Everyone wins when highly effective leaders bring their passion to work.
Lead Like a PIRATE
Ellie came bounding into the office with a smile on her face, ready to take her mid-afternoon medication. She was always racing around at a mile a minute to get from one thing to the next, and I am sure her mind raced just as quickly. Before I could get a word out, she started to tell me all about a book she was reading. She went through the storyline beautifully and articulated it better than many adults I knew. You could tell she loved it. As she became even more excited while telling me about various parts of the book, her rate of speech increased, and her hands flapped wildly. She was on a roll. Jumping up and down, she told me that she couldnât wait to tell me what happened next. For several minutes, I saw this fifth graderâs excitement build as she shared her reading experience with me. When I told her it was one of my favorite books and that I knew what happened next, she stopped in her tracks. A look of awe spread across her face and she said, âYouâve read it? Donât tell me the end!â
For the next three days, Ellie gave me daily updates about her progress in the book. Each day, her excitement and enthusiasm grew as she sought me out throughout the day to let me know at which juncture of the book she was. It became an immediate connection for us. As principal and her student, we talked daily about a book that had a significant impact on both of us. When she reached the end of the book and came to talk to me about it, she gave me the biggest hug and said, âI just loved that book and loved that we could talk about it!â Knowing that she was about to finish the book, I was ready. I handed her another bookâone I knew she would love because I now knew her as a reader and more deeply as a student. She took it eagerly with a grin and bounded out of my office as quickly and happily as she had pranced in.
Books have the power to start conversations and build relationships, and we have the responsibility to cultivate those relationships and build rapport with our students.
It Starts the Moment They Walk into the Building
Kindergarten students might not be able to read yet, but they (and their parents) do have a lot of emotions about beginning a new school year. Books are a perfect opportunity to introduce them to their new school and to promote literacy. Consider adopting a few of the following ideas to showcase the importance of reading during kindergarten registration or orientation events.
Welcome-to-Kindergarten Books
Welcome new families and students with a book showcasing the various areas of the school and introducing them to staff. Have them ready for any new family that walks in the door and share it online. The books can be as simple or elaborate as youâd like them to be. You can create them simply by using Google Docs or Google Slides. Print them in color and staple or bind them. Not only will this book allow new students to showcase their new school to family and friends at home, it will also be the first time (but not the last) they bring home a book from school. Itâs a subtle but strategic opportunity to embed and promote literacy right off the bat.
Each page features a different area of the school with pictures and what to expect in that area. Walk them through each key part of the facility:
- Front of the school
- Office with pictures of administration and support staff
- Cafeteria with pictures of the lunch line, tables, food tray, and kitchen staff
- Media or technology lab with pictures of the devices and sample projects
- Library with a message about how frequently they will visit, what they will do there, and pictures of the space
- Classrooms
- Gymnasiums
- Auditoriums
- Hallways
Go further and offer them a water bottle with a logo or a T-shirt as a welcome gift. Smile when you see them wear it on their first day of school. After all, you are branding a culture of readers but also branding your school as a whole.
The Night Before Kindergarten Books
Our kindergarten orientation night includes a scavenger hunt in which kindergarten students and their families take a map of the school around to locate various key features that include their classroom, cafeteria, school bus, gymnasium, and the school library. It is the perfect opportunity to provide them with a keepsake and add a book to their personal libraries. As part of their self-guided tour, they locate the library where a basket of The Night Before Kindergarten books are waiting for them. This book by Natasha Wing shares the experience of a child preparing for kindergarten and provides examples of what students might encounter when they attend school for the first time. They are directed to sit and enjoy reading the book with their families as part of the evening. They then get to take a copy of the book home with them. Inside the book is a message from me welcoming them to our school and reiterating the importance of reading. I love knowing that students will get to take a copy home to read with their families, ease their anxiety of coming to kindergarten, and add to their home libraries.
Morning Arrival
I love morning drop off. Each morning is an opportunity to greet students and start off their day at school on a positive note despite what might have transpired at home or on the ride to school. It is an opportunity to share a simple smile, give a high five, ask for a fist bump, or help a student out of a car.
This is also the perfect time to build connections with readers and reinforce the importance of books and literacy. Think of the powerful connections you can make with kids by greeting them at the door each morning. Take it a step further and ask them about the books they are reading:
- Follow up with a student about their progress in a book
- Recommend a new book based on your knowledge of the student
- Dress up as a book character and play a mini-guessing game for students to determine the character
- Surprise a child with a book selected just for them
- Encourage continued reading of a book that has been started, but progress has been slow
- Make connections to favorite characters or plotlines
- Share current events that connect to a studentâs favorite book
Keep Them Reading All Summer
Summer time is the perfect time to establish a few reading events to bring students into the school building to build connections over books. Principals and staff can easily create opportunities to gather students on campus and develop a culture of readers. The frequency and theme of these events is completely up to those hosting them. The important thing is that you start. The first summer I did these types of events, I started small. I chose two dates on my summer calendar ...
