Inquiry Blog Post #1
As a Librarian and a former English teacher, fostering a lifetime love of reading is the closest thing to my professional heart. I love matching students with books, talking with them about books, overhearing them having discussions of their own, and getting suggestions for what I should buy for the LLC. To keep all that going, I think the most vital elements to any LLC reading program are choice, time and community. I agree with Gallagher and Danladi that students’ reading choices must be respected and encouraged so they don’t lose interest in reading or become discouraged by material that is too difficult. I also agree that giving them enough time to read is important for the development of their reading, writing and language acquisition skills. When I had classes, my students were given 20 minutes per day to read a book of their choice, a quiet time that they quickly came to appreciate. Now that I’m in the LLC, it’s been exciting thinking up new ways to build a culture of reading!