My 6 year old has recently begun to master reading confidently, but is not yet at the stage of wanting to read independently. She still loves to read picture books together before bed, as well as the occasional chapter book. Her favourite animal is a pig (I’m still not sure why?!), so we’ve had lots of fun with this story recently! Brought to us by John Dougherty and Laura Hughes, I challenge you not to enjoy this imaginative and beautifully illustrated story.
It’s been a while since I’ve last posted… in fact my last post was just a few weeks before the UK joined other parts of the world in a global lockdown. As with many others, I don’t think I have quite processed the events of the past year and what it has meant for me as a mother, a teacher, and an individual. What I do know is that it has been a year of reading! It has offered me an escapism from the world we live in, and it has been a great joy to see my children developing their own love of reading.
My (soon to be) 2 year old LOVES books! He has skipped straight past the board books and more age appropriate books. He loves big books and is incredibly careful when turning the large pages (with the occasional ripped edge!) His favourite books (which we read every morning and every evening) are from the “You Choose” series by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart.
What I love about this series of books is that there is a seemingly endless number of permutations when reading… choices, discussions and questions to discuss. I would particularly recommend these for trying to boost speech development in toddlers. Vocabulary development through questioning and story telling is such a valuable gift we can give to the little people in our lives. Happy reading!
I thought I would also share something that I have been reading lately (without the kids)! Besides a few bits of easy fiction which is always my “go-to” for enjoyment, I’ve been working my way through a textbook on the topic of adolescent identity formation in the classroom, specifically in relation to students for whom English is not their first language. I am using this as a resource for my current Masters’ assignment related to adolescent development, but with experience as an English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher, this book has been fascinating for me!
It has also encouraged me to continually be broadening my reading base beyond what comes naturally… to read authors who are different to me; to read stories from different cultures; to immerse myself in worlds and theories and ideas which are not familiar to my own experience. We all have a comfort zone in terms of our choice of reading material, but let’s also challenge ourselves to move outside of that zone and be exposed to new perspectives.
Let’s choose to travel through books while we can’t travel on planes!
My 7 year old has truly discovered her love of reading, and it is my favourite thing to see her engrossed in a book in the back of the car or sneakily reading a few pages with her nightlight on after bedtime! It hasn’t come easily and it has been a few years of really struggling through learning phonics and high frequency words, but I can honestly say that she has persevered and made a breakthrough in this area. She is enjoying illustrated chapter books, especially those whose content matches her current interests, including: horse riding, unicorns, detective stories, puppies, fairies… you get the idea! Here are a few of the books that have been on her shelf recently-
What books are on your children’s shelves? I would love to hear- I am always interested in receiving recommendations for books and authors!
I have just gotten home from dropping off Alice (with her white rabbit) and Lucy Pevensie (with her lion- Aslan) for a day of celebrating reading at school on World Book Day. They were so excited to share about their favourite books and characters, which got me thinking about how we can continue to make reading irresistible to children.
As teachers (of any subject area) we want our learners to be readers. To feel confident when approaching text and to be able to extract meaning from the collection of words presented to them. Without the foundation of a positive relationship with words, we cannot hope to build higher level skills of inference, comprehension or analysis.
I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, but I obviously wasn’t born that way. I was shaped into having a love for reading through my environment, both consciously and subconsciously. Here are some of my top tips to help the children in your life develop an irresistible, lifelong relationship with reading:
Hopefully these ideas are helpful in working together to make reading irresistible to another generation. As my grandmother used to say to me, “You’ll never feel alone if you have a good book.”
I found the below news from Pearson so interesting! They plan to phase out printed textbooks (apart from one’s to be rented out at a reduced price) in favour of all content moving into digital e-textbook format.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48998789
Read the article and I’d love to know your thoughts! Do your students prefer e-textbooks or would they choose to rent textbooks? Is this a nail in the coffin of printed books everywhere, or a progressive step in the right direction to appeal to today’s learners?
For those of you who follow this blog, you will know that it has been a while since I’ve added any new content. I have sincerely missed the outlet of regular writing and reflection, and apologise for my silence!
On a personal level, this past year has been incredibly stretching. I have still been teaching English full-time while trying my best to be the mom that my two young daughters have needed. In addition, I am expecting the arrival of our third child any day now! Needless to say, I have had my hands full.
The year has also held many treasured moments… seeing my daughter in her first year of school learning to READ and discover the joy of stories for herself. Journeying with students through unexpected challenges and seeing them find comfort and clarity through the lives of characters we have met together. Witnessing young people discover resilience and inner strength to overcome. And working alongside colleagues who, despite the many increasing demands of the teaching profession, are some of the most creative, enthusiastic and selfless people I know.
So for now, I will be taking a break to focus on our new addition. But I will be back soon and will no doubt be delving into the world of baby literature once more as I introduce my son to the joys of reading (and chewing!) story books.
Happy Friday! Some thoughts for the weekend…
Are you wanting to raise responsible, socially-aware citizens? I came across the website below, which offers a comprehensive guide for selecting books which promote anti-bias social awareness.
Let’s challenge our children and students to read stories about people different from themselves; reflecting a diverse and accurate picture of society. Let’s move away from reading books that only represent people similar to ourselves and don’t offer a realistic, cross-section of society.
Have a look and let me know if you found it a helpful guide! https://socialjusticebooks.org/guide-for-selecting-anti-bias-childrens-books/
Another thought-provoking article has been written by Jessica Lander for the Harvard Graduate School of Education, urging us to “[cultivate] our students into thoughtful, discerning, and critical digital thinkers [as] one of the most important responsibilities educators now have.”
She highlights the following steps in becoming digitally discerning. To read the full article, go to https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/01/digital-literacy-digital-natives
1. Students need to be able to identify possible motives an article might have.
2. Students need to be able to identify tone and bias.
3. Students need to learn to be skeptical of sources and develop tools to check them.
4. Students need to understand how what they read online is targeted at them.
How can we ingrain these skills, both at home and in the classroom? Comment with your thought, ideas and opinions. We want to hear what works and learn from one another!
(Image courtesy of: https://libguides.adelphi.edu/fake_news)
Bright Child 