LIBE477B Inquiry Project: Fostering a Reading Culture in Schools

When I saw this week’s blog prompt, how do you foster a reading culture in your school, I thought, hey! I’ve done that! After completing my Graduate Diploma in Integrating Technology into the Digital Age, I laddered the diploma into a Masters Degree. I really enjoyed this program because it allowed each student to inquire into an area of passion within their classroom/school. We were asked to read the article, “Collecting Data Through Performative Inquiry: A Tug on the Sleeve” where Fels suggests listening to ideas of students with curiosity and wonder (Fels, 2012). My aha moment was not so much a tug on the sleeve, but rather twenty litres of water being poured over my head. 

Let me explain. 

On Fun Day every year, the Grade 7’s participate in Soak-A-Grad where younger students pay money to spray/dump water on the “graduates.” Being the good sport that I am, I said that the students could pay to soak me as well and the money would go to charity. One student came up with a large bucket of water, dumped it over my head, and said, “This is for Readers Response.” This gave me the idea for my Master’s inquiry: Building a Love of Reading in an Intermediate Classroom. Students were telling me they did not enjoy the reading program in our class, and I wanted to research ways to help students enjoy reading.

Soak-A-Grad - My Aha Moment

I read a LOT of books and articles on reading and the main ideas that continued to come through were let students read what they want to read (aesthetic reading) (Rosenblatt, 1988) and let them have authentic conversations about what their reading (Atwell, 2004). So, I did just that and there were several key aspects that I implemented that were instrumental in creating engaged and motivated readers.

 

Book-Rich Classroom Environment

• Students who have immediate access to books are more likely to read, have a better attitude towards reading and improve their literacy skills (Krashen, 2004).
•  Have at least four books per child in varying genres and difficulty levels (Atwell, 2004)
• Provide time for reading (Krashen, 2004)

 Set Goals

• Have students set a reading goal at the beginning of the year (number of books, different types of genres, etc) (Miller and Kelley, 2014)

 Teacher as Reading Role Models

• Read what your students read 
• They will see you as an engaged read and be more motivated to read (Kittle, 2011)
• You will be able to suggest books they might enjoy because you’ve read them yourself  (Kittle, 2011)
• Book Talks – share books that you’ve enjoyed

Choice

• Choice makes reading pleasurable and more motivating to continue
• Buy books that students want to read rather than what you think should be read

(Pennac, 2015)
(Photo Source: https://bedsidetablebooks.com/2012/01/29/a-readers-bill-of-rights/)

Neil Gaiman talked about choice in his article "Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming". He said, "The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means, at its simplest, finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them" (Gaiman, 2013).

Access to Diverse Books that Represent Students

• Books act as Mirrors so students can see themselves in the books they read
• Books act as Windows into a new world and can help foster empathy

(Snider, 2018)

(Youtube, 2015)

Neil Gaiman goes on to say, "the second thing fiction does is to build empathy. When you watch TV or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people. Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world and people it and look out through other eyes. You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You’re being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed" (Gaiman, 2013). I could quote Gaiman's entire article, but instead, I highly recommend you read the article yourself. It fills my heart.

Read Alouds

• Builds community (Miller and Kelley, 2014)
• Exposes students to new authors and genres (Miller and Kelley, 2014)
• Helps build vocabulary and comprehension (Krashen, 2004)
• Helps build lifelong readers because hearing and discussing stories as a group motivates further reading (Krashen, 2004)

At the end of my Masters program, I asked my students to reflect if my fostering a reading culture in our classroom had an impact. They said they felt encouraged, actually enjoyed reading, that books have the power to take you away from reality, I gave good recommendations, and our classroom library had a lot of choice.

Fostering a School Wide Reading Culture

I think these ideas have worked well in my classroom, but as a future teacher-librarian, I want to think about how these ideas could foster of a love of reading school-wide. Here are some ideas I have gathered from other classes and from colleagues that continue to promote allowing readers to read what they want to read, having authentic conversations about what they're reading, and celebrating the joy of reading:

• Have a list in the SLLC where students can write down their book requests
• Have book talks at assemblies, on social media, and on the school library website
• Have students post book reviews on the school library website
• Provide students with canvases to paint covers of loved books and hang around the SLLC
• Have a staff recommendations section of the SLLC and get school staff to contribute
• Allow book sign out periods before and after school
• Have book clubs where small groups meet weekly to discuss a chosen book
• Participate in the district wide Battle of the Books competition
• Have mock Caldecott and Newbery Medal awards
• Provide multi-modal access to reading – audiobooks, ebooks, and digital access
• Provide translanguaging opportunities – have books in many different languages
• Have a school wide DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) daily
• Invite authors in person or via zoom to talk about their books

References:

 

Atwell, N. (2007). The reading zone: how to help kids become skilled, passionate, habitual, critical readers. New York: Scholastic.

Fels, L. (2012) Collecting Data Through Performative Inquiry: A Tug on the Sleeve, Youth Theatre Journal. 26(1), 50-60.

Gaiman, N. (2013, October 15). Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming. Retrieved October 6, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming 

Kittle, P. (2013). Book love: developing depth, stamina, and passion in adolescent readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Krashen, S. D. (2004). The Power of reading: Insights from the research. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Miller, D., & Kelley, S. (2014). Reading in the wild: the book whisperers keys to cultivating lifelong reading habits. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Pennac, D. (2015). The rights of the reader. Candlewick Press (MA). 

Rosenblatt, L. M. (1988). Writing and Reading: The Transactional Theory (pp. 1-17, Tech. No. 416). Champaign, IL: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Snider, G. (2018). Books are... Books Are... http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2018/06/books-are.html

YouTube. (2015). Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors. YouTube. Retrieved October 6, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAu58SNSyc&ab_channel=ReadingRockets.