Page 52 - Reading Nest - The Supportive Literacy Environment Handbook

Rules/agreements of the reading nest are on display

Rules/agreements of the reading nest are displayed and visible to everybody.

The reading nest should be part of a democratic classroom. Agreements are concluded with

children, every now and then they are revised (at the start of a school year or when new
pupils arrive), amended and specified as required.

These rules are on display, for younger children (at crèche, 18-36 months) there is a picture

version too. This makes activities safer and more predictable, as a child knows that when
they have chosen a book and leaf it, no one has the right to take it off them; when children

bring books from home, these have to be shared with other children; a book is handled with

care and clean hands; a digital reading pen is used either together (the sound is on), or alone
(the sound comes through headphones) so as not to disturb other children who e.g. are

reading or writing).

Each reading nest is unique, therefore rules are unique too. What matters is that the rules

have been democratically agreed and displayed for everybody to see. It is a good idea to
involve children in the writing of the rules, at first aided by the teacher, later on their own.