News
What book is in your bag?
In Years 7, 8 and 9 we are continuing to Drop Everything And Read. You can find out more about fostering a love of reading by taking a look at last week's post.
During period one this week, all students within these year groups will engage in reading activities for a designated 10-minute slot. Our aim is to help students develop their literacy abilities and help them to cultivate a love of reading.
As such, I am encouraging all parents and carers of students in these year groups to ask your child: "What book is in your bag?" Ordinarily, teachers would be able to ask any student in the corridors at school about the books they are reading. This helps us to start conversations with them about why they chose the book, and help them to engage more deeply with the text by asking follow up questions about plots and characters. It demonstrates that we are interested in what they are learning.
We can still do this virtually but whilst we are in lockdown, it is now even more important that parents and carers feel empowered to have these conversations with students. To support you, here are some useful questions to get the conversation flowing:
- What book is in your bag/on your device?
- Who is your favourite character?
- Which character would you most likely be friends with?
- How do you think the story will end?
- Would you recommend it to a friend?
In the Friday News last week we were able to praise students for DEAR time, I am sharing a few of these stories here too:
As an example of Excellence, Mr Richter praised students in his classes on how they have approached DEAR; he can see that students have grown in confidence with their reading since DEAR time started! We know that reading does not come easily to all students, so they have in many cases shown real Tenacity - well done to everyone who is taking part so well.
Mrs Crisp’s form group is even keeping a list of new words so they can share them as a group! This is a great idea and shows they are supporting each other's learning.
Miss Collins’ Year 7 and 8 classes have been using illustrations to develop their creative writing. They are exploring how literature and creative illustrations can inspire one another, their work is fantastic so, parents and carers, do ask to see your child’s designs!
Please join in with DEAR at home if you are able to!