A Good Day for Reading

Friday was a good day for reading.

• Before school, I had a conversation with a colleague about works to read in American lit and world lit classes.
• After staff prayer, a colleague introduced me to a student from her class who had asked her about borrowing a book from my classroom library. (Answer: Sure thing! Just write your name and the title of the book on the sheet posted above the shelf.)
• Between homeroom and first period, four sixth and seventh grade students were already in my room reading their independent reading books…and we don’t even take class time for independent reading when we’re doing a whole class novel!
• During first period, a student pointed to the back cover of the whole class novel and asked me if I had another book by the same author advertised there. (Answer: No, but the audio is in the online library our school has a membership in, and I was planning to listen to it to see if I wanted to get it for our classroom library. She was welcome to listen to it, and her query had just shifted that item to the top of my to-read (to-listen?) list.
• Between first and second periods, another student who is not in my class asked if she could read a book in my classroom library. (Before today no student from outside my class has asked me that…and then two in one day!)
• I noticed that another colleague had updated her “is reading” poster to a book that was also on my to-read list, and we had a brief conversation about that.
• I told my EFL class that because of the newspaper article we’d read and discussed on Tuesday and Wednesday, “Survey shows only 17% in South Korea and 20% in Japan like each other,” I’d had the idea to make a poster of books to read to learn about Korea. I posted it on the other side of my world map, opposite the poster “Learn about Afghanistan by Reading….” Next poster in the works: “Learn about Japan by reading….”

I’m encouraged to see a culture of reading taking root, and it doesn’t happen by accident. What helps a culture of reading flourish? Teachers who model reading, time made available for reading, and books made available to read. “Growing Your Expertise in Children’s Literature” has a helpful list of things teachers can do to help, including some of the things I do, like sharing personal reading posters; keeping current by following blogs on new books and award winners (like Nerdy Book Club and Read Aloud Revival); and establishing a Goodreads account for setting your own goals, tracking reading, and seeing what others are reading.

What do you do to encourage a culture of reading at your school? What results do you see?