Book Tasting

Book Tasting Event as a way to get students to “sample” a variety of literary genres in order to find their preferred “tastes” in reading.

Read about a Book Tasting event here http://www.slj.com/2014/11/programs/reading-as-the-main-course-a-book-tasting-event/#_

Television to stimulate reading

• Ask your child to tell you about favorite TV characters using different kinds of words.
• As your child watches commercials on television, ask him or her to invent a product and write slogans or an ad for it.
• Encourage your child to watch such programs as Reading Rainbow. Urge older children to watch such programs as 60 Minutes and selected documentaries. These programs are informative. Discuss interesting ideas covered in the programs and direct your child to maps, encyclopedias, fiction, or popular children’s magazines for more information.
• Have your child name 10 of his or her favorite shows. Ask your child to put them into categories according to the type of show they are, such as family shows, cartoons, situation comedies, sports, science fiction, or news and information. If you find the selection is not varied enough, you might suggest a few others that would broaden experiences.
• Prepare a monthly calendar with symbols such as a picture of the sun to represent an outdoor activity or a picture of a book to represent reading. Each time your child engages in a daily free time activity, encourage him or her to paste a symbol on the correct calendar date. This will give you an idea of how your child spends his or her free time. It also encourages a varied schedule.
• Ask each child in your family to pick a different color. Using the TV listing, have each child use this color to circle one TV program that he or she wants to watch each day. Alternate who gets first choice. This serves two purposes. It limits the amount of time watching TV and it encourages discriminating viewing.
• Devise a rating scale from 1 to 5. Ask your child to give a number to a certain TV program and to explain why such a rating was given.
• Have your child keep a weekly TV log and write down five unfamiliar words heard or seen each week. Encourage your child to look up the meanings of these words in the dictionary or talk about them with you.

A word to parents

Some important ideas to consider before turning on the TV: Limit in some way the amount of TV your child watches so as to leave time for reading and other activities. Decide how much time should be set aside for watching TV each day.

Serve as an example by limiting the amount of TV you yourself watch. Have time when the TV set is off and the entire family reads something. You may want to watch TV only for special shows. Before the TV set is turned on, encourage your child to select the programs he or she wishes to watch. Ask your child to give you the reason for the choices made.

In addition, watch some of the same TV programs your child watches. This helps you as a parent share in some of your child’s daily activities.

Courtesy: http://www.readingrockets.org/

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'Book Groups'

-everyone in the group reads an agreed book and then hold an informal meeting to have a structured discussion about their reading. Typically, members take turns to suggest book titles to the group and/or embers might vote on which book they want to read for the next discussion session. Usually, someone agrees to lead , or chair , the discussion. Eg: Groups created on Harry Potter, Jane Austen.

Possible talking points include,
-plot, how it works or how the author has presented it.
-characters, how they are shown and whether they are convincing
-the writer’s style
-moral points and other issues raised by the story
-how it compares with other books

Courtesy: Susan Elkin, Encouraging Reading, Continuum International, New York, 2008.

“Blind Date With a Book”

My favorite interaction so far has been a kid who hesitantly picked up a book and asked his mom, “But what if I don’t like the book?” She replied, “That’s possible, but it could also be a book that you never would’ve picked up before, but end up really liking.”

Courtesy: ‎Heather Thompson‎ (on Facebook)

Shared Reading or Reading Together

Shared reading of a novel and a long story by a group of students. Activities like creating an event timeline, enacting a scene, writing letter to characters may supplement.

Awareness & Volunteer Activities

Choose an important social issue, such as child labor, every month and hold an awareness event. Select relevant books to feature as part of a must-read list and find a community leader to give a talk in the school library on the last Friday of the month. Hold an essay contest regarding a topic during the month and award a prize to winning essay. Or, choose an organization and hold a fundraiser or volunteer project. Another idea is to hold a book drive and ask students to donate used books. Have older students sign up to volunteer in an adult literacy program, helping adults learn to read.

Celebrate Birthdays with Books

Celebrate birthdays with book donation to school library in the morning assembly.

Contributor: Binoy Jose

Meet the Author @Residence

Take students to an author’s residence. Interact. Acquire prior appointment.

Skit in the Assembly

A skit based on a book (fiction/non fiction) is presented in the school assembly. Let them write the script and direct.

Contributor: D Prema

Search the Book

This activity could be carried out in the form of game. 2/4 groups can be formed and they will be asked to find the particular title/book from the library during a particular time (ideally 2-5 minutes).
Contributor: Gautam Kumar Bharti

Reading Wall

Here students will write about the book read and their understanding about the book and they will be free to narrate the book in their own language and possible twist in the book.
Contributor: Gautam Kumar Bharti

Book Board

Maintained by the children, with their own book reviews, illustrations of characters, suggestions, comments, quotes from the book, clippings from newspaper, magazines, etc.

Visit to a Second hand Book Shop

Second hand book shops are great places to find books which had gone through different people and may have a curious history. Notes, annotations and other details may be interesting to children. Also the availability of books in reduced prices will be a bonanza.