Reading Powers...Activate!

As a child, one of my favorite shows to watch was the Super Friends.  I loved all the heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the rest.  One pair of heroes that stood out to me was the Wonder Twins.  If you could look past the monkey and the corny jokes, you could see their most amazing attribute: their power, or more specifically, the way they turned their power on and off.  To turn on their power, the twins faced each other, did a fist bump (yes the fist bump is a product of the 70's) and shouted, "Wonder Twin Powers...Activate!"  Once activated, their powers helped the twins to defeat the bad guys.

Reading works much like this.  To get the most out of reading, you must activate it.  In all my years of parenting, teaching, consulting, and writing, I've found that there are two types of readers: active readers and passive readers.  Passive readers are unresponsive readers.  They don't pay any attention to the reading, instead, they get lost in the words and at the end of the reading they come away having learned very little. On the other hand, an active reader is a reader who pays attention, draws conclusions, makes predictions, and connects with the text, synthesizing new ideas as he or she reads.  Active readers take notes (mentally or on paper), highlight, ask questions, and monitor their comprehension.  In short, active readers activate the reading.

In school, active reading is one of the things students learn and use regularly, but during the summer they still need to be active readers.  One way to do this is by using a reading journal.  This can be anything from a spiral notebook to a hardcover bound journal to a tablet computer.  The purpose of a reading journal is to keep track of what you're reading as well as write down notes, questions, connections, predictions, etc. as you read.  It allows the reader to respond in various written forms before, during, and after reading.  A great reading journal that I have found (I use it with my students, my son, and myself) is the Reading Journal for Book Lovers from Potter Style.  This journal is full of pages for note taking and making connections.  It includes a page to write the basics of each book you read (title, author, etc.).  There are pages for writing down some of your favorite quotes and passages as well as graphic organizers, suggested readings lists, and even pages for interviewing authors that you meet in person.  It's a great way to activate your reading.

Don't let summer blow by you and realize that you've missed out on all that great reading time.  Be an active reader and let books open new worlds to you.  Now, turn and face me.  Fist bump.  Reading Powers...Activate!

Audience:  All Ages
Publisher:  Potter Style
ISBN-10:  0307591661
ISBN-13:  9780307591661