Do you read aloud to your children/students?

When you do read, what do you read? Right now, my five year old likes to listen to the same books over and over, as most kids do (or like his mommy, I love to read books again, it's comfortable).  You might be thinking it's because we only have a few books in his room, but because I am a teacher and a librarian, I have been collecting kids books for over 15 years.

My little one has over 100 books in his room!  But we read the same ones over and over because he enjoys them, I figure eventually we'll read all 100 but until then we'll enjoy our time reading together and being together.

There are so many great reasons to read aloud to your children (your own and your students).
 I like to listen to books on CD and at the end of two different books that I've listened to Jim Dale (visit his website www.jim-dale.com) says, "listening to audiobooks isn't just great entertainment, it's a great way for your family to experience and enjoy books together. Studies have shown that listening to stories read aloud helps children build vocabulary and improve their reading skills.  It's an important step on the road to becoming a good reader and one of the best ways you can help insure a life-long love of literature and reading for the children you care about."

 Jim Dale.  You should hear his Harry Potter voices!!  Awesome!! I just read on his website that he did 134 voices for the Harry Potter books!  And they are distinguishable and he keeps the same voices throughout the series.  

So, in case you missed them, here are some reasons for reading out loud to your children:

1. Being together

2. Builds fluency

3. Builds vocabulary

4. Great entertainment

5. Improves reading skills

6. Builds a lifelong love of literature

If you haven't picked a book to read aloud to the kiddos in your life, DO IT, you will be glad you did!

Brandy

Books To Read!

How long is your list of books to read?  Mine is so long, I will never get them all read!  I have a stack of books from our most recent book fair:

And then I come across some on the shelves and think, oh I'd like to read those, maybe they'll be some I can tell the kids about, here are my most recent finds as I was straightening the shelves.

I'm also reading this series for a teacher friend, to let her know if it's appropriate for her students:

Hoping to have a little bit of time to read this spring break, haven't had any time yet!  Busy, busy with my kiddos!  

Is your pile as tall as mine?  Is everyone's pile/list that tall/long?  

Brandy

Spring Break!!

Woo Hoo!!  I know all my teacher friends and all the kids are celebrating!!  It's also National Pie/Pi Day!  Sounds like a good start to a great week!  Getting ready to tie dye shirts with my daughter and her friend!  Going to be a good time!  I hope that everyone has a great and relaxing break and we return renewed and refreshed and ready for those last 9 weeks of school.  Enjoy!  I'm going to read, read, read! 

Happy Spring!

Pictures!!

One of the things I like best about library and teacher blogs (and Pinterest!) is the pictures of different classrooms!  I love to see how creative and different they are.  My library has very bland walls because they are like 30 feet tall with nothing on them, I long for a mural or something!  So I thought maybe I can show you my library and you can give me some ideas :)!  I've only been at my school for 2 years, so it's a work in progress.

This first picture is from outside the library, in the hallway, and it shows how large the library is,  I've never measured but you could fit 2 or 3 of my first library in it.

Not a great picture but I will take more as I talk about different sections of the library.  I can tell you that I do long for walls all the way around the library.  I have a few walls, but they just don't block the sound at all!  I wish for my library to be a place where kids can come to relax and this library is not that place.  Right now, I can hear all the noise from the cafeteria, which is understandably loud, that's when they get to talk, but I wish that my space was quiet.  Is your library a quiet place?

This one is from the opposite corner.

Welcome to BookLand!

One of my favorite books is Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins.  

I love to read and I want to share that love with others!  I work in an elementary library and I love teaching kiddos and teachers about books!  I'm also learning a lot about technology!  I've learned so much from others and I thought it would be a good way to share what I've learned with others.