Motivating Children to Read and Write

     I learned many important points and information in this chapter that will help me as a future teacher. The chapter discusses the concept of establishing good reading and writing habits. The best way to ensure that a child has good reading habits are by allowing them to read texts of their choice independently. The books that children read should also have a high literary quality. Children should be able to read books on a daily basis at school and interpret them through discussion. One great way to practice at home is by children reading books to their parents. Just like reading, good writing habits are ensured by having children write about their topic of choice. Children can share their writing with their classmates. Children can write in different genres including stories, digital texts, narrative texts, poems, and functional text. These good writing and reading skills are important to begin when a child is young. It is the start to build a solid foundation. The more practice the child has with it, the better he will become at it.

     The teacher plays an important role in motivating students about literacy. Teachers need to read and tell stories to their students on a daily basis. After a story is read, there should be good discussion that follows it. Also, teachers can ask questions throughout the story and have students predict what they think will happen. One way to increase a student’s interest in literacy is reading different stories by the same author. Teachers can do thematic units and incorporate literature into these lessons. For example, if a class has a caterpillar, the teacher could read a book about caterpillars. In a preschool classroom, teachers could read short stories and nursery rhymes to children. There are many different activities that go along with reading books. Children could draw a picture of a character or different events that occurred in the story. In the elementary grades, students could do a sequence chart and either draw or write about what happens at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. I am in an immersive program this semester and I assist in a first grade classroom. I did the sequence chart activity with the first graders and they really liked it. I always enjoy putting into action what I learn in class. I appreciate how our professor gives us creative ideas to use in the classroom.

     I believe that literacy centers are very important. There are a variety of stations that students work at. In the first grade classroom I assist in, they do literacy centers everyday. In some of the centers, the students are able to practice their spelling words for the week. They write out the spelling words with a pencil, pen, marker, and colored pencils. Sometimes the students rainbow write the words. As it states in the book, literacy centers allow children to have choices. Children can also collaborate and work together. In the classroom I help in, children work together to complete a worksheet or when they listen to a story on tape. An important quote from the book is, “Children in classrooms with literature collections read and look at books 50 percent more often than children in classrooms without such collections” (Morrow, 323). The better designed and organized a literacy center is, the higher the number of motivated children there are to participate in them. Literacy centers will look different in each classroom.

Have you seen literacy centers occur at Appletree or in other classrooms? If so, what were they like?

Why do you think literacy centers are so important? 

What are other ways that teachers can motivate their students to read?