Reading for fun is important!
School is a place to learn to read and also to read to learn. Students begin learning letters and sounds and by the time they are through the primary grades they are reading longer passages and beginning to understand that reading is a skill they will need in all subject areas. Sometimes students begin to feel frustrated when they can’t keep up or the content begins to be challenging. Guess what helps with instructional reading skills and even improving test scores? Pleasure reading. Reading for fun! Reading without purpose, choosing their own material, and engaging with books that are not even assigned is all part of pleasure reading. And guess where students can access pleasure reading materials and also have an expert to help them find books they want to read? You guessed it! The school library. The school library is a safe place without any assessments or assignments where students are free to choose books that speak to them.
Reading Unbound by Michael Smith and Jeffrey Wilhelm shares many research studies that show that students need exposure and opportunities for pleasure reading. “Pleasure reading is a more powerful predictor than even parental socioeconomic status and educational attainment” (Wilhelm). It is our job as teacher librarians to promote pleasure reading to all students and work to provide them with a diverse collection of materials to support them.This builds lifelong readers but also builds better students and lifelong learners.
What does this look like in Vancouver Public Schools? As teacher librarians, we work hard to encourage students, inspire readers, and develop collections where students can see themselves and also learn about others. Teacher librarians, with help from our clerks, purchase and process materials that are new and exciting for our students, build displays and bulletin boards, do book talks, and talk with students about great reading choices that support reading just for fun. You can find literature clubs, Battle of the Books teams, student book reviews, special collections, and even book “tastings” at all different levels in our schools. And you will also find a teacher librarian, with a clerk by their side, smiling as they add new books this fall that they just know students will love.
You can learn more about the benefits of pleasure reading here:
The Benefits of Reading for Pleasure
How Reading for Pleasure Helps Students Develop Academically
Reading for pleasure — a door to success
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Pleasure Reading
You may have heard the term “Future Ready” or thought about what schools are doing to help support students for future careers and industries. Future Ready Schools is a national effort to provide students with digital learning opportunities and help move school districts toward preparing students for success in college, community and careers. Future Ready Schools provides districts with resources and support to help align technology and digital learning plans with best instructional practices. The goal is to inspire and guide educators to create personalized learning experiences for all students. Vancouver Public Schools has signed the Future Ready Pledge and is honored to be a part of the network of educators from all across the country.
In VPS, our libraries are staffed with teacher librarians; many who taught in classrooms before completing graduate programs in librarianship. In addition to developing and maintaining a library collection of books, our teacher librarians also manage curriculum and the circulation of iPads. They collaborate with teachers to teach information literacy skills, digital citizenship, and inquiry-based learning. Teacher librarians provide students with innovative learning experiences to support and enhance standards and projects in all subject areas. Often times it is in the library where students get their first opportunity to test out new tools adopted by the district. Spheros, BreakoutEDU, and Hummingbird robotics are some examples of innovation that have been making appearances in libraries at all levels.
