What are You Reading?

A better question might be: When was the last time you read a book for fun? With our Book Fair taking place this week, it seemed like a good question. I think we all would like our children to do more independent reading. That starts with our example. If we want our children to "pick up a good book" then we should, too! Here are some other great ways to foster independent reading in your children from our Critical Thinking Teacher/Reading Specialist Julie Pederson:

Parents, you DO have an impact on how much your adolescent reads!  Check this out:  

Scholastic recently did a survey of reading habits and attitudes among children.  The research highlights the important role parents play in encouraging adolescents to read.  According to the survey, adolescents who read frequently are more likely to have parents who:

• are readers themselves
• help them find books, and
• use deliberate strategies at home to encourage reading.  

 

Strategies mentioned for parents of adolescents include:

• putting limits on screen time,
• building reading into the daily routine, and
• reading the same book in order to talk about it together.

The Scholastic research also shows what schools can do to foster independent reading among adolescents.  Key factors include access to ebooks, informing students of their current reading levels, and making time for independent reading during the school day.  We recently added access to ebooks through the CKS library.

 

Resources for Supporting Independent Reading:

Want to know whether or not a book is AR (or the AR level or points)?  AR Book Finder

 

Want to know what other students are reading?  AR Book Finder Collections

 

Need fresh ideas for new books?  

AR Book Finder Advanced Search allows you to search by genre/topic, ZPD (reading level range), and rating.  Doing a filtered search can generate an interesting list of suggestions to check out.  Your student can look up his/her ZPD (reading level range) in Accelerated Reader while at school.

 

            Look up a book you like on Amazon and browse the “Customers who bought this item also 

           bought…” list

 

           What Should I Read Next?  Enter a book you like and the website will generate a list of book

           recommendations from its database.

In addition to our Book Fair, we have asked our students to support our Book Drive. To help families in underserved communities in our Diocese, CKS 1st grade students made signs like the ones below to increase the access to books for these families.  Thank you for your support!