Get Everyone Reading and Talking About Books
You can promote the love of reading with creative projects.
By Cathy Neushul
While it’s easy to assign students the task of reading in class or at home, you can never be sure that they will do it. Just telling students that reading is required doesn’t always work. You might have trouble getting students to read in class, and parents might complain that reading homework is painful for both them and their child. Reading is the type of thing you have to like to do to keep doing it, so I think the best idea is to help students develop a love of reading by providing incentives and exposing them to innovative lessons.
Have Students Listen to Great Literature
There’s nothing that students would like better than to read their own completed books. The first step in the process is to make sure you expose students to a variety of interesting books. You can tell them that they should think about the elements of a great story. After listening to each book, students can make a list of reasons they liked the story, and identify the plot elements, characters, setting, etc. Guide students in discussions about the stories in which you allow students to give their opinion. Lead students by asking questions, but make sure that students take ownership of their discussions. You can also leave out a variety of books to encourage students to read on their own.
Students Can Write Their Own Book Reviews
Another way to get students interacting with books is to have them write a review for each of the books they read. Give students an outline to tell them the elements you expect to see in each review, and don’t forget to leave time each day for students to share their entries.
Publish Your Own Books
Once you think students have started identifying the elements of a good book, you can get them working on their own. You should have them write their stories, and go through the editing process, but the final product can be done a variety of ways. If you have access to enough computers, have students design their books using a writing program. You can also have them include illustrations. When everyone has finished their books, they can share them with their classmates, other grades, and their parents. You can even have a special night to unveil the finished products.
Make sure that everyone gets to read their classmates books. You could make copies and give other classes the books for their class library as well.
Provide Reading Incentives
Another important aspect of promoting reading in your classroom is to provide incentives. While some teachers post the number of books students have read, or keep some sort of chart, one of the best methods is to have students keep their own list with comments about what they thought about each book. You could have a class party when students have read a certain number of books. Students could come to school dressed in pajamas, with pillows and blankets, and have a read in. You could invite people to come in and read to your students, and provide special treats. What follows are more ideas to promote reading in your class.
Reading Lessons and Activities:
Students evaluate what makes an award winning book, and give out their own awards. This is a great lesson to get students thinking about the elements of a good book.
In this lesson students learn about book trailers, and make their own. Afterwards, students can share their trailers with others.
Exploring the Book of Comic Book Heroes
Comic books can provide a motivating way to get students to read. They can share their favorites, and create their own.
This lesson has students write a short book review. They can also use Garage Band to add music and illustrations. This is an innovative way to have students write a book review.