Thursday, April 3, 2014

8 Ways to Get Students Excited About Reading






Are you looking for some ways to envigorate your students' desire to read, and get them excited to crack open some books?
I've come across several creative ways to get your class motivated to read.  Take a look and see which would be the best fit for your class:


  • Flashlight Friday, which is a great idea I saw on HeadOverHeels' blog.  She has bought small flashlights and finger flashlights at dollar stores and, as a treat, students may use them on Fridays with the lights turned off.  The classroom is aglow with students silently reading with their little flashlights hovering over their books.  How awesome!



  • I absolutely love this idea for a Book Raffle!  The BrownBag and 4thGradeFrolics had an excellent idea to promote new books in the classroom library.  They describe the new books to students, and then allow them to participate in a raffle to see who gets to read the books first.  What a great contest to get students salivating over new books!

  • Speaking of new books, 2ndisoutofthisworld has a "new book box" that showcases new books when they are introduced to the classroom.  Once the kids to have a chance to read the books, they are added to the regular classroom library and replaced by newer books.  Cool system!  The kids will know right where to look to find something fresh to read.

  • HeadOverHeels also has a great printout for having students sign books to recommend them to the rest of their classmates.  Few things are more motivating for young readers than to have them open a book to see several of their classmates read and enjoyed the same book.


  • Young students may really enjoy making a book buddy to read to during reading time.  These cute creations can be made by students or the teacher.  I've also seen teachers buy small, cheap stuffed dolls to use as book buddies.

  • One final suggestion from HeadOverHeels (great blog, btw!):  A Reading Counts Contest allows them to enter a drawing to win a great prize.  They earn tickets for the contest by, you guessed it, reading books!  The more books they read, the more they increase their chances to win.

  • Lastly, Scholastic features a helpful list so that you can suggest book types based on students' interest, personalities and the genres they like.


Hopefully, this list helps you discover a few ways to make reading and finding new books a fun, rewarding experience for your class!  :-)

No comments:

Post a Comment