MAY you always love to read!

Get ready... The #wecantputbooksdown Girls are back with a Linky for May. New to the Crew is the most amazing and talented TeacherSunny. Find her on IG.
She is one of my most inspiring teacher buddies! 

This month we're talking about what we do in our classrooms to promote MAY you always love to read! I have a ton of things that I do to try to get my kids to really LOVE reading. I want to start the post by saying that my go-to resource for developing life-long readers is Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller. If you know me, you know I'm slightly obsessed with the Reading Queen and all that she has taught me about turning my kids into avid readers. Let's pause, take a look at the photo, get online and order this book... I'll wait.

Did you get it ordered? Good, thank me later!

I'm attending a Scholastic Reading Summit this summer where Donalyn will be speaker, along with Mr. Schu (obsessed with him too) and that fantastic Cynthia Lord. I'm so excited to learn more about reading with these fantastic advocates, and if you don't know Mr. Schu, go check him out. I'll wait again.

We had and awesome giveaway on Instagram where each person either gave away something fantastic from their TpT store or an Amazon gift card to buy more books. Thanks for checking in and don't forget to get back with us in June! :)

My IG post was about giving my kids the gift of TIME when it comes to reading. We spend 20-30 minutes everyday reading in class. This is Independent, free choice, reading for pleasure time. There is no worksheet attached, no work, no harassing teacher sucking the fun out of the room.

You may be shaking your head saying "Stacey, how do you find the time?" Well, my question to you is "How do you NOT find the time?" It has been said that kids should spend more time reading than doing reading related activities. Does that ring true in your classroom, I can say it does in mine. IR time is not the first thing cut from my schedule if something comes up (and doesn't it always?)... You have to make an effort. You make time for what you feel is important. Bottom line. What are not willing to compromise in your schedule? For me, it's this time. This time where all the magic happens. Where kids nurture their love of reading or discover it for the first time.

Here are some photos of my kiddos really loving their reading time... I mean seriously, kids beg for this time. That's how you know you're doing something right. They can't wait to take out their books.

So, what are you doing in your room to make sure your kids develop a life-long love of reading?

Check out some of my great friends on IG for their suggestions... Anything from time to book raffles and book commercials!