Raising Readers
Reading | “Conversations”
Our literacy focus at the College this year will continue to be reading. While many of us read on different platforms and enjoy the many formats that reading is presented to us in, it’s important that we share our reading journeys with each other.
As part of our reading focus, I will be sharing some reading tips for home, so that we can work together as a school community to support the reading of our learners.
This fortnight’s focus is having conversations.
It’s not always easy discussing what we’re each reading; reading can sometimes be very personal, but by opening the conversation to others, it especially allows developing minds to really connect with the listener, as it provides them with an opportunity to express their own idealisms and understanding of their world.
Encourage reading by conversing about books. If your learner is reading a book for a particular class, ask questions about it.
Having conversations prior to and after reading with your learner helps them develop higher-level thinking and language skills, such as: predicting, problem solving, and contrasting.
Some conversation started ideas:
- A. Use open-ended questions (questions that don’t have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer) to ask the learner to think about the book’s messages and what is happening.
Example: “what would happen if you planted a tree in the desert?”
- B. Ask the learner to apply the book’s messages to the world around them by connecting events to their own life.
Example: “if that were you in the story, what would you have done?”
- C. Ask complex questions, so that the learner continues to build their vocabulary and language skills.
Example: “What does this word mean? Where else have you seen this word used?”
All our students in year 7 received a reader, with a unique book allocated to them as part of their transition to the College. If your learner is in year 7, ask them which book they received and start a conversation about it.
If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me, as I would love to know how these reading conversations are taking place in your home!
Keep Reading,
Ms Ecehan
PS: The title of the book that I’m currently reading is - “Abandon the Old in Tokyo” by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. It’s graphic novel and the book questions how the memories of the ‘old days’ can sometimes be burdensome for our young people
