Fostering a Love of Reading

Last week I had the pleasure of having my mom and wonderful family friend, Mary Jo, in Sayulita. Our week was filled with delicious meals, unbelievable shopping, and relaxing afternoons and evenings at the beach. But the highlight of their trip was by far the day they visited CVIS.

Before coming my mom and Mary Jo contacted me about bringing items to donate to the school. There are so many things the school can use—anything from folders and paper to magnets and dry-erase markers. But one of the things the school needs the most are books in Spanish.

The school library is pretty small and an overwhelming majority of the books are in English. Most classics, series, and current popular books can be found in English at the library. But there is only a small shelf of Spanish books. So, I put together a list of Spanish book series I thought the library could use. While there are so many amazing books I could have chosen, I finally decided on the entire Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. The kids are always reading these books in English so I figured the books would not only interest them, but would also be relatively easy for students learning Spanish to read because they are already familiar with the story lines.

Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and 

Diary of Wimpy Kid--all in SPANISH!

When my mom and Mary Jo came to CVIS last Thursday to donate the books Joel and I held a special book donation ceremony. In the morning pushed all of the tables in the classroom together so it was more conducive to conversation. Then, we created a ribbon out of paper strung together for Betty and Mary Jo to cut in front of the students, signaling the books officially belonging to CVIS.

Betty and Mary Jo cutting the ribbon to signify

the books officially belonging to CVIS!

Joel even scrounged up some cookies and juice

for a toast following the ceremony!

The ceremony was a fantastic idea because it really got the students excited about reading. Betty and Mary Jo spoke to the 5^th and 6^th grade during separate ceremonies. In both ceremonies they spoke to the students about the importance of reading, strategies to use when reading a different language, and answered questions the students had.

Deep in thought as we discuss reading, language,

and more with the 6th graders.

By the end of both ceremonies the students could hardly wait to begin reading. Because the books still had to be catalogued in the library, students had to wait until after school to borrow the books. I was amazed at how many students were in the library at the end of the day. They raced from their classrooms in hopes of being the first to check out a book. And at the end of the day, there wasn’t a single Spanish book in the library because they were all being borrowed. Ever since that day I have seen students reading during recess, which is something I never saw them do before. I’ve also overheard students talking about finishing up their books so they can read more and give others a chance to read the book they are currently reading.

This experience showed me the importance of fostering a love of literacy. When I came to Sayulita I also brought a haul of books in English and Spanish. But the students were not nearly as excited about reading them because I didn’t do anything to make the books special to them. I simply donated them to the library and that was it. To get students to love reading it is important to present reading as something important and fun.

The volunteer librarian, Gretchen, and I have been talking about what more we can do to make reading fun and exciting for students. We’re putting together a list of books we should add to the library, organizing a buddy reading system between students in the secundaria and primaria, and toying with the idea of book shares. Book shares might include a “Staff/student pick” poster in the library, which will give students ideas about what they can read, or book talk presentations. I am so excited about the outcome of this book donation and cannot wait to see where else it leads us!