Reading every night is an expectation of mine for ALL of my students. Not only that, but they need to keep track of what they read and when they read it. Every month I send home a new reading tracker that has options for them to check off. The parents have to initial the box to prove that the child did do those things for the night.
Can you guess what grade I teach?
2nd.
2nd is a HUGE grade for reading! Kids are starting to move from decodable books to leveled and interest books. Reading nightly is not only encouraged...it's a no brainer!
You're probably wondering what I do with those kids that are not yet reading independently. I use decodables in their bag but ALSO put in an interest book. I make sure my parents know that it is OKAY to read to their child. The kiddos don't have to be the only ones reading! Here are 5 reasons why reading to your child is beneficial, according to Robert Myers:
Builds a stronger relationship
Increases vocabulary
Introduces morals
Fertilizes their imagination
It's fun!
If you want to check out the article for yourself, click here!
Book Totes
Of course you can create your "book tote" however you'd like to, but I wanted to share with you what I put in my students' book totes.
Parent letter explaining everything that is in the Book Tote (see below)
A personalized reading tracker calendar (I'll go into more detail below)
Our Fundations week passage (this changes with the unit we're on)
Small Group book from Geodes (also by the people that make Fundations) This book is decodable.
An interest book that the kids choose from my personal classroom library.
Here's a picture of the parent letter that I place in my tote
I got the plastic envelopes that everything goes home in from Amazon. They have a 30 pack for $14.99. You can click on the picture to go to the link!
Reading Tracker
I knew I had to have a calendar for my students to track what they were working on every night. This calendar would also serve as a way that I can see which kids can earn their reading reward for the month.
I looked all over for a blank calendar that I could import my own information on. I didn't like anything I saw, so I made my own on Google Slides! Everything is editable AND I can add my own Bitmoji!
Reading Rewards
Here are some ideas for monthly rewards for your kids!
If you're having trouble with kiddos not reading every night, get the parents on board! I find that a visual really helps parents understand why reading every day for 20 minutes is so important! These are all over this internet but I've always like this one:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow me here!
Check out my website: www.purplepapercuts.com
Follow my blog: www.purplepapercuts.com/blog
