It's a well-known fact in the educational community that March is reading month. As an elementary teacher, we do all sorts of things to make reading even more fun this month, using things like contests and give-aways to build enthusiasm for something that is expected every day of the year. The whole year. Not just the school year.
My classroom held four "events" for the month. Week one had us decorating our door, with every Thinker creating a book cover for their favorite book. Week two brought on a bookmark decorating contest. My favorite was week three, where the kids got a ticket for a free book raffle every day they avoided the screen at home. We called it "screen-time shut-down" and it was quite a success! Week four will end with a morning of pajamas, stuffed animals, and blankets as we read away the morning before spring break begins.
It got me thinking, though, how at their age, kids don't understand how important reading is. They don't realize how much their education can grow simply by remembering to do their "20 minutes" of reading each night. In particular, my student's don't realize how lucky they are to grow up within a community that values reading, and is surrounded by books.
It saddens me to know that so many kids grow up without books. One of the info graphics I found said that in poverty, there is often 1 book per 300 kids, whereas in a community like mine, there is often 13 books per every child. Shocked me!
Every year for curriculum night, I send home a handout that outlines the information above. Considering I'm totally loving info graphics right now (and can't wait to start making them with my students thanks to a session at MACUL!) I found this graphic representation to be quite striking. I will be sharing it with my class, too, as the graphic appeal will be a bit clearer to them, and hopefully, they'll start remembering their reading on their own……. hey, one can dream, right?!
