Making Our READ-solutions

It's the time of the year when everyone makes resolutions. We want to lose weight, take more time for ourselves, and generally become better people. Why not take the time to make a READ-solution? I started thinking about this when a parent from my school (who also happens to be a friend) sent me a text about a reading challenge she is going to do this year. Not to be outdone, I started thinking about books that I am hoping to read that might fit each category and decided to join in.

It turns out that one of my sixth grade ELA teachers had also been thinking about reading resolutions and suggested that we have our students make them when they made their first visit of 2018 to the library. After all, we are intentional about spending time reading--why not challenge ourselves. We started the lesson by having the kids define "resolution" and provide examples of resolutions that people traditionally make. After they came up with a few, both the teacher and I shared our twist on the resolution: the READ-solution. Then, kids were asked to write their own READ-solutions on sticky notes that we have used to make a display.

In addition to displaying the sticky notes, I am using the READ-solutions as a guide for upcoming library sessions. For kids who would like to read more historical books, I can do booktalks and a display of historical fiction and nonfiction. Students who expressed that they would like to read more dystopian books will be interested in a list I have curated and shared on my Destiny homepage. For those who are determined to increase their reading stamina, we will spend time reading together each week during their library time.

I loved reading the resolutions that our students made for 2018 and I am determined to help them find ways to meet their goals. It's motivating to have someone working with you to achieve a goal. I have already received a few texts from my friend sharing the categories of the challenge she has fulfilled. I would like to offer the same type of motivation to our students--checking in, offering advice and help, and just generally supporting them as they strive to read more books and read more widely than they have in past years. What is YOUR READ-solution for 2018?