I’d like you to think for a moment about what we might share with other kids and teachers about our reading community. What makes our reading community special?
“We do Meet Someone New Monday.” -N
On Mondays, my students are introduced to someone who has contributed to the world in their own unique way. By the end of the week, we read a picture book biography that shares the individual’s story. We read to enjoy. We read to learn. We read to grow ideas.
Learn more about Meet Someone New Monday. . .
- On Twitter & Instagram – #MeetSomeoneNewMonday
- Through Choice Literacy – Meet Someone New Monday: Using Picture Book Biographies to Bring Marginalized Voices into the Classroom by Melissa Quimby
- Here on TBR Blog – First Graders and #MeetSomeoneNewMonday by Tammy Mulligan
“We do Book Buzzing.” -Q
On Friday mornings, readers write a book buzz script to plan how they will introduce and recommend their independent reading books to others. They buzz about their book to three other classmates. When we hear about so many awesome books, it can be hard to remember them all. Readers have a special notebook to record books they’d love to read throughout the year.
“We do First Chapter Friday.” -A
Reading is a gift! On Fridays, we “unwrap” a book from our special book box. I give some clues, readers drumroll, and the novel of the week is revealed! We read the summary on the back or within the book jacket then we enjoy the first chapter. Sometimes, I simply choose a reader who just finished or is super close to finishing their current independent reading book. Sometimes, I have multiple copies and can please all interested readers at once. Other times (like this week with Simon B. Rhymin’), I make it a drawing; All interested readers enter their names, and one lucky reader will add the book to their bin. Other eager readers can write the title and author in their special notebook (shown above). We will track our First Chapter Friday celebrations by clipping images of the book covers to the display shown below.
“We have a book Shelfie.” -S
When fourth graders finish a book, they record it on that month’s Shelfie. Each month, they’ll have a stack of the titles they read. By the end of the year, they will have a whole collection to look back on and feel proud of how many books they read in fourth grade!
At the end of each month, we will add up the number of independent reading books every reader finished. We’ll display the number of books that our whole community read in the frames pictured above.
“We get lost in our books during independent reading.” -N
I love how this reader is echoing language they are hearing me say during reading workshop. After just 9 days of school, fourth graders have noticed a lot about what will make our reading community special this year. Wishing you and your students a year of joyful reading experiences!
I want to be in your class! What a reach reading life you are helping these kids create.
Such a rich environment with such creative ideas for supporting Literacy! Well done!