Reading is the foundation of literacy and human understanding of the modern world. Class reading programs help students of all ages engage in improving their comprehension of the written text. Reading helps improve vocabulary and knowledge. It also helps improve students’ writing skills. Class reading programs at school help students achieve academic success in higher education as well. In today’s digital age, it has become increasingly difficult for young students to focus. Students consider reading as boring since they have much more entertaining sources of information such as YouTube. Hence it is more important than ever for teachers to encourage students to read. Here are five ways you can encourage students to read with a class reading program.
Let Them Choose Their Own Books
It’s important that students read what they are naturally interested in. Yes, different students will choose different types of books but that’s only natural. The goal here is to encourage some form of reading. With a bi-monthly class reading program, you can allow your class a span of two weeks to read a whole book of their choice. After that, you can ask them to share what they have learned from the class reading program with the whole class. This way, different students can present different ideas that interest them.
Invite An Author To Class
Inviting an author that has written and published a well-known book can be an interesting way of inducing curiosity within your students’ minds. It can be challenging, but if possible, try to reach out to the author and invite them to a video chat. If students get some engagement with the author of a book they know about, they will naturally be interested in reading it. Chances are, some of your students might have already read the book. Having direct communication with the author will also spark up some interesting discussions within the class. This will in turn motivate other students too.
Introduce Them To A Book Series
Your class reading program could also be based around a series. This series could be in the form of novels or even historical or scientific books. A series helps students stay engaged within the reading program as the information that they receive is consistent since it is around a single theme. If they read the first book in the series, they will be interested in reading the second one and so on. Ask your students for a series that they want to read. You can present them a few options of your own or you could ask them to come up with a list. Leave it to them to choose from the list and then assign them their choice. Make sure to set deadlines with each book and conduct reviews and discussions afterwards. This will keep the class engaging and informative for all participants.
Practice Reading Methods During A Class Reading Program
Reading accurately also requires some level of experience. If students learn to read out loud with accuracy, they can be more confident in their ability to speak. Moreover, they will be able to voice their thoughts with confidence and structure them in a better way. You can ask your students to take turns and read some chapters out loud. This will help other students engage and keep a positive learning atmosphere within the classroom. It will also give you a chance to teach them reading strategies. Help them understand pronunciation and the use of punctuation within written text with these class reading programs.
Let Your Students Pair Up
You can encourage your students to read by allowing them to choose a reading partner. With a reading partner, students will no longer be dulled by the reading assignment as they will have someone to share the task with. Assign each pair a reading task of their own choice and then have a shared classroom discussion about each reading material in the end. This will help the students socialize and engage in interesting discussions. It is also a great opportunity to allow the relatively shy students to come up and speak about their interests. Since students will be doing the reading assignments in pairs, it’ll also help take some of the perceived ‘boring factor’ away from reading.
Final Thoughts
Encourage them to read by setting an example! If you tell them stories about how reading has improved your understanding of the world, it’ll create a positive impression on them. Set a good example by discussing the books you are interested in and asking them about the ones they are interested in. Chances are, they will recommend some great reads to you as well! If you’re managing class reading programs, you can use online tools like KeyboardingOnline to keep things fun and engaging. Students can brush up their typing skills alongside their reading skills.