Why is reading important?
Apart from being a great hobby and fun activity, it can help children improve in many areas of their lives through developing key transferrable skills. Reading in their native language and English can bring a whole range of benefits. To engage everyone, they must understand the benefits themselves.
Ask your students why it's important and create a mind map of ideas. You may also wish to use some of the points below to start the conversation. Having a common idea that everyone agrees on can help build motivation and engagement in the classroom.
Improves language skills
Regular reading develops children’s linguistic skills – it helps them learn good sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary and improves spelling in their own language and in the English language too. Reading aloud also strengthens knowledge of phonics and improves pronunciation and articulation.
Improves memory
It can help to develop knowledge of phonics and vocabulary recall and improve focus and concentration – all necessary skills when learning a language.
Cultivates curiosity
Books help kids’ imaginations to grow and encourage them to be more open-minded. They help us to learn about other cultures and encourage us to think more creatively. Through subtle messages, reading builds an awareness of the world in which we live and enables children to form their own opinions and ask questions.
Creates empathy
Stories help to develop children’s emotional intelligence and empathy towards others. Exploring topics and characters allows them to learn about real-world situations and think about how they would feel in somebody else’s shoes. It encourages respect for others’ feelings as well as other cultures.
Reduces stress
It is a great way to calm the mind and help us relax and destress. Children can learn to use it as a helpful tool in their day-to-day lives.
Develops key life skills
Children develop their confidence, communication, resilience, patience, social skills and connect with the wider world, culture and communities.
So how do we motivate our young learners (even our most reluctant readers) to develop a passion for reading?
It must be fun, purposeful and relevant
Well-known adaptations can remove barriers, support and encourage students’ imagination, and spark a genuine interest. They give purpose and relevance to the students as most students have watched a movie at some point in their lives and most students have a favorite movie or character.
Let your young learners choose
There are plenty of English Readers to choose from – if the students can choose their own readers, they will likely be more motivated and focused. Choice gives the students power and makes it more relevant to them. Ask your students to choose their favorite movie and have a vote as a class. Get to know your students, find out what interests them, and base your book choice around this.
Rewards
To motivate students, they must know that they are making progress. Reward students for their achievements – for example, create a vocabulary wall or a class book chart and give rewards like a sticker or a postcard to take home.