Being passionate about literacy

For as long as I can remember, I have loved reading and books. Mum would always read a bedtime story to me from a very young age and I used to love it when she would change her intonation of voice for different characters or when something meaningful was about to happen. One of my most cherished moments from childhood was the monthly visit to the Adelaide Library with my mum and my younger sister where I would have the wonderful opportunity to peruse through many different titles then select six new books that I was interested in to take home for the next 4 weeks. When I was sick with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in Year 5, I had a whole term off school. I loved school and missed it terribly. What helped me through was reading The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton, Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary. I loved being immersed in the worlds of these characters, connecting to their experiences and visualising the events in these novels. With this “package” of skills as well as being able to make successful book selections and receiving support from significant adults, I was provided with a solid foundation to become a lifelong reader.

Now as a mother of three and a Reading Support teacher at a school of nearly 400 students, my desire is for children to be excited about reading and love it just as I do. Providing and maintaining a strong, independent reading program with a well equipped and organised classroom library will, I believe, ignite (or reignite) the passion for reading with children, teach them the elements of different genres  and help them to develop the necessary skills in comprehending texts.

Last term, our school (Hackham East Primary) embarked on this journey of creating classroom libraries under the guidance and influence of our Deputy Principal, Sally Slattery who has been involved in developing independent reading programs across several school sites in Melbourne and New York . The following posts will contain my documentation of this exciting and challenging venture.