Shelby - Myself as a 3rd Grade Reader

I have many different  memories of myself as a third grade reader.  This is the year that I learned to make mental movies as I read independently and my reading life took off!  I was a voracious reader, thanks to my mother sharing her love of books with my siblings and I.  I read every book in the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.  I was also obsessed with Garfield graphic novels and Choose Your Own Adventure stories.

Reading was usually something I chose to do independently.  My mother also continued reading to us aloud every night.  I still especially loved picture books and became entranced by my mother's ability to read with character voices and expression.

Engaging Kids with Reading

One of my favorite things is helping kids engage in reading.  I love when they enter my classroom at the beginning of the year and proudly announce that they hate reading:  challenge accepted.

I love teaching kids what it really means to be a reader.  I start out by assuring them that we are all readers; in fact, we all have a love for reading that is hidden deep inside.  Some have a more difficult time accessing that love.

I move on to my vacation metaphors, as I explain that reading is like a free vacation, anywhere in the world.  The trick is figuring out just what that vacation is for each one of us.  Some like the tropics, others the Rocky Mountains...and some of us, just like to keep it local, within the sprawling farms of VT.

Finally, I invite them to a Book Tasting...one of the greatest activities I have run in my LA class.  The media specialist and I chose approximately 40 high interest books from a variety of genres and spread them out over 5 tables.  We explained to our students that we wanted them to take "reading risks"; we wanted them to choose to "taste" genres that they were not familiar with.  For 3 at 15 minutes each, they sat and read from books that they would not typically choose.  During each rotation, they filled out a menu that had simple yet significant questions about the books they were choosing. 

Our students were not only engaged but also very willing to spend time reading new genres.  At the end of the period, many were lined up to check out books they would never have chosen previous to the activity.  Mission accomplished. 

Engaging Student in Reading

It's always easy to engage kids that love to read, but I have used these strategies for both interested readers and non-interested readers in 1st grade over the last 5+ years.   I think choice is important.  However, there are not always the best books available at all levels especially emergent readers.  I always try to ask them a few things that they like or are interested in and then find books that match those interests for them.  When I find these, especially if found on Reading A-Z (printable) I will also send home books to practice at home and these are books they can keep.  When they browse the book bins (based on level)  they are able to choose the books that go in to their box.  Typically I give them a card/bin to pick from (level based).  They can swap their books often, or keep them for as long as they'd like.

Using i-Pads has helped a lot.  I had some struggling readers last year that I saw every day, but reading independently the remainder of the time was difficult, so they read on the i-pad.  We utilize RAZ-kids reading program.  Therefore, I can choose the level of their books that they can access.  They can choose what books to read, or have books read to them.  This provided a lot of high engagement during silent reading over the past few years.

Partner reading also worked well.  I think it's an incentive to be able to work with a partner.  We would do this for at least 15 minutes of the reading block.

I think continuous exposure to text and read aloud is important.  Showing them your favorite books and having them see you read helps them.  Also, showing that you are excited about reading and what you can take away from a book might motivate them to value reading, despite what family values may be.  If they learn that reading can help you learn, or take you places, they may eventually buy in. However, I am in the primary grades, but I imagine this must be much more difficult for a teacher of upper elementary or middle school to engage low or reluctant readers.

Getting Children Engaged with Reading- Laurie
Most young children learning to read LOVE to be read to.  When I do my read alouds I put so much spirit and love into what I am reading that my students are just waiting to find out what happens.  It is always my hope that my students will leave the read aloud just aching to read another book by the same author or books with the same type of character.  When I teach my students about unfreezing their characters in their writing I read Elephant and Piggie books and then my students flock to the bookshelf to look at and read an Elephant and Piggie book.  I love to read books that are beautifully illustrated and talk about the illustrations along with reading the book with all my heart and soul. 
Just last week I read the book We Are Growing and I laughed so hard that I had tears in my eyes!  I had my students belly laughing along with me.  It is so important to a readers growth for them to see an adult reader LOVING books.  You will soon begin to see your students picking up familiar books and laughing, admiring and sharing with their classmates the books that you have shared.    

Getting Kids Excited to Read (Sarah)

In my first year at WMHS, I had a particularly challenging 10th grade class. There was a very strange dynamic of the apathetic, rigid thinkers, and goal-driven students. I really struggled to engage them in reading. Since they were so driven by what was relevant, only wanting to learn about “life now” or “what would help them right now”, I devoted a day each week to critically discussing current events. 

I quickly noticed that local or state events were easy hooks to engage kids, but national or international events seemed too far away. During the Flint, Michigan water crisis, I felt they really needed to discuss the impact this negligence had on the people. I set up a pre-reading activity to draw them in and bridge a connection to think more globally about others. I created a scenario in which they “heard” at a school assembly that the drinking water in the school was contaminated with lead, and had been for awhile. I described in brief detail a scenario that really amped them up. They started looking into the effects of lead poisoning, etc., all before I passed out the news article about Flint. One student even shared he had suffered from lead poisoning as a kid, and shared a little about how that affects him. The students were respectful, engaged citizens that day I think because they had the opportunity to bridge their thoughts from self to world. 

Getting Children Engaged with Reading (Becky)

At my school, we are very fortunate to have a literacy library, as well as our regular school library. With that said, I make it my mission to find books of interest, at the appropriate levels, for all of my students. At the beginning of the year we discuss the different genres of books, and do a reading inventory of the kinds of book that they like /want to read. For me, this is a great way for me to see who they are as readers.
There are always a few students who don't like to read, or don't have a favorite genre. Those are the ones that I sit down with and personally talk about their reading inventory. After talking with them, sometimes in depth, we are usually able to come up a few choices. If I cannot find the book in my school library or literacy library, I wll try my local library or try to find the book online!

Getting Children Engaged with Reading- Holly

With this being my first year teaching literacy, I have taken small steps in ensuring my students are engaged in their reading. I really beefed up my library this year by taking on a TON of books from a teacher who retired last year, as well as ordering some books I knew would be engaging for my students. Even with this new beefed up library, through talking with my students and helping them pick out books, I am noticing that there is more I could/need to include in my library. I have started to ask for assistance from other teachers in finding book suggestions for students and even having them bring books over for my class. This has been helpful, so far, in creating more interest for some students, since I am tailoring this work to them.

Through read alouds and some of the history lessons I have created, I have been able to introduce and excite a handful of students into new authors and topics. I am planning on starting a recommendation list in our classroom, where students can write down a book or author that they loved reading and a little blurb about the book, which will help expand the class' repertoire of books.

I am excited to read the other blog posts to learn many other ways I can engage students in reading!