New York, New York

Reading in the Wild ~ 'Aha!' and 'Oh, yeah!'

From the first page of this book I was intrigued. The description of Don's reading life and how he shares random facts from books he reads, is open-minded about books and reads daily was an immediate spark of memories of my dad. My dad was all of that. I hardly remember him without a book nearby. He had so much knowledge stashed away that he gathered from books or magazines. The best part about all of that is that he could use it in conversation and keep people interested in what he had to say. To this day, he still influences me by recommending books. Little did he know when he wrote his name in his chicken scratch on the inside cover of all of his books, that I would discover them years after he died and decide I must read it. 

My dad taught me how to be a wild reader by modeling what a wild reader does. As a classroom teacher, I can only hope that for the past 13 years I have been modeling behaviors of what it means to be a life long reader. However, I am pretty sure I could have done a better job at it. Now, as an instructional coach, I wonder how I will be able to impact students to become life long readers. 

Reading this book has brought many new ideas about reading and practical classroom ideas to me. It has also reminded me of things I have always known and may or may not have implemented/modeled in my classroom. But, I have been reminded that they are important! I plan to share my new findings and ideas with teachers in a way that they can immediately pick and choose what they want to implement in their classrooms. 
  

'Ahas' and 'Oh, yeahs':

- "Research indicates that time spent reading correlates positively with students' performance on standardized reading tests" (page 8) School is not all about standardized tests, but the fact of the matter is that administrators and school buildings are looking for data that shows growth. A place to look are these results. The more a child reads, the better they will become. Research has shown that a child in the 20th percentile reads books for .7 minutes a day. A child in the 90th percentile reads for 65 minutes a day.

- An ideal classroom during the literacy block is when students are practicing living like readers. They are reading together, swapping books, sharing observations and recommendations, and developing reading relationships. 

- Reading intervention specialists should not be pulling their students during independent reading time. This is supposed to be the FUN reading time. We can't pull struggling readers during the best time of the day!

- We need to teach students how to manage their time for reading at home. This is a reason why having students keep track of the books they read is important. Use this list to help you track the habits of your readers.

- Share your reading life...both the ebbs and flows!

- Fake Readers - identify them and determine why they do this. (page 27)

-  Readers' Notebooks need to be reflective for the teacher and student.

-  REFLECTION, REFLECTION, REFLECTION! This is so important for all teachers to do. It helps us stay true to our core beliefs, focus our teaching and help determine what is and isn't working.

- Touchstone authors per grade level. This may be a nice way to keep some books as specific grade level books and to help those students who struggle finding books to read.

-  Read aloud - DO IT! I agree with the thought that read alouds help students select books later on. I love the idea of not finishing a few and encouraging students to finish it on their own. Also, it's okay to abandon a read aloud. Our time is so precious, if it's not working. Move on.

- Reading Lists are extremely important as students add to their list throughout the year. They are great to use during conferences, helping students select a new book, share with parents, and help students set goals.



This list definitely doesn't do Reading in the Wild justice. I have merely pulled out some big ideas or tidbits that I want to share with my teachers. 

I am looking forward to continued reading!