Ravenous for Reading

Wow! What a wonderful week! Thanks to our PTA, we had a very successful Book Fair and Family Fun Night this week. Even though we had a snow day on Monday, many parents made it to school to set up the beautiful, inviting Book Fair displays.  There were so many enticing, enriching books available for our students and families. Many students chose to spend much of their recess time browsing, buying and reading all of these great books. We are very grateful to have a PTA and parents who support and nurture our students' love of reading.

Our teachers also do an amazing job of inspiring a love of reading in our students and teaching them to think deeply about their reading. Within the past couple of weeks, I have observed so many engaged, thoughtful readers in all of our classrooms...

In Kindergarten, children were sorting fiction and non-fiction books according to text features. They chose their favorite non-fiction books to share with a partner and were so excited to talk about the books they found.

In first grade, students were examining poems for the features of rhythm, rhyme, patterns and line breaks. They explored many poems independently and were so proud in sharing these features with their classmates. They dramatized an action poem, and came up with many creative written extensions of the poem.

In second grade, I sat in on a class of students sitting on edge as their teacher read aloud a chapter from Fudge by Judy Blume. The children were so eager to share their predictions and find out what was going to happen next!

In third grade, students debated whether the sinking of the Titanic could have been prevented as they read a document from the Titanic Historical Association chronicling the events leading up to the sinking of the Titanic. Students had to read slowly and deeply to identify key facts and make inferences.

While in the LMC fourth grade classes evaluated Internet sources of information. They learned and practiced different reading skills of skimming and scanning. Our students are learning how to read critically and to read in different ways for different purposes.

In fifth grade, I observed a group of fifth grade students reading and discussing the significance of flashback in the novel Pictures of Hollis Woods. A lively discussion and debate ensued as the students shared their interpretations of the different events and details the author included in this book.

So... if you need a break from shoveling the snow, take a break! Relax and read a good book instead!