As the new school year begins across the country, elementary school teachers are working hour after hour to create welcoming and joyful learning spaces. They set up their classrooms, consult the curriculum, develop lesson plans and determine their routines.
Very often, teachers make well-meaning and thoughtful plans to encourage their students to read daily in order to practice the skills and strategies taught in class, as well as to develop a lifelong reading habit. And, in an effort to hold students accountable for the work, they design various tools to capture evidence of this practice.
Some teachers use a daily reading log, where students record the date, pages read, and minutes read. Others use a calendar, where students enter similar information. And many teachers have a caregiver sign the diary or schedule to prove the information is accurate.
As a school librarian serving over 500 elementary students each year, I constantly hear children complaining about these reading logs and schedules. I also hear parents complaining about having signed them. Many have told me that they sign without even looking at the data, because they sign in the middle of a hectic morning, while packing lunches, helping a child struggling to find a lost shoe. I know what they mean. I signed my own children’s diaries in a hurry.
So why do we do it? There is a body of literacy research it says that children who engage in a high volume of reading become better readers. There is evidence that students who spend time making sense of a text develop a stronger vocabulary, tend to speak more fluently and see themselves as readers. And the reverse is generally true for those who spend much less time with a book in their hands. The problem is that if the objective is to help children develop a taste for reading, it is not enough to spend the minutes with a book.
Documenting that a child is reading at home seems reasonable, especially when they are an emerging reader, but once a child is close to reading independently, it is an incomplete approach. This risks creating a situation where a child feels that reading is a bit of a chore, rather than something they choose to do with their precious free time.
How exactly do we help children develop a desire to spend time reading? And how can we help them read enough to reach the volume of hours needed to become proficient? It boils down to this: we need to create a scenario where the book is the draw – and that requires us to incorporate opportunities to learn about book choice and build a reading community.
Let the children choose
SR Ranganathan—often called the father of librarianship—proposed Five laws of librarianship in 1931, a theory of the operating principles of a library system. In the library community, this has become something of a guide to good practice. Although open to interpretation, I see laws as a sort of framework that guides librarians in making decisions about how books should be used, the importance of respecting individual choice of books, and how libraries should grow and change over time.
Ranganathan’s theory resonates when I think of students becoming readers. I wholeheartedly believe that every person is a reader, if only they can find the right book.
For each person, the “right” book is different. Some get a load of learning something via explanatory non-fiction. Others like to soak up a story through a graphic novel. And others crave silly stories, narrative non-fiction, friendship stories, picture books with great illustrations, or even books that make you cry. Every book has its reader.
Once a young reader knows what they like, the key is to keep the momentum going by getting a new volume in their hands as they finish the one they had. There is usually a connection between a loved book and the next one. For some, it’s about finding a series that captures their imagination or an author they love. But often the connection to a book comes from the community. Perhaps a teacher who knows a student deeply suggests a book, or a librarian organizes a conference about a book that catches a reader’s attention, or a friend from an online book community shares a book trailer. In my experience, however, it’s most often a recommendation by a friend.
Let the children speak
Often the classrooms that are most successful in creating communities of readers are those in which reading is not only part of the curriculum, but also part of the culture. Valuable teaching minutes go into creating a space for students to share with each other what they’re reading, why they like it (or not), and encourage them to offer each other recommendations.
These reading communities are sparked by teachers who model the types of conversation and sharing in which they would like their students to engage. They are lit and nurtured with regular opportunities to share in small groups, with partners, with other staff members (like me!) or even with the whole class in a morning meeting.
Students not only share ideas about what to read, but sometimes they informally coach each other. A few years ago, I was working with a class of CM1, and several students had taken up the challenge of reading, “nine, ten: a story of 9/11by Nora Raleigh Baskin. It was a mid-tier award contender that year, and was unique in that the chapters were told by a rotating cast of four different characters.
There was enthusiasm in the class. Many readers wanted to try the book, but the structure was difficult for some. One morning, two children who had already read the book took the time to explain to the class that the key to understanding the book was knowing clearly which character was speaking. One student suggested first reading all the chapters from each perspective together (for example, reading all the chapters told by Naheed as one story, then repeating with the other three characters), and then re-reading the book as it is. ‘it was written. by the author. Another student created a book guide for taking notes to help make sense of each scenario.
Being part of a community of readers can go a long way. At my school, I’ve seen students start their own book clubs, plan their own author studies, and create bingo reading boards to keep things fun.
I have seen students encourage each other to take on a challenge and offer each other support when needed. I’ve seen students direct their peers to new sections of our library to explore new genres.
And in my favorite moments, I’ve been engaged in a conversation about a book with an individual student or a small group and had another student politely chime in with enthusiasm, “Oh…I know a book you’d like. ! »
The transformative power of a reading community is real.
There are, of course, always exceptions, but I firmly believe that most students, when engaged in a reading community and given free choice of reading material, will find that they enjoy reading . As a child progresses from an emergent reader to an independent reader, their reading time may fluctuate depending on a number of factors such as extracurricular activities, complex curriculum periods, or learning challenges. his personal life. But if they know the joy of a good book, they will return to reading, even without the accounting system of a diary or a calendar. And isn’t that what we’re looking for?