Building a Reading Community

Alongside the ever-popular Book Talk sessions on Wednesday, we are encouraging ongoing reading and sharing of literature in the neighbourhood and at home through the use of a Reading Log.  We have asked the children to record the books they have read/are reading for the month of May on their reading log, which has been pasted inside their reader's/writer's book at school. 

The overall purpose of asking the children to record their books is to facilitate the communication between the children, teachers, and parents regarding exciting, interesting, and wonderful literature.  However, this will not be achieved if all the children do is write down their reading choices on their book log which stays in their bag or locker!  SO, there are several supporting parts within this initiative.

One is creating a means and a method for the children to share information about the books they have read.  Summarising is an essential skill that supports growth in comprehension; we all summarise and re-phrase what we read in order to connect new events or information.  So, we have spent several weeks this term exploring this skill by writing a "Story Line in a Sentence" (or sometimes "two sentences"!) after reading a text.  This is called a "SLIS" and is quite a challenging thing to do; especially for a longer text!  We are asking the students to write one, in their reader's/writer's book, after recording each book they've read in May.  This then makes it possible to communicate effectively, and briefly, about reading possibilities with each other.  We had a very successful "speed sharing" of books this Wednesday, May 21st, after Book Talk... and may have more in the future!

The second way of sharing is less technical and more creative; a response to the book.  The children do not have to create a response to every book they read, unlike the SLIS.  They are expected to create one response to a book they have read in May. (of course they can create more if they wish...) The response may take a variety of forms;

•  artistic (a painting or drawing of a scene that is critical or particularly resonated with them)
• creative (a diorama, collage, construction, model, puppet...relating to a scene/character)
• musical (a soundtrack using Garageband for a scene in the book)
• performative (selecting a scene to read aloud to others in a dramatic manner)

These responses can then be shared in the neighbourhood which will also create more interest, discussion and opportunities for students to discover new reading material together.  There is also a powerful interaction between studying and responding to an author's ability to evoke a setting, scene, character or devise a plot-line, and enlarging one's own ideas an skill-base.  As we explore the idea of narrative in the over-arching inquiry, this aspect of studying and responding to literature feeds the children's awareness and  skills regarding the art of excellent narrative creation, empowering them as they write for others.