In first grade, we teach students how to read. Reading is one of the most important things a student learns to do. In my classroom we spend at least 30 minutes a day reading. It can be challenging to keep students engaged in reading. This blog post will share strategies to keep your students engaged in reading.
- READ TO YOUR STUDENTS
Read to your students all the time. Read a wide variety of books. Read nonfiction about animals, people, space, weather, insects…you name it! Read short books and long books. Read poetry. Read short articles. Read graphic novels. Read funny books and sad books. Be dramatic! Get your students into whatever you are reading. Have conversations about the books. Act them out. Have fun!
Read series. Students love to read books with the same characters in different adventures. My class loves Mo Willems, Pig the Pug, Biscuit, Lulu, Ezra Jack Keats, Skippy Jon Jones, Curious George, King and Kayla, Junie b Jones… the list goes on and on.
Ask students to suggest (and even give you) books that they want you to read. After you read books, make them available to your students to read. Have students suggest books to their classmates. Display books everywhere.
The more you share your love of reading, the more your students will love to read.
2. TAKE BREAKS
When I say my class reads for at least 30 minutes each day, I don’t mean in one sitting. We read for 15 minutes and then switch activities. Usually they are in the middle of a book and cannot wait to get back to it. I want them to build stamina reading but I don’t want them sitting so long they lose focus. They are only 6-7 years old. I feel like they read more and make better progress when we take breaks.
Sometimes we switch from them reading by themselves to them reading a new book with a partner. We love to buddy read. I use my first grade reading passages for buddy reading. I love how they are perfectly leveled for first graders. They come in fiction and nonfiction so my students are exposed to a variety of text. I even let them work on the comprehension questions with their partner. I have a bundle for the year which is discounted to save you money.
You can check them out for free here.
3. CHOICE
Choice is motivating. Let your students pick the books they want to read. We have book boxes in my classroom. We book shop every week. My students pick 5 just right (leveled) books. I have a wide variety of leveled books in my classroom for students to choose from. We move levels pretty quickly in first grade so they never get to read all of the books in one level before moving up. They get to choose 5+ just for fun books each week, too. This is where they choose any book they want. I can tell you the books we read aloud are highly regarded. Sometimes we have to keep lists of who gets the book next!
Not only do my students have choice of what they read but where they read. I don’t care where they read as long as they are reading. I love to read in a comfortable position. I have bean bags, scoop seats, pillows — all for student use. {Due to Covid we keep the same seats all week. I sanitize them on Friday and let them sit over the weekend.}
We even do flashlight reading in first grade. I bought cheap mini flashlights on Amazon. We turn off the lights, get cozy and read. Whatever it takes to get them reading and keep them engaged!
Don’t be afraid to try new things. Each class is different and strategies that work for one class don’t always work for the next group. These 3 strategies have worked for me. I would love to hear what strategies you use! Please share them in the comments.
