Atomic Reading Habits: Part I
I know, I know. What is this adult nonfiction book doing on a blog about books for kids?
A little secret about me is that as much as I love middle grade and YA novels, I also LOVE and consistently read nonfiction. James Clear’s novel, Atomic Habits, stands out as my all-time favorite. I have applied his research and teachings to countless areas of my life since reading it, including the classroom!
The premise of Clear’s novel is that small (think: an atom) behaviors, applied over and over again, can create tremendous (think: atomic) change. He breaks down the process of forming good habits into small, easy-to-understand chunks, and one of my immediate thoughts while reading his book was: How can I apply this to my students’ reading lives?
I want to not only excite students with book talks and captivating read-alouds, but also help them build routines and practices to make reading a rewarding and lifelong habit.
As Pernille Ripp writes in Passionate Readers, “Show students that reading is not something that just magically happens, but instead is something you plan for, that way they can see what habits need to be in place to become a successful reader.”
The truth is, reading is a habit! And a practice that, sometimes, you have to force yourself to do. There is an awful lot out there these days (Fortnite, texting, social media, etc.) that competes with books, so reading habits, and teachers to model them, are essential.
According to Clear, there are four key components of building good habits. They are: (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.
In today’s post, I will do a deep dive into the first rule of creating good habits:
Make It Obvious.
This rule led me to consider the ways in which we can create classrooms that make reading an obvious activity to engage in. In the following list, I itemize ways in which I strive to make my classroom more obviously centered around reading and some new additions I’ve made this year to enhance my space even further!
1. As much as possible, I make the classroom library the focal point of my room. This can be achieved through size or placement. (Quality libraries don’t have to be large!) Though my collection of books isn’t huge, my bookshelf is, which makes it a prominent part of my classroom space. This year, to make the area feel larger, I added another carpet, so there Is plenty of space to sit near the shelves, making it an obvious hangout spot. You might also consider placing your library toward the center of your room or near your door so that students walk through or by it multiple times per day! A small, in-the-corner shelf just won’t cut it, according to the principals of James Clear.
2. The way you decorate the classroom space and display library books can also contribute to making reading a more obvious priority. I like to decorate my library with positive book messages, seasonal decor signs, and prominent book displays, using small stands from the craft store. I make sure to display books beyond the shelves of the library, too, propping them against windowsills and atop filing cabinets. I want students to be reminded of quality titles at every turn.
3. I believe that classrooms should also make it obvious that you, the teacher, are consistently reading. I convey this message to my students in a few ways. First, I consistently add to a bulletin board in my classroom that displays all the books that my dog, Riley, and I have read over the past year-and-a-half. Additionally, I keep my current read propped against my front white board so that students see which title I’m working on (and yes, this means I cart my book to and from school every day :)). I even have a handmade print on my desk of a girl reading. While some of these techniques may seem silly, strange, or insignificant, my students are nonetheless inundated with book titles, reading images, and the idea of reading on a consistent basis in the classroom.
The goal, here, is to make reading an obvious part of the classroom culture. In mine, reading is literally and figuratively at the heart of all we do. But the more obvious we make books and reading to our kids, the more likely they are to engage in them!
Stay tuned for the next three weeks of blog posts, which will continue to give you easy, practical, and actionable tips to help your middle school students build a reading habit, find books they love, and enjoy the process!