Share Your Best Practices to motivate students to Read!

Best Reading Practices

The primary goal of the language and literacy program is to expand a child's ability to communicate through speaking, reading, and writing. Technical skills or subskills are taught as needed to accomplish the larger goals - not as the goal itself. Teachers provide generous amounts of time and a variety of interesting activities through which children develop language, writing, spelling, and reading ability.

Appropriate Reading Practices

• Look through books or read high-quality children's literature and nonfiction for both pleasure and information.
• Allow students to draw, dictate, and write about their activities or fantasies.
• Plan and implement projects that involve research at suitable levels of difficulty.
• Create teacher-made or student-written lists of steps to follow to accomplish a project.
• Discuss what was read.
• Prepare a weekly class newspaper.
• Interview various people to obtain information for projects.
• Make books of various kinds (e.g., riddle books, what-if books, books about pets).
• Listen to recordings or view high-quality films of children’s books.
• Read at least one high-quality book or part of a book to the student each day.
• Visit the school library and the library area of the classroom regularly.

Each day, some children may read aloud to the teacher, another child, or a small group of children, while other children may do so weekly. Subskills such as learning letters, phonics, and word recognition are taught as needed to individual children and small groups through enjoyable games and activities.
Teachers use the teacher's edition of the basal reader series as a guide to plan projects and hands-on activities relevant to what is read and to structure learning situations. Teachers accept children's invented spelling with minimal reliance on teacherprescribed spelling lists. Teachers also teach literacy as the need arises when working on science, social studies, and other content areas.

Inappropriate Reading Practices

• Making the goal of the reading program solely that each child pass the standardized tests given throughout the year at or near grade level.
• Teaching reading only as the acquisition of skills and subskills.
• Teaching reading only as a discrete subject.
• Seeing instruction of other subjects as being separate from reading.
• Considering silence in the classroom to be a sign of excellent teaching.
• Allowing conversation to only occur during infrequent, selected times.
• Focusing on language, writing, and spelling instructions in workbooks.
• Teaching writing as grammar and penmanship.
• Focusing the reading program on the basal reader, to be used only in reading groups and accompanying workbooks and worksheets.
• Preparing the reading lesson in the teacher's guidebook for each group each day and seeing that the other children have enough seat work to keep them busy through the group reading time.
• Limiting phonics instruction to learning rules rather than understanding systematic relationships between letters and sounds.
• Requiring children to complete worksheets tied to the basal reader even though they are capable of reading at a higher level.
• Knowing which children are in the slower reading group.
• Rejecting children's writing efforts if they use incorrect spelling or poor English.

Better Reading Habits for Kids: Easy as 1, 2, 3

Developing strong reading habits in children takes time and effort. However, the good news is that it is never too early or too late to begin. Since strong reading skills are a key factor in overall academic success, developing reading habits which promote a lifelong love of reading is essential. These 3 simple strategies will help get your children hooked on books.

1. Develop a Daily Reading Routine: Reading on a daily basis should become as routine as brushing your teeth before bedtime. It is recommended that school-age children read for pleasure at least 20 minutes per day. Naturally children can read for longer periods of time if they wish! With children’s busy schedules, it can be a challenge to carve out 20 minutes of down-time for quiet reading, but it is should be a priority. Reading for pleasure on a daily basis can improve fluency and nurture a love of reading. The trick is in finding the best time of day which fits into your child and family’s schedule. Every child is different so experiment with reading 20 minutes before bedtime, after school or even before school for those early risers. Likewise, allow children to experiment with finding a quiet, comfortable spot for reading.

Younger children (non-readers) can be read to for shorter periods of time. Depending upon their age and interest level, parents can gradually increase the amount of time they read with their children. Don’t be afraid to start reading to children early on. Not only does reading books together promote language skills and vocabulary development, but you’ll find that it is an extremely enjoyable experience you’ll both treasure. Developing a family reading routine from the start paves the way for more mature, independent readers. Eventually, children will look forward to that special time of the day when they can escape into a good book.

2. Monitor Habits with a Reading Log: Consistency is the key to success when using a reading routine. Improved habits are developed over a perioed of time so one of the most important factors is "following through" on the 20 minutes per day minimum. You may need a simple system of accountability to keep your independent readers on track. Some schools use a daily reading log on which students record the date, the title of their book, and minutes read for each day of the week. Parents are required to review and sign their log each night. Reading for 20 minutes is simply part of their daly homework. If your school does not use reading logs, parents can create their own simple reading log for use at home. Have your child record the date, title and minutes read on a sheet of paper each night. Keep their log posted on the frig so you can monitor their progress easily. Your daily reading log serves as a visible reminder to keep on your child reading each day.

It is more challenging to keep a reading log at home since it is not perceived as "required homework." Incentives sometimes makes this easier. Tally reading minutes for the week or month. Start by setting goals of 140 minutes per week (20 minutes per day) and use simple rewards. Gradually increase the amount of minutes needed to achieve rewards. Rewards can be as simple as staying up a little later, extra computer time, a special snack… you decide. Try to make keeping a reading log as enjoyable as possible, since reading for pleasure should not be perceived as a chore.

3. Select Great Literature: Now that you have developed a reading routine and are monitoring your child’s progress with a reading log, how can you encourage a true love of reading? The secret to making reading more enjoyable is to pick great children’s literature. Many children are turned off to reading because they are simply reading the wrong types of books.

• Seek out award-winning books which have been chosen for both their quality and appeal. Great stories peak children’s interest levels.
• Search for popular children’s authors. Their books are kid-tested and kid-approved so you can’t go wrong.
• Try out popular children’s series. If your child enjoys the first book of the series, there are several more to follow.
• Follow your child’s interests and hobbies. Books are more meaningful when children feel a personal connection.
• Experiment with different genres. Vary choices to include fiction, non-fiction, mysteries, graphic novels and much more.
• Invest in a age appropriate and interesting home library. Great books should be readily available whenever they wish to read.

It is easy to encourage reading skills with these great/award winning books which are sure to become instant favorites in your home! Check out this outstanding selection of recommended reading. 
http://www.littleones.com/learningcorner/the-reading-room/better-reading-habits-for-kids/ 

“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” Mark Twain.

Reading is Fundamental

If you don’t read you are missing out on a great way of learning as well as a wonderful way of improving your life. Books can instruct, inform, entertain, motivate and inspire. This is a simple and relatively inexpensive method of growing as a person. Drawing on the wisdom of the ages, books cover every subject you can imagine. Reading has at all times and in all ages been a source of knowledge, of happiness, of pleasure and even moral courage. In today's world with so much more to know and to learn and also the need for a conscious effort to conquer the divisive forces, the importance of reading has increased. In the olden days if reading was not cultivated or encouraged, there was a substitute for it in the religious sermon and in the oral tradition. The practice of telling stories at bed time compensated to some extent for the lack of reading. In the nineteenth century Victorian households used to get together for an hour or so in the evenings and listen to books being read aloud. But today we not only read, we also want to read more and more and catch up with the events taking place around us.