Saturday, September 3, 2016

Wantability

Yesterday while reading Watch Me Throw The Ball by Mo Willems, the substitute next door slipped into the hall and quietly closed her classroom door, because there's only one way to read Watch Me Throw The Ball -- with enthusiasm! I actually considered the door closing to be quite a compliment, and it wouldn't be the first time a teacher's door has done that during one of my read-alouds. 

It's my job to make every book I read aloud come to life, even if that means people down the hall wonder why someone's screaming. "Oh yeah, Miss McMorrow must be reading to her kids again." Once I place that book into some basket on the floor or shelf, I want it to call the name of every little person who heard me read it. That doesn't happen without some passion from the first reader -- me.

I've been a believer of the importance of the teacher's role as a reading salesman for a long long while. This year though I've been throwing my weight into that role. I ramped up the number of daily read-alouds during the first few weeks of school. I checked out over 30 irresistible books from the library. I put 20 of them into a large box on the first day of school with a sign that said Do Not Open (until Friday). And I told the new teacher I'm mentoring about this all-important role she's taking on. If our students can't help but want to read because of how over the top we are about books and our love for them, they'll be more apt to try to be readers, even when it's not easy.

This morning I read a post by Kylene Beers that puts the exclamation point on the end of everything I've been thinking and doing. I love the way she talks about increasing "wantability" before increasing "readability." Read this post. It's short, brilliant, and worth your while.


Wouldn't it be really cool if all our school hallways were filled with the sounds of teachers reading aloud to their kids? Maybe we'd also have more classrooms filled with kids who want to read those same books themselves.


Pin It!

8 comments:

  1. Very true! I love looking out at the sea of faces and seeing every one of them engaged in that story. And you're right-it makes them want to read it again and again. I love to hear them come back from the library with the same books we read. Oh and that teacher you are mentoring is one lucky duck! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Miss Trayers, I love the sea of faces too. "I bet you can't wait to get your hands on this book guys!" :)

      Delete
  2. Teachers are actors when they read books aloud. If your door is open when you are reading, then you are not only pulling in the students from your own class, but also the ones in the hallway that happen to be going by. I bet they wish they could come in and join in on the fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lori, that's exactly how I feel when reading to my kids. I'm an actor, for sure. :)

      Delete
  3. Reading books aloud is one of my favourite things to do. I'm naturally shy but when I read to kids I can totally get into it! I've also had other teachers close their doors and mine, too! Haha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barb, I'm the very same. Shy outside the classroom but I can turn it on in front of the kids.

      Delete
  4. Love this! I'm a loud and excited reader too--thankfully no other rooms on my end of the hall! ;-) And I have a particularly stubborn little guy who "hates" to read this year, but I'm working on him! :-)

    Crystal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Crystal, I'm working on a few myself. (They're not quite believing my sales pitch yet.)

      Delete