Reading all day long: part 2

Some of my fondest memories of school were having a teacher read to the class.  I still enjoy being read to and often I will listen to books on CD's while I do mindless activities such as cleaning the house or painting a room. 

I try to pass on this enjoyable experience to the children in my class.  Every day, I try to find time to read from a chapter book to the children.  Even as children become competent readers, it is still important for them to be read to.  Reading to children exposes them to stories that are beyond their reading level and introduces them to literature they might not choose on their own.  As more sophisticated stories are read to them they become acquainted with more advanced vocabulary, story lines, and characters.

The first chapter book for this year was Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  Tomorrow we will read the final chapter of the book.  Charlotte's Web is  classic in american children's literature.  It is a charming story about childhood, farm animals, and friendships.   

The next book I will be reading has a completely different kind of farm.  Fortune's Magic Farm  is a humorous fantasy by Suzanne Selfors.  The story follows the adventures of Isabelle, an orphan, who find her family and her magical powers with plants as a "tender".