A Love of Reading

One of my core beliefs is that every child can become a reader. Every child. When I meet children who don’t like reading, I assume they haven’t met the right books yet. That being said, it is easier for some than others. Not because they were born with a special ability, but because of the homes they were born into.

See, while I think everyone has the potential, I think that if your parents value reading, you have a huge advantage.

I have met many kids who love to read and were not taught that at home. For some, reading becomes an escape. For others, their parents see reading as a hobby, one they simply don’t share. But for kids who have parents that are readers, kids that grew up watching their parents read, grew up taking trips to the library, grew up having books given as gifts, reading is expected. Sure, there might be the child in that house that doesn’t read, but I would argue that the odds are lower than in other homes. Reading is important. Reading is valued.

I have two boys. Their path to reading was completely different. For one, it was easy. For the other, it required a lot of intervention and work. Both ended up as readers. Now, their reading lives are different. Luke is in middle school. He’s busy. His friends are of high importance in his life. So are video games. While he has always loved reading, it takes a back burner. I see my role with him as the reminder of this hobby that he used to hold dear. I will be the raft to get him through these middle years, keeping this connection afloat, until he returns to it on his own. Luckily, he’s a pretty easy child. When I remind him that he has to go to bed early, needs to read, he does it willingly. We lay together often so I can ask him what is happening in the book he’s reading, continuing the conversation. I leave picture books and graphic novels laying around the kitchen when new ones are shipped to our house, knowing that neither he nor his brother can simply walk by without picking them up to read. He is a reader, but one that is debating hibernating a bit. I won’t allow a full sleep.

Liam is reader who has fully awakened. Where it might have been a spark of interest before, it is something he does whenever there is free time now. He loved books before fourth grade; now he is devouring an entire series in the span of a week or two. And what I love to see even more is that he is connecting beyond the books. After reading Sasquatch Escape, he went online on his own to see what other book were in the series. He came to me with notes, would I purchase the rest of the series? Could I preorder the new one out in early 2015? You bet. Then he wrote a letter to the author as part of a school assignment. Looking over my shoulder at my computer one night, he asked if I followed her on Twitter. I hadn’t, so we fixed that.

Then he met Origami Yoda. Like his brother had been, he quickly became obsessed. He has flown through the first three books in the series. I have a new note, telling me which books he needs his own copies of. At lunch with his grandma the other day, I turned and saw he was reading. When asked, he said he was at a good part and simply couldn’t pause yet. I took a photo and shared on Twitter and the author, Tom Angleberger, responded. Liam was beaming. He whispered that he wanted to write Tom a letter, even though he didn’t need to for school. So sweet. Finding him in my classroom after school yesterday, I saw a picture of concentration – book before him, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, brows drawn. What could possibly inspire this? Then I saw my origami paper. He was making his own Origami Yoda based on the directions Tom gave. We have a reader, ladies and gentleman.

My two readers, both at such different stages. Both blessed to be in home where that is a priority, reading is valued. Where their parents will nurture their growth and not allow them to let that love disappear. And at school? My seventy-seven kids don’t all have that blessing, so I try to become that role model, that cheerleader for them and only hope it will be enough to last a lifetime.

Progression of Readers

A few days ago I posted a blog about boys and reading. I was a bit frustrated by the message being sent out in the media that boys don’t read, when I have found the opposite to be true. Of course, some boys don’t read – but some girls don’t either. What I have found to be true over eighteen years of teaching is that when a student of any gender doesn’t enjoy reading, they are usually either struggling with their actual reading ability, or haven’t found a book to hook them yet.

In the comments to my blog post I had a reader ask for advice. Her younger son isn’t a reader. I mentioned that maybe I should write out a timeline or post about my own sons and their progression as readers, because each got there in their own way. This is that post.

Luke and Liam

I have two sons – Luke is eleven and in fifth grade. Liam is nine and in third. They are very different in every way, including reading. They both encountered roadblocks in route to becoming readers, but would now identify themselves as readers if you were to ask.

Reading came relatively easy to Luke. I’m sure he was never at the top of his class in reading, but we never worried about it. He could read anything his teachers sent home, memorize any list of sight words, but he didn’t love it. I found that Luke reminded me of many of the boys that entered my room in the fall when I taught fourth grade. They just didn’t see books that interested them. They’d read a book flawlessly, summarize it beautifully, but not find any connections or joy in the act of reading. With Luke, I had to search. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series began to pull him out of his reading rut in second and third grade, but it was The Lightning Thief that really turned things around. Towards the end of second grade he begged me to let him read it. I knew that it was far above his reading level. I could have told him to go ahead and try, but I didn’t want him to be discouraged. Instead, I got the book on audio and asked him to follow along as he listened to it. He was mesmerized. We talked about Percy, why he made the choices he had, and Luke talked about what he would have done. From that point forward, he began to identify as a reader and hasn’t looked back.

Liam had a tougher journey to reading. He had a severe speech delay that made the words he said and the words on the page form a mismatch. Decoding was tough. Fluency, forget about it. (Spelling is another post entirely.) But, we persevered. In first grade Liam’s amazing teachers talked to me about his reading. He was performing well below his peers and already receiving Tier 2 services for RTI. They suggested he continue with that, but also get some Reading Recovery help. I was all for it. Liam did a lot of reading work in that first grade year, but we had ground to make up! Each night he dutifully read his reading class homework, his Tier 2 homework, his Reading Recovery homework, and did any work that went with them. We also made sure to add “fun” reading in there as well – often something from the Elephant & Piggie series where we could act out the voices. While it was a lot of reading, Liam needed to close a gap and he wasn’t going to do that by reading the same amount the rest of his peers were. In one year, he caught up. In second grade, he found graphic novels – thanks to some Babymouse books I had lying around – and took off. He tore through every graphic novel I owned in second grade. In third grade he found Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I think the format of the books with less text on the page helped him feel successful. Liam reads all of the time, typically at least an hour a day (as does Luke – by choice, my request is twenty minutes) and always without prompting. He is now far ahead of where he needs to be grade level wise, but truly that isn’t what matters to me. He loves to read.

Beyond having the expectation that my kids would read and providing them with materials, there are just a few other things we’ve done that I think matter. As someone mentioned in the comments, they see me reading. They see my husband reading. They know my parents are readers and they often ask what the boys are reading (and my mom reads the books they do so they can talk about them.) They’ve seen me curled up in bed, reading See You at Harry’s and sobbing as I read. When they asked why I would continue with a book that made me cry, I replied, “Sometimes a book is so beautiful, so moving, that it reduces you to tears, and you read on in spite of that.” They will both read that book one day because they want to understand why.

I talk about how books make us better people and point that out in my own books. I ask them what they’ve learned about themselves from the books they read – how did they grow? And I ask them to give me feedback on the books I buy for my classroom. Whenever picture books arrive at the house, they often beat me to reading them. I’ll ask them what they thought of it, how I could use it in the classroom, etc. When Bluebird arrived last year, Liam read it after I did. I was still wiping away tears when he closed the book. I asked if he thought Bob Staake should have changed the ending. Liam flipped to the page where the boy is holding the bird with the bullies surrounding him. He said the book needed to be the way it was because, “Sometimes kids need to know that sorry won’t fix what you’ve done.” And then he said, “That’s what you need to teach your students, Mom.” Yep.

I guess some kids are just born readers, but mine have evolved to becoming one. I think all of our paths to reading are different, but I’m convinced that if we find the right books, give them time, allow choice, and talk to them about what they read, we are helping create the next generation of Nerdy Book Club members. 

Slice of Life - Dancing

Ever since Luke was born, I’ve been on a mission. I take photos of everything. This only intensified when we had Liam. I have the world’s worst memory, so I attempted to take a picture of every moment that I wanted to remember. What I’ve learned along the way is that photos do help, but some memories don’t necessarily need photo documentation to be recalled, they must be burned in my mind somehow. I think Saturday night is one.

We attended the wedding of Todd and Jill. Todd is one of Chris’s cousins and I’ve known him since he was six. It was an amazing wedding and reception. Even so, around 9:30 pm, Luke and Liam told me they were ready to go, they were exhausted. I was grateful that the hotel rooms were in the same hotel as the reception, Chris was with his brother, so the boys and I headed to the room. Immediately upon arriving in the room, I sensed one boy – who will remain nameless here – was sad. When pressed, he admitted that he had wanted to dance, but didn’t know how.

It’s interesting to me that as we age, we become more censored. Both of my kids were willing to dance in front of anyone growing up. At family dinners we were often treated to them jumping around and dancing as we ate. Apparently as they have grown they’ve worried they don’t dance “right”, whatever right may be.

I looked over quickly and explained that the only thing you need to dance is the desire to actually do just that – dance. No one knows what they’re doing, they just move to the music however makes them happy, and that’s it. I asked if they wanted to go back to the reception, and both shook their heads. They really were beat. So then, I grabbed my iPhone, turned on shuffle, jumped off the bed, and invited them both to dance.

It took some convincing, but after a few seconds our hotel room was a dance party. While timid at first, both kids warmed up and were dancing up a storm. We talked, danced, and sang. Ten minutes later, we collapsed, laughing, on the bed. No photos are needed for this memory, it is firmly implanted on my heart. 

Slice of Life is sponsored on Tuesdays by Two Writing Teachers. For the month of March we are posting a slice each day on our blog. Join in!

Slice of Life - Spring Break At Home

Slice of Life is sponsored on Tuesdays by Two Writing Teachers. For the month of March we are posting a slice each day on our blog. Join in!

My favorite way to spend Spring Break

Is relaxing on Daufuskie Island.
Listening to the waves crash on the shore.

Forgetting the time,

Or even the day.

Watching the sun rise and set.

Feeling content in a way that I haven’t for so long.

This year my island is far away.

Saving money instead to travel to see “the Mouse” this summer.

I grew a little down in the mouth knowing

My break would be one at home.

But it has been ok,

Or better than ok.

Our house has been filled with boys,

Doors slamming

Kids coming and going.

Students – friends of my son – standing in my kitchen.

Books being discussed,

Writing being analyzed.

Nerf gun wars being waged outside the back door.

We’ve gone to a book signing,

Cracker Barrel,

Shopping with my mom.

Time spent together,

Curled up in bed reading.

We’ve planned summer vacation,

And a quick trip to Chicago at week’s end.

Through it all I’ve come to a shocking realization –

These boys are growing up.

One taller than me already at eleven,

The other one only inches away at eight.

One getting a cell phone,

The other addicted to YouTube.

I watched them today spending time with Mumsie (my mom).

Where did the years go already?
In the same amount of time they will be off to college,

I feel the need to slow down,

Beg for more time.

Yet, there hasn’t been an age yet that I haven’t loved.

I don’t miss the baby stage,

Toddler years,

Or even first years in school.
I loved them when we were there,

But enjoy each new stage even more.

Can that continue to go on?

Can I keep having more and more fun as they get older?

I hope so.

Teaching is amazing.

I love each year in the classroom.

I love every student I get to spend time with.
But nothing compares to this.

Maybe time doesn’t need to slow down?
I can’t wait to see where we are next. 

Summer Writing Time

I mentioned in my Slice of Life on Tuesday that the post sprung from my notebook during my daily summer writing with my boys. A few commenters asked me to expand on what I’m doing with them. It is not earth shattering, or even that terrific, but I’m glad to share.

Some background to begin – Luke is eleven and going into fifth grade (my grade!), Liam is eight and going into third. Language arts have always been harder for Liam to grasp. He is fortunate to have had the chance to work with some amazing teachers in Reading Recovery and the RTI tiers over the past two years. With that knowledge, I knew I wanted to keep him writing this summer.

Everything is better with a new notebook and pens, so I purchased those for each of

the boys. On a pretty regular basis – I aim for daily, but it is often 2-3 times a week – we sit down in the dinning room to write. (The pictures in this post are from my bedroom on Wednesday. Summer cold & fever kept me there.) I usually share something with them – my writing, an idea I had, a sentence I pulled out of reading that inspired me, a photo – and then ask them to write. Sometimes we write about a certain topic, but more often it is free writing.

Liam's story about football camp

When we’ve written for a certain length of time, usually less than fifteen minutes, we stop and reread our writing. Liam struggles with punctuation and will typically have one period, at the end. I showed the boys how I reread my writing out loud, changing sentences when I don’t like the way they sound, creating paragraphs, adding punctuation, etc. I have noticed that they are now doing the same without being prompted. Often, their entries have illustrations added to them. Mine occasionally do.

One of my goals is to get them thinking like a writer. Seeing something in their every day life and thinking, I need to write about that. We are not there yet, but I have hopes we will get there. What I didn’t anticipate was the enjoyment of sitting and writing with them, reading our entries to each other when we’re done. That has been pretty cool.

Some days they come willingly to write, some days they groan. I am not to be deterred.

Luke is writing about directions to
Monopoly on the Xbox.

I do see hope on the horizon. Yesterday Liam asked if we were going to write, he wants to create a list. When I told him I was too sick and needed to sleep, he said he’d do it himself and share it with me when he was done. Yes!