There are Cats in This Book

This week was fairly unproductive, in terms of my conferences with Leo. The class had a field trip on Tuesday and Thursday was fairly rough, being the day after Halloween. The kids were somehow both rowdy and tired at the same time... Too much candy + not enough sleep = disaster. They didn't do any independent writing, either, so I was unable to talk to him about it. However, I managed to pull Leo aside for a minute and read to him. I could tell from the smile on his face and how he eagerly turned each page himself as I read that he was enjoying it immensely, and about halfway through he started asking me what the text in the speech-bubbles said. At the end, he looked up at me and said, "I liked that book!" I told him that I would bring it back so we could read it again next time, and I'd also bring another one I thought he'd like.

If he likes books like this, I am going to see if I can get him some more picture books in a comic-book format, with features that engage the reader like pop-ups and commands to "turn the page!" etc. Even though we were supposed to be conferencing, I feel like reading to him is just as beneficial. Reading books he likes will build his trust, and show him that books CAN be fun.