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How to Motivate Students: Top Reasons for Letting Children Choose Books
1.Studies show it improves performance on standardized tests. Research
conducted at the University of Maryland found that when students are given
limited choices from a collection of books, it helped improve their performance on
standardized tests, particularly the reading comprehension section.
2.Giving students a choice has been linked with scholastic achievement. Some
researchers believe that when students (especially boys) are free to choose what
they want to read, they will read for pleasure. Reading for pleasure has been
linked with scholastic achievement in school.
3.Students will want to read more when given a choice. Back when teachers
made students read a novel together as a class, you would be lucky if you got them
to read a few books a year. Luckily, today there are wonderful book series. When
you give a child the choice to read what they desire, they will want to read more.
The best way to get students to read more is to help them find one book in a series
that they love, then they will want to continue to read each and every book in the
series.
4. When students choose what they want to read, they will become better
writers. Studies have proven that when students read more they become better
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writers. The more they read and write, the better they become at it. When children
choose what they want to read, they tend to want to write more too.
5.Students will read for pleasure and enjoy reading. When children can freely
choose what they want to read, they will be reading for pleasure, not because there
is an assignment due. A choice allows children to be enthusiastic about what they
are reading, and in turn they will be engaged.
6.It allows educators to observe and see what students are gravitating
towards. When children choose their own books it allows teachers to see what
their students are into. Then, teachers can alter their lessons and activities to
connect with the particular genres their students are interested in. Teachers can
also examine why students are choosing the books they are. Children tend to read
for a different purpose then adults. For instance, children may choose a book
based on what their peers are reading, because they want to imagine themselves as
the main character, or maybe because they are just interested in the topic.
Teachers can use this information to help them structure their lessons.
7.Giving students a choice allows them to take risks they otherwise would
not. Students tend to say that they “hate” certain genres of books, but if given the
choice you will be surprised of the books they choose. Let’s say you told the
students they had to choose a fantasy book, knowing that they dislike this type of
genre. When a child is able to choose their own title, you are opening them up to
options they may have never explored before.
Trust your students to take control of their own reading. Allow them to make
their own choices and they will explore more genres. Expose your students to
books they love and you see that they will not only read for pleasure, but enjoy
what they are reading.
he big challenge for teachers is not simply getting students to read – it's getting
them to enjoy it too. It's one thing for students to trudge through set texts in a
lesson, but will they open another book when they get home at the end of the day?
The National Literacy Trust has noted that becoming a lifetime reader is based
on developing a deep love of reading.
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"Research has repeatedly shown that motivation to read decreases with age,
especially if pupils' attitudes towards reading become less positive," it said. "If
children do not enjoy reading when they are young, then they are unlikely to do so
when they get older."
For younger readers in particular, their home environment is critically
important.
"Home is a massive influence," says Eleanor Webster, a primary school teacher
in Nottinghamshire. "Supportive and understanding parents are key to developing
their child's reading."
But if a pupil doesn't see people reading at home, it may be harder to instil the
idea of reading for pleasure. So what can teachers do to encourage it? Here are
some of the best ideas, initiatives and projects that teachers have developed to
motivate children and help them develop a love for reading:
Reading challenges
Reading competitions come in many shapes and sizes, with the aim of spicing
up literature and giving children an incentive to open a book. Mountbatten
School in Hampshire is one school that has run several projects to encourage
reading for pleasure.
"We wanted them to try reading a broad range of books," says Jennifer
Ludgate, an English teacher at the school.
"We challenged students to read one book, fiction or non-fiction, from a wide
range of genres. They get them ticked off by their teacher and there are medals at
the end of the year."
Another competition saw students race against time to tick off the classics.
"A colleague created the '16 Before You're 16 Challenge' for the older years,"
says Ludgate.
"We chose 16 classics, like To Kill A Mockingbird and Brave New World, and
challenged students to read as many as they can before they turn 16. It's a good
way to make sure they're being challenged."
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In another contest, Eleanor Webster gets younger children to read for pleasure
with "extreme reading" competitions over the summer holidays.
"They're always very popular," she says. "Children take pictures of themselves
reading in strange places and we display the photos in the main corridor. Some
were on roller coasters, in tractors, on top of bookcases or at holiday destinations."
The 100 Word Challenge , created by Julia Skinner, asks children to write
regular posts online and read other students' work.
"When you tell kids, 'We're going to do some reading,' it can immediately turn
them off," says Skinner.
"But with this you say: 'We're going to support someone who has done some
writing. What do you think of it?' It gives them a purpose to read."
Jennifer Ludgate, who uses the 100 Word Challenge, explains: "Their
homework is to read two students' writing – they really like it because it's short,
easy to read, and it only takes them a couple of minutes."
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