It didn’t take long before I realized that one of my readers was really having a hard time settling into a book. Each of the first few days of the school year, he would wander around during our reading time, and when he did sit down with a book he never made it past the first page.
When I sat down with him for a conference he told me how much he hates reading. He went on to talk about how he’s never really finished a book, and how he has NEVER even thought about reading outside of school.
I asked him if he had ever tried reading an audio book, and then explained to him that we have a Kindle he could use if he’s like to try it. He didn’t seem to excited about the idea. I asked him if there were any books that he wanted to read, but wasn’t able to read on his own. He told me that some kids had been talking about Frindle, so he was “sort of” interested in reading it.
I got him a copy of the book to follow along in, and showed him how the Kindle worked. The first couple of days it was a little rocky. The Kindle was being a pain, so a lot of reading time was spent trying to figure that out.
Once he got settled into the routine, the magic began. He couldn’t get enough of the book. Over and over, he asked me if could read instead of doing what he was supposed to be doing in class. That’s a good problem to have!
My reader left for the weekend, excited to finish Frindle. I cannot wait to see what he decides to read (and listen to) next!
Check out my latest edition of Kid Lit Book Mail! I think you might find a book or two to add to your to-read list.
Beautiful story! And a reminder to everyone that, yes, audiobooks are reading!
I love that you helped him connect listening to a book with reading! So important and helpful.