Creating Passionate Readers

Believe it or not, guided reading programs, Accelerated Reader, and reading interventions don't create voracious readers.  As much as publishing companies try to pack their programs with high interest stories, they are still forced down many children's throats.  Kids earning points for reading takes away the genuine sense of accomplishment in finishing a book.  Most kids I have worked with that struggle in reading don't read on their own because they essentially view it as "work." It is for this reason that I highly agree with Cynthia Rylant and her beliefs about reading:



With the best of intentions, I think teachers sometimes feel that they have to discuss everything to death.  They are trying to help kids infer and retell, which are fantastic higher order thinking skills.  However, doing this with EVERY book just makes kids hate reading.  Sometimes we have to shut up and just let kids enjoy reading.  It's ok to read to kids just for fun.  It's fine to not ask questions and just teach them that it's awesome to get totally wrapped up in a story.

The following are some ideas that follow Cynthia Rylant's philosophy of inspiring readers.

1. Host a Read In: Students bring in blankets, pillows, flashlights, and of course, books.  They use a little time to build forts and then get to read in these forts for an hour or two.  Is this wasting class time?  I don't think so because you are sending two messages.  One is that reading is fun.  The other is that it is so important that you should sometimes do nothing but reading for a couple of hours.  Plus, don't we do this as adults?
2. Read Aloud to Your Class Without Asking Them Questions:  I know administrators everywhere are cringing, but I'm not saying to do this every time.  Set aside a couple of days a week where whatever you are reading you are just going to read.  Let the kids stretch out, listen, and enjoy.
3. Find Each Child That One Perfect Series:  When you pair kids with books that are just right for them, their reading takes off.  I have seen second graders who hated reading pick up an American Girl book and suddenly take off reading the whole series.  I have seen fourth grade boys grab a book by Rick Riordan and then read everything he has ever written.  Usually you want to make sure it's something the child is capable of reading.  But, if the child has the right support don't limit them to only books that are at their independent reading level (especially if they are gifted children).
4. Give Your Students Books as a Present:  On holidays I will sometimes wrap up books and give them to my students as gifts.  They almost always drop everything that they are doing and read.  Scholastic often has great promotions that make this possible.  For Halloween a couple of years ago I was able to get each of my kids their own copy of The Teacher From The Black Lagoon.  Sure, it was a simple story, but it was special because it was a gift.
5. Close the Book You Just Finished and Keep Your Mouth Shut: This one is by far the hardest for me.  There is nothing better than the look on a my students' faces when I close a book at the end.  They almost all have something to say or ask.  I have just sat there smiling at them for over five minutes before and let them run away with their thinking and feelings about the end of a book.  Some of the best conversations have come out of me shutting up!

What ideas have you used in your classroom to inspire your students to LOVE reading?

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Let It Go: A lesson in student driven classrooms.

Just try not to sing whilst reading that title.

In life, I am definitely not a super organized person.  My husband can attest to this by pointing to the pile of clothes on top of my hamper.  In my classroom, however, I have systems for my systems.  My shelving system has labels and sub-labels.  Which was why when my district began to push for student driven classrooms, I pretty much balked at the idea.  "How does that even work?" "How will I get anything done?" "What if they choose things that don't work, or are not what I'm looking to accomplish?"

I decided to take it slow.  Boldly, I deleted a word or two in rubrics I had created.  Then I gave students two topics to choose from in an opinion writing assignment.  Little by little I started to let go.  Something pretty cool started to happen... my kids began to care more.  My kids were aware of what was expected of them.  My kids were more engaged.  This fueled my fire.  Eventually my students were creating their own rubrics.  They were coming up with their own research projects and writing informative essays.  The more power I gave my students the more innovative, creative, and authentic their learning became.  This led to some amazing things.

My kids redesigned the classroom based on this new way of learning, considering their learning needs.  They started to notice things that needed to change in their world and used class time to change them.   Opinion writing changed from a guided curriculum to the creation of a presentation to the principal on why she should purchase garbage bins for our playground.  This led to number sense of costs, research on health problems, and lessons on public speaking.   Students were curious about coding and computers so they took things apart.  They learned about coding systems and how to get into the field of computer science.  Most importantly, this was all going on at once.  Different kids were working on different things throughout the day.  Normally, this would make my anal brain go nuts.  But the kids really directed themselves!

Fundamentally my perspective on teaching had changed.  I used to think about what we needed to cover and how to incorporate students into it.  Now, I harness their interests, passions, and curiosities and then see what curriculum can fold into them.  Is it harder? ABSOLUTELY!  But I cannot tell you enough how much it is worth it.  I literally don't have behavior problems anymore.  Differentiation is inherent in the lessons because kids drive their own learning.  Learning is authentic.

I will admit that I am still learning.  But, I must say, I am truly enjoying being a partner of learning.  It's time we let kids show what they can do in their own way.  It's time to test the limits and break through.  No right, no wrong, no rules for me I'm free! Let it go!  I'm glad I did.

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Comment below with other ways you have let it go in your classroom!