Saturday, September 30, 2017
Getting Students Engaged in Reading - Liz
Every year I try to improve my skills and strategies for getting all of my students engaged in reading. One of the things I've always done is to continue adding more books to my classroom library. In the past I had felt a bit defeated, as I'd spend time and money to add books that students weren't reading. I realized then, that when I stuck the books in the library without saying anything, the kids wouldn't even know they were there! Toward the end of last year, and continuing into this year, every time I got new books, I'd make a big announcement about them and hand them out to any students who wanted to read them right then and there. I also have a book bin in the library marked "new arrivals". This year, I've been trying to order and find books for my kiddos who are more reluctant readers. When I make my new book announcements, I often say, "I got this one with so-and-so in mind because he/she likes baseball" or something like that. Those kiddos light right up and grab the books. I also get a read of which books and series are most popular with my classes, and seek those out (Dogman and any other graphic novels are especially popular for my students this year!), so that they're excited when these popular books are added to our library. The other way I have found that really engages students is read-alouds. When they're really into a book I'm reading to the whole class, I can find opportunities to point them toward other books like our read aloud, or by the same author. I think this will be an ongoing challenge for me, so I'm really looking forward to reading what everyone else does to engage their students in reading!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A couple of years ago after we had a pick a book day with hundreds of books to choose from I received a letter from a second grader. He was thankful for the book he chose but he offered some titles I might like to consider for the next give away. One title (in all caps) was part of a series I wasn't familiar with so I went to his room to ask him about it. He convinced me to buy several from the series and let him read them to show me why they were perfect for second graders!
ReplyDeleteHi Liz-
ReplyDeleteI love your methods of finding the just right book for your students. I also really like how you use specific students to introduce books! You must have a great classroom community!
I too have beefed up my classroom library. I have add many new favorites. I have also tried to organize them so students can easily find what they are looking for. Now some of my books are organized by level while others are organized by author, topic or genre. This has increased their interest in reading.
ReplyDeleteI've done the same! I used to organize by genre only, but now I also have "Ms. Reiss's All-Time Favorites", "Classmate's Picks", author-specific baskets, and more specific "If you liked...". I'm finding that it's helping!
DeleteI keep my books in bins mainly based on reading levels. I also have a non-fiction section. I like the idea of creating more interest in reading by creating different categories and to keep the books circulating. I think the kids often forget what exactly is in each bin.
DeleteI have been working to clean out and restock my library as well. I have been having trouble taking books out of my library. I have to keep reminding myself that no student has read this book in 3 or more years. Our school librarian put together a book adoption center so most of the books I take out of my library will go to the adoption center.
ReplyDeleteI also make a point to show my students the new book arrivals. I love your idea of naming a student you had in mind and why you think they might like that book. It makes the student feel connected to you and the book.
An adoption center—what a cool idea!
DeleteI like the idea of making direct recommendations for kids! I’ve been trying to do that more with my advisory kids (8th) who “don’t have anything to do” :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I started in my classroom last year it had a stocked library which I was very excited about. Unfortunately many of the books are outdated and not very interesting to the students. Although I do not have a budget to introduce new books you have given me the idea to have a book of the week or something along those lines from the existing books. This will allow me to find some books already in my library and introduce them in an exciting way to get the class to read more of the books in the library. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDirect recommendations are something I still need to improve on! Thanks for the reminder Liz!
ReplyDelete