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!