The Reading Zone {SOL 11-17-15}

I am lucky in that I can dedicate about 45 minutes at the end of our day, every day, to silent reading time.

This is a time that my students treasure, and heaven help me if something interferes and I have to shorten (or cancel!) this time.

Yesterday was an especially good reading day.  My 4th graders were spread out among the room.  Some were reading at their desks, some at the front table, some on pillows in the library, and some were just laying out in the middle of the room on the floor.

The room was totally silent, except for the sound of words swirling around my students as they enjoyed their books.

Then there was a giggle.

At first, I ignored it.

Then it happened again.

I looked up from my book that I was reading to find where the giggle was coming from.  Everyone seemed to be reading.

Then I spotted the giggler -- totally engrossed in his (obviously very funny) book, oblivious to the fact that he was giggling at the funny parts while the rest of the room was totally silent.

A few students looked up from their books, looked at him, then looked at me to see if I was going to do something.

Nope....not a thing to be done other than appreciate that this student was in "The Reading Zone", a place where nothing else exists aside from the story in your mind as you read your book.

As he continued his on and off giggles, I smiled every time without looking up from my book.