Using Silent Reading as a Hook

From the beginning of this term we have been starting off our learning day with silent reading. The students have had a chance to choose a book that is at their level and is something that interests them.

This has been an awesome way to start the journey of hooking the students into reading. I have had many conversations with the students about their book choices and if they would recommend it to others. The interesting part of this conversation for me is their reasoning behind whether or not someone should read their book. They have been very focused on how fast the plot moves and the characters depicted in the story.

Another set of conversations that we have had has been around the purpose of silently reading. More than ever before the students in my class are very aware of their reading age and have become more and more driven to improve this. They are now aware of the relationship between practising their reading every morning and improving their reading age. This is very exciting!

The next step for silent reading in Class 8 is to teach my students how to choose a book. I have noticed that most of my boys pick their book based on the cover or a 'boyish' sounding title. The girls however, choose books based on characters, or a 'girly' sounding plot. I want to teach my students how to choose a book that is challenging for them, is going to motivate and keep them engaged and ultimately help to accelerate their improvement.