Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Books Will Change Your Heart

Have you read this book?  It's been one of my favorites for several years now.  (It's not even written by Regie Routman.  Go figure.)  This post only deals with about two pages from it, so find yourself a copy and read the rest.  You'll be glad you did.

During our school's Read Week, I borrowed a brilliant suggestion from Growing Readers.  I invited five reading mentors to our room, one per day, to share their reading lives with us.  They brought in a collection of the things they were currently reading (novels, recipes, magazines, cards, nooks, picture books, bills, craft books, and the list goes on).  They told us a little about each item and why they were reading them.  Some of the mentors read a favorite picture book as well.  Here's a picture of one of our reading mentors (my best friend who works in the office) sharing some of the things she reads.  


After each mentor left, we took a few minutes to document the highlights of what we learned.  Take a look.  





Didn't the mentors do an amazing job of teaching us what's at the heart of being a reader forever?  Their real life stories are priceless!

Lastly, I asked the kids to think about the reading mentors within their own homes.  We brainstormed questions they'd like to ask that person.  I did a bit of editing as far as which questions were the most beneficial, typed up an interview sheet, and after practicing the interview process on each other, the kids took it home in search of that special reading mentor.


As Mrs. Peck told us, "Books will change your heart."  I hope that's exactly what happened this week for my young readers as they learned more about what reading really is.

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12 comments:

  1. This is an amazing, Tammy! I'm so glad that you are not only teaching our children to read but teaching them to love reading. Books will change your heart. :)

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    1. Thank you Wendy. I've got great reading mentors to help me do just that.

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  2. This is twice in one week! I feel like a total celebrity in the teacher blog world! (Love the post too.)

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    1. Paige, you're a celebrity in my world. Period. Thanks for being one of our special mentors.

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  3. What a fantastic way to get kids thinking about reading mentors. Growing Readers is one of my favorite teaching books.

    Laurie
    Chickadee Jubilee

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    1. Laurie, it's a book that I use almost daily. I'm glad it's one of your favorites too.

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  4. Great idea to have reading mentors come in to read to your class and discuss their reading lives! New professional book for me to check out!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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    1. Lori, it's a must-have book. It's well worth your time. Promise.

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  5. I love that interview sheet and it fits perfectly with something my class has been talking about lately! Thanks for sharing!

    -Julie
    www.lightafire3.blogspot.com

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    1. Julie, I love the fact that my post might actually come in handy for someone. Thanks for the comment!

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  6. I wish I could teach right next door to you!! I would learn so much from you! Thank you for sharing this book and lesson.

    Kelli

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    1. Kelli, what a compliment. Thank you so much for those extremely kind words. Idaho is a great place to teach but probably not as adventurous as Wimbledon.

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