"If you are a kid, reading is really important stuff." ~ Bruce Jenner

I am a lover of reading.  When I was little I would collect books and line them up in ABC order by last name (like a librarian) and check them out for 10 cents a day.  I would take the money and buy new books.

I still collect books.  The children's kind I use for my classroom and for my own library at home (still organized in ABC order so that I can find them quickly when I need to grab them for school.)  I love the smell of the books.  The weight of the book in my hand.  Places like Barnes and Nobel or Half Price books are very calming to me - even if I just go and look or sit.

Things are changing faster than I had realized.  The children today know about books and like books - but Friday were introduced to a bit more.

Every Friday we have time for "book buddies."  Each year I have had a class younger than 3rd grade.  This year we have Ms. Cooper's 2nd grade class.  In my classroom I have a good selection of chapter books and picture books, but they stay the same most of the year.  We have a special box of library books I check out to share with our reading buddies.  These are books that my children have picked to share with their buddies.  We share all 25 or so of the books for a week or two and then change them out.

Friday, I sat both classes down in my room and went over basic rules of the iPad for the 2nd graders.  I explained that they were going to first look at the Time for Kids website to explore nonfiction text and then half way through I would signal for them to get on tumblebooks.com.  Tumblebooks has many choices of books, many are fiction.  After their exploration through both types of literature we sat down again as a group to talk about their experiences and thoughts.

These are their thoughts (unedited)

• "I liked reading the same thing as my friends group - but not having to wait to share."
• "We got to read more because we were not always getting up to get a new book." 
• "We could find books easier.  In the library we have to go to the computer and then find the right part of the library.  With the iPad - we can just type in the search box." 
• "My partner and I really liked the book 50 Degrees Below Zero.  So, we learned more about the book.  We took the quiz and then went to Google and looked up the author.  With library books, we cannot find that stuff out quickly."  

The last comment is the one that blew me away.  I never expected the kids to WANT to know more about the book without being prompted.  I didn't expect them to have a clue as to how to get more information on their own.  All I had to do was give them the resource (iPad, websites) and the time (book buddy time- time we were already spending reading. 

Friday afternoon I went home and had my family time.  At night, I read the last of the book I was reading.  I was wanting to read something else, but it was late at night.  I had read everything in 

my house.  I couldn't run to the library or bookstore.  I turned to my iPad.  On it I found that on Amazon - they have "books under $3.00".  These are books to be used with the Kindle app.  They have both children's books and adult books.  I checked one out.  I have not been able to put the story down.  I have found that if I tap on a word - a dictionary will come up to help me look up words that I don't know.  I have read on the Kindle before.  I never really took to it.  After listening to the kids Friday, hearing their awe of HOW MANY books they had at their fingertips - instantly.... After feeling the need to read a new book late at night.... I think the next statement might be true:

"Digital reading will completely take over.  It's lightweight and it's fantastic for sharing.  Over time it will take over." ~Bill Gates

 

My job as a teacher is to teach my students resources THEY will have when they grow up.  I cannot cling to things I am comfortable with.  I have to jump into this digital abyss and together - we will learn SO much while equipping all of us with the skills we need to enjoy and survive in this new age.  Can you imagine what Ben Franklin would say if he, the inventor of the library, had an iPad in his hands?