Useful tips to help your students become “Wild readers”
What comes to your mind when you hear about reading? For some people reading is an essential part of their life, it`s the way they can relax from everyday problems and live some beautiful life while reading.
If you are a teacher, your aim is to inspire and encourage your students to read more and more. You are to create accessible libraries in your classroom, teach students to share their favorite books with others. This all should be done in a non-pushing way, giving students the right of choice.
Teachers actually play an essential role in students` motivation to reading. They should show them how to find enough time for this activity among homework and other things they need to do.
First of all, students should realize that reading is a habit, and they don`t need someone to instruct them and help with books choice. Students should know how to maintain reading habits through the entire life, and that`s what teachers should explain them.
There can be listed 5 features that define wild readers and they are the following!
Dedicated to reading
Wild readers always find enough time to enjoy a book. Despite some difficulties in their life, they feel more relaxed while reading.
Tips for a teacher: Encourage your students to take a book with them everywhere. When they have free time waiting for the bus, or between the meetings, they can spend it reading something interesting.
Choose books on their own
Wild readers know exactly what they want to read. They can select a book according to their interests and needs depending on their own experience.
Tips for a teacher: You can arrange “preview stacks”. This means you offer students to select a book of five or six you have created. This is much easier than search for the book in the whole library.
Books sharing
Wild readers are fond of talking about books as much as they are fond of reading itself. They are glad to share ideas concerning different books. And it`s known that students start reading more when they see people reading.
Tips for a teacher: You are to give students a chance to select and share books. Moreover, you can build reading relationships between students according to their interests.
Reading plans
Wild readers build plans on books they are going to read next. They create a list according to some authors or some other criteria.
Tips for a teacher: Recommend students to read series. This will motivate them to read a book after a book. In addition, this will help students build logical sequences and use background information they have already got from the previous books.
Maintain preferences, topics, and authors
Wild readers have strong interests and likings. They have special preferences in reading, preferring some authors, genres, styles, and topics.
Tips for a teacher: Get to know the students` preferences in reading but encourage them to read all genres. You are to show the importance and value of all genres with the help of book talks or readings aloud. They should know how to interpret books of all genres.
Every day you should ask yourself whether you have taught your students to read wisely, whether you have shown them to interpret texts. Teachers` task is to make reading a lifelong habit of their students. Encouragement and practice are essential to make reading a real habit!
