Motivating Children to Want to Read

Chapter 8 discussed ways to motivate children to read. This is something that is very important to me as a future teacher, because there are so many benefits to reading for pleasure. Knowing that there are endless benefits to students and people who read for pleasure, this is something that should be a high priority to teachers everywhere.

            The book states that increasing motivation for our students to read is a key to encouraging them to read for pleasure. It states that extrinsic motivation (external rewards such as praise and good grades) is a good start, but the main focus should be on building students’ intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the desire to engage in behaviors for enjoyment, challenge, pleasure, or interest. In my future classroom, I plan to have reward systems set up for reading, but I will always make it optional. I think that forcing children to read can often cause them to lose interest in it, and can cause them to have negative feelings towards reading because it becomes more of a chore. I will discuss and choose the reward with my students so that I can make sure that it is something that will actually motivate that unique group of students. I think that having a log of some sort would be a good technique to help focus on the extrinsic rewards for reading. The book lists several ways to support intrinsic motivation such as modeling literacy behaviors, providing students with literacy activity choices, reading to them in a positive and relaxed atmosphere, and providing time for multiple literacy activities. What are some ways that you will motivate your students in your future classroom? Have you thought of any systems that you will use for extrinsic motivation regarding reading? What are some of the main ways you will encourage intrinsic motivation for reading?

            The book also states that it is important to give students choices in what they read. Often, teachers will assign a book to students regardless of whether or not the students are all genuinely interested in the book. There may be occasions where this is most appropriate, but whenever it is possible, teachers should give their students the opportunity to choose the books they read. However, the book also states that students should be set up for success in reading in order for them to read out of enjoyment. If students feel like what they are reading is too hard (or conversely, too easy), their motivation to read will be low. In order to give students the choice in what they read but also ensure that they choose books that are in the correct lexile, there are subtle ways to get students to choose from their lexile range. A way that I have considered going about this in my classroom is by having books separated by reading levels in colored bins, and having students’ names on the front of those bins so that they know which bin to choose from. This way, they will still have freedom of choice with their reading, and they will also be set up for success by having a book that is at the appropriate level for them. How do you plan to set your students up for success and give them choice in regards to reading and literacy?

            The book also states that literacy centers are an important system to have in a classroom to foster literacy development and to encourage students to read for pleasure. Literacy centers should have a library corner, confortable area for reading, and an area for writing. Literacy centers can be extremely beneficial if set up properly. The book states that children in classrooms with literature collections are 50 percent more likely to read and look at books than children in classrooms without them. I have already started a collection of children’s books, and take advantage of free books at every given opportunity. I remember in my third grade classroom, my teacher had a corner set up with a bookshelf, a small sofa, a soft chair and some beanbags. The real furniture in the classroom was a subtle way of extrinsically motivating students to read, because we were only allowed to sit in it if we were going to be reading a book. I plan on having a system similar to this one in my future classroom. I want to provide a comfortable area for students to read in my classroom that they will look forward to being in. Have you started a literature collection for your future classroom? How do/will you get your books, and how will you make sure your students have a large enough selection to choose from? Do you plan on having an area set up for your students to read in? If so, what do you imagine this area being like?

            Are there any other things you want to add about encouraging students to read for pleasure? Are there any other things you plan to do in your classroom?