The Threads of Reading Blog » reading motivation

Motivating Reluctant Readers

Great Stories for Kids for Back to School

Publishing Student Writing and Generating Reading Excitement

Digital Story Telling

Motivating Readers with Interest Charts

Authors on the Web

The Weaver — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:34:14 +0000

Kids who struggle with reading often do everything they can to avoid reading. Unfortunately, this is counter-productive and only increased the problem. Reading is a “participation sport” that children have to DO to get better. The more a child uses his reading skills, the stronger they become. What to do to get kids reading more so they actually build reading skills is the question on many teacher’s and parent’s minds.

Children like books that make them laugh or that appeal to their special interests. One little girl I know loves any books that have to do jokes. She has also watched all of the Harry Potter movies several times and loves any books that have to do with dragons or magicians. she can’t wait for the day when she can read the Harry Potter books all on her own. A boy I know, loves to not only watch the Merlin TV show each week, but to also read the Magic Treehouse books featuring a wizard by the same name as the character he knows and enjoys on television. The extra reading practice builds both reading skill and background knowledge.

Another boy loves anything to do with motocross racing. Buying materials that appeal to these interests, keeps these children practicing their reading and enjoying every minute of it. Magazines on a topic of interest can be just as interesting and skill building as any other type of reading material. If a child likes movies that have books connected with them or books that feature the characters from a TV or movie show, then by all means, introduce the child to these special treasures. So, take the time to get to know what interests the reluctant readers that you know and you may just find that they will spend many hours practicing their reading when they might not have done so before.

The Weaver — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 03:39:47 +0000

Looking for some good stories for your students in grades 3 and higher to enjoy as get back into the swing of things this school year? One great resource not to be overlooked is the tales center from Houghton Mifflin. You can find this outstanding collection of fun and interesting stories at http://www.eduplace.com/tales that is sure to delight your students. Spend some time browsing through the great collection of online stories on this site and I am sure you will find many great tales that will definitely get your student’s interest and attention.

The Weaver — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:34:17 +0000

Research shows that writing reinforces and builds reading skills so the more we get students writing, the more improvements they make in their reading. A great way to get students excited about writing is to get their works published on the internet. Reading Rockets and AdLit.org has recently established a monthly challenge that gives students writing prompts that they can address. The prompts are inspired by the Exquisite Corpse Adventure serial saga being presented on the Library of Congress website. Each month, there is a new prompt for students in grades K-12 that correlates with the ongoing Adventure saga. Be sure to check out the prompts and the Adventure. The ongoing adventure is fun and will get students excited and thinking! Your kids will love the writing challenge and may just get their best writing published! There is also a great literacy resource “treasure chest” at the Library of Congress site for both parents and teachers. Be sure to check both of these great resources out!

KTankersley — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:20:18 +0000

If you are looking for ways to motivate children to improve their writing and thinking skills, consider having students produce digital stories. A digital story is a multi-media text consisting of pictures and video clips embedded in a document like a Power Point that is enhanced by a narrated soundtrack that tells the story. According to the research of Burn and Reed (1999) digital story telling can be a great motivator for even the most reluctant of reader. Digital story telling can be used for presenting both fiction as well as non-fiction text on a topic of interest in the content classroom. Digital story telling helps students organize their thinking, have a purpose for writing, and develops pride and self-confidence as the completed work is shared with other students. Digital story telling can be done either in groups or by individuals and even the most reluctant reader and writer will be motivated to complete a digital story project.

KTankersley — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:45:27 +0000

Get students interested in monitoring their own reactions to text by asking them to rate each chapter of a book they are reading on an “interest level” chart. After reading each chapter, students color in the bar to indicate how interested they were in the text of that chapter. Students can then discuss their reactions and what they liked or didn’t like about the various chapters of the book.

My Interest

Level

Wow – I hate to put it down! This was an exciting and interesting chapter.

Good – An Interesting chapter. I enjoyed it!

Ok – but not the best chapter I’ve ever read

So-So – Gave good info but didn’t interest me much.

Boring – I think this chapter should be left out of the book.

KTankersley — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:59:00 +0000

I recently watched two little second grade boys work on an assignment that asked them to read a couple of books by a specific author. They boys dutifully did this laughing at the funny parts and enjoying the images in the book. When they were finished reading, they were to talk about the book and think about the author who had written them. I was amazed at the rich and thoughtful discussion that took place about the content of the books as well as the man who had authored them. Following this conversation, the boys were then to write a letter to this author. Again, I was impressed with the ideas and questions that these two were able to come up with and put on paper. All of this was done with little direction from their teacher and a lot of interest on the part of the two boys. No, these were not the gifted kids in the class either – just two ordinary little boys who clearly understood how to talk about books and think about the real people who write them. Having watched as they penned their letter, I am sure that the author they were writing to enjoyed getting their letter! For information on authors who have a presence on the web for students of all ages. See my links page.