Part of the quest of any educator is to create a culture of reading for our students. The goal of creating lifelong readers begins at home, but it can be vastly improved if teachers instill an appreciation for reading across all subjects.
Here are a collection of tips to foster a love of reading in your students.
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Create a Reading List of Your Favorite Books and Share it with Your StudentsMany students are reluctant readers because they detest the thought of being forced to read. A simple suggestion is to come up with a list of your favorite books and share it with your students. Encourage them to let you know when they read one, and be open to discuss it with them. This creates a culture of social reading and encourages them make to their own lists and share their own recommendations.
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Maintain a Classroom LibraryIt shouldn’t matter what subject you teach, having a shelf of books donated to your classroom library is a great way to promote reading. Take the extra step and even create a classic library stamp card for the back of the book, so students can see who’s borrowed the book in the past.
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Have an Instant Reading BellSet a special alarm that goes off around once a week. When this alarm goes off, it means everyone – you and your students – must stop what they’re doing and read for 10 minutes. It will inspire students to always keep a recreational book on them, and they’ll look forward to the surprise break.
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Promote Students to Log All the Books They Read on Social MediaWhether it’s through goodreads, tumblr, or twitter, have your students blog about the books they read. Have them rate the books, give a review, or even journal their reactions. This will help continue to promote a reading lifestyle beyond the classroom.
Do you have any tips to help cultivate a reading culture in your students? Please share with us!