Reading in the Wild Chap 3: Sharing Books

Several seventh and eighth graders from my school were chosen by Big Shoulders, a non-profit in Chicago that works with inner-city kids, to go to a weeklong science and leadership camp in Wyoming. And I got to be their chaperone! Which means for the past week, there was lots of this: 

And not so much this:

But now I am back in the world of cell-phones and computers, with much comfier beds and much less interesting wildlife (good-bye moose, hello squirrels and pigeons).

This chapter of Reading in the Wild was all about how to create reading communities through sharing books with each other. Although I share books with my friends and family all the time (and am somewhat addicted to goodreads), I could definitely do more in the classroom. One of the ideas she had that I loved was to connect with parents about reading so it will be encouraged at home, too. I have a classroom blog, and it would be really easy to share book recommendations there. I used to feel awkward about giving parents advice, especially since I don't have any children of my own. If teaching children to read is supposed to be my area of expertise, though, I should do more to teach the whole family how to encourage this. 

I also really liked her displays in the classroom that involve sharing books. Covering a wall (or maybe a few of the lockers? We don't have much wall space) with black butcher paper and having students write quotes from favorite books would be a great way to have students share their reading. It would also help them to look at the book as writers and see how powerful sentences are constructed. Similarly, it was fun to see Miller's classroom door display of books she'd read over the summer. Again, I'm thinking of covering the lockers with this, since I already have a "welcome to fourth grade" sign I use for my doors. The best part is handing this display over to the students after a few weeks, and having them come up with their own themes to display. Less things created by me, more by the students is always a win! That does mean I should read some more children's literature over the summer so I have something to put on the door/locker, since I'm pretty sure that Divergent and Rainbow Rowell's books are a little too old for fourth grade. I've heard great things about Wonder and The One and Only Ivan, so I'll add those to the list now :) Anything else? 

The book commercials are also a great idea, and I love that she mentioned to do these during transition time! Writing the title and author on the board would help students who want to read the same book write down the important info. I'm always trying to find ways to make use of every moment, since there are obviously never enough minutes in the day to get everything in.