Primary children reading.

A simple idea for sharing:

My co-grade-teacher and I have just started a unit on reading where our grade 5s read any fictions of their own choice by themselves or in partners each Language Arts lesson and fro homework. In each daily lesson there is at least 20 mins of quiet reading and the rest of the session is dedicated to a book report of some sort, with an emphasis on making it visual. This site has 140 ideas for book report formats (file also attached). In order to assist accountability, to me and themselves, We've also given the kids a form to fill in which records the date, the page they have read up to and any activity they are working on (second file attached). We're open to reports being created with any technology that takes their fancy. One boy will be creating a dust jacket via computer. Others are still deciding. I've also made available templates from First Steps Reading (Edition 2), from Rigby/Harcourt Education which is the ultimate resource set of books coming from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. The books provide hundreds of ideas in teaching all the various components of literacy for all the ability levels. I can't recommend them highly enough. Professional Development is available internationally for the books.

We have had lots of language activities this year and will still have more directed sessions but this is to give them some time to themselves after a very hectic Exhibition (which is the culminating Unit of Inquiry in our Primary Years Program of the IB)

What's your favourite reading activity?
How do you nurture reading?
What do your kids love doing with reading?
How do you teach skills in reading?