not prizes. I wasn’t sure about starting up a school wide home reading program but now feel I want to head more in the direction of special events. For instance, I heard of a principal taking a group of student’s into the gym to read with flashlights.
As for what I am doing in the library now, one of the ways I try to encourage reading is through book talks and read-alouds. I am seeing great success with read-alouds and it is encouraging to see the kids excited about the books and wanting to read more. I’m also noticing with the younger students that they like a book regardless of the language. They ask for a book to be read again because of the enjoyment it brought to them and they don’t seem to be bothered with the language it is written in as long as I’m reading the book.
Another way I think encourages reading is through book displays and baskets highlighting different authors. I have had a good response to both and hope to expand this further.
One new initiative I took on this year was the Reading Link Challenge for students in Grade 4 and 5. The Reading Link Challenge is similar to the Battle of the Books and is organized through the public library. The students compete in groups of six and answer factual questions about six different books. I have forty-eight students participating. Yes, it is a competition but it is voluntary and has been well received. Many of the students have gone on to read the sequels on the own and you can see them in the halls talking about the books.
Lastly, I think it is important to recognize that kids are reading differently from when we were young. It is important to acknowledge the reading that is being done with technology. This week, our district just included some eBooks into the Destiny library collection and we have been given money to add to the collection. A next step would be to show students how to access these books as well as other sources of digital reading. It is important to keep finding ways to help instil a love of reading. Vive la lecture!
References:
Krashen. S. ( 2012, April 5). Power of reading. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSW7gmvDLag
