Beloved Books for Lovely Readers

Why should my child read the classics? More importantly, how do I encourage them to do so? The main reason for reading the classics that I hear is that they are high quality literature, which of course they are, but what does that mean to our little readers? I would argue that the 5 main reasons to read the classics are as follows:

1. Improve  Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking Skills: It is almost common sense that more reading will lead to improved reading skills. It's just like exercise, the more you practice, the better you'll be. If you ask most authors, they will tell you that they improved their writing by reading more books. In fact many books mention other books that may have been important to the author. For example, Twilight's main character Bella mentions that Wuthering Heights is one of her favorite books. No doubt this was mentioned because the author of the book enjoyed Wuthering Heights. The biggest difference between any old book and a classic is the challenge the book presents and the big world questions they explore. These aspects in particular will truly stretch reading and writing skills while they also stretch critical thinking.
2. Relate to Older Generations: Classics have been loved by many many generations. This is how they have come to be known as classic literature. When children read the classics, they will be able to better understand the culture of the times they are reading about, but also be able to talk about these books with older members of their family. Parents and grandparents can share with their children the memories of reading these books and the feelings they gave them leading to wonderful relationships.
3. Increase Vocabulary: When having kids find "just right books" we tell them to choose a book in which they know most of the words. Why not all? Because we want the kids to learn more words. Classic literature often uses more challenging language, so it naturally leads to an increase in vocabulary as students use context clues or even the good old dictionary to come to an understanding of these new words.
4. Improve Intelligence and Earning Potential: In the words of Dr. Suess, "The more you read, the more you will know. The more that you know, the more places you'll go!" When students read more books they are increasing their knowledge. When students read classic literature they are gaining more knowledge from a quality source. People with a higher intelligence often make more money. So it can be gathered that the more you read, the higher your earning potential. Why not start building intelligence while still in school?
5. Understand Literary References: Lastly, we often hear or read literary references, like "Don't be a Scrooge" or "Well, it's kind of a catch-22.", without realizing that these actually are literary references. When we read classics we become more aware of the things we hear, read, and say and where they came from. This makes it easier to understand the books we are reading and the people we are talking to.

Ok, great, so we have reasons to read the classics, but how do we get our kids interested in reading them? Here are some suggestions:

1. Read to Your Child: I've previously mentioned this in my blog post on helping your child to improve their reading skills, and it's worth saying again, reading to your child is something you should do as long as they will allow you. A bed time story helps children and adults to wind down and relax. Reading to your child models fluency in reading and allows for discussions of what was read. I remember my mother reading Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie to my sister and I when we were young. Those memories are treasures.
2. Read with Your Child: Just like reading to your child, reading with your child can help to improve reading skills and encourage a love of reading. Both of these are great ways for you to share your favorite books with your children. Why not take turns reading maybe you can take every other paragraph, page, or chapter? You could start with a simple book like AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh books or any of Roald Dahl's fantasy wonders.
3. Start with Illustrated Abridged Versions: I remember when I was younger getting a copy of the Great Illustrated Classics version of Great Expectations. I absolutely loved the book and reread it many times. As I got older, my love for the book led me to read the original version which I loved just as much. This series of illustrated classics is still available on Amazon. Usborne books also recently published a set of illustrated abridged classics for kids that are amazing in quality.
4. Try Graphic Novel Versions: Graphic Novels are some of the most popular books in our school library. The comic book format easily draws in reluctant readers which explains why so many novels are having companion graphic novels made out of them. The graphic novel format is also helpful when trying to follow along and understand the story. 
5. Connect the Classic to a Modern Book: As I said before, authors often mention books within their stories. One way to connect a classic to a modern book would be making note of these mentions while reading a modern book and reading the classics mentioned after. Often you can make connections between the story line of the two books. Another way to make connections would be to pair modern remakes of a book with the original. For example, A Tale Dark and Grimm or The Sisters Grimm could be paired with the original Grimm's Fairy Tales,  or for teens, you could pair Pride & Prejudice with Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies.
6. Watch the Movie as a Reward for Finishing the Books: When the weather is icky like it has been lately, what would be better than a movie night? Many of the classic novels we love have been turned into movies or TV miniseries. Why not use the movie as an incentive for reading the book. When you finish the book you can curl up with a blanket and some popcorn and watch a movie. A great example would be to read A Jungle Book  and then watch either the old animated Disney version or the beautifully done updated version of the movie. After watching the movie you can compare it to the book, which in turn improves critical thinking.

Further Reading:
Buchanan, J. (2013). How—and why—to encourage your kids to read classic literature. Retrieved from https://www.readingrainbow.com/site/blog/2013/04/09/how-and-why-to-encourage-your-kids-to-read-classic-literature/

Carlyle, R. (2015, March 17). Hooked on classics: Top tips to get your children to read quality books. Express. Retrieved from http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/books/563741/Top-tips-to-get-your-children-to-read-classic-books

Chen, G. (2015). Why read the classics? Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/why-read-the-classics/

Kersten, K. (2009, September 19). Katherine Kersten: Why students should read the classics. Star Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.startribune.com/katherine-kersten-why-students-should-read-the-classics/59780987/

Leigh, J. (2016). 10 reasons you should be reading the classics. Retrieved from http://www.punchnels.com/2016/02/25/10-reasons-you-should-be-reading-the-classics/

Richardson, H. (2015, September 26), Do children still need to read the classics of English literature? BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34341656

Legos in the Library

Over the weekend, I attended the 2015 Information and Technology Educators of Minnesota Conference. I came back with many ideas for how to make our Library Media Center into a fun innovative learning space. One of the ideas I loved the most was the idea of Legos in the library. Legos are one of my favorite toys. I love to build with them. I really believe they can inspire students and help to build their creativity and imagination. I learned that Lego even has an education branch with lesson plans and curriculum using Legos to support the Science and Technology standards and the English Language Arts standards. I suppose I should have realized this since we hear about Lego robotics competitions all the time, but it just never clicked for me.

As a School Library Media Specialist, one of my most important roles is to collaborate with teachers to support reading and writing skills. I am very excited to have learned about Lego's Story Starter Kits! These kits contain over 1000 pieces selected and sorted in a large bin to support the creation of a story with Legos. There is also optional software that allows students to create books with their creations, or even stop animate their stories. The kits come with a curriculum pack and lesson plans to support the English Language Arts standards and reinforce skills like beginning, middle, and end. I am so excited to use these kits with my students. I can just see this opening up a whole new world of learning for my third and fourth grade students, especially the boys.
If you would like to learn more about the Lego Story Starter Kits, visit https://shop.education.lego.com/legoed/en-US/catalog/product.jsp?productId=prod120008*

*I am not an associate of Lego and am not paid to endorse their products. I just think this is super cool!*

Who is Roald Dahl?

I love Roald Dahl. I mean, who hasn't watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory more than once! Not to mention Matilda, one of my childhood favorites! (I still jokingly threaten to put kids in The Chokey, although most of them are too young to understand the reference.) And what about James and the Giant Peach? All of these movies are based on books written by the wonderful, whimsical Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl was born on September 13, 1916 in the United Kingdom. Roald was named after a famous Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, as his family was of Norwegian descent. Roald moved around quite a bit as a child attending a number of different schools including Llandaff Cathedral School. You can read about his childhood adventures in his book Boy. When Roald grew up, he worked for the Shell Oil company and joined the Royal Air Force during World War II. Roald began writing in the 1940s, but it wasn't until the 1960s when Roald published James and the Giant Peach, that he began to be noticed as a children's author. Roald Dahl's repertoire of children's books includes: James and the Giant Peach (1961), The Magic Finger (1962), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), The Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970), Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972), Danny Champion of the World (1975), The Enormous Crocodile (1978), The Twits (1980), George's Marvelous Medicine (1981), and many more. Roald Dahl passed away in 1990.

This year my second and third grade students enjoyed a reading of The Twits. This book tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Twit. As you can tell from their last name, the Twits are terribly stupid, mean, and foolish people. The story begins by describing how rotten and foul this couple is. From Mr. Twit's beard filled with sardines and moldy corn flakes, to Mrs. Twit's unbelievably ugliness, the students were absolutely disgusted. The story then moves into these two disgusting people doing disgusting things to one another. Mr. Twit puts a frog in Mrs. Twit's bed. Mrs. Twit puts worms in Mr. Twit's spaghetti. The children were thoroughly disgusted and laughed hysterically at these antics. The story wraps up by telling how the Twits' monkeys outwitted them with the help of some birds. This book was so much fun to read aloud and perfect for this grade level. I know my students are anxious to reread it.

Our school also puts on a "Read and Run Club." Ironically, this group also chose to read a Roald Dahl book. The book that they chose to read was The BFG. This is another hilarious story. It is the story of the little girl Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant (BFG) that steals her away from the orphanage. In this story, Sophie learns all about giants and experiences some of their disgusting habits. These habits include the BFG eating snozzcumbers that look and taste disgusting, and drinking frobscottle which is like soda except that it's bubbles float downward causing farts instead of burps. What third through fifth grade student wouldn't find that funny?

If you are ever looking for a funny and imaginative story, be sure to find a Roald Dahl book.

ELL Collection

After attending the AASL Conference this fall, I have been working hard to put together a collection of books for my ESL/ELL students. The population of ELL students in my school are primarily Russian, Arabic, and Spanish. I have been ordering more Graphic Novels to help them out, and in turn have helped out my lower level readers. The graphic novel has grown so much this year that it barely fits in the section of shelves it is currently on. I have also moved the picture books from the teacher resource room to the Media Center shelves, and have seen those checked out. I have playaways of many popular titles, and have added titles as I have had funds. My final touches are going to be adding a collection of Orca and Stone Arch books, as well as books in the students native languages. I am having trouble finding good books in Arabic and Russian, but I will keep looking until I am satisfied. I have been working with the ESL/ELL teacher, and she is very excited to see these final touches. I have the principal on board and we are getting ready to submit a proposal to the district to see if we can get some extra funds from the ELL budget to start up this collection. I am really excited to see all my hard work paying off. What are some special projects you have undertaken this year? Do you have a native language collection in your Media Center? How did you start it, and how have you kept it up?