Good Practice
Time to Read Contd.
Mentors who have been working in the programme for a number of years report that it is good practice when working with the children to:
- Be prepared - at the end of a session plan what you will do with the child on the following week
- Arrive in the school some time before the start of the session, perhaps get a coffee from the staffroom, and set out books or materials for the first child to work from.
- Go to the child's classroom promptly to collect him/her from the room - a good opportunity to interact with the teacher.
- Think about the interests the pupil has, and try and provide reading material associated with those interests.
- Non fiction may be the only way to get reluctant readers interested if the subject is one of their passions.
- Don't set out all the books for the children to rifle through - they could happily spend a lot of time sorting through them!
- If starting a new book, select several books and have them on the table for the child to choose from a limited number.
- Vary the diet and type of reading material.
- Find books that look good. Many children (especially boys) are very sensitive to books they consider too 'babyish' or biased towards one gender.
- Look for humorous books - it's the age of endless joke telling and a fun way to get hooked.
- Choose books that address issues relevant to the child's growing awareness of the outside world.
- Poetry can be funny, rude or thought provoking.
- Computer or adventure game books may be the answer for the game playing maniac.
- Keep a record (a Time to Read diary) of what material/books have been used - simple book reviews are often useful.
- If, as a group of mentors, you want to consider giving individual gifts to your children, decide on a strategy - perhaps birthdays only for example; gifts should be inexpensive and related to reading (a book or book token?)

© Copyright BITC Northern Ireland, 2007.