Getting students excited about reading isn’t always easy. As experienced teachers will attest to, the more ideas for generating enthusiasm about reading that you have in your bag of teaching tricks, the easier it is to get students excited to read. Here are some of our favorite ideas from Really Good Teachers across the country for making reading more exciting.
What’s Missing?
“When introducing a new genre or before sharing a read aloud, I often tell students I am going to leave something out. For example, when reading Wayside School, a collection of 30 short stories by Louis Sachar, I tell my students that there is one story in the collection that does not tickle my sense of humor so I will not be reading it aloud in class,” says Fort Washington, Maryland, 3rd Grade Teacher, Cindy. “Of course, everyone wants to know the name of that story. I tell the students they will have to read the book on their own to figure it out. Our school librarian always knows when we’re reading this book: it’s the number one requested book in our school library.”
Cindy, 3rd Grade Teacher
Authentic Reading
Anna, a Kindergarten Teacher from Greenville, South Carolina gets her students’ families involved in generating enthusiasm for reading. “Each year, on Back-To-School night, I ask families to save their old birthday, get-well, and holiday greeting cards and donate them to our class card box,” she explains.
“I file the card covers away according to sentiment and celebration and use them in our writing center throughout the year. The children love reading the card fronts and then flipping them over so they can personalize the blank backs. The children send messages to each other and their family members. We have even recycled the get-well cards to send good wishes to classmates and friends who are on the mend.”
Library Cards
Cultivating a love of reading means encouraging students to read beyond the school walls. That’s why Theresa, a 2nd Grade Teacher from Newark, Delaware, encourages parents to help their children obtain public library cards. “At year’s end, I invite the children’s librarian to visit our class so she can motivate my students to join the library’s summer reading program where they will share favorite children’s books and stories all summer long,” she says.
What do you do to encourage your students to read in school and at home? Share your favorite tips with us below!