Book Boxes: And Guided Readers.
Beginning readers need a lot of practice; research has shown that fluency improves with repeated readings. Giving students copies of guided readers to keep at home provides additional practice opportunities for them.
A home reading program will be more effective if the student has a way to save or store the books. A book box is a great at-home storage solution. A book box can easily be made out of a shoe box - either a regular shoe box or a purchased plastic shoe box. Your students can decorate the boxes at home. They can be elaborately decorated right from the pages of pinterest, or just covered with stickers.
To encourage completion of this special homework project, have a Book Box Show and Tell. After the students share their boxes, send them home again with their first paper book ( I always begin with the alphabet book found in our alphabet fair unit). If you send home a book or two weekly, by the end of the year, the box will be overflowing with quality leveled readers that your students can read independently.
“Really like this for my k/1 friends.”
“Great readers!! I like the different levels!!”
“I always teach an ocean unit at the end of the year. Thank you for a great resource!”
“Thank you. Great emergent readers that the children could keep.”