Wednesday, March 6, 2013

A book, a bean bag, and a blanket {Read-Aloud Update}

I think I've finally stumbled on the perfect formula for successful read-aloud time in our school day.

Great Books

Right now, I'm reading American Girl books to Lauren. We're on the second book in the Kit series -- Kit Learns a Lesson. I have an old compilation version of all the Kit stories that we're using.


Brennan and I are still reading The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. I like reading on the nook, but it's sometimes a bit deceiving when I see it tell me how many pages are left in the (very long) chapter. We've been reading for nearly an hour most mornings lately.


A Comfortable Bean Bag

At our house, we call this our "fluffy pillow of awesomeness." It works for independent reading or for read-alouds.

read aloud, bean bag

Brennan's not an early riser. I changed our read-aloud time to help accommodate his need to spend a little more time waking up in the mornings. After doing a bit of schoolwork with Lauren, I wake Brennan up. He grabs breakfast (usually a glass of chocolate milk) and snuggles back under a blanket to hear our story.

A blanket

I'll admit it -- I'm addicted to multi-tasking. My mind wanders, even when I'm reading aloud. A few years ago, I realized that I could knit and crochet while I read. The repetitive motions of working along with an easy pattern helps me block out other distractions and focus on the reading material.

This winter I read enough that I could finish a Fisherman Afghan. It's about 6 feet long and 4-and-a-half feet wide, plenty big enough to curl up under next winter.


I'm sharing my read-aloud update with Debra at Footprints in the Butter. I try to share our latest read-alouds every week or so, even if it's just saying that we're still continuing to make progress in the same books. Read-alouds take a long time when we're reading chapter books and anthologies.

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2 comments:

  1. Oh how your "fluffy pillow of awesomeness" looks! I fall asleep so easily that I can't be that comfortable. My poor kids have to sit at the table with me. Otherwise I'll read myself to sleep. :-) Love the afghan too!

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  2. Wow, Cristi! I love the beanbag... and the afghan...

    I have been intending to pull the American Girl books for Richard and Trina once we get far enough in American history to do something with them. Which means I need to figure out who the oldest one is, huh?

    Thanks for reminding me that I need to do that... :)

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