The greatest gift we can give our students is a love of reading. Books can open up so many opportunities and information into our lives. Plus it can also just be a nice escape into another world. These 10 tips for fostering a love of reading will help even your most reluctant readers.
10 Ways to Foster a Love of Reading
1. READ.
The first step to helping students love reading is to actually have them READ! The more they are exposed to books and have opportunities to read, they will begin to see the value of reading. It is especially important to make sure we provide students with time to read for pleasure versus only as part of an assignment. As adults, we’d enjoy reading less if we always had to answer questions or write a response about the book – and it’s the same for students!
2. Model reading behaviors.
Students need to see us reading. We can model how fluent reading looks/sounds and how reading can help us. Not only that, if we share our excitement about books, they’ll get excited too! Have you ever shared one of your favorite books with your class and then they all ask to borrow it? That’s proof that our actions make an impact! It’s no secret that I love Mo Willems’ books and I make that well known to my students. So much so, that many years later they still mention it when they visit and tell me how his books got them excited about reading also!
3. Create an inviting space.
I don’t know about you, but I cannot read unless my feet are all curled up beside me in a chair. Isn’t that the very definition of “curl up with a good book?” Students are the same as us. They are more likely to enjoy reading if they are comfy. If you’re interested in setting up a cozy reading nook for your students, you can find out how I set up flexible seating in my reading resource room.
Another fun way to set up an inviting space is with a YouTube video. During the winter months, I love to find videos of fireplaces to display on my board. Kids get so excited to read by the fire in my room! You can also find videos of falling snow, a campfire under the stars, or other relaxing scenes. Turn off the lights and read with flashlights one day or sit and read on a blanket outside. It’s so simple, but yet adds an element of excitement to get kids eager to read!
4. Introduce students to new text.
Part of modeling is introducing students to a wide variety of texts. Choose read alouds that represent different genres and types of texts. You can also introduce students to a variety of text formats in your classroom library. Some students prefer audiobooks or graphic novels to the standard chapter books. But they’ll never know what books they prefer if they don’t know what options exist. Hosting a Book Tasting is a fun way of introducing students to new texts! Sometimes all it takes is finding the right book to foster a students’ love of reading. That one book/genre/author/series may open the door to other texts they enjoy reading.
There is no such thing as a kid who hates reading. There are just kids who love reading and kids who are reading the wrong book. We need to help them find the RIGHT books.
James Patterson
5. Learn about student’s interests.
My favorite way to foster a love of reading is with interest surveys. Once you identify students’ interests, you can provide book recommendations based on their interests. Aren’t we as adults more motivated to read something that interests us versus something we are required to read?
I’ve incorporated students’ interests by providing them with Special Delivery Books. I select books I think individual students will like based on their interests and place them in a mailbox outside of my room. It’s a fun way to get kids excited about books. Be sure to visit the link for the FREE form to help you track your book recommendations for your students! You can also incorporate students’ interests into your literacy block.
6. Allow student choice.
Reading can quickly lose its appeal if we can only read what we’re told and never get to choose what we actually want to read. Obviously, we can’t always let students read a book of their choice and the reality is sometimes they DO have to read what’s assigned. But what a powerful gift to give a student some CHOICE in what they read. By making their voices heard and giving them some control of their own learning, we can help to foster their love of reading.
7. Shop for books.
Along with providing students with choice is letting them pick the books they are interested in. Allow them opportunities to “shop’ for books they want online or in the Scholastic book order forms. I let students circle books they want in the order forms and use those ideas when adding new books for my classroom. But you don’t have to spend money. They can “shop” for books in the library and add books of their choice to your classroom library.
8. Talk about books.
Part of the joy of reading is the connections we make to the text. It is especially rewarding to share those connections with others! Hence why book clubs are so popular with adults (aside from the chance to drink wine with friends!) By providing students a chance to have authentic dialogue about a text it can foster their love of reading. Get the free Book Talks template to provide opportunities for students to talk about their books!
9. Help students feel successful at reading.
Many times the reason a student doesn’t enjoy reading is because it is hard for them. Our reluctant readers don’t view themselves as readers. It is our job to explicitly teach students strategies to help them with their reading, beyond the curriculum. Students need active reading strategies to help them critically THINK about the text. Sometimes the text is just too hard for students so they don’t feel successful. We can introduce engaging text at their levels and/or provide scaffolding to help them successfully read the grade level text. And as mentioned before they need time for authentic practice to feel successful as a reader.
10. Build background knowledge.
One way to help students feel successful as a reader is by building their background knowledge. If they already know about the content of the text, it’ll be easier and more enjoyable for them to read and comprehend. They can better understand the text because they can make connections to what they already know. Newsela is a fabulous resource with high interest articles. Before reading one of these texts with my students, I build their background knowledge. This may be with a quick YouTube video, pictures, or a short text. So by the time we read the Newsela text they’re excited and engaged because they already have some background knowledge about the subejct.
BONUS TIP
For more about fostering a love of reading, you may also be interested in Daniel Pennac’s Reader’s Bill of Rights. These are beliefs we should hold about what it means to read. These rights are especially crucial for us to keep in mind for our reluctant readers. Quite often, we deny students some of these rights even though we value them for ourselves.
Other Ways to Foster a Love of Reading
What other tips do you have for fostering a love of reading with students? Please share the other ways you’ve accomplished this with your own students in the comments below!
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