Guest Posted November 25, 2011 Posted November 25, 2011 Hi everyone we were observed today by our head and she picked up on (somrthing i have noticed myself) that the children are not really visiting the reading area and she has asked me to make it more of a WOW factor! she did suggest adding more books. I have at the moment two rows of books, puppets, cushions and story sacks, i took a lot of books away because i found the children were not using them properly even though we would sit with them on a regular basis and model how to read the books, they would get thrown on the floor and stood on. I tried the less is more approach but not the children have little interest. does anyone have any ideas to create a WOW area out of our reading area. thanks kate
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted November 25, 2011 Posted November 25, 2011 Hi everyone we were observed today by our head and she picked up on (somrthing i have noticed myself) that the children are not really visiting the reading area and she has asked me to make it more of a WOW factor! she did suggest adding more books. I have at the moment two rows of books, puppets, cushions and story sacks, i took a lot of books away because i found the children were not using them properly even though we would sit with them on a regular basis and model how to read the books, they would get thrown on the floor and stood on. I tried the less is more approach but not the children have little interest. does anyone have any ideas to create a WOW area out of our reading area. thanks kate why contain it to just an area, i find that if i put relevant books around other activity areas the children tend to take more interest in the books 1
AnonyMouse_3307 Posted November 25, 2011 Posted November 25, 2011 Books should generally be included in different areas to encourage those children who won't as a rule go to the reading area I think. Make it a den or a covered area, somewhere cosy and nice to sit is important.....books sorted into different types with good labelling, book posters, childrens photos with their favourites, the books you make as a class (bound book making seems to be a lost art in teaching these days), story props.....just a few ideas of the top of my head! Cx
Guest Posted November 25, 2011 Posted November 25, 2011 i do have books in all areas however i do also have a specific reading area. i do have a rainbow covr over it but that doesnt seem to be encouraging the interest. will need to have a brain storm i think or maybe ask the children what they would like to have in the story area. thanks for your ideas kate
AnonyMouse_3401 Posted November 26, 2011 Posted November 26, 2011 I attached a shower curtain and hung some lightweight fabric from it, I change the theme too....I have had a cave, the south pole, a garden and a jungle. It is currently the wood where the gruffalo lives. I don't do that sewing stuff so it it creative draping , safety pins and staples to make it cosy. I use coloured voiles so I can still see the little people!! S
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted November 26, 2011 Posted November 26, 2011 I attached a shower curtain and hung some lightweight fabric from it, I change the theme too....I have had a cave, the south pole, a garden and a jungle. It is currently the wood where the gruffalo lives.I don't do that sewing stuff so it it creative draping , safety pins and staples to make it cosy. I use coloured voiles so I can still see the little people!! S lovely idea
AnonyMouse_13453 Posted November 26, 2011 Posted November 26, 2011 I got a cheap pop up tent and put a quilt in and scattered some books round the edges - try getting them out!!
Guest Posted November 26, 2011 Posted November 26, 2011 Sharon that sounds fab have you got any photographs of your reading area? what did you hang your shower curtain up on? i have a book shelving unit from YPO on one side and another shelving unit on the opposite side from YPO so there is a gap in the middle where i put cushions etc. Cait I was thinking of putting a tent up, going to put an igloo up next week with snow etc linking to winter and try and encourage it that way and see how that goes. thanks for your ideas again kate
Guest Posted November 26, 2011 Posted November 26, 2011 Lots of great ideas here! An adult in the area is what children really want - but where's the time!? I have been using an idea I saw on CLPE site - literacy site. They call it the 5 a day readign challenge. You read the same 5 books every day for a week. 5 has been a stretch this week, so I think I will amend it to 3 a day next week. Once read to whole class, the books go into the reading area the following week. The texts have been varied - 2 shorter, one longer. text. So far we have used, Dogger - That's not my pirate - any Nick Sharrat book!- Pants is a fave! I have tried to also to use books to link with themes in our room and/or children's interests (Pirates). Some of the text needs to be rhythmic and lively to hook the children in and make them join in/complete the sentences etc. So far: A great success - they are re-reading the books once added to the book case - let's hope it continues! Jenni
AnonyMouse_3307 Posted November 26, 2011 Posted November 26, 2011 Funny how things come round again - in my day it was 3 books a day: 1 they knew really well, 1 they knew reasonably well and 1 brand new one. This kept the cycle going with the core texts (also CLPE, they were in my borough so they influenced a lot of my reading curriculum approaches). That used to work very well as the children had a repertoire so could access the books. Book choices for story times are crucial. Cx 1
Guest Posted November 27, 2011 Posted November 27, 2011 that sounds like a fab idea jennim think i am going to try that approach thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guest Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 how many books should be accessible on a daily basis by children?at one point there were hardly on our bookshelf and now theres so many it looks messy and the books are hardly fitting in!
AnonyMouse_19782 Posted July 5, 2015 Posted July 5, 2015 We have our library bookcase out every session, sometimes it can get a little over stuffed - but we soon sort that out. There are 4 shelves and the books face outwards so they can be easily seen. If we are having a bit of a topic running I spread suitable books on the carpet area beside the bookcase or on a low table with a couple of chairs. We store a number of books at the setting depending on the time of year etc. and can easily swop, or top up whenever we need to. The bulk of the books are at my house - deep joy! 1
Guest Posted July 6, 2015 Posted July 6, 2015 A couple of years ago our book area was very quiet until I splashed out on some comics (must have been ill -they are very expensive). I repaired them with sticky back several times, and once the children got the idea of 'reading' they just decided to stay in the area.
AnonyMouse_9650 Posted July 6, 2015 Posted July 6, 2015 Like Panders we rotate books into our book corner from our collection. We try to have a balance of books - fiction and non-fiction and we also have comics but like marywilliam says they are just soooooo expensive - Mike the Knight is v. popular and the CBeebies comics are always well loved too.
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