Book-A-Day Challenge

It's been a looooong time since I last posted here!  However, that is about to change as I embark on a new challenge.  This summer, I will be participating in the #bookaday challenge and I'm so excited!  The #bookaday challenge was started nine years ago by the great Donalyn Miller (author of The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild). The idea is to set a goal to read one book per day during the summer.  Here are the guidelines (from this website: bookwhisperer.com)

The #bookaday guidelines are simple:

• You set your own start date and end date.
• Read one book per day for each day of summer vacation. This is an average, so if you read three books in one day and none the next two, it still counts.
• Any book qualifies including picture books, nonfiction, professional books, audio books, graphic novels, poetry anthologies, or fiction—children’s, youth, or adult titles.
• Keep a list of the books you read and share them often via a social networking site like goodreads or Twitter (post using the #bookaday hashtag), a blog, or Facebook page. You do not have to post reviews, but you can if you wish. Titles will do.

Why should educators participate in a challenge like this?  

• As teachers, we often don't have as much time during the school year to read as many books as we'd like.  The summer break is a great time to get caught up on books we've been wanting to read.  
• We tell our students to read over the summer so we should do the same.
• We improve our teaching practice when we read more books.  We become better readers and writers ourselves.
• We learn more about ourselves, our students, and different cultures through the books that we read.
• We find new read aloud books to share with our students.
• We become familiar with so many more books that we can recommend to our students.  Recommending books to kids is a very powerful way to encourage a love of reading with our students!
• Reading is fun and relaxing!

I will begin my journey on our last day of school, June 2nd.  In the past, I've often finished one chapter book every other day during the summer.  I will continue that pace this summer.  However, this summer on the days that I don't finish a chapter book, I will read a picture book, easy reader, or graphic novel.  I'll also throw in a few professional development book and probably some journal articles (for the class that I'm taking this summer).  Finally, I will make an effort to read more diverse books.

I hope you will join me on this journey and set your own #bookaday challenge!  You can follow my progress on this website, on Goodreads, and/or on Twitter @denese_anderson.