Welcome to a new school year. Every week I write this blog for those who like to know more: more about me, more about what we're doing, and more about why we're doing it. I thought I would start this first blog off by talking about my goals for your kids for reading for the year. My goal for your kids this year is that they formulate a reading habit. I'm not deluded into thinking everyone loves reading like I do (my own son - 14-years-old - is a dormant reader, but his Language Arts teacher last year did a program like this, and now he's formed much better habits for reading, and he's much more open to reading to learn than he ever was before). If there's one thing we know from research and practice, the more a student reads the better he/she does academically in high school and beyond, on the job, and on the standardized tests. It is the basis for everything we do.
Every week your student will have 50 pages of reading to do, plus a reading activity sheet to fill out. I will give them the sheet on Fridays, and they will turn them in, signed by you, on Thursdays. They get to choose what they want to read, fiction or non-fiction, as long as it has a voice (meaning narrator of some type) and tells a story. It needs to be reading-level appropriate and age-level appropriate. My goal is that they get used to reading all the time. This is their homework, and it is what they should do when they have downtime in class because they're done earlier than others with an assignment. On Fridays I'm going to give them time to read their books in class. They should carry their books with them everywhere. In order to accomplish this, I will model the same behavior I expect from them. If you haven't guessed, I am a reader. I can't tell you how or why, I just am. Here's a little bit about myself:
One of my earliest memories (I must have been 4) is sitting up in my canopy bed with my pink lamp on next to me. First, my mom would read to me; then I would get the gift of 10 minutes to continue reading to myself. In my earliest memories the book is always
Ten Apples Up On Top. I remember "reading" it to myself and feeling so good about my ability to be a reader at four years old (I probably had it memorized). I
loved reading!
Another distinct memory is from first grade when I was placed in a second grade reading group. I remember being proud
and intimidated by those who were better readers. Mrs. DeLind would say, "Slow down. Just read at your own pace." I did, but I also worked my tail off. I identified myself as a reader, and I wanted others to do so, too.
I don't know
how I learned to read. I don't remember phonics or drill-and-skill activities. I just always seemed to do it. I loved all fiction, and I'm sure my mother steered my love of it. I'm positive I read all of the
Little House books with her because I remember her telling me stories of my grandmother's childhood farm in Hillsdale County that matched up (and then my grandmother filled in the rest of the details when I asked her about them). My grandmother also sat down and read to me whenever asked -
Rosy Nose, a picture book about a reindeer - was my favorite. I also remember going to the school library and sitting on the floor in front of the stacks of books, looking and looking, always going back late to the classroom. I loved my 3rd through 5th grade classrooms because they were directly around the library which was an open space in the middle of the block of classrooms. My favorite books from this time period were in a series about a little witch. I wish I could remember the titles, but I can't. I also remember loving
The Secret Garden and
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
In middle school I remember going to my other grandparents' house. I would sit in front of a book case and pick out a book - my favorite being
Little Women - and then my grandparents and I would sit in the living room and read. It sounds like they were neglecting me, but they weren't. It was actually a bonding experience as we would talk about the books we were reading.
I continued to read in high school and college, sneaking in 10-15 minutes before bed as necessary. I've continued that pattern through today. Vacations are the greatest because I get in quite a bit of reading time, but during the school year I still need to squeak in 10-15 minutes at least. I
have to read. It's as necessary as eating and breathing. I carry books with me wherever I go so that if I have down time I can read a few pages. I tried eReaders, but they're not for me. To each his own. So my bag is always big enough to carry a book or two. Have I mentioned that I love reading?
If you would like, I would LOVE to hear about your reading experiences. If you want, you can put a comment on this post and I can reply back to you. Whether you're a reader or not, I'm interested in your story.
So welcome to a new school year. Let's make this one a year for reading!
My Goals for Readers - 2017/2018 by
Laura Stubbs is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at
https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.
