Teaching students to fall in love with reading
In a previous Look Into Education blog, we discussed the celebration of Missouri Read-In Day and the importance of helping all students reach proficient reading level or higher.
More than half of students in the U.S. in fourth or eighth grade are reading below proficiency and are at risk of failing or dropping out of high school in the future.
Whether you are an education major in the midst of student teaching, or are in class preparing to teach students of your own one day, it is never too soon to be thinking about fun and engaging ways to interest your future students in reading.
Education World, Teacher Hub, and Edutopia are great resources for gathering unique and creative ideas from other educators to get students to fall in love with reading.
Teacher, author and education coach Angela Watson also shares seven fun ways to get students excited about reading. Ideas include dressing up as a book character, transforming your classroom into a popular book setting, letting kids wear pajamas to school and bring a snack and sleeping bag to spend the day cozying up with a good book or two, and more.
And encouraging students to read does not end when they leave the classroom. It should be a joint mission by teachers, parents, community members and other key influencers to foster a love for reading in students.
NPR recently published a story about a barber in Michigan who gives a two-dollar discount to kids if they read a book aloud to him during the haircut. Literacy programs like this have been popping up in barber shops across the country, helping parents save some money and helping students in their education.
William Woods bachelors in education students may take courses like EDU393: Teaching Elementary Reading and EDU392: Reading in the Content Area, where they will learn instructional methods, causes of reading difficulties, assessment procedures, teaching strategies for content comprehension, study skill tactics and more for elementary, middle and secondary students