Have you ever had a student who just didn't want to read? They did everything in their power to avoid a book? That student who would rather get in trouble than read anything you put in front of them? Many of my students enter my classroom telling me "I hate reading!" or "Reading is boring!". Those students truly believe what they are telling me. I am not going to be able to teach them reading strategies until I can encourage them to try reading.
So what can I do to encourage that struggling reader to read a passage or pick up a book? First, I do a reading survey to find out what my students are interested in. There are several good surveys out there; Elementary Reading Attitude Survey by McKenna and Kear (1990), Me and My Reading Profile by Marinak, Malloy, Gambrell, and Mazzoni (2015), and several can be found on www.teacherspayteachers.com. The survey could ask students questions about their favorite class in school, their least favorite class, what is their favorite tv show, what hobbies to they have, and ask them which genres of books they like to read. If I know that they like to read things about sports, then I will purposefully choose books on sports for instruction. Another strategy to help struggling readers who don't like to read is to build a relationship with the student. If they feel comfortable with me and believe that my classroom is a safe and accepting place where they can make mistakes and keep trying, then students will usually make an effort to read. If students feel a teacher is judging them or is going to just find fault, then they won't attempt to read for that teacher. How do I build relationships? I make my expectations clear from the beginning of what our routine will be, what the procedures are for each activity, and we get to know each other on a personal level. Now, I'm not sharing my personal life every day with them! But they do know what types of books I read (my favorite is Anne of Green Gables), my favorite food is chocolate, and that when I make mistakes, I'm not going to bite. When they make mistakes I will offer them support and encouragement. Every day is a new day and we just have to keep trying. The next blog post (next week) will continue this topic and discuss how you can use graphs and data to encourage students to read. Hope to see you here again soon!
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AuthorI am a certified reading specialist with a background in speech pathology. I love reading and sharing this passion for learning with students. Archives
September 2016
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