Hello Everyone,

This week marks the beginning of the 2014 Summer Reading Program at my local public library. I fondly remember participating in the programs every summer for a few years in a row, until reading became its own reward. Since districts close to me are still in school until the end of this week, I was prompted to write this post to discuss the benefits of promoting the library’s summer reading program for elementary students in my classroom; below are the “Top 5” reasons I have for encouraging my students to participate.

Summer reading programs:

1. encourages children to read for pleasure outside of school;
2. helps children broaden their reading horizons through a wide array of authors and genres;
3. assists parents and caregivers in sharing a love of books with their children by helping them with the selection of and reading of ten books (at my library, anyway);
4. provides extrinsic motivation to those children who regard reading as a “just at school” thing; and
5. shows children and their families the  many resources available through a public library.

As a classroom teacher, I have the responsibility to my students to make learning enjoyable and help them foster the desire to continue throughout their lives. Since I am an avid reader, I want to ignite that passion for books in my students; below are my “Top 5” ways to do just that.

In my classroom, I plan on:

1. modeling for students my love of literature by engaging in Quiet Reading Time with them;
2. inviting students to have “Book Talks” at least once a month to discuss a book they have read recently that might be fun for a classmate to read;
3. making sure each student has access to books he or she can enjoy, rather than “tying” them to levels (which is a whole other post by itself);
4. helping each student find a favorite book and building a list of “to read” books from that one, to provide some direction when choosing books at the school or public library; and
5. encouraging students to participate in summer reading program at our local library, so reading becomes an enjoyable life-long habit.

So, to tie these two “Top 5” lists together, I plan on helping students find their literary passions, be it princesses, pirate ships, or play-dough and fostering that love through summer reading. If my school is still in session, when the library’s summer reading program comes around next year, I am going to get each of my students’ an entry form and conduct a read-aloud to be the first book on their lists!

Enthusiastically,

Ms. Tyler