Rules for “Reach for It Read”

 

  1. You must read a book.  Magazines and newspapers don’t offer the extended chunks of prose you need to develop fluency.  More important, they won’t help you discover who you are as a reader of books.

 

  1. Don’t read a book you don’t like.  Don’t waste time with a book you don’t love, when there are so many great titles out there waiting for you – unless you’ve decided to finish it so you can criticize it.  Do develop your own criteria and system  for abandoning an unsatisfying read.

 

  1. If you don’t like your book, find another.  Check out booklists or Novelist.  Check your list of books to read.  Browse the shelves of the library or a book store.  Ask me, a librarian, or a friend for a recommendation.  You are on a quest to find books you love.

 

  1. It’s more than all right to reread a book you love.  This is something good readers do.

 

  1. It’s okay to skim or skip parts of a book if you get bored or stuck:  good readers do this, too.

 

  1. On the forms inside your language arts binder, record the title of every book you finish or abandon, its genre and author, the date, and your rating, 1 to 10.  Collect data about yourself as a reader, look for patterns, and take satisfaction in your accomplishments over time. 

 

  1. Understand that reading is thinking.  Try to do nothing that distracts others from the reading zone:  don’t put your words into their brains as they’re trying to escape into the worlds of words created by the authors of books they love.  When you confer with me about your reading, use as soft a voice as I use when I talk to you – whisper.

 

  1. Take care of any book you borrow.  From the classroom library, sign out each book you borrow on your cards, then sign it back in with me – I’ll draw a line through the title and initial the card – when you’re ready to return it.  Shelve the returned book in its proper section in our library, alphabetically by the author’s last name – or, if it’s a book you loved, add it to the books-we-love collection.

 

  1. Read the whole time.

 

  1. Read as much as you can, making it a daily habit.

 

 

 

Source:  Atwell, N. (2007) The Reading Zone. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

 

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Last updated: 10/03/2007