Reading Tips

Teachers Take the Cake

Where do kids get advice on what to read?

Reading Report

Scholastic and YouGov conducted a survey of 1.043 kids ages 6-17 and their parents to learn about things like reading for pleasure, reading behaviors and family attitudes about reading. Maine Educator reviewed the survey and pulled some key data to help you learn more about this crucial topic.

51% of Kids

Turn to teachers or school librarians to get the best ideas about books to read for fun.

Book Fairs

51% of kids 9-11 and 49% of kids 6-8 say Book Fairs are a powerful source to get the best ideas about books to read for fun.

o help you T start the year

right when it comes to reading, take a glance at these great tips from fellow MEA members.

Maine Educator broke out the ideas based on grade levels. Pick and choose what works for you!

Grades K-2

4 Begin the school year off by promoting a sense of family/community/love so children will feel comfortable in their learning environment. The tips listed below won't matter if this is not achieved. Ex: Have students cheer for each others' successes, Penny Rees, promote "bucket filling," etc. Glenburn Elementary School Glenburn EA 4 Use movement/motion to learn high frequency words. An example: Act out the word "my" by punching out the letters - right hand extended as students say "m," then left hand extended as students say "y," then students clap hands together and shout "my!" Children quickly learn to read and spell the words by using this technique. 4 Use visual cues to learn diagraphs. Ex: Picture of a thumb to represent "th." 4 Demonstrate reading strategies. Ex: Show how to sound out words by stretching out a rubber band slowly as you say the word. 4 Help children to be positive risk takers. Sometimes a child, when first learning how to read, will not attempt a word for fear of being wrong. Ex: Teach the following to students to recite when needed - "Mistakes are good. They help us grow. They teach us what we need to know." 4 Use centers for hands-on learning built around a theme. I'm a big believer in integrating subjects. Ex: Using the science theme of dinosaurs, the children go back in time, thanks to our time machine, to Dinosaur Land (part of our classroom is sectioned off and decorated as a prehistoric environment, complete with volcano and life-size baby dinosaur), where there are numerous centers. One of the literacy centers is to read the word family words written on large plastic eggs in a dinosaur nest. When completed, the egg hatches (child opens it) to reveal a baby (toy) dinosaur. 4 Have students wear headbands or crowns with the high frequency words on them. Each crown has one word on it that the child must be able to read, when asked what the word is by another student or adult.

Social Media

26% of kids ages 15- 17, say social media is the best way to get ideas about reading books at their leisure

Top 10 Books Kids Still Love

Harry Potter Diary of a Wimpy Kid Percy Jackson Goosebumps Dork Diaries The Hunger Games Junie B. Jones The Bible Dr. Seuss Magic Tree House

8-years-old

Average age kids first read Harry Potter

1 in 5

Kids from low income families don't read any books over the summer. On average, kids read eight books.

Grades 3-5 READING STRATEGIES TO ENGAGE AT ALL LEVELS High School Provide high school students with time to read. 4 Establish a routine for beginning each class 16-37 4 My students loved when we did reader's with a 20-minute independent reading time. theater, which helped with their fluency. 4 Use consistent language for getting students They loved practicing and making props for started and providing them with a two-minute it too. I think that the most powerful tool is Sherri Gould, warning when it’s time to finish up. When 20 Darcy Pinkham, Buxton Elementary School Saco Valley TA giving them voice and choice with the books they read and how they show me what they have learned. 4 I also do what I call a file folder for a book they’re reading. Students decorate the minutes is over, use a consistent phrase, such as, “Find a good place to finish up now.” 4 Communicate—and reinforce—clear expectations for reading time, (everyone reads; come with something to read; what to do when you don’t like what you’re reading). Nokomis Regional High School RSU 19 EA front with the title of the book and any illustrations they want to Provide choice in what students can read add. In the file folder are square pieces of paper that go together like 4 Discuss with students how to make the “just right” choice for them a matchbook. They write a summary on the inside of the paper and (and that’s not just about lexile level!) on the outside of the “matchbook” they can draw an illustration on it. 4 Build—and maintain—a classroom library with a wide variety of The books turned out pretty awesome and the children loved them. choices There was a separate "matchbook" for each assignment they had. 4 Range of authors, genres, topics, and accessibility

Grades 6-8

4 Students are taught how to preview Make it as authentic as possible books on the first day of class, so when they 4 When we read a book in the “real world,” we don’t keep a reading choose a book they have made a good choice log. When we finish a book in the “real world”, we don’t write a from the beginning, and this helps them in paper about it. finishing the book 4 When we read in the “real world,” we talk about what we’re reading Jessica Dow, Caribou Middle School Eastern Aroostook EA 4 I do several Book Passes throughout the year: I put piles of books on desks and students preview them for a period of 3-6 minutes, with others. Do that in the classroom, too! 4 Provide students with a few minutes to talk with peers about what they’re reading. Book recommendations from a friend carry weight! and then make notes about the books they preview, this book pass And finally, my students and I have always enjoyed a bulletin papers are kept in their binders, when they are struggling to find a board where we could record quotations that we come across in new book to read, I ask them to refer to their book pass. our reading. It’s pretty catchy to use black construction paper and 4 Previous year students have completed Book Talk Cards (short brightly colored chalk markers for this, and it’s a great way to capture summary of the novel, picture, other books similar to this book, and author’s language that has ‘spoken’ to us throughout the year. who might enjoy reading the book), these are available to my students Consider including magazines, almanacs, audiobooks, fan fiction to look at and help guide them when choosing a novel. (Students always take advice from peers better than from the teacher). Read more tips in the Maine Educator Online!

48% Kids' Choice Reading Frequency

Percentage of parents who have heard about the summer slide. 88% of kids agree they are more likely to finish a book that they chose. Only 1 in 4 kids read for fun at least five days a week, and the younger they are the more they read.