The Magic of Reading: Incorporating the Joy of Books into the Classroom

At the beginning of the school year, I try to set a few areas that I want to focus on throughout the year. Some of the goals never quite come to fruition (let’s be honest, my desk is still a hot mess, despite my lofty ambition to organize it weekly) while others are slightly more successful. One of my goals was to create a culture and love of reading in my classroom. I had the opportunity to attend the Reading Summit hosted by Scholastic last summer and hear Donalyn Miller speak (she’s the QUEEN of the reading world), and I was left to reflect on my own practice.

If I teach phonics and the elements of a story but the kids despise reading, what have I really taught? Reading should be transformative. Empathy, perspective, compassion, imagination, and creativity are all nestled between the pages of a book. If we never allow kids to experience this, then we’re truly doing them a dangerous disservice.

This is not to diminish or ignore the critical role of phonics, phonemic awareness, story elements, comprehension, etc. I teach all of these things. However, these are the “how” of reading; developing a reading culture and engagement is the “why” of reading.  Neuroscientist Mary-Helen Immordino-Yang points out that it is "literally neurobiologically impossible to think deeply about things that you don't care about." For students to think deeply about reading, they have to care about it first. If a student can read but won’t, all the phonics lessons in the world won’t make a difference.

I was determined that this school year, a culture of reading would be a priority. We are always reading books or talking about books or engaging in literature in some way. Books are where we look for information or for laughter. Books are how we learn about interacting with each other. Books are important members of our classroom.

My students adore reading in all its forms. We recently filled up our marble jar and had a pajama/reading party. Upon hearing this, one of my kids shouted gleefully, “We look books!” They’ve started to ask to read a book to the class at the end of the day (some kids read the books; others read the pictures…both are valid). They trade books from their book boxes with each other based on knowing each other as readers (“you like animal books…I’ll trade you my animal book for your Pete the Cat book”).

I’m by no means an expert, and I have so much to learn still, but here are ways I’ve attempted to surround reading with a sense of joy and wonder in my class this year:

1). Reading as a Gift
Something I started this year was wrapping up a book every day. The special helper unwraps the book at our morning meeting, and I read it aloud. Reading a book is like unwrapping a beautiful gift, and I wanted to represent that. It’s not always a new book, either. Sometimes, it’s a book we’ve read a time or two before, and we talk about how rereading a book is like visiting a good friend again. The children make sure that we don’t forgot this part of our day!

2). Read. All. The. Time.
We read all the time, integrating science, social studies, math, social-emotional, writing, and also for the pure enjoyment of hearing a story. We go through picture books, poetry books, and chapter books. I actually reached the point this year where I started running out of chapter books to read because we’d gone through all my kindergarten favorites! I love when we reach the end of a chapter and, with bated breath, the kids beg to “read just a little bit more.”

One of my book hauls from the public library (not pictured: The other twenty books I checked out)

Every morning, after we finish our morning work, one of the choices kids have is to read out of their book boxes with a friend, and most kids choose this option and love it! They look through books with friends, discussing the pictures, reading words, and retelling familiar stories.

While I was in grad school, one of my professors talked about creating a time to read every day and protecting that time sacredly. We make time for things that are priorities. There is so much to do throughout the day, and I struggle with fitting it all in. However, I believe so sincerely in the power and importance of reading that I try my hardest to make sure that a culture of reading stays paramount.

3). Beautiful Words
We talk a lot about the beauty of books. We point out the “beautiful words” we hear when reading, and how it makes us feel. Cherishing and honoring books as something beautiful shows the value of stories. My kids are so excited to hear beautiful words in books that we have a special signal (touching their ears) when they hear words that they love. One of my students recently said, “I love when I hear beautiful words in books because they make me feel focused and interested in the story.”

4). Book Talks
We have a lot of class discussions about the books we’re reading, and I try to make them as child led as possible to give ownership to the kids that THEIR thoughts about reading and their interpretations matter. As adults, when we’re excited about a book that we read, we want to tell somebody about it and discuss it, and kids should be provided the same opportunities. Naturally, since I teach kindergarten, this doesn’t work all the time, but we’ve had some amazing conversations and connections.

We generally sit in a circle, and I tell the kids that it’s their turn to lead the conversation. I have a clipboard, and I’m recording their thinking. They are responsible for calling on each and “snapping” ideas together. I may ask for clarification or ask a few questions, but this is about them to learn and connect their reading to each other. Reading is truly about connecting.

The other day, I asked one of my students to lead the entire thing. He came up with questions and was the facilitator, and, even at age six, thoughtful questions were posed. The discussion they had blew me away…they thought of things that I hadn’t even considered, and, since I didn’t have a pre-set agenda of where I wanted this conversation to go, I was able to learn alongside them.
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Over this past year, I’ve been challenged as a reader. We’ve gone through so many books that I have had to seek out new read alouds, spending ample time at the library and researching books. My students’ joy and enthusiasm around books is inspiring, and it has translated to my own reading habits. They want to read as many books as they can, and I’ve started to make more time for reading again in my own life. Books are life changing, and, we, as teachers, play a part in introducing children to their magic.

"Reading isn't just taught. It's passed on, like a treasure from one reader to the next. We should do everything we can as adults to preserve that childhood love of reading when it's born and foster it when it isn't. It's our reading legacy." Donalyn Miller