Often parents are not too happy about their child’s preference of watching television over reading a book. They make reading a task and children see this as a compulsion and not as a choice. Parents can actually help their child become avid readers by exposing them to a few good habits of reading. This should be done on a very positive note with no pressurising.

Here are a few simple tips to make a child read more.

You should read on a regular basis and ensure that your child sees you reading with interest. Actually, the reading matter is not so important. Other than books it could be pamphlets, magazines or recipes. In fact you could have a reading time when you and your child sit quietly and read your individual books. Your child will emulate your habit of reading and enjoy the quiet time spent with you while reading.

Do not restrict books to one corner or shelf of the house. Keep them scattered throughout the house, near the TV table, on the bedside table and in the child’s room. This will increase the child’s access to books and stimulate the reading habit.

If your child is small, take a book that has text and pictures and discuss with your child about the characters and incidents in it. Develop an interest in him or her so that he or she feels motivated to read it. You could also take turns in reading aloud from the same book. This will inculcate a strong grasp on the spoken language too.

In most homes there is a well specified TV watching time. In addition have a specific reading time in your house where you all read something. Begin with shorter duration as smaller kids tend to lose interest fast. Then according to his or her age, lengthen the duration of reading time. Afternoons may be the best time for reading as opposed to reading at night before bed, as the child is quite sleepy then. Bedtime reading can supplement normal reading time.

Whenever your child finishes reading a book, give him or her a reward. Please do not go overboard in this and restrict yourself to small tokens only. You could even tell your child to write a summary of the book and reward him or her afterwards. This will also improve his or her quality of writing.

Find out about a library that is in your city and become a member. Opt for one with a Reading Room that is spacious. Take your child to this library and spend some time there on a weekly basis. Take books home and stress on the importance of returning the books by the due date. Your child will understand the urgency and read more to finish the book and bring home another one. Spend some time with your child in the Reading Room.

Reading is one of the best hobbies to pursue as it improves language skills and opens up a world of knowledge for your child. Do take it seriously but do not make it a painful task for children. Let them read at their own pace and develop a liking for it. A visit to a library will further instill the habit of reading and the excitement of bringing home a new book every time will keep the habit alive.

Motivating Students to Read…

The value of extensive reading

How to encourage students to read extensively

Integrating extensive reading into the TBL curriculum

Extensive - a wide range of texts a large number of books

Comprehensive - of the right level

• It provides exposure to extensive comprehensible language and is

therefore highly beneficial for language acquisition and literacy development

 

Revisiting vocabulary and structures in different books and contexts

reinforcing understanding of story structure ie. introduction, setting (place and time), characters, plot (problem or goal), episodes or events, resolution

Extensive practice of reading skills such as word attack skills, meaning attack skills, prediction skills → fluent reading

Extensive exposure to language not usually encountered in textbooks and simplified readers

It is an important source of ideas and information

 It can nurture a good reading habit

 

Cycle of growthCycle of growthExtensive reading – increased exposure – cycle of growth (Nuttall 1996)

Extensive reading helps student to become fluent, independent readerswho are interested in reading.

Read more

Learn more

Enjoy more

Read faster

Enjoyment Sustained exposure / reading habit

Language improvement

Lower forms No interest in reading

Some books are boring Reading-related activities are boring e.g. taking tests Lack of vocabulary knowledge and so find reading

difficult Upper forms

No time to read : need to prepare for examinations Reading materials are too difficult  General

Not motivated Not aware of the benefits of ERS Lack confidence in reading

Problems identified by teachers: 

                        

Books / reading materials need to be interesting and not too difficult

Students need to develop reading skills - e.g. how to guess words from context, activate background knowledge, read

for implied meaning etc

Reading-related activities should be interesting and creative

A reading culture should be developed in the school

Compare passages in the course books with stories for extensive reading. Are they different? Which are more interesting?

 What kinds of books are suitable for extensive reading?

 How do we find out about the interests of the students?

 How do we grade books? Note that the input must be ‘comprehensible’!

Entertaining The content is rich and varied

Contain interesting and imaginative characters, themes, events and situations

The illustrations are attractive and provide appropriate supportThe language is rich and creative

Children can respond to themGood books?

What books / materials?What books / materials?

L2 readers

Reading schemes for English-speaking children (including picture books)

L1 books for leisure readingadolescent literaturemovie bookspopular series – teenage fictionnon-fiction

Magazines / CD-Roms / websites

SecondarySecondary

Allow ‘subliterature’ e.g. movie books (Home Alone, Jurassic Park), the Apple series, The Bailey school kids, Goosebumps etc.

 Let your students choose topics / authors they like

 Get them hooked onto a series!!!

Problems  Too bottom-up in approach – too much concentration on

individual words. If they get stuck with a word, they do not know how to go on. (Even place or people’s names)

Do not know how to activate background knowledge in reading

Do not know how to work out ‘implied meaning’

Cloze reading (to develop ability to tolerate vagueness and to guess words from context)

Think-aloud protocol (to help develop awareness of the importance of background information)

Predicting the ending of short stories

Discussion of plot, characters, setting, problem, resolution etc through story frames and story maps

Read more!!! ‘We learn to read by reading’ (Smith 1978, Nuttall 1996)

A whole school approach Eg. Book week to celebrate literacy:

- Book character day- Graphic display of number of books read by the entire school

in the form of a bookworm that ‘grows’ around the school- Book talks by authors and community leaders

4.4. Developing a reading culture in schoolDeveloping a reading culture in school

Display of English books in the library – a book corner (Change it every month) – can adopt a theme (Detective stories) or an author approach (Roald Dahl)

 Display of students’ work, like book reviews, letters to

the authors, book cover designs Board displays with slogans – e.g. Reading is fun! Activities to promote reading e.g. story-telling competition, drama

competition, book report competition, best readers of the class, the form, the month etc.

Surveys on books Teachers’ recommendations (the ten best books) in school newsletters Opportunities to borrow books in the summer and the holidays Enlist the help of parents  

Extensive reading is an important source of ideas and language for carrying out tasksin the English language curriculum

For exampleFor example

Task: Write a letter to a friend asking for help and adviceStudents each choose a character from a book they have read. They pretend tobe the character and write the letter e.g. The Pied Piper of Hamelin - The mayor of the town asks a friend to

suggest ways of getting rid of the rats.The Three Little Pigs – The pigs ask for ways to protect themselvesfrom wild animals

Task: Produce a radio play Students who have read the same book can work as a group

to produce a radio play based on the book ie. different groups will produce different plays

Task: A project based on the theme ‘Animals’Students can make use of the animal stories / books they haveread in doing some of the tasks, e.g. they create / publish their own animalstories in the form of small books.

Task: The most popular character Each student nominates a character from the books he/she has readand draws a picture / writes a short description of the character. The whole class vote to decide on who the most popular character is

Task: Students create a new ending to a story they have read

Task: Students design new book covers, book marks or

cartoon strips based on a story they like

There is more variety in the students’ work because they have readdifferent books

Extensive reading materials should be actively used in completingtasks in the TBL curriculum

Students will be motivated to read if:- The books / reading materials chosen are interesting and of

appropriate level- They are helped to develop reading skills- The reading-related activities are interesting and creative- There is a reading culture in school

Why is reading important?

How can I get my child to read?

Is it to late-I have a teenager!?

One of the most complex mental activities we can engage in is reading. When you look at brain scans taken while the subjects are reading you see many of the areas of the brain lit up with activity.(Brummit, 2007)

builds listening skills, increases a child's attention span, and develops the ability to concentrate at length of which all are learned skills.

develops children's ability to express themselves more confidently, easily, and clearly in spoken AND written terms.

develops and fosters a child's natural curiosity. develops creativity and a child's ability to use their own

imagination! expands our children's horizons, quells fears, exposes them to

new situations, and teaches them appropriate behavior. Reading children’s stories to our children provides the best

opportunities for true " teaching moments ." Reading picture books develops a young child's appreciation for

the arts through exposure to many different styles of art and illustrations.

Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” 

- Harry S. Truman

Out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year. 

Fill your home with reading material Everywhere!!!!

Books, newspapers, magazines, school newsletters, etc. ANY Type of printed material “

Students who reported having all four types of reading materials (books, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias) in their home scored, on average, higher than those who reporter having fewer reading materials.”(tella, 2007)

Be an example! How did your children learn to talk? By

listening to people, and others encouraging them to express themselves.

Reading is the same! Children are made readers on the laps of

their parents.” - Emilie Buchwald

Research shows that students who

Discuss their school studies and what they are reading with their parents or caregivers are higher achievers than those who do not. (Mullis, 2003)

So….. Talk about it!

In the car…

At the dinner table….

On the plane….

While shopping!

“ What did you read about today?”

We need to demonstrate in as natural a way possible, how reading serves our own needs. Teens will learn about reading if we can involve them in our reading. We can express our opinion in connection with some magazines article. We can talk about newspaper ads that describe things we are thinking about buying. We can comment on interesting things we have read. (Myers, 1989)

"…finding materials that will provide enjoyment to teens will require you to think like a teen. Notice the subjects of the television shows, movies, or videotapes your teen watches. Think about his or her favorite activities, sports, hobbies, and other special interests. Then, the next time you run across a display of books or magazines, buy a few that seem to be about similar subjects and scatter them about the house.“ (myers, 1989)

"A house without books is like a room without windows."

Heinreich Mann (1871-1950)