How are you encouraging students and their families to make time for weekend reading?
Now that we are back to school, my #bookaday is not getting much action. With more to do, I have to be more deliberate about making time to read, and I imagine our students do, too.
One way I plan to promote weekend reading is to share pictures of the books I am reading where I am reading them every weekend through our class Remind app. This is a free app that allows one or two-way texting with parents and students.
My Initial Post
I sent a picture with a message about what I was reading this weekend. Then, I asked students and parents to post a picture of what they’re reading. I went about my reading and later ran some errands. Throughout the day, I responded to posts with a brief comment just to let them know they had an audience.
A Few Responses
What I Learned
I learned who is reading, who has a book on hand. I learned who is tuned into this app, who has a device set to provide notifications. I learned a little bit about where some students like to read and what they are choosing to read BEFORE I have made any recommendations in class.
I found out that a few of my students are reading LGTBQ books Inside of Out by Jenn Marie Thorne and Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings. I could see that these were purchased at Target, which told me where some students buy their books and that some are interested with LGTBQ topics. I was able to tell these students about a few similar titles that are in our classroom library to add to their to-read list.
I also learned that many students did not respond to these texts. One father emailed me privately not sure that this app allowed two-way communication. Later in the weekend, some students were still joining the app, so they did not get the initial text. Another parent emailed me to say her son has a bias towards lists (Blue Stem and Caudill) in part because those books have the “3-D’s” (depression, dogs, and disability). I had not heard of the 3-D’s, but this students has a good point, so I learned that perhaps this student (and others) had a teacher who was big on book lists. I’ll have to be aware of the list specter
This is not (nor will ever be) an assignment; it is just one way I plan to use the app to reach out to students who are making time to read on the weekends, to perhaps nudge a few students (and parents) to “remind” them to make some time to read, and to get other students in our group thinking about picking up a book on the weekend.
Finally, what I got out of the this exchange are a few book recommendations.
Once I know students better and which social media apps they are using, I may move to Instagram with this weekend book promotion. (I plan to create a class hashtag.)
Tell us about how you are promoting weekend reading.