Norfolk School Library Service conference- Creating a rich reading and writing culture in KS2, Long Stratton Library

I was excited to be able to attend this event last week, and even more excited to be asked to speak at it! The day began with a great session from author and illustrator Dee Shulman (creator of the Polly Price series, as well as over 40 other books) on inspiring writing in schools. The was followed by a talk from Claire Duncombe of Peters Books,about the latest trends in KS2 fiction and non-fiction.

After a short break (which included a quite expensive browse of the Peters Books stall), the wonderful Kevin Crossley-Holland rounded off the morning with a fascinating talk about myths, legends and folk tales, and how they could be used in schools. After hearing him speak so passionately and engagingly, I've just ordered one of his books, The Old Stories, which is full of folk tales from East Anglia.

Straight after lunch, it was me! I talked about how we have started to create a reading for pleasure culture in the school where I work, as well as about book blogging, book groups and the Patron of Reading initiative. It's always hard to tell, but as I tried to suggest lots of practical tips (including Musical Books, The Mystery Book, etc) it seemed to go down reasonably well. I was followed by headteacher Sue Sweet, who delivered an entertaining session on the role of the library in primary schools.

The day was rounded off by the well-known children's poet, Brian Moses, who suggested ideas on how to create a love of poetry in schools (as well as the obligatory 'all join in' version of Walking With My Iguana).

With so many school library services across the country having already been forced to closed down, including Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Birmingham, it's great to see that the SLS in Norfolk is still alive and kicking! Thanks to them for arranging such a great event.

Video trailers for books

We have been using Movie Maker (on PCs) and Keynote (on iPads) to create simple, cinema-style movie trailers of books we have enjoyed. We have then showed these trailers to other classes around the school and in assemblies, and even published a couple on YouTube. Each trailer takes a couple of hours to plan, create and edit. We had to be aware of copyright issues with some of the images and music that we chose, but it's been a great way to motivate children to read more books (they can only make a trailer for a book they haven't previously read!).

Video trailer for The Thornthwaite Inheritance by Gareth P Jones

Book blogging

All of the children in Year Six know how to access and publish reviews on our book blog. It has proved to be a great way of interacting with books, and provides a fantastic opportunity for them to share their thoughts and views with each other. Not only do the children write reviews of books they have read, they also post up interviews with staff from the school and any authors who have been kind enough to respond to their emails. They also enjoy writing book lists (Our Top Ten Book Characters, etc) and creating competitions and quizzes based on the books they have been reading.
 

Members of the school Book Club tend to do most of the updating, but it is always very rewarding when a pupil who has never shown much interest in reading suddenly wants to share a brilliant book they have discovered and write about it on the blog. Younger children also contribute occasionally, usually with support from pupils in Year Six.
 

One thing to be aware of if you are setting up a book blog is that the more visits the site gets, the more chance it has of receiving spam comments. If the children are going to be accessing the site from home it is really important to check all of the security settings, especially if comments from other people are to be published on the blog.
 

I am more than happy to support any school or teacher who would like to set up a book blog in their class, as I believe it is the initiative that had the most impact on reading for pleasure this year. There is always excitement in the class whenever a new review or quiz goes up, and they love being given time to read the writing of their friends.
 

Our school book blog: http://wejsbookblog.blogspot.com

Another primary school book blog worth a look: http://eastboldonbookworms.primaryblogger.co.uk

Pupil recommendations

Children who are encouraged to read by their friends are twice as likely to enjoy reading and three times more likely to say that they think reading is 'cool' than those who are not. Children recommending books to each other is a huge part of our classroom reading culture, and is done in lots of different ways.
  

Book of the week / Author of the week- A laminated A3 poster that can be wiped clean and updated by the children at the start of every week. Really simple and gives all the children an opportunity to share what they enjoy.
  

If you liked- When the children have finished a book that they particularly enjoyed, encourage them to fill in an 'If you liked reading...then try...' bookmark that can be passed on to another child. We also have an exercise book called 'If you liked reading...', where lots of children's authors are listed. The children then update the book by recommending similar authors (eg If you liked reading the Alex Rider books by Anthony Horowitz, then try the Jimmy Coates books by Joe Craig or the Young James Bond books by Charlie Higson). It's great to see how often they refer to this before choosing their next book!
  

Star Reader- A display board showing the current class reading star (eg This week's Star Reader is Sean for finishing all the Cirque du Freak books!). This idea works most succesfully when the children choose who it should be and definitely helps make being a reader 'cool'. The class can also write their own 'Well done' comments on the display.

We also have a short 'book chat' every day where pupils can share books they have enjoyed (or not enjoyed), read an extract, talk about anything new coming out, read an online review of a new book they might be interesed in, etc- anything to encourage raising the profile of reading for pleasure. The aim is always to keep it very informal and never veers into Guided Reading territory.

The Mystery Book

This has been going on in our class for the past few weeks, with a lot of success. At the start of the term I put a folder at the front of the classroom. On the front of the folder, in very big letters, were the words 'Mystery Book'. Inside the folder was, unsurprisingly, a mystery book (I chose One Dog And His Boy by Eva Ibbotson). I left it there for a couple of days to build interest, making reference to it every so often ('Ooh, that looks exciting! I wonder what's inside!' type comments).
 

I then asked the children who would like to read the 'Mystery Book'. Every single hand in the classroom went up immediately. I then explained that if a child wanted to take the book home and read it, there were three requirements. Firstly, they would have to write a ten word review of the book in a jotter which was also inside the folder. Secondly, when they had finished the book, they would get to choose who to pass it on to next. Finally, and most importantly, they weren't allowed to tell anyone else what the book was.

  
Four weeks down the line, about a third of the class have already read the book and, as far as I know, the secret is not yet out. They love the whole 'hush-hush' aspect of the idea and there is always a lot of excitement when the book reappears in school.

Reading for Pleasure

Reading for pleasure is massively important for children in schools. In fact, more and more evidence points to the fact that it is the single most important factor in a child's educational success. Each week, or as regularly as I possibly can, I will be posting up new ideas or strategies that I am trying (or would like to try) in order to raise the profile of reading for pleasure at my school. I would be absolutely delighted to hear from teachers, librarians, authors or anyone else who has any fantastic ideas that they would like to share.