I would also like to thank all of the parents and family members for the hours and hours that they have spent working with their children to practise letter sounds, words, reading skills and strategies, and filling in the reading logs with anything that the students have read at home. I recognize that it is sometimes difficult to find the time and energy to do these things on a nightly basis, but I can assure you that your efforts are definitely paying off. I have noticed significant improvements in students demonstrating more initiative to read independently within the classroom and in students wanting to read to me in order to show me how capable they have become! These increases in motivation and boosts in self-confidence are the magic recipe for creating lifelong readers and learners who are more likely to experience more successes as they continue on in their schooling and beyond.
In honour of our 1000 book accomplishment, parents are encouraged to take a few moments to discuss their own reading interests and goals with their children. Perhaps you can tell your child about your favourite book, author, literature genre and/or share what your remember about your evolution as a reader. Also, the students of room #6 are asked to bring in their "favourite book of all time" this Wednesday to present to the class. Students will not be expected their favourite books (as some of them may have been read to them and are beyond their present reading levels) however, they should be prepared to talk about why they have chosen that particular book. Students are also encouraged to get creative (if they choose to) regarding how they present their books (e.g.dress up in character, do a book commercial, act like a book critic, etc.).
I cannot stress enough the importance and value of celebrating small successes in the early grades and modeling a positive love of reading (and learning) in order to give students the continued motivation to want to succeed. It is my hope that the class will continue to read and fill-in their reading logs at the same, if not faster rate for the remainder of the school year so that we may try to reach our ambitious goal of reading 5000 books by the end of the school year in June! Remember, anything a child reads that is the approximate equivalent of their typical levelled book length counts as home reading and can be recorded in their reading logs (e.g. books from home, instructions to a game, newspaper or magazine articles, a group of birthday or Christmas cards, etc.).
Happy Reading everyone and remember to keep reading through the holidays and don't stop filling in those reading logs!!!
