We all know the best way to grow better readers is to have them read, read, read! These I Can Read Book Bags are a great way to develop an intrinsic desire to read! They are perfect to use as student book bags in the classroom, but also work exceptionally well as at-home book bags that the students can bring to and from school. Label the bags using numbers with these free book bag labels so that you can easily reuse them from year to year. Download the Free Book Bag Labels here.
For my I Can Read Book Bags, I used these Medium Book Storage Pouches. They are durable, and the sturdy handle makes transporting and hanging the bags simple. The students can easily bring their book bags to a quiet place in the classroom. Plus, these book storage pouches help protect our classroom books when the students bring them home. The students are able to place "just right" books into their book bags, which we store inside these Black Book Organizers that are labeled with their student numbers. Grab the book box numbers for free!
At the end of the day, the students bring their book bags home. Inside the bag, I have placed a Glow in the Dark Martian Finger so that the students can practice one-to-one correspondence. After reading a story, the students use one of these comprehension Question Dice, a fun twist on retelling and/or summarizing the story.
Since I want the students to practice reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension with the story, they carry a before, during and after reading prompt card. The book bags also have a 5 Finger Retelling poster and I Can Read Response Notebook and Response Menus. I've set these menus up as a Tic-Tac-Toe boards so that the students complete three responses each week. I mean who doesn't love a good game of Tic-Tac-Toe?!
These I Can Read Book Bags are not assigned as nightly reading. Instead, the students are encouraged to set monthly reading goals. As they read, they track their reading with these monthly reading goal trackers. At the end of the month, the students reflect on their progress. Hearing them talk about how close they are to meeting their goal or how they have beat their goal makes this teacher's heart happy!
As an added incentive, I give one Book Buck to each student who has met their goal. You could also give extra Book Bucks Play Money to students who have surpassed their goal. The students store their Book Bucks inside these Pencil Boxes, which are then placed inside their black book bins. At the end of each marking period, my students are able to purchase books using their Book Bucks! They go crazy for this money!
With these I Can Read Book Bags, my students are intrinsically motivated to read... and that is my ultimate goal!
