IN THE ZONE

In February, I heard Nancie Atwell at our state reading conference. Atwell did a two hour workshop on her newest book, "The Reading Zone" which I had actually read and loved a year ago. Before February, I had talked to my kids a lot about engagement. Since February, we've been talking about going into their "Zone." My kids know that when you are in your "Reading Zone" you:

• Aren't aware of anything going on around you.
• Feel like you are in the book.
• Have a movie in your head.
• Can hear the characters' voices in your head.
• You want to tell other people about your book.
• Often want to keep reading, even when time is up.
• Easily make/exceed  your page goal.
• Aren't bothering or distracting other readers.

Today, my kids "zoned" with their books for 45 minutes- quite a change from the 15 minutes they could do when we started in the fall. Most of the kids are showing some really good growth in the end of year assessments, I firmly believe that the biggest contributor to this growth has to do with making sure the kids were exposed to great books and spent lots of time in the "Zone."