Reading is one of the most important skills a child can be taught. Reading opens up their little worlds to new ideas, new words, and new places. It can take a child’s limited world view and launch them into a magical land of intrigue and wonder that will stick with them the rest of their lives. So what can schools do to encourage their students to read more? In this post, we’ll list our top three ideas for helping students discover the magic of reading.
Give Students Lots of Reading Choices
Not all students read on the same level or are interested in the same type of book. It’s important for schools to have a big variety of reading materials readily available for students to use. From the school library to individual classrooms, books should be everywhere. Not just books in fact, but also magazines, newspapers, and in today’s digital age, online articles and selections as well. There should be materials for all grade levels the school teaches, along with a selection of higher-level books for advanced readers. Reading materials should cover all genres and topics, ensuring that any student can find something they’re interested in. If a student requests a specific book – order it! Nothing will show a student that their teachers and school cares more than accommodating them when they request something special to read. With as much variety as possible, students will never feel bored when reading, building the foundation for a love of reading that will endure throughout their childhood and beyond!
Make Reading a Competition
Most students will enjoy a little competition, especially if there are prizes at the end, although some kids will enjoy just winning the bragging rights. Create reading competitions for individual classrooms, entire grade levels, or even the entire school! Offer fun prizes for students to choose from when they win or hit certain milestones, such as pens, pencils, erasers, fidget toys, art supplies, school merch, and more. Students will love the chance to win something cool to show off to their friends, so don’t be surprised if those library books start flying off the shelf!
Note: Some students will struggle with reading and may not be able to read proficiently enough to win a competition, so many schools opt to reward reading milestones instead of declaring a competition winner. This way, all students who at least try will get something and no student will leave feeling discouraged even when they did their best.
Host a Book Fair
Hosting a book fair is an awesome way to expand the reading selection for both students and adults, get everyone out of class for a few minutes for a much-needed break, and to earn a little extra cash for the school to invest back into the students. Book fairs usually offer more recent selections than the school library along with lots of fun toys, school supplies, craft kits, and more for students to browse. Level up the school book fair by inviting parents to attend also…when a student has a parent that reads, they are also more likely to enjoy reading, so encourage parental involvement in reading as much as possible.
Ready, Set, Read!
With these ideas and a little initiative, any school can inspire its students to love reading. Give the students lots to choose from, incentivize them with reading competitions, or host a school-wide book fair and watch the student’s interest in reading grow! These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ways to encourage student reading, and some ideas will work better in some schools but not others, so keep experimenting to find the right mix of incentives and strategies for your school.
GEDDES helps schools encourage reading with fun and affordable prizes all students love, including writing tools, writing accessories, novelty toys, teacher supplies, and more.
