Sharing Good Practice
7 Ideas to improve students’
interest in reading
By Jenny Murray
W
e’ve all taught students
who love nothing more
than getting lost in a
book and seem to have an
intrinsic passion for reading. We’ve
also probably all taught children who
describe reading as ‘hard’ or ‘boring’
or ‘just something we have to do at
school’. Here are 7 tried and proven
ideas to help you improve students’
interest in reading.
1 Start early with print
Creating a ‘print-rich’ classroom
environment in the early years
of education helps children recognise
that print carries meaning and
decoding such meaning matters in
day-to-day life. Label everything and
create many opportunities for early
readers to demonstrate ‘readerly
behaviour’. Self-registration/selection
of tasks using a combination of text
and picture labels in an early years
classroom is a simple but effective way
to get started.
2 Develop a special reading
place with your students
Valuing reading for pleasure
in the midst of a busy curriculum
isn’t easy for teachers. So often we
are under pressure to meet another
deadline or cover another teaching
point. Creating a special area in your
classroom where students can curl up
with a book as a reward for finishing
work sends a message that reading
matters. In younger classes, a ‘magic
reading corner’ themed around a
fairytale or favourite story can be easily
constructed from recycled boxes and
some old fabric.
3 Read aloud
It sounds simple but it really
works. Build in a 5-10 minutes
reading session at the end of a day.
This can help you to inspire your
students as readers and engage them
in lively discussions about texts. Vote
on what your class novel will be and
engage your students in responding.
Enjoy the shared session as often as
possible during a busy week.
4 Engage authors
Nothing sparks an interest in
books more than meeting or
interacting with a ‘real author’. The
Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
offers a fantastic range of education
events and authors will be visiting
schools for book signings and shared
reading sessions. If inviting authors in
proves tricky, try technology. Many
authors are active Twitter users and will
respond to classes who ask questions
about their work. When you show your
students that they can interact with
adults who have made a career out of
reading and writing, it may convince
some reluctant readers that it’s worth
a go!
5 Promote reading,
reflecting and responding
Whether it’s through a shared
class novel or an independent choice
of book, students should always be
encouraged to see reading as an
interactive, responsive activity. Yes,
there’s a time for curling up and losing
your thoughts in a novel. There are
also some fantastic opportunities
to develop critical thinking skills
with reading at the core. Useful
activities to encourage reflection and
responsiveness include participating
in a book group, writing to an author
or filling out a book review for their
peers.
6 Choose material carefully
At every stage of education,
relevant and engaging texts are
so important. Use culturally relevant
material like the ‘My Gulf World and
Me’ for young readers in the UAE. This
can help them to engage confidently
with familiar content as they develop
their reading and responding skills
- http://goo.gl/9cTuoV. It helps to
provide a good balance of non-fiction
and fiction texts to choose from in a
class library. This can engage students
and spark personal interests in a wide
range of topics.
7 Positive peer pressure
A mixed ability team reading
race has been one of the most
successful tricks I’ve seen used to
engage young read