I love to read!  I especially love to read books on how to become a better teacher.  One of the books I have read is called, Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller.  Donalyn Miller is a language arts and social studies teacher from Texas who has wonderful ideas and ways of teaching reading.  I was so inspired by one of the sections of the book that we have tried it in our classroom for the last 3 years and I thought we would try it again this year.  We started first by talking about times we have had to wait for something.  Here is what we came up with:

• at home
• family members house
• in bed
• in the car
• in our classroom
• at the doctor/dentist office
• an amusement park (waiting in line)
• grocery shopping (waiting in line)
• at a restaurant
• library (waiting in line)
• waiting to go into P.E. or music class
• waiting for our teacher to pick us up from a special
• on the playground at recess

After we made our list, we then talked about all the time those activities took up and realized some were 10 minutes and others were 20-30 minutes.  That is a lot of time.  What if there was a way to cure our boredom from waiting and learn/have fun at the same time? Oh wait…there is! 🙂 In her book, Donalyn Miller talks about always carrying a book with her everywhere she goes.  By doing so she avoids what she refers to as a reading emergency.  She and her family never want to be in a reading emergency and always have books stashed either in a purse, backpack or car.  This way, whenever there is a transition period of time they are bored, they can pull out a book and escape to another world.

So let the challenge in our classroom began.  We are carrying a book with us everywhere we go.  That way if we are ever in a reading emergency, we have a book.  I’m even carrying around a book with me just like the students.  I told them if I was going to give them this challenge, I also had to take part in it right along with them. Today before P.E. we were a bit early, but we had our books, so no time was wasted.

I also challenge the students to try this at home.  Where are places you can have books readily available so families don’t have to hear: MOM I’M BORED!  We can’t wait to see how this challenge goes and the impact it will have on our reading and writing ability.  Better readers are better writers!  Here’s to our challenge and good luck.  Feel free to let us know how the challenge is going by leaving a comment on our blog.

P.S. Donalyn Miller has two books: Reading in the Wild and The Book Whisperer.  These are great reads for parents too.  While she does offer a lot of classroom ideas, most can be varied to work with your families reading life at home.  It also can spark ways you and your family can support your child’s literacy development.  Check them out!