You may have heard a ‘buzz’ around school about The Reading Bucket List. We are extremely excited about this venture and we are sure you will be too.
At King Athelstan our aim is to ignite children’s love of reading; to make sure they leave primary school with a passion for books and a solid understanding of classic literature. Our reading scheme (books with coloured labels) really supports children’s step by step reading development and is a good assessment tool for teachers, to record and analyse the progress children are making.
However, for children to become ‘readers’, they need to know what it’s like to become completely immersed in a story; so much so that they can’t put the book down - and this is what the bucket list aims to do.
A book is a gift you can open again and again. — Garrison Keillor
Each year group has a list of books carefully selected based on: age, author’s recommendations, children’s suggestions, teacher’s favourites, modern classics and timeless masterpieces by famous authors. From ‘The Jolly Postman’ in Nursery to 'Treasure Island' in Year 6 – there is something for everyone to enjoy. You can find the full lists for each class attached below.
In each classroom there is a display with pictures of each book, relevant to that year group. When a child is reading one of the books, they place their name on the picture – this gets the children talking about ‘who’s got which book?’ and ‘can I have that one next?’ Once they have read a book on their list, they put a sticker onto their personal chart. By the end of the year they should aim to have read most of the books on their check list.
The idea for this way of sharing books is to get the children excited and engaged in reading. The children don’t actually have to have read the book themselves to get a sticker – you can read the book to them, or they could listen to an unabridged audio version from the library and follow the book alongside. Therefore if your child brings home a bucket list book that may be a little tricky for them to read independently, it would be fantastic if you could read with them so that they still get to experience the enjoyment of reading, without the struggle of actually decoding the text. We will also be reading these books to them in class and during our guided reading sessions, so no one will miss out on the wonderful vocabulary, funny tales and compelling fiction.
We do not allow children to bring in cakes or sweets on their birthday. However they can, if they like, donate a book to their class instead. When your child brings in a birthday book, we add a book plate at the front with their name and birthday and put on a protective cover before the book goes into their class reading corner. This is a lovely way for the children to enjoy something that will last, and will benefit the class for the rest of the year. We have had lots of lovely donated birthday books – thank you. There is no requirement to donate a book - it is purely voluntary.
Thank you for your ongoing support with reading.
Mr Barson
English Lead
Bucket Lists:
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