Reading Philosophy
The pictures on this page are examples of how I work to excite my students about reading. You will see that I have an extensive classroom library. I also post pictures of book jackets of books I have recently read and am currently reading.
Choice is also a big part of my reading philosophy. This can be a tricky philosophy to put into effective practice, but it is entirely worth the effort and planning, as choice and ownership is one of the best ways to help a student willingly CHOOSE TO BE a READER, which is one of my main goals as a reading teacher.
For whole class reading, I use read alouds/think alouds extensively for modeling of strong fluency and good reading strategies. It also serves as a springboard for deeper discussion, which results in better, more developed writing responses about any reading. In addition, I use group, partner, and independent reading of whole-class texts.
Another one of my favorite reading tools is Socratic discussions, which I hold at least once a quarter. In these discussions, students take fabulous ownership of their experience and knowledge of the book, its themes, characters, conflicts, and craft. Those Socratic discussions may be viewed on my youtube channel.
In addition, I work each day to engage my readers in whatever it is they are reading independently through something I call "Book Share."
The intent is to help them focus on one aspect of reading/literature during their independent reading time that they can then share with other readers to both engage themselves in the book as well as engage other readers in their reading. We also use this as our main way of inspiring others by sharing good reads and helping others to share what they are reading with us.
