Chapter 3 - Share Your Reading Life

I love to read! 

In an assignment that I was required to do early on in my program we were asked to do a Reading Autobiography.  We were to reflect on the type of reader that we were when we were a kid and then think about how we had changed as we grew up and came into adulthood.  This was pretty overwhelming for me.  I have grown up reading, my mom is a librarian and an avid reader herself.  I never remember anyone forcing me to read.  In fact during the time that we spent each summer in St. Louis at my grandparents house we were required to rest each afternoon.  I would sneak a book under my pillow or in the storage space that was located in the the headboard and read instead of take a nap! 

My love of reading continues and has changed in many ways.  I used to love Nicholas Sparks books, but after about 8, I decided that I was sick of crying at the end of every book.  Then I joined a book club when I lived in Albuquerque and now since I am back in school, anytime I can read a book that interests me I jump at the opportunity,  The Help, is patiently waiting on my shelf for July 17th!

Since I began teaching I have always loved to read to my students.  We read daily!  I start out each school year telling my students that if they don't love to read, then they are in the right class!  I go on to tell them how we will be reading so many different books and types of literature that they are not going to be able to help themselves, but love to read!  Chapter 3 of Reading Essentials, discusses the importance of us as teachers sharing what and how we read.

One of the most important questions I think that kids need to be asked is "Why do you think you're expected to spend so much time reading?"   This of course is a question that is posed by Regie Routman.  It is an important one though.  I feel myself telling kids what to do instead of explaining to them why they are doing something.  Reading books to most kids is one of the most daunting tasks that we can give them.  If they understand that the more they read the better they will get and that they might enjoy a book, poem etc.  Then hopefully reading will be a skill that is a lifelong habit.

Another way that Routman suggests that you can share your love of reading is to discuss the books or text that you are reading currently or a list of favorite books or a favorite author.  Bringing in a stack of books or sharing some of your favorites is an excellent way to illustrate your reading habits.  If you write after you read, then that should be shared too!  Routman keeps a Reading Record.  I like this idea!  Last year we read a lot of books in my classroom.  We read books that focused on a strategy that we were working on for reading, books from the Land of Enchantment list, so that we could vote on our favorite in April, we read books that helped us understand a social studies or science concepts better and books that celebrated holidays.  At the end of the year we were trying to remember how many great books we read and I felt like we left so many out!  We had a great reading year!  Next year I plan on my students keeping their own Reading Record so that they can see how many books they read independently.  I think the kids will be very excited when they see how much they have read.  At the same time I want kids to keep a list of books that they would like to read.  Having the list will help them to continue to work on reading more books. 

Presenting kids with a variety of genres is a no brainer.  There is no possible way for us all to enjoy the same kinds of texts.  Sometimes I think kids think they have to read a specific type of book.  Text sets is not a new concept, but one that has been introduced to me by another professor.  Within a textset should be different types of literature about a specific topic.  If you are working on space in science both nonfiction and fiction texts, poetry, songs, charts and posters can be brought in to share and use as instructional materials.  Using the differnet text not only gives students a variety of ways in which to get information about space, but exposes them to the genres as well.

If we want to reading to become a lifelong habit for our students, then we have to help them find the joy in it!

Reading Essentials

     I admit, I chose my independent text due to the testing pressures that we are feeling at school.  Our district uses a computerized testing system that has two different names people might call it.  It is either referred to as the NWEA or the MAPS test.  Whatever you may call it the school district that I work for puts a lot of emphasis in how the students score and their growth throughout the year.  Well, this year my kids did not do as well as I would have hoped.  So in my research of which book to choose, Reading Essentials, The Specific You Need to Teach Reading Well, caught my eye.  I am not a teacher that teaches to the test, but at the same time I want to be successful in my teaching and I want my students to feel successful as well.

     When I opened up to the first chapter this is the quote and I love it! 
"If we want our students to be excited about literacy, they need to have teachers who love coming to work, who are literacy learners themselves, who find ways to make curriculum relevant to children's lives and who can put high-stakes testing in perspective." 

    Well said!  As I am reading I am feel rejuvenated.  Regie Routman is the author and also a visiting literacy teacher.  She recognizes the demands that are placed on classroom teachers and the inadequacies and lack of self-confidence that teachers daily.  She also is aware of the "scientifically based" programs that we are forced to used and scared to voice our concerns in using our own knowledge of student learning within our own classrooms.
    In the next chapter, she goes onto talk about the importance of bonding with our students.  Bonding really is one of the many ways that we can show our students that we care for them and that are safe.  Although it is not always easy to do, we must give students the opportunity to know about us and in turn give pay attention to their interests, celebrate their efforts and accomplishments and the most important, in my opinion, value them as an individual.
    I can't wait to see what she spotlights next!
   

First TIme Blogger

This is my first time to blog.  I have seen blogs before, but never contributed to one until this semester, nor had my own that I set up and am in charge of contributing to on a regular basis.  I don't really have a lot of time to figure new things out and I am also intimidated by new "techy" things.  In the other summer class that I am taking we are required to blog about the books that we are reading.  It is a blog that is supported by the University of Arizona, WOW Lit. 

I created this blog because it is required for one of the classes that I am taking this summer in order to finish my masters program.  It is tough to go to school and work full time, plus be a mom and a wife.  I think that summer school is even harder, especially for teachers, this is our time to read books that we want to read and recharge so that we can be ready for the upcoming school year.  I was able to squeeze in Water for Elephants, before my summer school classes started.  It was nice to read a book written for grown-ups that didn't have words in it that I had to look up.

I did have problems with adding to my blog's page design and I am still working on how to add a gadget.  I really wanted to add a picture of the beach that I am staying on at the moment.  I will have to work on that at a later time, because right now I am completely exhausted and "techish" things take a lot of brain power.  Overall it was a pretty easy process, but I have not set up many links yet.  In my search to find other blogs about books I found Maw Book Blog.  I liked the format and it immediately drew me in with the old fashioned pictures and diversity in the types of books that are included on the blog.  Recipes can be found on this blog as well!

In my search of other blogs I found one on the National Geographic Kids website, Dog Eared. Here kids can create blogs or make comments about books that kids write about.  As a teacher I think this is a fun opportunity for kids to be able to write about books in a new hip way.  Usually we comment in our Reader's Journal, but I think that my 3rd graders would get a big kick out of this assignment.  It will take a great deal of guidance to get them to understand blogging, especially since I am new to it as well!

I think the tone that I saw on most blogs was is a laid back tone.  It seems to be a place where you can be honest and make suggestions and/or critiques.  I am excited about the possibilities that blogging will bring to not only let me do a little more writing about the reading I am doing but to also hear what others have to say about good beach books and/or books that will help me to become a better teacher.