319 books read completely in Spanish so far this school year in four classes of Spanish I and one class of Spanish III.

This is a chart I asked student aides to make last week. Students were asked to indicate each book in Spanish they have read with a post-it note. They wrote their name and the title of each book they had read so far this school year. Only completely read books counted for this measurement. There is no contest, no prize, no score, no grade, no credit and therefore most likely no cheating. Just pride and learning. What a concept.

Several students have read four or five books and have asked to check them out and take them hoe to read. almost all have read two.

I am mighty proud of these kids because reading books seems to no longer be part of the general culture in school. We are working to change that by giving students access to interesting  and comprehensible books, regular time to read, encouragement and approbation for reading. The idea is to inculcate confidence that they can enjoy reading and get something worthwhile out of it. A lifelong reading habit is the goal and these may be some steps in that direction.

I got the idea for the bulletin board from Alina Filipescu at the Comprehensible Midwest conference and from a post on the iFLT/NTPRS/CI Facebook page–I do not recall who. If you know, please tell me and I will credit them with the sticky note idea.

What are you doing to encourage reading in your classroom? Share your thoughts and struggles here.