Mt. Mercy University 2012 discussion

I know many of us are planning on becoming teachers so I was wondering what you thought was the best way to motivate students to read and enjoy reading the way we do? What do you plan on telling students or your own children about why reading is important/fun?

I would say the best way to motivate students to read is to make books assessable to them and let them see you read- MODEL! Let the students know what you really think of the book you're reading. If you choose to have SSR or anything like that in your classroom- you should be reading along with the students.

I hope that I can instill the importance of being widely read. I want to have discussions in my classrooms about books I'm reading, and books my students are reading outside of class. I don't know how to get kids excited other than to find things that they are interested in to get them started with. If you can get them to enjoy it for themselves, they will continue to read outside of school.

Abby wrote: "I don't know how to get kids excited other than to find things that they are interested in to get them started with."

That's what I strive for as well. Now that I look back at my schooling, I realize that my elementary teachers were really the only ones who took interest in what I was reading outside of school. My classmates and I would bring a book in and the teacher would read it aloud in class until we finished it. This was how I was introduced to Harry Potter, actually. I don't think that reading an entire book aloud at the secondary level is particularly effective, but having my elementary teacher read the book that I chose to bring made me feel like my interests were important.

With my own children I plan to have them be active readers from the getgo, learning to love reading at a young age. As for my students, as I get to know them a little better I might try to reccommend one book a month for each student, that I think would suit their interests. That is, if they are struggling to find ones they like, or don't know what would be good. I think we as soon-to-be-teachers often take for granted the trust our students place in our opinions. If we have an idea for a good book they might like to read, I say we tell them. Share the wealth.