Supporting Literacy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12366478

Well, its quite obvious, but as the article states, library users become better readers. As a kid, and to this day, I love a good trip to the library! Whether we ran in quickly to return our books and check out a new one, or if we spent a couple hours in the corner reading the back of numerous books, it always put me in a better mood. The article mentions how family plays a large role. Obviously kids arent going to go to the library without an adult, so it makes sense that the most common reason students didnt go to the library was because their family didnt go. I was lucky enough to have parents who encouraged reading.

The article also mentions that the children who didnt go to the library were lower-level readers who wouldnt choose to read outside of school. These students may have had bad experiences with books throughout the years. We talked about this a couple weeks ago in my te402 class. Past teachers and family play a large role in whether children grow up with a passion for literacy. For example, in my placement class, the fourth graders are not reading books that they're interested in. The teacher has given them choices but the material does not draw any sort of interest from them. So, as the students read, they're not actually 'reading' they are only skimming the books, pretending to read, so they can answer the follow-up questions. The students tend to read only to finish the assignment rather than for enjoyment.

Libraries prove to be a great resource for children with the growing number of books and the technology it provides. I believe that all students need to be able to read for pure enjoyment so I will make sure that library time, or silent reading is included in my daily schedules. Some students might go to the library to look at picture books or play a learning game on the computer.. Either way, they're going to walk away from the library having learned something new every time.