Inspired by her own children who shared their love for their D.E.A.R. time in school and letters from readers sharing their enthusiasm for the D.E.A.R. activities implemented in their schools, Mrs. Cleary decided to give the same experience to Ramona and her classmates.
Beverly Cleary has said, “I am honored that D.E.A.R. celebrations go on in my name,” so she’s pretty much the inspiration behind the entire program.
We all enjoyed 20 minutes of D.E.A.R. – teachers, students, and admin. What’s more fun(damental) than reading?
Why Reading Together Matters
At FSMN, in each classroom we find time for D.E.A.R every day (including the teachers), but it is fun to participate in this yearly D.E.A.R. It calls explicit attention to the importance of building a culture of reading where even the adults in the school make time to read and we are all making time to read together at the same time throughout the school.
Reading together models positive reading behavior. Students don’t just learn from what we say, they learn from what we do. In a world full of distractions, quiet reading offers a moment of calm and focus.
Sometimes when we are reading, we sit close to each other, and we are present together. After silent reading ends we might share something fun or interesting that happened in our book encouraging us to get excited about other books and stories.
Reading is worth making time for in our sometimes busy day. It really is fun and fun(damental)!
