Reading

Finding Ways to Cultivate a Love of Reading in Students  

Introduction 

Hello readers, 

Welcome back to my blog! Today's focus will be on "How can educators find ways to cultivate a love of reading in students?" As a future educator, I want to ensure that I can cultivate a love of reading in my students. I love to read and I want to extend that passion onto other students as I believe that reading is the key to success. I will be discussing a few ways for how educators can help instill a love of reading in their students and in doing so, how this ties with curriculum expectations. 

Relating it to the curriculum

The Ontario language arts curriculum works to ensure that students can develop the skills and knowledge needed to get them to become effective readers. The document emphasizes that students should read a wide range of materials. By reading various kinds of text this will help engage students and help them pursue and develop their abilities and interests. As the document states, “A well-balanced reading program will provide students with opportunities to read for the pleasure of discovering interesting information as well as for the pleasure of self-discovery, for self-enrichment, and for the sheer fun of it. Such reading activities are particularly important in the elementary grades when attitudes towards reading and reading habits are first being formed” (Ontario, 2006, p. 10). Students need to become fluent, independent readers as reading is a life-long skill that they require. You will need reading in almost every aspect of your life like to – get advice, build vocabulary, follow directions, for research, to read instructions, or for your interest. By fostering a love of reading in students from a young age, they will be able to meet the required expectations. The Reading strand has four overall expectations across all grades, as follows:

Students will:

1.     “read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning;

2.     recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning;

3.     use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently;

4.     reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading” (Ontario, 2006, p. 11).

If we want our students to meet these expectations and become effective readers, then we have to start by helping them fall in love with reading.

How can music pique student's interest in reading? 

The music video below "Gotta Keep Reading"  was performed by Ocoee Middle school as a way of uniting the students to promote literacy. Such resources like this work as a great opening tool for motivating students to want to open up a book. This video aligns well with the language arts curriculum in that it showcases how “Reading experiences that invite students to discover new worlds and new experiences and to develop their imaginative powers will go a long way towards convincing them that reading can be a rich source of pleasure and knowledge. Such experiences are likely to lead to a love of reading” (Ontario, 2006, p. 10). This tool ties well with the grade 8 curriculum expectation 1.2 Purpose. In this section of the grade 8 specific expectations, grade 8 students are required to “identify a variety of purposes for reading” (Ontario, 2006, p. 141). As such, by promoting literacy in a fun interactive way like through the use of music, this can allow for students to find meaning through reading.

Providing students with a variety of text types 

Reading a variety of texts will help students discover what interests them the most and help them to further pursue texts that are engaging to them. To foster a love of reading in students, we need to ensure that students are being provided with a variety of text types. If students are stuck reading the same text types, then they will start to disengage from wanting to read. Educators need to ensure that their classrooms are filled with a variety of texts so that students can expand on their reading. The image below showcases the variety of text types there are. As the document states,

The reading program should include a wide variety of literary, informational, and graphic texts – for example, picture books and novels; poetry; myths, fables, and folk tales; textbooks and books on topics in science, history, mathematics, geography, and other subjects; biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, and journals; plays and radio, film, or television scripts; encyclopaedia entries; graphs, charts, and diagrams in textbooks or magazine articles; recipes, instructions, and manuals; graphic novels, comic books, cartoons, and baseball cards; newspaper articles and editorials; and essays and reports (Ontario, 2006, p. 11).

To sell students on the idea of reading, we need to first sell them on books. Having a variety of texts in the classroom works to support students reading progress. An effective reading program will use a variety of texts to meet the instructional needs of all students. Our book banks need to be as unique as our students as there is no one size fits all mentality in effective reading as we are all interested in different things. So just as unique as our students are, the text we provide in-class also needs to be just as unique. Having different types of texts ties well with the grade 8 specific expectation R1.1 Variety of Texts and R1.6 Extending Understanding. These work to showcase students' understanding of a variety of texts and how they construct meaning from these such texts. As such, educators must provide a variety of texts to their students to engage them in reading and ensure they meet curriculum expectations.

Why reading aloud will make students want to read   

The video below, “Why we should all be reading aloud to children” discusses the many benefits to reading aloud to students. Reading aloud is such a powerful tool that educators can use when teaching literacy as students can learn how to read fluently by listening to fluent readers. Not only are we modeling how to read to students by reading aloud but they are also more engaged in the reading when they see others engaged as well. As an educator, if you are not showcasing a passion for reading to your students then they will not reap the benefits of reading or grow a passion to read. Much like when we are modeling how to read to students, through reading aloud, the more students see us read, the more they will want to read. I believe that reading each day to students will help reinforce the value of reading and allow educators to showcase their love of reading to their students. Reading aloud can also provide students with an opportunity to enjoy a book without having to worry about struggling to decode words. As well, with careful selection of text types, this allows students to be introduced to different types of books. This section goes hand in hand with the grade 8 specific expectation R1.3 Comprehension Strategies as it would be easier for students to identify reading comprehension strategies to understand complex texts when they are engaged and wanting to read.  

Conclusion 

To aspire a love of reading into students, we have to ensure that we are finding ways to peak their interests and motivate them to want to read. We have to ensure that we are providing the right materials and modeling what we preach. When students start to see the benefits of reading, the places they can go, the things they can learn, and the people they can meet through reading, this can lead them into becoming lifelong leaders.

- Miss Imam