WRITTEN BY BRITTANY BELL

On behalf of the Reading Council of Greater Winnipeg, I have prepared the I Love to Read Month Choice Board. The RCGW is a group of dedicated educators who meet monthly to share and work to promote knowledge and awareness of lifelong literacy and learning.

“I Love to Read Month” is a month long celebration that is held each year to encourage reading, writing, and sharing in the joy of literacy. Please share the choice board with teachers, students and their families. It would make a great addition to your school newsletter. I have included activities for students of all ages to have them explore different ways of engaging with literacy. My hope is that students will see and experience how exciting and joyful literacy can be, as well as how far literacy reaches in our lives. Students are encouraged to cross off the literacy activities as they complete them, much like completing a bingo card. Teachers and parents may choose to provide incentives for students when they complete a row/column or when the board is completed. I hope that both teachers and students will have fun with the suggested activities and that they will challenge the students to learn something new. I also hope that families will be able to share the excitement of reading and writing together.

In addition to the choice board, I am planning to return to the Cancer Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital, where I will make a donation of books selected by the RCGW board members, as well as a monetary donation so that the staff can continue to update their children’s and teen’s libraries and magazine subscriptions. This provides children, teens, as well as parents with reading materials that are appealing and entertaining, as well as supportive.

The RCGW thanks you for sharing this choice board with teachers and families. In doing so, you are helping to empower our students to make the world a better place.

About the Author – Brittany Bell is the I Love to Read Chair on the Reading Council of Greater Winnipeg and is an elementary school teacher.