Who needs a reading corner anyway?

My first blog post was about how we tried to spread a love of reading across the school. I thought I'd write a new blog about the things we have continued to do to, and the new things I have tried or am trying. Firstly, there may be some ideas which others may not have heard in 50 other different blogs, and secondly, it will remind me of all of the things I can remind staff at my school of when I do a staff meeting on it.

Reading buddies

We're now in our third year of having reading buddies in school and they continue to get even better. The bonds between the buddies are stronger and the impact on the child of having an adult in the school who is your reading advocate, your reader, your audience, your support and just your person appears to be huge. My reading buddy has now started turning up at my lunchtime maths group, bringing friends and joining in. Sometimes they just turn up to see what I'm doing. Sometimes it's just to play on the interactive board...

One thing I've done more of this year is contact the author of the book we're currently sharing, and this has been more successful than I could have ever possibly imagined. Firstly, the author of the book we're reading, Jennifer Killick, is incredibly wonderful and responsive. (Her Alex Sparrow books are perfect for my buddy - like the Demon Headmaster but if Dinah was an over-confident, wannabe spy: hilarious, exciting and just a joy to read.) Tweeting her about how much we're enjoying the books and our theories always result in a reply. This brings him a ridiculous amount of joy and pride!

Last summer, my reading buddy status skyrocketed to legendary after winning a competition to have his name appear as a character in one of her books. It's seemed like a long wait but knowing his name is going to appear in print and tracking its progress (proofs have just been sent out!) has been so wonderful. His relationship with reading has totally been transformed and I'm so incredibly proud of him. Mo, Lottie and the Junkers is going to be out soon and we cannot wait!

Another change is after an impassioned plea to staff at the start of the year, more staff appear to be making spending time with their buddy more of a priority. It's lovely walking around school and seeing different members of staff reading with their buddies. A particular favourite is seeing the school cook with her Year 1 boy, going to say hello to the ladies in the kitchen before sitting down to share a story. I appreciate that 15 minutes for any member of staff is a valuable commodity but I would argue that there are fewer better ways to spend it and I think they're beginning to agree with me now...

You can read more about how we started reading buddies on my original blog post here.
You can also read here about how Jon Biddle used the idea, to accompany his already huge repertoire of R4P schemes and devices. He even won a flippin' award for it!

Author contact

After receiving a response from Alan Cumming a few years ago regarding his one-man Macbeth Broadway show, I know how much of a thrill it is to hear from someone that you admire. This is the same for many children, multiplied by a thousand...

Ashley Booth has written a wonderful post about this exact thing here and I can only add to it by saying it's all true! Leaving book reviews on Amazon, tweeting authors and/or writing to them is a wonderful thing for the children to do. I always explain to them how hard the authors work, how they don't get rewarded hugely for their efforts, and how much they value hearing positive things from their readers. Here are a few important tips though:

• Explain to the children that they may not get a response but it doesn't mean it wasn't received and appreciated.
• Don't ask authors for freebies! (I did this once years ago and still hate myself for it.) They usually have to pay for the copies they are given.
• If writing to authors, if you can, enclose a SAE envelope but add a note to say that a reply isn't expected. It's one less expense for them.

If an author does reply to your class, or member of your class, make sure you show everyone! It just encourages more children to do it, and therefore more authors feel the love. Win win.

Letting the children know you are a reader

The children in my class know I'm a reader, but also most of the children across the school do. I don't think it's just because I wear jumpers with READ MORE BOOKS or AVID READERS' CLUB emblazoned on them either.

It may be because most of my assemblies are based on reading, that the Head often mentions my name when discussing books, or that I'm the one who has attempted (albeit unsuccessfully so far but I'm still trying!) to organise the library and establish committed librarians. I think it's most likely that being a reader comes out in a hundred different ways, from the references you drop in to conversations ("That part reminds of something I read in..."), to what you have displayed in and around your classroom.

If I had to suggest three ways to 'display' yourself as a reader, I would probably choose these:

• Take an interest in what the children in your class are reading! This should be a given, but make it clear it's because you value reading, and not because you need the information for assessment purposes.
• Know your stuff! I read children's books and read about children's books. Twitter is fantastic for this - you only need to look at Reading Rocks and the threads which emerge for half an hour and your TBR list would be extortionate.
• Show you're a reader by sharing what you're reading (if it's suitable!). I have this outside my door and I change it every half term or so, when I have a whole new batch of books to share. (Previous versions are on the back of my door.)
  

Book Buddies

Another change this year was the arrival of Book Buddy (Maz Evans brainchild, I believe) - a way of pairing up schools who wanted/needed more books with a buddy, who would send them parcels of books, letters and generally be an advocate/angel for reading in that school. We were absolutely blessed to be 'adopted' by the wonderful Lissa Evans. If you didn't know, (I won't judge you for not knowing, but seriously?) Lissa is the author of Small Change for Stuart - a favourite when I was doing my PGCE - and the simply glorious Wed Wabbit. Lissa sent us books, always with an accompanying letter about why she chose them, and I would read the letters out in assembly. There was always excitement and everyone was desperate to read what she had sent. Our time with Lissa has now come to an end, so another school can benefit from her generosity, but we are extremely grateful for what she has done for us and can highly recommend the Book Buddy system.
If you are interested, here are my tips:

• You can find out more here and sign up here.
• Be patient! The need for books is greater than the current number of buddies available.

Be grateful! If you are given a buddy, make sure you thank them and show your appreciation. We placed stickers in the front of every book Lissa donated to our school, saying that they were generously given by her. We also placed information about her, copies of the letters she had written us, and information about the books she had sent on the wall in the library. We also credited her when we produced our Reading Review (more on this another time).

Other developments this year include the introduction of our school Reading Review and the implementation of CLPE's Power of Reading as our main way of teaching English across the school but I'll do separate posts for these another time. I'm quickly learning about blogging that perhaps one subject/topic at a time is the way forward, instead of having a whole year's worth of stuff to cram in...