Mem Fox and Reading Rotation

Reading aloud is the perfect time for engaging in. . . conversations because the reader and the listener can chat endlessly about the story, the picture, the words, the values, and the ideas.  Reading aloud and talking about what we're reading sharpens children's brains.  It helps develop their ability to concentrate at length, to solve problems logically, and to express themselves more easily and clearly.  The stories they hear provide them with witty phrases, new sentences, and words of subtle meaning.   Mem Fox, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to our Children will Change Their Lives Forever.

Steve and I were meeting some friends for dinner last night and had some time to kill.  We went to Half-Price Books where I found a Mem Fox book on reading aloud.  She is the author of one of our favorite board books (one that mysteriously disappeared, come to think of it)—Where is the Green Sheep?  

I started reading her book this morning and I am almost halfway done!  Good to know for busy moms, this is an easy read.  The main point: reading aloud is good.  Duh!  But I'll fill you in with some of the juicy details when I finish the book.

The book made me remember a lovely ritual that took place at Valley View Elementary School, where I worked as a school counselor.  On the first day of school there would be an assembly.  Each member would introduce themselves to the entire school by sharing his/her name, his/her role at the school, and a favorite book.  Even as an adult, I loved seeing what each teacher chose and why.  

Then for the next two weeks, there were reading rotations.  Every afternoon at 2:15, the students would stay in their classrooms and the teachers (and other staff members too, like me) would change rooms.  They would read their favorite book to the kids of that classroom.  So the fifth-grade teacher may be reading to a first-grade classroom.  After reading rotation was over, the books were put on display in the library and kids could check them out.  

Mem Fox would have been proud of this very sweet ritual.  She would say, I'm sure of it, that this is the best type of literacy activity.  I concur.  It served two purposes: turning kids on to books and reading AND building a community.

Sadly, the ritual was put to the chopping block because it took away from classroom time, literacy building, and was pretty much deemed frivolous and unnecessary.  The teachers put up a fight, but in the end they lost.  I can just see the disgust on Mem's face.