We kicked off Literacy Week today with a number of reading-themed events. We had a Million Minute Reading Challenge during homeroom in which everyone in the school had to stop what they were doing for 20 minutes and read. Each teacher also brought in their favorite book to read aloud to their students. Plus, it was "dress as your favorite character from a book" day for teachers.
Since I don't have just one favorite book or character, I decided to dress up as a character that I have been reading a lot recently. Back in December, I started reading the Harry Potter series (I know I'm a little behind the curve) and I love it. Throughout the week, my students have silent reading time during class. In order to model good reading habits, when my students are reading, I read as well. Therefore, everyday that we do silent reading, my students see me reading Harry Potter. So I thought that it was fitting for me to dress up as Hermione from the series for today.
The idea also came to me because of this scarf that I own. I purchased this garnet and gold scarf to wear to FSU games, but everytime I wear it everyone always tells me that I look like I'm in Gryffindor. So when the idea to dress-up was presented to us, I wanted to seize the opportunity to wear my "Gryffindor scarf".
My students were so confused when they entered my classroom today and found their teacher dressed as a Harry Potter character. However, it sparked a great discussion among my students and they were all eager to discuss their favorite book characters as well!
Our teachers also shared their favorite books with their students today. Since Harry Potter is too long for me to read aloud to my students, I chose one my other favorite books to share, which happens to be written by Dr. Seuss. Therefore, I decided to center my entire lesson today around the books that helped all of us learn to read, Dr. Seuss books.
I kicked off the class by reading aloud my favorite Dr. Seuss book, "Oh, The Places You'll Go". Then my students spent the period reading and analyzing a variety of Dr. Seuss books, reminiscing about which ones they loved to read when they were little.
It was great to see how excited my students could be about reading, when the material is something that they really enjoy. However, sometimes it is kind of sad for me to see how obvious it is that no one reads to my students at home. Anytime I read a children's book aloud to my students, they are absolutely glued to my book because it is rare for someone to read to them at home. One of my students even said to me today, "How come my parents are always telling me to read, but I never see them read anything?"
Practice what you preach parents; if you want your kids to love reading, you have to show them that you love reading too. The most important gift that we can give kids today is a love for reading :)
Think about it this way...when was the last time you actually read an entire book? If you can't remember, then do me a favor and support me this week by picking up a book and reading.
Keep Reading!
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