So, to help you out, we’ve devised a list of the most effective ways of persuading your pupils that reading isn’t just a necessity that’s required for doing well in school, but that it’s actually fun!
Start up a book club
This is a great way for you to foster an environment for those who are open to the idea of reading for leisure, but haven’t quite mustered up the courage to do it on their own. You can arrange the club around different genres, authors, themes; it’s up to you! The point is to ensure that everyone in attendance is engaged by the material, and is keen to come back to continue the story. With any luck, this curiosity will translate over into your pupil’s personal lives.
Help your students find the right book for them
We all know the saying - “It’s not that you don’t like reading, it’s just you haven’t found the right book yet.” This is particularly true for schoolchildren - if they’re going to commit to something as lengthy as a book, it better be something that they’re interested in! There are a few ways that you can help in this regard, like by putting on a lucky dip where you rap the covers of a select amount of books in brown paper. This way, pupils can’t literally judge the book by its cover, and you can ask your class to pick one each and asking them to read and see if they like the book. After some time, ask them all to swap books and note down whether they enjoyed what they read, and at the end of the exercise, they’ll have a record of the books they enjoyed, and the ones they didn’t.
It’s always worth trying to launch a partnership with your local library as well, as this will allow your pupils to explore a wide variety of books for themselves, and receive recommendations from the librarians.
Turn reading into a competition
We’ve all got that little bit of competitive edge inside us, particularly young boys who might not be the most academic. So, maybe consider putting on a “battle of the readers” where groups/classes compete for a prize by reading books and completing book reviews. This can be a great way of persuading the members of your class who might not be as keen on reading to get involved by appealing to their competitive nature.
We can’t stress enough how important it is to get pupils reading for leisure from an early age. It’s such a valuable skill that will help them massively in the future when it comes to revising for exams, and studying in university.
It all starts in the classroom, and while you’re busy encouraging the next generation of readers, we’ll continue to help by doing what we’re best at - supplying a huge range of school exercise books, personalised exercise books, and supplementary reading material to students of all ages so they have everything they need to achieve greatness in the classroom. Take a look through what we’ve got available on our site - and if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call on 01254 686 500. We’re always happy to help!
