One Way to Foster a Love of Reading

Now that I’ve taught for 25 years, kids come back to visit me as adults. What’s the number one thing they tell me? 

“Mr. Courtney, you taught me to love reading. Thank you.” 

The way I’ve learned how to instill a love of reading, even when a school doesn’t promote it, is to establish and incentivize reading in such a way that no child leaves their book behind. In doing so, I not only promote the love of reading but also create a classroom culture that has become fundamental to who I am as a teacher. Here’s a guide for how to do it at any grade level. 

Establish the Right Conditions 

A great independent reading program requires far less than you think. At the bare minimum, you need only a few things: a small portion of class time, books of various levels, and a quiet environment.

I like to go further into what Kelly Gallagher explains in Readicide: giving my class a “book flood.” I shop at yard sales and swap meets, collect donations, and accept books from friends. Whenever I’m given money for supplies, I save some for the best new books. When there’s no more money, I make deals with the librarian to borrow books for an extended period of time.

I put all types of books on display for my sixth-grade students, from texts with diverse characters to high-interest graphic novels, comic books, and popular chapter books. Many of my adolescent students have mature interests, including young adult romance, and especially series about troubled homes. For reluctant readers, I make sure to have books about current video games, animated series, and cartoons. I find this works even in middle school.

Above all, do two things: Make sure that students love their books, and make sure that they can read them independently.

Read Within the Time You Have

I don’t know of a single teacher who wouldn’t give more independent reading time to kids if they didn’t feel pressure to teach other things. I know the feeling well. I’ve learned that it doesn’t take a long time to establish a routine of reading that spills outside of class. Once I ensure that students have a book they love and a book they can read, I set up my famous “One-Time Reads Station.” Anyone who forgets a book or needs a change can find something there that will get them through until I can conference with them and change the book out.

I give just eight to 10 minutes of reading time to students at the start of a period (I teach middle school). The key is to end the reading period before they want to stop. You want to hear them say, “Ahhhhhh.” That’s your cue that it’s working—I’ve done this in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Each week or so after this, extend the time by a couple of minutes. Keep them wanting more time to read. By the year’s end, you’ll have built up their stamina to read, which few students have since Covid.

Don’t forget to share—or, better yet, let students share—short great excerpts from their favorite parts of their book. Sometimes, just letting them talk about their books in groups is all it takes for a kid to sell a neighbor on something new. At the end of each reading period, remind kids to put their books in their backpacks to take home. If you use ClassDojo or some other way to contact parents, be sure to send home reading reminders too. You’ll be amazed at how much students read beyond the classroom, especially advanced readers.

Invite Friendly Competition

Now that you’ve established the routine, it’s time to measure and assess.

To do that without pulling my hair out, I create a monthly competition based on the Accelerated Reader program. There are other reading tracker programs available, but I prefer this one because nearly any book is part of their system. The cost is about $4 a student. You may need to consult your school site council, principal, and fellow colleagues to get funding, but it’s worth it. Kids read books, then take a quick quiz online. The point system keeps track of both picture books and chapter books. Over the years, I’ve heard complaints from teachers about students reading picture books who could read chapter books. My response is simple: Kids’ reading any book is better than no book these days.

As Accelerated Reader points come in, you can track who’s reading and what they’re reading. Even better, you can observe students’ comprehension of leveled texts in different strands of understanding and pull groups based on like needs.

Create an Incentive

Now that you’ve developed a well-established routine of reading, it’s time to incentivize.

I create a monthly award that quite a few of the students can achieve. You can do just about anything to create a great competition, but for me, there’s nothing like Mr. Courtney’s monthly community prize. Students in my class who read a certain amount can attend Mr. Courtney’s Ice Cream Social, Mr. Courtney’s Ice Skating Night, Mr. Courtney’s Optional Student Night at the Opera, and even Mr. Courtney’s Cowles Mountain Hike. Each event costs me next to nothing, since the prize is the ability for students to go to these events with their families. Each month, in addition to establishing a love of reading, I get to meet informally with students’ families and do something fun. The community prize is part of a community schools program and has full support from my school’s administration.   

Whatever prizes you decide on, be sure to follow a few basic rules: (1) Never keep cumulative points month to month. A child in September with two points isn’t going to compete in April for a prize that requires 80 points. (2) Assist struggling readers by allowing them to take exams on books you read with or to them in class. This helps them see that they can read and understand text and encourages them to do it on their own. (3) Never take away points, and never use reading as a punishment, ever.

Pass it On

Now that you’ve established and incentivized a fun, engaging, and rewarding independent reading program, pass it on. Each year, I’m always amazed at the number of parents who continue to incentivize reading at home after their child has experienced the practice in my class. Perhaps this isn’t something that should amaze me. After all, our job, in part, has always been to establish a love of reading. I just choose to do it by offering what kids love: fun.