LIBE 477: Final Vision Project Blog #3

LIBE 477: Inquiry #1

Read, Read, Read: Fostering a Reading Culture in Classrooms

Students are required to read for academic purposes all the time in classrooms, but what about the time to read for pure pleasure?  Time needs to be set aside for independent reading; time that requires no more than immersing oneself in a good book.  For many years, I’ve taught upper intermediate students and have found, year after year, several students who struggle to find the joy in reading simply for pleasure.  How can we help develop a reading culture in classrooms that gently nudges students in that direction?  How can we help them want to read and find joy in it?  Through some reflecting of my own practices, discussions with colleagues, and visiting other educational blogs and websites, I have found three broad categories to develop a reading culture in classrooms: selection of reading material, ways to make it a social activity, and ways to help make it fun.

Selection of reading material:

First and foremost, if we want our students to read, we need to ensure they have access to material they want to read.  Ensuring our classrooms are set up with current and interesting books in a wide range of genres, topics, and reading levels is a starting point.  Sometimes, I feel that isn’t quite enough though.  What if we don’t have the funds to outfit a classroom library?  I suppose, ensuring the school’s Library Learning Commons is always accessible for our students to grab a book is a start. What about those students who are not confident readers and grabbing a lower level reader is not appealing to them?  An essential component to building a love of reading is offering students choice in what they read.  One can extend that choice to what format of reading material they can choose from. 

Why stick with chapter books, when students can also read graphic novels, comics, newspapers, or magazines?  Why not include picture books...even at an intermediate/middle school grade?  How about having them listen to audiobooks (edublog gives a great justification for the use of these) or reading on e-reader devices if they have them or have access to them through the school? Another great idea I

obtained from a colleague of mine, is have students read each other’s creative writing.  Have students publish their writing and make a collection of them for class use.  Not only are they reading a variety of writing, but we’re encouraging writers to take joy in writing too.  Win-win!



Make reading a social activity:

As Aguilar states in her blog, “Many students (especially boys) need to interact with each other around texts. It greatly enhances their comprehension and makes it so much more enjoyable.” A way to do this is to hold book talks in class time for instance.  Every Monday during lunch time, my class and I do a “Weekend Update” where they share what they did on the weekend, what movies they saw, etc.  Why not open this up to sharing what good books they’ve been reading and why? I would model this by sharing my own love of reading and passing along some great quotes and age-appropriate book recommendations I might have come across.

Another idea is creating book clubs in your classroom or setting up Literature Circles.  I love doing Literature Circles in my room and the students seem to really enjoy the choice of books and social aspect of this.  There are many blogs online that outline how to do this, but I’ve always loved Faye Brownlie’s book that outlines how to set up Literature Circles.


Make reading fun

When time is taken to make reading fun, students will more likely “buy into” that idea.  Here are some various ways to encourage students to have fun with their reading:

• Make the reading space an exciting place:
• Make the classroom library a sacred, accessible space (bean bags, organized, visually appealing)

• Decorate with book reminders everywhere (posters, displays, bulletin boards, why not a book clock?)

• Allow students to get “comfy” when reading (beanbags, pillows, blankets, stuffies)

My students love to do this during Literature Circles!

• Hold contests!  My students enjoy earning a paper “star” when they finish a book.  By the end of the year, if we have an entire white board bordered with stars, the class earns a pizza lunch. How about a read-a-thon to raise funds for a good cause? Check out this great idea for a March Madness Book Bracket

There are so many ideas!  I get excited just perusing all the great ideas online.  I find myself sometimes getting carried away with, “Ooh, I’ll try that...and that...and that!”  There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, just look at what great teachers are already doing to boost the reading culture in their classrooms and schools.  We don’t need to do it all, but a little bit of thought and a passion for reading exuding out of you, will surely bring most students on board the reading train!

Works referenced:

Aguilar, E. (2013, February 13). Ten Ways to Cultivate a Love of Reading in Students. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/cultivating-love-reading-students-elena-aguilar

Barrett, L. (2019, March 18). 25 Ways to Build Your School's Reading Culture. Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/build-reading-culture/

Elizabeth. (1970, January 1). Book Clubs Have Begun :). Retrieved from http://www.funinroom4b.com/2012/04/book-clubs-have-begun.html

Mulvahill, E. (2017, July 14). This Teacher Created a March Madness Book Bracket and We Love It. Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/march-madness-book-bracket/