Routman's quote in the second paragraph summarizes Chapter 3. She states "while excellent teaching is essential, without time to practice and read extensively, students will not become readers." Time seems to be an overarching theme in many articles we have read thus far in this course. Students in all grade levels need to time to practice REAL reading. But in order to do that we need to give them the resources they need to practice.
Routman states that she starts her school year off talking to her students about how much reading is important to her and that is one of the main loves in her life. She shares with them what she has read, what she will read in the future and what her home library looks like. Her students begin to create a similar kind of love for reading because she exemplifies that love in her classroom on a daily basis. Reading to her is like breathing - comes naturally and she could not live without it. So that passion is passed onto her students.
This chapter not only made me think about my reading life but it also made me think of the reading lives of my own children. My kids have a wonderful library of books that many times find their way into my classroom library. I asked both my children about their memories of reading. My 15 year old son, could not remember much- although he was an early reader and loved to be read too. With a tear in my eye from his lack of memories, I asked my 17 year old daughter. Well instead of telling me her memories, she went and got all the special books in her life (some that she hid from me so I would not take those books to school). She remembered the ABC book I made for her to learn her abc's, the board book of Goodnight Moon that we read every night for a year, her first chapter books- The Magic Tree House Series and etc. I was so proud. But I was still worried about my son- where were his reading memories? So I started thinking about the six year old boys I teach everyday. I need to find a way to teach them the love of reading. That means getting books in their hands that they are interested in but also on their reading level- which can be a very hard task.
This week one of our independent reading lessons is on "Books We Love". Each student will bring in one of their favorite books and share with the class. I will also bring in my favorite book from childhood and my kids. This will give me a great gauge of my class and their home reading life. I hope this will ignite a spark in my students to start their love of reading!
I loved hearing about Jake and Hannah's reading experiences. I know your class enjoyed hearing about them as well. It has been challenging to find "boy books" in the past but I think we are all getting better at creating a more diverse classroom library that includes more than princesses and cute puppies.
ReplyDeleteLeslie, I loved hearing about what your own kids remembered about learning to read. You are right about how difficult it can be to get boys to connect to what they are reading. I agree that matching their interests with their reading levels is key. I cannot wait to hear about your Book Share. Your classroom was probably filled with excitement, from (hopefully) even the boys!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about your children's experiences. I also reflected upon my girls home libraries and in doing so worried about all of the students that we have that don't have access to such things. I think as teachers we need to make sure that we are providing our students with ample opportunities to have books in their hands and at home.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Leslie how powerful our voices as parents and educators become as we share and reflect on our own past and present reading experiences. I love the way you reflected on the reading experiences of your own kids which in turn made you take another look at the students in your class and focus on ways to ignite the love of reading in them. Wow this is powerful, thanks Leslie for sharing.
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