Designing Your Classroom Reading Area
How you set up your classroom reading area will ultimately
affect how successful reading time is for your students. To help children
become successful readers, your classroom reading area needs to be comfortable enough
for children to get absorbed in reading. Whether you're planning on setting up
a permanent classroom reading area or you would rather set up a temporary one
when needed, there are three essential elements that go into designing an
engaging classroom reading area:
Soft Furnishings and Comfortable Seating Options
Give children an opportunity to get away from their desks by
providing soft furnishings and comfortable chairs for them to sit or lay on
when they read. Children will be more likely to read and understand the text
when they are relaxed and comfortable. Loungers, bean bags, pillows, blankets,
soft rugs and video rockers are all great items to include in your classroom
reading area. K'Motion Stools are also a good seating option for children who
don't like to sit still.
Most of these items are easy to store away in a cabinet or
corner of the room if you don't want to create a permanent classroom reading
area. You can also give children the option of taking a pillow or bean bag out
of the reading area and finding their own comfortable reading nook in the
classroom (e.g., under a table, near your desk, or any other spot in the
classroom they think would be comfortable) during reading time. Just make sure
that you can see all of the students from your desk.
A Large Variety of Books and Reading Materials
Think outside of the box when it comes to reading
materials–bring in developmentally appropriate graphic novels, comic books,
magazines, newspapers, brochures, pamphlets, etc. for children to read. You can
also print out online articles for children to read, or you can allow them to
read articles and children's eBooks on a tablet or laptop. Another option would
be to give children the opportunity to bring something from home to read. Make
sure you include a variety of chapter books, leveled readers, and read-along
books, but use your classroom reading area to show children that reading goes
beyond traditional books and textbooks.
Book Storage that Encourages Children to Read
You probably have one or two bookcases that are stuffed full
of books, but that isn't the best way to store books and reading materials if
you want children to have easy access to them. Children can't see the covers of
books that are crammed in a bookshelf, and they might spend more time looking
for a book they want to read instead of actually reading. One way you can
address this issue is to put some of the books you have in storage. This allows
you to switch out books and keep your selection fresh throughout the school
year. After you put some of your books in storage, you can go through and
organize your bookshelves by subject, author, or category (fiction or
nonfiction). Organizing your bookshelves will help children find a book they
want to read faster and will also help them remember where they need to put
their book back on the shelf.
Once your bookshelves are better organized, you can start
thinking about how you want to display books in your classroom reading area. If
you go into the children's section of a library, the librarian has usually
selected several books to display on various shelves and counters in the
section. Incorporate this idea in your classroom reading area by choosing
several books to display each week.
Credit by--kaplanco.com
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