What was your favorite book to read growing up? What was your favorite read aloud?
Mine? I would read and reread “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” by Doreen Cronin over and over again. I also remember my Dad reading “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown almost every night. Reading and being read too is so important for any age child! How powerful that I still remember those books to this day. And the list can go on. I love giving my students time to read. Seeing them cuddle up to a book they love is the best. Remember when it was below zero for those two weeks in January? I remember driving to work with a blanket on my lap and wishing I could just cuddle up in it all day in class. I thought of how cold my students would be getting to school and that they too would want to be wrapped in a blanket. I stopped my thinking… wait! Why couldn’t we? I messaged the parents and told them to send their child to school with a blanket. When the students came in with their blankets they were so confused: “Why do we have blankets?” “What are we doing with these?” “Are we taking a nap?”. I did not tell them until the end of reading. I put a fireplace video on the TV and told them to lay or cuddle into their favorite blankets and pick a book they want to read. A cozy reading party! They were thrilled! What I saw warmed my heart to the point where I forgot all about the cold. I saw students sharing their big blankets with others that did not bring one. I saw students leaning on each other, focused on their books. I saw students whisper reading to others that had a difficult time reading. I saw students jumping into their books laughing and smiling at what they were reading. What I didn’t see was their eyes leave the pages. We instill the idea that all students are readers. Ms. Kusel and I tell our students everyone should love reading, and if they don’t then they haven’t found the right type of book yet. Giving them that time gives them the opportunity to find books they enjoy reading, find an author they love, and or find their favorite book they will remember when they are an adult.
2 Comments
3/18/2019 05:32:38 pm
What a great, warm idea! This is the type of thing that kids will always remember. In a few years they will say, "Hey remember that time when we were wrapped up in blankets and read?" Oh yeah, they will remember.
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Natasha
3/18/2019 06:36:24 pm
What a fun treat for your students! I love the image of your little ones cuddled up in blankets together in front of a "fire" and reading. I especially love this: "What I didn’t see was their eyes leave the pages. What a great teaching moment, and also a lovely writing moment.
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AuthorI am a second grade teacher at Irving Elementary School in a co-taught classroom! Archives
May 2019
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