Falling in LOVE with reading: Part One

A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of my kids picking out books from our home library and reading in bed.  

I shared my feelings on reading logs as homework and then had some great discussions on my Facebook.  I have given reading logs in the past.  At the school I taught at in Kentucky, it was a school policy- twenty minutes of reading every night and a parent signature.  While at my school here in South Carolina, I tried a few times to start a log with my students and I always ended up abandoning it at some point in the year.  Do you know why?  Because I KNOW who is reading at home.  My asking them to write it down didn't change whether or not they did it OR even more importantly whether they GOT anything from the reading.  I KNOW which kids sat and stared at the same book page until the clock said they had done it long enough. So do you. We all do.  

In my pursuit of research about reading logs, I ran across this quote from Pernille Ripp, and I may have yelled "AMEN!"

 

She has more great ideas here! 

I think the reason this sticks out to me SO much is that as a mom to two very passionate readers, I see the difference in their attitudes in the books they choose and love AND the required reading that involves an adult signature. Do I think we should stop asking them to read at home? 

Absolutely not.  

The research on that is clear.  Kids that read at home have stronger vocabularies and better connections to literature, not to mention the meaningful discussions that they have with their families. I think we should continue to discuss the importance of reading at home and how it makes the kids feel.  I think we should ask the kids if they have access to books at home.  I think we should GIVE them access to books at home through a lending library. I definitely don't think we should give up.

One alternative I am trying out is highlighting students choosing to read at home and how they like to read.  I think kids will get new ideas and it will start discussions about the books they like to read and the places they do it.

Details about the board:  

1.    Borders found at Hobby Lobby

2.  Large Googly Eyes found at Hobby Lobby

3.  Letters cut using Cricut (fonts are KG Blank Space Solid and BabblingAmy)

4. Paper is Astrobright Primary Colors. 

The day before I put this board up I reached out to a couple of moms and they texted me pictures of their kids reading before bed.  I can't wait to see the board as more kids bring in pictures!

I made this note to go home with the kids on Monday! Click on the picture to grab a copy for yourself!

I will be adding to this file over the next month or so as I write more blog posts on this topic.  We are all in this journey together in creating life-long readers!!