Preparing for next year’s class: keeping them excited about reading
Published on: 16 July 2024
We share some top tips and ideas to help you prepare for your new class - and keep them excited about books and reading.
When you meet your new class on 'Moving Up Day', you can start to plan how to get to know them and their reading habits. Here are some suggestions on how to do this:
- Make it personal: Every child is unique and their reading interests can vary widely. Knowing what they like gives you the power to be more bespoke in your suggestions of books they'll enjoy. Not only does this make reading more fun, but it also helps you to better connect with them.
- Get them excited: When children read things they're interested in, their engagement and motivation to read naturally flourish. Connecting them with books that are close to their hearts can also show you a side of them you haven't seen before.
- Create a classroom community: When children like what they read, they can't wait to talk about it with others. This atmosphere transforms reading into a social and shared experience.
A teacher's guide to getting to know your class's reading habits
But before September, there are the long summer holidays, and sometimes families need encouragement to read together.
Do share this video with your school community. It shows how beneficial reading can be for the adult-child relationship, and for the child overall.
Here's a suggestion for them - join the library's Summer Reading Challenge!
For over 25 years, the Summer Reading Challenge has successfully encouraged children to read for pleasure during the summer holidays.
Taking place from July to September in libraries, it invites children aged 4 to 11 to read six or more books of their choice over this time (with the aim of approximately one a week). This could involve completing a series they enjoy or exploring a variety of genres and formats, including novels, non-fiction, poetry, picture books, graphic novels, old favourites and new discoveries.
Each year, the challenge has a different theme. Children who participate receive a special collector's folder to track their progress and earn rewards like stickers and certificates as they go. If they complete the challenge by reading at least six books, they also have a chance to win even bigger prizes. Libraries often hold a range of related events and activities to enhance the experience and further engage children and families in the joy of reading. Parents and carers can ask to register at their local library.
7 tips for keeping children reading during the summer holidays
More tips from expert teachers to pass on to families
Ditch the reward charts
Plenty of research suggests that, though valuable at times, certain forms of rewards can quickly have a detrimental effect when things aren't going well. For children who feel frustration, boredom, anger, or embarrassment when reading, rewards in the form of transactions, like stickers or treats in return for a set amount of reading, won't help. Their reward needs to come from inside: the simple pleasure of reading, which a chart can't make happen.
Reframe the emotions
Emotions are born of memories. Memories are forged by experiences. For people who love to read, somewhere deep in their memories are positive associations with books. Children haven't had long enough to let these experiences grow yet.
Use physical and sensory stimulation to help positive emotions grow. Examples include snuggling up with children in a duvet with hot chocolate and a tasty snack whenever they read their school book, lighting candles to provide comforting light and scents, and having something tactile to hold. For many children, reading while stroking a familiar object or toy helps to make them feel calm and will help this feeling transfer to the experience of reading.
Motivating children to read at home: 8 practical tips for parents
And a final tip for teachers: Enable book chat!
Chatting to parents about books at the classroom door or school gate can be a good starting point. It shouldn't feel forced but, for example, it could be a moment to celebrate a conversation you've had with their child about a book or an invitation to borrow books from the school stock.
Another thing you could do is to create a class book to showcase the books you've read with the class and some of the children's favourites. Then when parents do come into school, they can take a look and so grow their knowledge of books and see which their children enjoy reading – it's a great way to plan for birthday or Christmas presents.
Top tips to encourage the whole school community with reading for pleasure
