People that work in schools have a different awareness than people that don't work in schools. This awareness can be about many different things. A school can be filled with energy and excitement on a daily basis. A school can be filled with caring and passionate people. A school can be filled with kids that don't have the resources they need to be successful. Luckily, a school CAN ALSO be filled with people that are resourceful, creative and advocates for kids!
Often times we have students that struggle to read. What does this mean? Not only are some students not ready for grade level work, they are also not interested in learning. Our task is to help the child become successful and to motivate them to want to learn, and want to read. If you have ever met a person that has a job dedicated to teaching reading, you know that they are continuously searching for ways to help solve both of these problems. And they aren't afraid to talk to anyone and everyone about it!
As educators, we work with school staff to provide as many reading opportunities for students as possible. The library has all types of reading materials. Our classrooms have genre sections and tons of non-fiction. We encourage kids to read often and to talk with friends about what they are reading. Nothing is more heartwarming than to see a kid walking down the hall reading, or reading at recess or reading in line for lunch. Someone, somewhere, inspired a passion for reading in that child. We work hard at schools to provide opportunities for students in reading.
This year, we have embarked on a new journey with a school "take home library" at each elementary. We ordered hundreds of fiction and non-fiction books at all levels/topics. We want to provide children with an opportunity to take books home that they enjoy and spark an interest in them. We want children to keep the books if they love them, or return them for something else if they choose. By providing a school take home library, we are keeping full inventories in classroom libraries and school libraries. We are providing an additional opportunity for kids to find great books and develop relationships with them. Isn't our goal for kids to read more and for kids to love reading more? We can't do that if they aren't allowed to take home books from the classroom. We can't do that if they have a late library book, which means they can't check out a new one. We have to remind ourselves what our goal is for kids. We have to remind ourselves what our goal is for reading. Everyone comes from a different home setting. Some are rich in literature, some are not. Every child should have the opportunity to take home more and more books. Books that they want to read. We will continue to find ways to build a love of reading each day in our schools, providing books for kids is just one step.
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