Fostering Reading Cultures in Schools

 Thoughts on Reading

Reading is an important aspect in schools and unfortunately, too many students do not enjoy this because they have been forced to read books that do not interest them or that they actively dislike. This is a truly sad state of affairs because I am an avid reader and I try to bring my love of reading into my classroom. I hope that I can get at least one person in my class to change their mind about reading and are able to enjoy reading for the rest of their lives. This ideal is something that I think about when I plan my English Language Art curriculum for the year and the following tips and techniques have helped me, in some way, along the way.

Reading Tips and Techniques Across the Internet

(https://www.wuwm.com/post/levar-burton-reading-rainbow-helped-build-generation-readers#stream/0)

There are so, so many resources to help teachers promote reading in their classrooms. When I was younger I remember quite a few things bout reading in the classroom but one of the biggest influences that I remember from my early elementary school is Levar Burton's Reading Rainbow. This show was very instrumental in getting me reading for enjoyment, not just because I had to. There was a revival of this show through Kickstarter and I backed it. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it take off as I hoped it would:

Some of the new videos are still usable within an elementary classroom and I still hope that this show might take off in the future.

I follow two wonderful blogs, one that discusses all things pedagogy (www.cultofpedagogy.com) and one that mainly sticks to reading and literature (http://pernillesripp.com/). Both of these blogs have wonderful ideas and lessons on how to get students engaged in their own reading and how to keep it interesting in the classroom. Within "Cult of Pedagogy" the one blog post that really relates to this topic is: How to Stop Killing the Love of Reading. The interesting thing about this post is that the ladies at Cult of Pedagogy are interviewing Pernille Ripp! 

(https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/stop-killing-reading/)

This blog post states that "The only thing that can [turn our students into people who love to read] is books. Reading actual books alongside other people reading actual books" and I wholeheartedly agree. The blog talks about what's wrong in how reading is taught and goes on to give advice on how, with a return to common sense, a teacher can teach their students to love reading for reading's sake. The steps that are included within this idea of Common Sense teaching are Time to Read, Choice, A Robust Classroom Library, and Culture and Community.

Pernille Ripp also has managed to create a reading culture with her books and blog posts. She also created The Global Read Aloud that I have been happily apart of for three years. Her books Passionate Readers and Passionate Learners are wonderful pieces of literature that help teachers implement her ideas about literature and reading. I enjoy her ideas on how to build a learning community with choice, pride, and ownership through the students.

I find that another helpful aspect that one can find from the internet are infographics that you can use and hang in your classroom. I found an aritcle/blog on the website Ebook Friendly the is titled "10 Inforgraphics that Promote Reading." This post shows many different infographics for different age groups that can be discussed and then used within the classroom. The following two are my favourite:

(https://ebookfriendly.com/infographics-promote-reading/)

(https://ebookfriendly.com/infographics-promote-reading/)

Implementation in my Classroom

 I try to use all of the information that I gathered from the above blogs, articles, graphics and such in planning and teaching within my classroom. I also decided to change my entire teaching approach and implementation to English Language Arts this year...because Covid didn't give us a hard enough year...

https://www.heinemann.com/products/e08113.aspx

Over the summer I was lucky enough to have won a copy of 180 Days by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle through BCTELA and this changed my vision of reading and writing within middle school. Using this book as a basis for planning and also using the ideas from the information above, these are some of the techniques I use to create a welcoming (hopefully) reading culture within my classroom:

Daily Reading

Most teachers within ELA do this as silent reading or DEAR and I did too, I just changed the name of it and the reason for it. I had always enjoyed the quiet of the 15 mins of students reading but later in my career realized that only about 40% of my class was actually reading so I was struggling with implementation. Reading 180 Days made me realize that I was putting limits on the enjoyment of reading. For my age group (ages 11-15) I had always stated that they need to be reading a novel of their reading level, but now I have realized that it doesn't matter what they read as long as they are reading and this has changed my percentage of readers during Daily Reading from 40% to about 80% and I am happy with that.

With Daily Reading, I also hand out a blank "What I Have Read" list for students to fill out as the year goes. This is so that they have a tangible list of books that they know they enjoyed or an author that confused them or a book that they abandoned, so they can look back and reflect.

Book Talks

These are very important, especially to the non-readers who believe that they can never find something they like. These three mins or less book talks can show your class what you have in the classroom library or what other students are reading/have read. I started the year by introducing the books that I have in my classroom library and then by the middle of the first term, I have students book talking a book of their choice. 

With Book Talks, I give the students a blank "Books I Would Like to Read" and they write down authors and titles of interesting books from the Book Talks.

Book Report/Independent Book Study

These are not a new aspect of my ELA class; I have been doing book reports within my classes for about four years. I let students choose their own book but I have a minimum page count and it can be on any book they want. Once the book is done I rotate through different presentation types (bookmarks, collages, poems, etc) to show their knowledge of a book.

Novel Studies

Book Clubs

While I haven't had the chance to implement these in my class this year, I really want to try these as it gives students their peers to talk about a book and a book that is an interest to all parties. When I do implement, I will use techniques and tips from both 180 Days and Pernille Ripp's experiences to hone my own way of doing them.

Literature Circles

I have done literature circles in the past and while they are similar to Book Clubs, the major difference is that within Lit Circles, each person has a job that moves the topics and discussions within the Circles along. The students seem to enjoy these because they know what is expected of them within every class.

Whole-Class Novel 

When I do a whole class novel, I make sure that students have a say in the novel we do. This way, hopefully, most of the class has not read the novel of choice and it is one that a majority will enjoy. I usually read the entire novel as a read-aloud as the students follow along. We then do activities or discussions that connect to something that the book has brought up. I find these discussions to be very valuable and helpful in getting to know how my students make connections and how they think of the world.

Classroom Library

I have a wonderful selection of books within my classroom library. I have labelled my library in sections (non-fiction, fiction, low vocab, graphic novels, series) but I would like, when I have the time, to do a more in-depth labelling system of organization. I would also like to go through my books to make sure that I have a wide variety of characters, settings, and plots so that the majority of my students can find something that interests them within my classroom.

Final Thoughts

The most important point when creating a reading culture in a class is to give the students CHOICE. When they have a choice in what they read and why they are reading it, they will feel involved and there will be a more meaningful connection to the novel and to the entire aspect of reading, both for school or pleasure. I will finish off with my favourite quote from one of my favourite childhood authors. Happy reading!

(https://risarodil.tumblr.com/post/154939357675)

Works Cited

Gallagher, Kelly & Penny Kittle. 180 Days. Heinemann, 2018.

Gonzalez, Jennifer. "How to Stop Killing the Love of Reading." Cult of Pedagogy, 3 Dec 2017, https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/stop-killing-reading/. Accessed Feb 11, 2021.

Kowalczyk, Piotr. "10 Infographics the Promote Reading." Ebook Friendly, 19 Sept 2018, https://ebookfriendly.com/infographics-promote-reading/. Accessed Feb 12, 2021.

Pernille Ripp. Teacher.Author.Creator.Speaker.Mom, 2021, https://pernillesripp.com/. Accessed 12 Feb 2021.