Celebrating National Book Month: Your "How to" Guide for Encouraging Reading and Building
As teachers, we all know the tremendous power in developing a love for reading. Getting students excited about reading at a young age is key and teachers spend a great deal of time during the school year working on just that. One month out of the year, we get to celebrate National Book Month and make reading extra special for our students. There are so many fantastic ways for teachers to observe this special occasion and we’ve dropped several of them right here, so DIVE IN AND ENJOY! And to honor Dr. Seuss’s suggestion to “fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks,” we’ve also given you a list of links and suggestions for filling your classrooms with new or gently used books at little or no cost. Enjoy! ..and share with us your favorite ways to celebrate!
Scroll down to find the following topics included in this blog:
Classroom Ideas to Celebrate National Book Month
How to Encourage Reading in Your Classroom
How to Build Your Classroom Library for Less
Classroom Ideas to Celebrate National Book Month
Classroom Story Book: Have all your students write a short story and create little drawings to go with it. Type all of the stories up and build a spiral bound classroom book with all of the stories inside (local print shops can do the binding). Have a Table of Contents at the front of the book with each child’s name and their story title. With each student’s story section, or chapter, include a typed copy, the original copy in the child’s handwriting and any accompanying drawings. If your school allows, include a photo of each student. Once completed, pass the book around the classroom and let each student read their story. If you choose, offer parents the option of buying a copy of the classroom book. Offering an option for parents to buy an extra book for a child in the classroom that may not be able purchase one would be a nice touch.
“Dress Up Like Your Favorite Book Character” day
“Around the World” Reading: Have each of your students pick a country or continent where they would like to travel. Find a story or book, depending on their age level, from each place and read it during National Book Month. Hint: For younger readers, Usborne has a book titled, “Stories from Around the World” that may prove helpful.
Book Posters: Have your students create posters about their favorite book. Display them in the classroom during National Book Month.
Book Jeopardy: For older students, play “Book Jeopardy.” This may be appropriate for younger students, as well, if designed for their level.
Book Drive: For older students, have them do a local book drive for the younger level classrooms. There are many digital options for this as well, so don’t count out the power of online book drives.
Act Out A Book: Have your students work together every day of the month for a small amount of time to build a script, select characters and roles, and create a play out of the book of their choice. Then have them act it out in the classroom, or in front of another classroom, at the end of the month. Film it so that the students can watch the play in full after they are done.
Special Reading Theme Area: Have a special reading theme or activity just for National Book Month. “Reading by the Campfire” is one option. You can set up a faux campfire, tents, and if your school and classroom allow, make s’mores while the students do quiet reading time, maybe even in the dark, using a flashlight. Or you can read to them while they eat the s’mores. Play a CD with the sounds of the outdoors. Talk about the constellations that cover the sky at night. Find a different way to use the same theme each day but with a new activity, plus the reading time.
Lunch Time Readings: For older students, offer to read them a book during the lunch period. Make it a longer book that has been made into a (classroom-appropriate) film. This should take multiple days or weeks. Make sure to allow some time for students to collect their lunches and meet with you in the classroom each day. After you have read the book in its entirety, meet in the classroom at lunch to watch the film.
Film Short Story Reads: Have each student pick their favorite short story and read it while being filmed. This can be paired with the book poster project and have the poster that they built hanging in the background, or have them dress up like a character in the story on the day that they film the reading. Then, compose a CD of all of the short stories onto one CD and gift it to a younger classroom to watch or gift it to the parents of the students.
How to Encourage Reading in your Classroom
Reading Field Trips: Once a week or once a month, take a reading field trip to allow your students to read somewhere unique and different. This may be a big library, a park, a museum, a lake, by a river, or etc. Your location and your funds will designate what is available to you, but think outside the box. Help your students discover the love of reading by sitting somewhere different with different smells, sounds, and sights.
Allow Students to Choose: Build a list of books that are options for the school year. Give lots of options so that students can look through them and find the ones that pique their interest. Allow each student to choose one book. Draw names to decide the order in which the classroom will read the books. Giving students the option to select books that interest them, while also having the selection limited to what books you would like them to read during the year, will create more excitement in the reading process and still achieve your goal of having them read certain authors or works.
“Anything Goes” Reading Time: Allow your students a certain amount of reading time where, as long as classroom-appropriate, they can read any type of book that they would like. Maybe it’s a comic strip book, or a science fiction, or a self-help. “Anything goes” encourages reading time with their individual interest in mind.
Create a Reading Space: Peruse Pinterest or other websites for ideas on creating a reading space and then build one that’s level-appropriate for your classroom. There are endless ideas out there, but moving from the standard desk space to a space set up specifically for reading can create a sense of calm and enjoyment that sitting at a desk may not.
Build a Reading Wall: Take one wall space in your classroom and designate it the reading wall. Have a small white posterboard set aside for each book that you plan to read. Or maybe one for each student, depending on your space. After you complete the book, allow the students to either individually or together, draw, color, paint or design a poster with the book in mind. Build a mosaic on your wall of each book or each student’s work.
Incorporate Filming of Book Reviews: We all know that student’s love working with cameras and filming. Make the end of a book exciting by designating a filming area in your classroom and allow students to film each other doing a book review. For younger students, this may just be, “I liked this book because…,” while older students may have a more in-depth account.
Make Reading Goals with Prizes: Since all students have different strengths and weaknesses, I don’t suggest making these goals and prizes individual, as it can discourage slower readers, but if you make goals of completing classroom books together with prizes after each book finished, then the entire class can celebrate each time they complete a book! This, of course, would be budget-dependent and also age-appropriate, but it could be a special snack, a special new toy for the classroom, a special outing, or etc.
How to Build Your Classroom Library for Less
Online or Social Media Book Drives – You can use an Amazon wish list, a book dealer (Usborne or Scholastic, for example) or other resource. Just don’t count out the power of social media and the reach that it has, especially when you get parents on board.
Give Parents the Option of Sponsoring a Book – During your open house, give parents the option to go online or write a check and “sponsor” one of the books that you would like to add to the classroom.
Work with High School Students – If you chat with teachers, counselors, or principals at your high school, you may be able to get one of them to host a book drive for your younger classroom, while allowing the high school students to earn extra credit for all efforts toward the drive. Never underestimate the power of young adults. You can also look into getting local colleges on board with this idea. A lot of college professors will give extra credit to students that help with community service drives.
Library Sales and Resale Shops
Amazon (Used) or Ebay – Both of these online shops have a large selection of used books at discounted rates.
Websites with Book Grants and Discounted and/or Free Books for Teachers:
(Some sites have specific qualifications to receive free or discounted books or book grants)
