Listen. Connect. Empower.

My favorite picture from my last "Reading Without Walls" post was this which spoke volumes to the power of suggestion and possibility: Display area wiped clean of books  We (myself and a parent volunteer) suggested books and they (the students) went with it.  Students read books they normally wouldn't read.  Lonely books traveled off the shelves. I even extended this challenge to the staff and asked teachers to take the challenge.  Staff members chose a challenge and had their picture taken to be hung on the bulletin board.  I wanted to build a community of readers and show our students that we do this too. What did "Reading Without Walls" do for us?  I asked. When we read without walls we learn new things and facts think other things find new favorite books might really hate the book get nervous get excited I will check in with students periodically to see how they are challenging themselves as readers.  In future...

We spent two weeks breaking down walls in our reading, but I wasn't feeling done quite yet.  I decided to spend one more class challenging ourselves in one more way. I have a wonderful volunteer with a background in marketing that loves to create displays in the library.  She does a beautiful job and I question why sometimes her displays are not touched. This winter I had several questions along the lines of, "Mrs. Garland, can I take one of those books?"  which led me to realize that students aren't aware they can take these.  Of course they can - they are there for just that purpose (but they didn't realize it).  I realized I need to give them permission to go shopping in our display areas or better yet, create an activity that will send them in. This part of our "Reading Without Walls" challenge was about our display books.  I numbered several thematic displays and students were instructed to visit each section, handle the books there and ...

We began our Reading Without Walls challenge with a " topic " challenge.  (See my previous post).  This week had us digging in to the " character " and " format " challenges. We discussed how a character might look different: Hair or eye color Length of hair Skin color Clothing - it could be from a different country or period of time We discussed how a character might live differently: The story takes place in a different time. The character has a different culture and celebrates different holidays. We don't play the same things.  For example, I am an indoor kid and like to play video games.  I am not like kids that like to run around outside and play. We speak different languages. The character isn't human. The character has an accent. The character lives in the forest. The character is homeless.  I have a house. 1st and 2nd grade students looked for a character challenge book and brought it to the rug.  On the rug students...