Mrs. Schroeder's HOT Reads!

Friends~While presenting at the North Carolina Reading Conference in March, I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Steven L. Layne speak.  He was such an inspirational and funny speaker that I had to grab his book Igniting a Passion for Reading.  I even stood in line to get an autographed copy!

I had planned to read his book this summer but after a 4 hour evening meeting with my leadership cohort group on professional literature, I went straight home and got started.  This book is an amazing resource and motivator. (Beware...he is super funny and I was laughing out loud while reading!) 

 In our leadership group, we have been talking about what our school's THING is.  We have a lot of THINGS going on at our school and I couldn't say for sure what our main focus is but I knew I wanted mine to be reading.  Especially after plowing through Steven's book!

I decided that I would sample his idea of HOT Reads and bought rain gutters and had then cut into 12 inch strips.  I convinced my teammates to join in on the fun.  We made fire for the background and typed up strips with each teacher's name.  (Mrs. Schroeder's Hot Read)  Steve suggest with any little project like this- it is important to create some anticipation.  I did not tell my class what I was up to and put the shelf up a little each day until it was complete.  You should have seen them checking it out.  They were asking tons of questions and I had not even added a book.  The cool thing is all the 2nd graders in our school are curious about it.  The book I added first was Waiting for Magic-such a great read!  Steve suggested in his book,  that your Hot read needs to be a grade level book that you are reading during silent reading.  Not one you are reading to the class.   I also have been giving SHORT book talks after silent reading on my book.  It really has helped my students when they go back to reflect on their own reading.  

 So far, I have had 3 Hot Reads and they have been gobbled up!  I have also had other students come and ask me about my book.  My teammate reports the same. At first I felt a bit guilty reading during silent reading as a pile of work sat on my desk or running records/conferences needed to be done.  After a few days of committing to silent reading,  I am floored at the change in my classroom reading climate.  Work can wait!  Modeling reading is a powerful tool! 

Thank you Steven L. Layne!